Have you heard the latest two singles from The Maitlands? They’re awesome, tip top songs headlining a phenomenal run of songs from the band. Go buy ‘Diving In The Shallow End’. Go buy ‘Bobby Driscoll’! Then read our exclusive interview with Carl, ringleader of The Maitlands!
‘Diving In The Shallow End’ is a heavier sound than normal, dare I say “psych”?
Yeah for sure it’s a heavier track. It’s got a great groove though that does it for me. I do listen to a lot of Psych, I love stuff like Captain Beefheart, but we probably sound more Shaun Ryder fronting Oh Sees..but..I can live with that.
What’s Diving about? Talk of pushers and viaducts reminds me of the canal pusher from a few years back.
I started writing the song while walking down the canal from Yorkshire to Manchester. As it got darker as well it definitely got a lot hairier, so there are pleasant references but also yeah I mention the pushers. I doubt it’s one fella who committed all the crimes. Robbing on canals at night is common. Also, I nicked a phase while watching Springwatch and took some lyrics from that: ‘From the flowers to the leaves to the bark to the root.’
‘Bobby Driscoll’ is a bit more recognisable as a Maitlands song with a shaggy dog story and Pulp sounds in the tune. Who is Bobby Driscoll?
Bobby Driscoll was a child actor in alot of the early Disney films. The animated Peter Pan character was based on his face. It’s a long story how I got writing about him but my wife, Laura suggested I write a song about Hart Island in America where they bury unclaimed bodies. I started learning about the place and it is steeped in covered-up history, too much for just one song. I happened to then watch Treasure Island on the telly and I just thought I’d check what became of the young actor playing Hawkings. I saw that he was buried in an unmarked grave on Hart Island so that became my focus to tell his story. I could go on and on about this, but it’s another tragic tale of a child actor who has outgrown their purpose. He wrote a letter to Andy Warhol before he died as he wanted his story told. That letter was found in Andy Warhol’s possessions after his death. I’ve used some of the letter in the lyrics. It’s a first for me to write about someone I never met.
What’s the sample at the start? It reminds me of something The Smiths might have used, or maybe the subject matter is remind me of ‘Little Man What Now?” by Morrissey.
There’s two samples in that song. The opening one is him being introduced as the winner of an academy award. The second one is towards the end where he is thanking God for giving him such a wonderful mother and father. Its a bit more hidden in the mix as I didn’t like it too much. Gave me the chills.
“…From Treasure Island to Hart, Should of been a theme park, Pan over your life now, Unrecognisable from above, The unclaimed star…’
Saul’s drumming is a real stand out on these two tracks…
Saul is one of the best drummers I have ever met, his work on these two tracks is phenomenal. Especially on Driscoll, it’s his beat that keeps my heart in my mouth.
The production is great, they sound huge. Is it hard getting everything right?
Working with Mark Winterburn (producer) on these tracks was a pleasure. He becamepart of the band, putting his all in. He doesn’t do things half arsed with us. It is a nightmare to please everyone in the band. It gets a bit heated at points when we’re discussing mixing among the band. Hard work, but worth it in the end.
What gigs have you got coming up, must be great to be playing again?
We’re at Gullivers in Manchester on the 4th November, then in Oldham on the 6th at Tokyo Project. for a couple of local gigs. Currently having another Maitland line-up shake up so we’ve nothing booked in till January when we’re going around the country gigging again. It’s great to back out doing it.
Covid must be especially frustrating as The Maitlands were really gaining traction.
We were doing great before all this, and it has been hard for a lot of people. It would be selfish of me to compare my situation to others. I was able to carry on writing songs and spent time with my family. We’ve had 3 band members leave since we first locked down so it’s definitely not been as fun for everyone working remotely. I’m not ready to stop yet. We’re making big plans now.
Lou Reed or John Cale?
Both equally as important but I’ll go John Cale if I was pushed.
Brian Eno or Bryan Ferry?
Ferry.
Uncle Albert or Grandad?
It’s gone a bit Smash Hits this but definitely Grandad “I ordered an Emperor Burger”
What’s your favourite curry?
Oooh, I’ll take a Pathia please. Rice and a garlic Naan.
Just as the universe expands with stars being born every minute, podcasts about movies flicker into existence as you read this very sentence. It can be hard to find the best. Luckily For Screen And Country shines the brightest. The gimmick – a doozy. Brendan and Jason work there way through the BFI top 100, randomly. Offering the perfect blend of insight and commentary, with humour and wit, and never tips too much in one direction. Moreover the podcast is hugely addictive and binge-able. It’s great to hear love for some real neglected movies, and seeing some non British observations on some very British movies.
We were pleased as punch to catch up with Brendan and Jason to talk all things BFI!
First of all though if you don’t subscribe to For Screen and Country on your preferred podcaster – do so now! If you’ve never heard it I would suggest starting off with Kwai as that is a standout episode… or maybe the one that covers your favourite on the list!
Hey guys, great to catch up! I hope that Guinness is super chilled, Jason. Let’s start with the obvious question – how did two Canadian guys come to do a podcast about the BFI top 100 movies?
Brendan: I’m a big fan of the Unspooled podcast where Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson talked about the movies on the AFI Top 100 list. I thought, well, everyone knows about 80-90% of these classic American films but I really like the idea of doing a ‘list’ podcast so I thought if the American one is covered, why not go to the other side of the pond? Let’s do it! Plus I had seen like 12 of the movies on the list before we started the podcast so any chance to get more cultured. And then I asked one of my bestest buddies to co-host with me ’cause he’s fucking hilarious. I think, maybe, I also needed a podcast about GOOD movies to off-set my other one about BAD movies.
Jason seems something of an Anglophile, but Brendan, um, less so… how prepared where you going in? A lot of these movies you’ll find on the telly in Britain on a Sunday afternoon, so you can often see Genevieve for example. In fact on Sunday 26th September you can watch Kind Hearts and Coronets. Oddly, I’m sure Bridge On The River Kwai is on every Christmas here.
Jason: Prepared, I suppose, only in the sense I was more familiar with British stuff than Brendan was. My preparation was watching PBS and Bravo as a teen, Are You Being Served?, Keeping Up Appearances, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers etc. And I’d seen a few of the movies on the list just in my life.
B: What’s an Anglo?
It’s a sort of corner (little etymology joke for you there). Which actors and directors that you knew of have most impressed you? And whose come from nowhere to blow you away?
J: David Lean, of course. Lawrence and Kwai were huge movies to me in my early 20s and still are. I pictured him mainly as a director of epics so imagine my joy when I was blown away by Brief Encounter. On the other end, I’d never even heard of Powell and Pressburger in my life and wow – I was missing out. A Matter of Life and Death is now one of my favourite movies.
B: I second David Lean but this is coming from someone who had not seen a SINGLE David Lean film before as well as Powell and Pressburger, all of whose films have impressed me. I think Neil Jordan was kind of a dark horse for me too with Mona Lisa Smile and The Crying Game, which I HAD seen but barely remembered. Maybe Bill Forsyth too – I really like the style of cozy comedies like Gregory’s Girl and Local Hero. As for actors – this podcast really made me fall in love with Julie Christie.
Let’s do some negative questions then some positive ones. You seem a little lukewarm on the Ealing comedies. I am too actually, I’ve long suspected they are popular because of the Ealing “brand” and because there’s Alec Guinness.
J: I think it comes down to [the fact that] comedy doesn’t age nearly as well as drama. I think that’s why I liked The Ladykillers remake better – it had a more modern comedic sensibility. But that’s not a hard and fast rule – Passport to Pimlico and I’m Alright Jack made me laugh!
B: Jason is an enemy of joy. That’s the answer. Nah, ya know, comedy is subjective and what works for some doesn’t always work for others. I personally enjoyed the Ealing comedies especially The Lavender Hill Mob and was still mostly okay with the lesser ones like Whisky Galore.
Interestingly, some of the movies discussed like Dr No and Whisky Galore seem to be there and maybe too high because of their influence and their foundational aspects? This list by default says Dr No is the best Bond and clearly that’s not true!?
J: Yeah, Goldfinger is clearly the Superior movie. And while Dr No is way better to me now than when I first saw it, I don’t think I’d even put it as the second Bond. Today you’d probably replace that with Casino Royale ’06. Or, selfishly, Goldeneye.
B: I’m not super well-versed in Bond but Dr. No seems fine being on the list but I’ll have to second Casino Royale because I do remember that being a real good time. The Woody Allen one from the ’60s, of course. Daniel who? But for real – I think On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is a pretty overlooked one probably due to the fact of the one-and-done Bond casting of George Lazenby, who admittedly isn’t very good in the film.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is a great shout, apart from Lazenby it’s a terrific movie. Imagine if they’d made that with a re-energised Connery. Mouth watering! Nothing selfish about Goldeneye, what a movie! I think there’s a huge case for The Spy Loved Me, now I’m a Roger fan and I know you two not so much, but that film is almost like the Platonic ideal of a Bond movie, and if it hadn’t been a hit the franchise could have died a death.
J: I can’t remember the last time I saw that one! I liked Roger Moore but the goofiness got a bit much by the end. And then they went too hard the other way with Dalton!
B: I can’t stand Roger Moore in the couple of Bond films I saw him in. He’s too goofy like Jason mentioned but I just didn’t find him believable especially after Connery was the one that preceded him.
As the list was made in 1999 some of the movies seem included based on their popularity at the time, yes we’re looking at you, The English Patient. Also Brassed Off which was following in The Full Monty’s success. Now The Full Monty is class, but Brassed Off is cold misery soup washed down with a bleach chaser. Could have been worse though as there was another called East is East and boy that is bollocks.
J: Strong words! I really liked Brassed Off. It tickles me to think someone hates it so! And without it, would we have “Tubthumping?!” I think not!
B: Whoa! I’m also surprised by the vicious attack on Brassed Off! For sure, there are some popular choice ones like EP and maybe “Oliver!” which is an okay musical but nothing special. Chariots of Fire was fine but maybe a little worse as I think back on it. Certainly, films like Gandhi and The Killing Fields fall into that category for me.
OK let’s be positive, it was great to hear some love for The 39 Steps, now that movie manages to both massively foundational AND a phenomenally entertaining and well made movie. It ticks every box! Hitchcock was way ahead of his time, though that’s hardly a news flash!
J: Way ahead of his time, no question. That movie is great, so watchable even today. No need for remakes, the one we watched was so boring.
B: Hitchcock was great – they should include one of his best early British films, The Lodger. I wouldn’t toss either The 39 Steps or The Lady Vanishes in exchange but David Lean has like 17 movies on there. C’mon.
Kwai or Arabia?
J: Tough question! For many years now I would have immediately said Lawrence, but I’ve come to think Kwai is simply a tighter movie. And the relationship between Nichols and Saito is so compelling. And it’s a bit shorter. I might still say Lawrence but Kwai is pulling in…
B: Arabia but it’s a photo finish. I think Kwai is a magnificent film but Lawrence is such an impressive epic that is never dull for one moment. They are both five-star movies.
At the time of writing you haven’t done Carry On Up The Kyber yet… I think you’ll like it! I think after this is done you should do Carry On Up The Carry On Podcast. I double dares ya.
J: Well you’ll very soon be able to hear our thoughts! The entire series though? Man, there’s 30 movies; surely no more of them are classics..
B: Yeah, I think that episode is up now. That’s… one that I found funny but obviously problematic. I can confirm no “Carry On up the Carry On” podcast is in our future. Sorry!
You’re doing number one last, The Third Man, it will have a lot of pressure on it! For me, I find it somewhat overrated.
J: I’m excited anyway, any chance to watch Welles at work
B: Real curious to see if this is #1 for me/us. It’s gonna take a lot of legwork because I have a few I’m eyeing for that top spot right now and they are pretty flawless.
You did a great job with Olivier’s Henry V, you made me interested in Shakespeare! I watched it on youtube and the framing device of it starting as a literal play with Olivier playing an actor playing Henry V was genius. You really made me appreciate his craft. You’re also right that it’s odd that Branagh isnt represented.
J: Well damn, we inspired someone to Shakespeare. If that doesn’t deserve an OBE I don’t know what does. And on a new list I’d absolutely replace Olivier’s Hamlet with Branagh’s. The man is a national treasure and the finest Gilderoy Lockhart one could ask for.
B: I’m of two minds on Shakespeare. I completely understand the appeal and recognize that it’s brilliant but at the same time, I sometimes find them a chore to sit through and I get confused about the plot because the dialogue just confounds me. Having said that, Olivier’s Henry V is really interesting with the play-within-a-movie format and I did like that aspect. The rest of the movie was fine but I’m probably the wrong audience for this shit.
You suffered the 1998 movie version of The Avengers. I went to the cinema to see that, more fool me. Talk of miscast for Ralph Fiennes. Hugh Grant would have made a much better John Steed.
J: Yeah I liked that show so it surprised me that they managed to make a movie so terrible. Like that’s the sort of show i’d expect a mediocre unmemorable film version of, like the Are You Being Served? movie. So I’ll give the filmmakers credit – at least that they fuckin went for it. You’ll surely never forget it.
B: Ya know that was on April Fool’s Day and we were going to pretend it was a great movie for the entire episode but we were too drunk and silly to be able to lie for that long so we buried the lead early. I would say that’s the drunkest we’ve been for a recording but anyone that’s listened to our Whisky Galore episode can tell you that’s a downright lie
By the way, you covered Sexy Beast a while back. Did you know Ben Kinglsey based his performance on his grandmother?!
J: Now that’s a lady I wouldn’t want to encounter at my job, I’ll tell ya that. That’s fantastic; I didn’t know that. That lady must have been hard as nails.
B: Hot.
Want some recommendations? Stanley Baker’s Hell Is A City made in Manchester is an insight into real working class life without being another fucking kitchen sink drama. Lee Evans and Oliver Platt’s Funny Bones is a bizarre, surreal dark comedy with a showstopping end. I mentioned Dog Soldiers and Hell Drivers on twitter a while back. Hell Drivers is easily top 30, but I’d put all four in the 100. OK I’ll stop throwing movies at you now.
J: Ohh, I was a huge fan of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. I’m down with any excuse to go back to Manchester. Hell Drivers sounds cool and not just cause there were a literal group of stunt drivers I saw as a kid at the local exhibition called the Hell Drivers.
B: I will watch these – I HAVE seen Dog Soldiers and it’s great.
Life On Mars is the THE BEST TV show ever made! Ok lets end with a big one, if the list was made again right now, what are the obvious movies you would drop and what would you add
J: Offhand? “Dr. No” is out, Casino Royale ’06 is in. I’d mainly drop the ones I thought the most boring you know: Women in Love, some of those Ealing comedies, probably The Dam Busters. Add in a Shaun of the Dead, perhaps. Gotta watch more modern British movies! But i’d also feel bad doing it because many of those movies, if not entertaining to modern eyes, remain important to British cinema. Maybe that’s a separate list: boring but important.
B: The Cornetto Trilogy (at least Shaun and Fuzz) would probably be on here. Maybe the Hammer Dracula movie? Under the Skin is a masterpiece. Johnny English of course (kidding!). For ones kicked off? Oh man – Women in Love, Gandhi, The English Patient, The Killing Fields, Hamlet, Caravaggio, Whisky Galore, Genevieve for starters. And I don’t even dislike all those movies; they’re just some of the ones that could be easily excised. But of course as you know, The English Patient is awful.
J: I’d love to take a trip to the coast of Italy where, on a picturesque beach, I could ceremoniously burn a print of The English Patient.
Great to talk to you, lads. All the best for The Third Man!
Normally, colourhorizon brings you the best in new psych and electro music on bandcamp. Head on over to the CONTENTS page to find reviews, articles and weird things!
There’s a real sense of delicacy to On Prescription, the new album by Hawksmoor. It manages to straddle various genres of instrumental music without falling prey to the usual traps. It’s electronic and dreamy without the overbearing nods to Tangerine Dream and it’s softly lullaby-ish without being plain boring. It pulses like motorik without merely retreading those narrow confines.
It’s tempered with soft post-punk edges which are reminiscent of spending the night with The Cure, The Durutti Column and Young Marble Giants, reading books by a dim light. It also tingles and shimmers like sneaking around in Metal Gear Solid.
Gently percussive with blurry objects in your peripheral vision. It’s persuasive in a mellow manner, never demanding your attention, but taking it anyway. The only exception is the closer ‘Hertzumol’ which throbs like the opening credits of a thriller set in LA, before descending into realms of a thoughtful Scandinavian murder drama.
Whilst being electronic, there is still warmth under the skin of On Prescription, like Rick Deckard’s (possibly) beating heart.
Referring to individual songs is a little redundant as the album is one big cafetiere, this is music that percolates for a deep roast.
And as profits go to Cancer Research there is no excuse!!
We caught up with master sound-smith James McKeown to talk about the album!
The drug titles are anagrams, approximations etc. Is this to add a degree of distancing or unreality? As I write in the album liner notes, the names of the drugs were the way into the project. The names of Chemotherapy drugs are so strange; it wasn’t hard to come up with new names that were a mixture of existing drugs, anagrams or a jumble of names to form fictional drugs. The effects tied to each and reflected in the music for each track title are redolent of the side effects – which hopefully not too many people will be familiar with. Also using these titles saves me from getting into litigation territory with large pharmaceutical companies!
What equipment did you use on the album. From song writing, studio time to the end product, how long did ‘On Prescription’ need? Aside from the ‘live’ instrumentation of bass and guitar, it is predominantly semi-modular Moog equipment. Initial sketches of ideas were started towards the end of 2020. It was then fully mixed and mastered by the spring of 2021 and the biggest delay was then around design/artwork due to the huge demand for the amazing artwork of Eric Adrian Lee. We are seeing some delays with the physical cassettes too as a result of a greater demand which has massively increased, maybe as a result of vinyl production becoming almost untenable.
You seem to have found the perfect home at Spun At Sounds…? I love working with Gavin at Spun Out of Control. He just ‘gets’ it and is equally creative with ideas and concepts for each release. The ‘Ivo Watts-Russell’ of the cassette world.
Congrats on the soundtrack to Concrete Island with the mighty Heartwood Institute, you must be very proud of the end result! Absolutely. I think we were both really pleased with the way the whole album came together from what was, essentially, an experiment.
What next for Hawksmoor?
More material and possibly playing live in some form by the end of the year? I have a pure soundtrack album in production and have another album – currently being mastered in Denmark and due for release next year allowing for manufacturing timescales – which taps into Folk-Horror territory – Pagantronica.
Hit the Spun Out Of Control tag below to see everything we’ve covered on that mighty label, and check them out on bandcamp https://spunoutofcontrol.bandcamp.com/
Psych-gaze is a neat genre-fication for New Age Healers; combining the best of both worlds, they’re a slick outfit that I compared to a crack commando unit on their latest album Debris (reviewed here). They’re a bit like the Bunnymen in sunglasses and fuzz mode (but not quite the full Mary Chain). Listen to and buy their stuff here>
I caught up with the band recently to ask important questions – harsh, probing questions on the big questions in life. What the fuck would happen if New Age Healers got stuck on a desert island?
Tell us who’s in the band, what they do and something interesting about them.
Owen: We’ve had a few changes in the group; new drummer, new guitarist (our old one moved away), and we’ve added a keyboard player. Our bass player Allen Murray runs a video game company, Keyboardist Farkhad says “I have a side job as an informant for FSB (former known as KGB),” (which explains a few things), and is a project manager for an engineering firm. Our drummer Adam says “tell them i do a lot of excel and powerpoint, and email.” Kyle, our guitar player is worried that he’s being “demoted.” He says he’s a research scientist. He also has a killer mustache. Like totally murderous. Tom Selleck level sexy. I produce the morning show on KEXP and also work for the American sports network ESPN in their radio division. I am the sixth most smartest person in the band, and it’s not even close.
So, returning home from a New Age Healers get marooned on a desert island. It’s time to consider your survival… Who do you elect leader?
Hmm, likely Allen as he’s a wonderful fellow who runs a company, has a computer toilet and a military background. I think he was an admiral in the Air Force or something. Oh, and a cool beard.
Who’s in charge of sewerage disposal?
Fuck. Probably me. Sigh. But I am VERY good at cleaning a bathroom.
There’s one wild boar on the island. Do you embrace it and keep it as a pet or kill it and eat it? If the former, what do you call it? If the latter how would you catch such a beast?
We do not need to kill the beast. Instead we befriend it, name it “Dr. Harold Metzger,” and teach it how to play fetch…and poker. “Doc” then shows us it’s secret garden full of delicious curry dishes.
Yum. You find a shipwrecked game of Monopoly. How does that go?
It ends up like every practice; all of us half-naked, screaming incoherently, in tears and one of us face down in a pool of baked beans. Who’s most likely to lose their shit? Sigh. Me. I’m working on it, but it is what it is. But, I think the more important question is “who will find their shit?” Again, me. You lose something, I will find that fothermucker. When I was a kid, we played a lot of baseball in my front yard, and we’re constantly losing our only ball in our neighbors shrubs. So one became good at finding them cuz no ball, no game. As a side note, the lady across the street was an immigrant (Hungarian maybe?) who came to the U.S. after world war 2 with her sisters. They never learned English, one was mean as hell, but she was really nice, and she would collect balls while walking her dog and give them to us.
Food gets tight, who’s most likely to be skinned, cooked and eaten?
Dr. Harold Metzger, who, by the by it turns out is NOT a doctor! WTF?! And here’s another question to ponder; where’d he get the monocle?
Luckily a passing cruise ship picks you up. To pay your way you’re all set to be pot washing until they discover your a band. What song do you play to win the passengers over?
After a series of missteps playing our own material, we sing “leather and lace” by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley. It goes well. Like really well. Like Brian-Adams-Robin-Hood-well. In the audience that night is famed record producer Bruce Dickinson who hears it, “gets us,” and helps us explore the space. I mean really explore the space. I need you to love me I need you today Give to me your leather Take from me my lace Really makes you think, y’know?
If you keep the boar as a pet, do you take Dr Harold Metzger with you? How do you explain it to the captain?
Oh, that liar can stay on the island. “Doctor,” my ass. Turns out that wasn’t curry…I don’t want to talk about it.
After your return, do you never talk of your experiences, or write a concept album about it?
Uh, I just answered this. Are you even listening to me? Concept album. We call it Sgt Peppers Satanic Rituals of The Fables of the Deconstruction, form a drum circle and bang away in 6/4 like those dirty hippies in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park who ruin everyone’s weekend with that dreck.
Don’t forget to check out New Age Healers on Bandcamp!
A protest folk-tronica artist for 2021+, solo artist Garsa has a new debut EP called The Unfairity, led by the outstanding single ‘Ghosts’ (reviewed here). He combines song-writing and heart with electronica. Both old fashioned and new fashioned, he is a man out of time, and of the now.
To celebrate the release of The Unfairity, we caught up with Garsa (Martin) as part of our ongoing series, What’s In A Cover, which celebrates art work!
Let’s start with the big one! Who made the art, why that style and how does it represent The Unfairity?
I made the art. I wanted something that I could do myself as previous single art was other people’s royalty free work from various sites. I wanted to get away from that. Not being a great artist or photographer, I played with some ideas on the computer and came up with the simple abstract landscape using triangles to build up a picture. I wanted something simple yet eye catching and in a style that I could use for future releases, to keep a kind of set theme going on.
It has a great childlike quality… it reminds me of fuzzy felt!
Yes, I can totally see that! That’s actually a great idea for a release! Fuzzy felt album sleeve, design your own scene *adds fuzzy felt album cover idea to notepad*.
I can answer the “representing The Unfairity” part of question one with this too. My nine-year-old son Lachlan came up with the term The Unfairity and let me use it for the E.P. I suppose the fact that the cover has a childlike quality and was named by a child using a made-up word represents it quite well.
And it has a DIY aspect to it which reflects the bedroom recording vibe going on!
Yes, I suppose it does. It was made on the same computer, from the same seat as the songs were recorded and was very much a learn as you go process. It’s all been very DIY, mainly due to lack of funds so I’ve had no choice but to do it myself. I’m glad I did though. I feel as though I’ve achieved something in doing it and I’ve certainly learnt a few new skills.
I’ve dubbed you “the Peggy Suicide of Oldham” … you dig ;-)?
If I’m honest I’m not massively familiar with Julian Cope’s work. Not because I dislike him. I do like what bits I’ve heard! He’s just one of those artists that I have passed by without giving a proper listen to. I need to take the time to dig into his back catalogue.
I’m aware of what his music means and its importance so, to be dubbed “the Peggy Suicide of Oldham” is quite the compliment, I think!
Peggy Suicide is probably the best place to start 😉 But his post 2000 work is stunning – Black Sheep in particular is sensational. But that’s enough about the Arch Drude!
Thanks to Garsa for taking time to talk to us! Don’t forget to check out the EP here!
If you enjoyed What’s In A Cover, head over to the Contents page to read more – and lots of reviews, reviews/not reviews (?) and miscellaneous articles to dig into!
This is a mouth watering proposition – The Heartwood Institute and Hawksmoor taking on Ballard’s Concrete Island. For fans you know this is going to be epic before you hit play. For the uninitiated, here’s a handy article to know if The Heartwood Institute are for you!
Concrete Island features wonderful cover art from Eric Adrian Lee. We caught up with The Heartwood Institute to talk about the artwork and how important the art is!
The artwork for Concrete Island is phenomenal- tell us how it came about!
“I think serendipity is the word. I’ve always been blown away with the way Spun Out Of Control package their releases, the art and layout is always amazing. So once they were on board for the release they suggested Eric Adrian Lee. Both James ( Hawksmoor ) and myself were delighted to have Eric doing the art. He was sent a preview copy of the audio and came back with that amazing art. He absolutely nailed the vibe first time – that 70’s brutalist / sc-fi look that’s really central to the original novel.”
It’s the perfect evocation of old paperworks. This seems perfect for Heartwood Institute, would I be correct in assuming that in general literature, movies and TV are a bigger influence on your music than other music?
“Well I have to confess I’m a big collector of 70’s and 80’s paperbacks, I love the design work on them. I’ll often buy several copies of the same book if they have different cool artwork. But yes, for sure I’m taking a lot of influences and inspiration from outside of music. It’s no secret I’m fascinated by the whole idea of hauntology and trying to translate that into music.”
Many of your albums work to a theme- does it make it easier to find cover art as you have something to represent, or harder as it has to fit just right?
“A lot of what I do is really thematically inspired and I mostly have images in mind, so I tend to send the sleeve designer a whole bunch of images, not always for them to use, but to express where the music itself is coming from. In a sense Concrete Island was much easier to pass that on, all it required was saying it’s J G Ballard, it’s Concrete Island. A swift google image search will show some amazingly inspirational book covers.”
Imagery is very important to your music, so album art must be key?
“Definitely, when you’re doing instrumental music it’s not always easy to get across what it’s about or inspired by. So the imagery that goes with it really needs to get that across. With the Witchcraft Murders LP, it was really a huge bonus to be able to produce a zine to go along with the release. It really helped get the background across. Certainly something I’ll be thinking about doing for future releases, even just as a pdf.”
… and here’s the guide image provided by Spun Out Of Control to the artist, Eric Adrian Lee, to suggest a tannoy system in the centre of the island!
Psychedelic stalwarts The Chemistry Set are masters of the acid-y English strain of psych, but at heart are simply great song writers. They have a brand new single called ‘Paint Me A Dream’, so as part of our ongoing series What’s In A Cover? we caught up with the band to talk about the cover art!
How hard is it finding artwork for releases, is it a chore or a joy?
It is a joy! and essential. When we came back in 2008, we worked with a highly original photographer from Barcelona called Blanca Vinas and she did all our covers for a few years. We then worked with a graphic artist from Barcelona called Serse Rodriguez, he did the incredible cover for The Endless More & More and some singles. We will work again with Serse. On “Paint Me A Dream” we work with the sensational Canadian artist Kirk Sutherland – https://www.saatchiart.com/kirksutherland
Where did the art for ‘Paint Me A Dream’ come from and what does it represent?
It’s great because Kirk is a huge fan of the band and was a fan for years before we spoke about him doing some art. Now, Kirk has synasthesia where he can taste colour and see colours in music, so it was perfect for us. As he can taste colours and see colours in music, it was an ideal marriage for “Paint Me A Dream”, which is about is about the power of visions. It begins, lyrically, with a group of mystics who become hypnotized as they sing together while playing dulcimers and lyres. This in turn evolves into mystical visions and a request to the divine eye to “paint them a dream” (travel from the grey to the Technicolor). As the painted dream multiplies and embraces them further, they meet Orpheus, the lyre-playing Greek musician, poet and prophet, travelling further in time and space to encounter translucent orbs, stratospheric emanations and transcendental oscillations. Yes, it’s a trip and so is the art!
It reminds me of Christmas, the colour combination is a like a tree full of baubles, which feels right for The Chemistry Set’s warm , fuzzy old fashioned sense of song writing.
I like the way Kirk uses layers and they always remind me of a psychedelic milky way, yes you are right it has the effect of Christmas tree baubles and a lot of his artwork has bright flashing strobes or orbs. The use of colour is magnificent.
A single with remixes feels lovely and 90s, tell us about it!
We love remixes and have done them since we returned. We released an album of remixes called “Chemistry is not just numbers” which is a quote from Carl Sagan. I love handing our music over to someone who can do whatever they like with it. We are not precious, quite the opposite. It is exhilarating to hear what someone else can do to your music. Music is about freedom of expression and to hear different interpretations is beautiful.
Being huge fans of Three Dimension Tanx here at colourhorizon’s ice palace, we were excited and delighted to hear Synthetic Villains, a new project from Brother Richard of the mighty Tanx. This new foray features a joyous, bouncy set of electro pop / synth dancecut-ups, smash ups and rave-ups.
We caught up with Richard Turner to talk Villains most Synthetic.
For a fiver, less than a pair of burnt watery coffees, you can treat yourself to this great release! So treat yourself now and support local music!
It’s just me, Richard James Turner as it says on my birth certificate. But it might be more in the future. I’m thinking of getting some guest vocalists.
As a name it’s great. How important is it for a band to have a name that’s bob-on?
Why thank you. The name’s taken from a speech from Labour legend Nye Bevan in 1956. I read it in the Guardian in about 2007 and jotted it down. Given the electronic/synth aspect of the project, it fitted that way too, plus it also has nerdy sci-fi/ comic super villain connotations. So triple win.
How hard was it recording, which costs the earth?
I absolutely fucking LOVE recording. It wasn’t hard at all. Actually, the hardest part was postponing sessions due to storms and floods. It was recorded at Stonegate Studios, technically in Yorkshire, but near the Lancashire border. Sam Parkinson is really easy to work with, and very reasonably priced. I’ll be going back there.
How long did the album take to write and record?
If you put it into days – it’d probably only be 3-4 days altogether to record. But I actually did 3 hours a week over a few months. That gave me time to think about it, and cobble the money together!
Writing-wise, some of the tracks had been written or half-written ages ago, some were new ideas, and in all cases they evolved once recording commenced.
Tell us about some of the songs on the album…
Initially, this was going to be a guitar album. I was going to use drum machines, but basically, my aim was to do an instrumental guitar album. In the bands I’m in, apart from some riffing, I generally play rhythm guitar, and I was going to say “listen everyone, I can play lead too”. So, ‘Time Out of Rhythm’ would have been a massive raga-rock Mike Bloomfield does East-West, John Cippolina Quick Silver Messenger Service type thing. I was going to do a lot of Tom Verlaine impressions!
But as recording commenced, I layered more electronic textures, and mostly junked the lead guitar idea.
There is still loads of guitar tracks on the, but a lot of them are through synth pedals or bowed etc.
I’ve been collecting little mini-synths and drum things for years, and it was there time to shine.
Why use titles from The Three Stooges?
Well-spotted. The guitar and drum machine thing I mentioned was a rip-off of ‘Escape’ by Jody Harris & Robert Quine (Contortions and Voidoids respectively). Escape uses Three Stooges episode titles for it’s tracks, and I thought it was a great idea so nicked it! I love puns, and the ones I used seemed to fit the mood of the tracks perfectly – the melancholy in ‘Rhythm & Weep’, the cowboy-country of ‘Bonanza’ etc.
I confess to not having seen the episodes, but I’ve loved what I’ve seen of the Three Stooges. And the Stooges loved them, so that’s also cool.
I didn’t spot to be honest, I got it from Louder Than War’s review (a-hem). Everyone seems to agree that ‘Bonanza’ is the best song!
Really? I’ve probably had more good feedback for ‘Rhythm & Weep’ out of all of them. But I’ve also had people say ‘Time Out For Rhythm’ and also ‘The Captain Hates the Sea’. ‘Bonanza’ was something that I had as an idea for a while, and actually used a few separate ideas together. Then thought, what the fuck is this? It’s a ridiculous track. But it made me laugh, and I liked the juxtaposition of that after the previous track.
You’re getting some good traction, attention from bandcamp and louder than war! How hard is it to make yourself heard?
It’s really hard. First of all, I make the music I feel compelled to make. Then, when it’s done, you think “who the hell wants to listen to this, and how can I possibly market it?” It’s electronic, but it’s not IDM or EDM or anything else that you can tag easily. It’s psychedelic, but it’s too electro for most of the heads. And so on. Hard to pitch. You just have to reach out to people who do things that you enjoy. Most people don’t reply. I’ve been making music nobody wants to hear for 20+ years now, so I’ve built up some contacts over that time that get it.
What tech do you use? Tell us about them dirty synths!
Well, it’s mostly cheap eBay stuff. Casio MT400 and Yamaha PS2 are both early 80’s synths with great sounds and all-important analogue drum presets. Also Casio VL Tone. Microkorg is a workhorse – strings sound great through a Fender Twin amp, Korg Monologue for the basslines and a few other things. Borrowed a Roland SE02 for the Moog-sounding bits. Also a Rakit Drum Synth, Stilophone Beats (used for drums and basslines) and Korg Monotron Delay, Korg Monotribe, Volca Beats, Volca Kick and Volca Modular. Some synth sounds are the guitar through an EHX MonoSynth pedal.
At colourhorizon our Holy Trinity is Julian Cope, John Cale and Tom Verlaine. Which 3 celestial bodies rule Synthetic Villains?
Ooo….that’s too difficult…probably for this project Kraftwerk, Bruce Haack and Silver Apples.
We know you’re also a big Verlaine fan, Richard. He’s awesome isn’t he?
Yes, he’s my favourite guitar player, solo and Television. Songs And Other Things was another touchstone for my abandoned guitar album.
Hmm, not one of my faves oddly, Richard, we prefer Dreamtime here but let’s not bicker! Roxy Music? With Eno or without Eno?
‘Love is the Drug’ is without Eno. Therefore, without Eno!
Which modern acts do you listen to?
To be honest, I mostly listen to old-but-new-to-me stuff. But…
I subscribe to Electronic Sound and Shindig! Magazine, so I keep my ear to out.
I’ve just ordered a bunch of albums from Castle in Space, and the reissues of first 3 Pole albums (old, but he’s current!) I’ve been enjoying some ambient/experimental/haunty stuff on shows like Phantom Circuit and Kites & Pylons.
I get bored of guitar music most of the time, but some that I’ve enjoyed over the last couple of years are La Luz, Frankie Cosmos, Omni (very Television), Las Mitras and a Dutch band called E.T Explore Me that are super-energetic-manic garage-rock.
Lets talk the mighty Three Dimensional Tanx… plans, news, gossip?
Well. We’re still going…just on lockdown imposed hiatus. We recorded 6 new tracks that are awaiting Spacey’s vocals. So, once we can get back to it, there’ll be another album.
At colourhorizon we consider ‘Psychedelic Sun’ to be in the top 10 psych songs of the 21st century. What a honour!
It’s basically ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ on speed!?
Do you sometimes think that 3D Tanx were born in the wrong decade?
Ha! I think we’d probably be wrong in every decade!
And on that topic, ‘Idiots Deluxe’ from Synthetic Villains sounds like what Human League wanted to be. How hard is it in the 20th century to evoke, not repeat?
‘Idiot’s Deluxe’ basically came from putting a keyboard drum preset though an Attack/Decay pedal. There was an overtone of ‘B’, so I got my guitar and played some funk that fitted, added Stylpohone beats and a bassline and went from there.
To me, it’s more evocative of stuff like New York late 70s/early 80s stuff that combined disco, funk and New Wave/NoWave, much as I’m a fan of the Human League.
I think there are always new ways to mix things up.
Do you think making music is becoming more of a hobby than a career?
For 99% of musicians, yes. A labour of love.
If SV could soundtrack a movie, what would it be?
Wouldn’t mind having a go at Metropolis, not keen on that 80s attempt.
Favourite movie director?
Don’t have a favourite one in particular…but I’m going to go for Ken Loach mostly for KES.
What next for Synthetic Villains?
SV2! Already got the material, just working on arrangements.
The Last Bee On Earth’s debut full length album Prism Break is out in the open right now! So no fancy introduction, just listen to a tune and read the exclusive interview!
The Last Bee On Earth is a very evocative name. When exactly did you first start working on your solo career?
I’ve been writing songs since I was in my early teens. I was always better at creating my own or improvising entire songs on the spot than playing covers. I’d start to learn someone else’s track and it would quickly spark an idea or a feeling of my own that quickly turned into something else, so I didn’t learn in the traditional way, but I absorbed a lot of different music, Delta Blues, house, Grunge, Rock, Jazz which affected my own style. It’s great to have influences, but ultimately, there’s an original fire in all of us, that’s what I like to play with musically, and in life! The name came to me from the aether, as most things do. Last Bee on Earth was the whisper and so it had to be that. I knew it would make sense further down the line. You cant go against the flow! It has a few different levels to it apart from the obvious environmental vibes, I’ll keep that mystery open a little!
Your music is truly the work of a solo artist as it encapsulates your entire world view, philosophy and spirituality…
Thank you! So many people, in this crazy world, try to project themselves as something they aren’t or want to be. That’s not a judgement, that’s how this place works, it’s a circular copy factory! But it’s not how I work. Finding who we truly are and why we are here was my ultimate goal, always has been. I’m just trying to get a feeling across, documenting my thoughts and otherworldly adventures of the Now, like a musical time capsule!
… your lyrics refer to the wheel of life, the duality of man, nature… and you seem to have a pre-occupation with the devil…
I spent a lot of time with Robert Johnson as a kid, that may have had an impact! The blues was my musical start really and still the core of my guitar playing, you can hear elements on the album in songs like ‘White Light’ and ‘Two Wolves’. It’s all a documentation of my spiritual journey really, themes and ultimately, my experience here on Earth. I look at life from an outside perspective looking in, I usually sit back and let the higher Mike takeover to be honest. He’s a creative maniac, I’m just along for the ride! But we need each other 🙂 Were both from the Stars.
Can you run us through the album track by track?
In the Woods / Prism Break (it was just a regular day in the forest, until a doorway appeared) Ebb and Flow (Quantum Fluctuations in the Aether and coming changes) White Light (Reincarnation Traps) Testament Song (Duality and Fire) Human Heart (An important health and safety message about protecting yourself from unwanted forces) Two Wolves (Duality, you become which Wolf you feed the most) Here Comes the Wave (Maybe I’m letting people know about something that’s coming, something BIG)
Which instrument do you write on?
Predominantly on guitar, however when you’re pretty (I guess accomplished is the word) on your instrument I find that can take away from the songwriting. This album wasn’t about what I can do with the guitar, so that became secondary really. It was about trying to get what was in my head into the physical, so I built some of the tracks up from beats and piano strictures so some of the songs were a little less guitar based.
Prism Break is a lot more “song based” than the Prologue EP and talking of Prologue, ‘World On Fire’ is a huge dazzling song that Richard Ashcroft dreams of making! How, when and why did it come about, It’s very emblematic of your music…
Ah man, it’s old that! It was probably recorded about 2009 when I was just learning how to make my own recordings with a new set up. To me, it sounds very old as the voice has developed a lot in that space of time. However, production aside it does have its place so I’m glad it featured on Prologue along the more experimental chaos!
My mate John asks after listening to ‘The Concept Of Alan Watts’… “Are the philosophies of Alan Watts to you… or did you create music to accompany his readings because his voice sounds like Hal from Stanley kubricks 2001?”
A bit of both! That track was recorded the day after a heavy weekend at Liverpool Psych Fest a few years back. Can you tell!? Alan Watts is a great philosopher so it was fun to create that track and improvise around his voice. And obviously to make him sound like HAL!
Your record and produce your music yourself, right?
I’m a one stop shop! I’ve had to do it this way to keep costs down. I create so much material it isn’t feasible to pay for all the mixing and mastering that would be needed. I’m opening a new studio space very soon with my wingman Craig, I’m really excited about that. I like Air! I wanted to keep a realism about Prism Break. Its not shiny inside, it’s a shithole! So if anything, I under produced it. Imaginging I was recording in analogue, post blast and technology… Last Bee would use a tape deck not Pro Tools, that’s the vibe (to me anyway!) It was mostly created in a converted shed… I didn’t want to fully bury that reality! The next album will sound very different.
You’re also playing with The Winachi Tribe…!!
Yeah man! That’s my full time gig, being a Tribesman. It’s a beautiful roller-coaster, I love it. I get to play with top musicians, friends and to experience collective bouts of rock and Funk madness. What we’ve done in the last year is beyond expectations, It’s like the Funk dreamboat! How was it playing on the West Coast on tour with them? Who doesn’t want to go touring Los Angeles and California! We’ve got and have made loads of friends in the U.S. The support for the Tribe is strong stateside and our last trip culminated in supporting The Charlatans at the Teragram Ballroom, working with the X man (John X, Bowie, Black Grape, Inxs) at his amazing studio off Venice Beach. Good times!
What’s next with the Tribe?
I honestly can’t yell you, but it’s bigger than your Average planet and there are lots of amazing, mind blowing things happening in the world of the Winachi Tribe!
How hard is it to balance being in groups with a solo career?
Easy! My music is what I do when I’m not doing anything else. Some people watch TV, drink beer, I write and produce music pretty much all the time. I also teach music so it’s a full time music based life. It is important to me to get my stuff out to people who want to listen, but i’ve no grand ideas of becoming a solo star, I have too much fun with the Tribe, I’d be bored on my own!
Do you think solo artists are a dying breed?
No. But maybe Solo artists with something real to say are?
Down here we worship on the altars of John Cale, Tom Verlaine and Julian Cope. As a solo artist, which solo artists do you listen to?
Robert Johnson, Ian Brown, Jose Gonzalez, Johnny Cash, Pj Harvey, a mixed bag!
For the tech heads, what guitars and gear do you play?
My main guitar is a 74 Fender Strat with Kinsman Woodstock Pickups, plus a load of blues guitars. My favourite guitar in the world is my new Taylor 322e acoustic, built in the Heavens! It blows my mind everytime I play, touch or look at it! I’ve got loads of amps but at the moment I’ve gone full Borg and I’m using a Digital Keeper Profiling Amp with the Tribe! It sounds great and is obviously really useful in the studio. I haven’t located it’s Soul yet but I’m working on it!
Prism Break is available right now and we heartily suggest you buy this treasure chest of psych-folk gems!
Warheads is a unique collaboration between Stockport’s kings of heavy space noise Dead Sea Apes and the artist Adam Stone, described on bandcamp as:
Classic British pessimism and speculative dystopian fiction entwine with morbid social commentary and a long piss-streak of bleak humour. This is a claustrophobic and self-contained world where paranoid bunker mentality goes for a Pot Noodle with a faded society always teetering on the brink of collapse, ranting street-punk drops bad acid, and Space Station fuses with Bus Station.
Standing their ground in a dirty jumbled junkyard between Robert Calvert’s schizoid Hawkwind monologues, Dead Kennedys’ stinging cranked-up racket, Gil Scott-Heron’s rhythmic social polemic, Butthole Surfers’ deep-brain-fried psychpunk and John Cooper Clarke’s wry wit.
We were lucky to catch up with Mr Brett Savage, head honcho of Dead Sea Apes to go deep into Warheads; where it came from, how it happened and lot, lots more!
Ok, tell us about Warheads – what is it and why should we buy it?
Warheads is the first proper full album that we have made with Adam Stone. We had worked with Adam a couple of times before and thought that this really was a natural progression. Although it is very much a collaboration, I see Warheads as being an Adam Stone album, where Dead Sea Apes are his house band. I kinda see our collaborations with Adam in the same way that Michael Moorcock worked with Hawkwind, or how when Robert Calvert dragooned in Hawkwind members to play on his solo work, that kind of arrangement. We don’t share a squat in Ladbroke Grove, though.
How, when and why did you first start working with Adam Stone?
We first met Adam at a show at the sadly now defunct Kunst Gallery (R.I.P) in Belper. The shows used to follow a loose mixed media approach where a band would normally follow someone doing a spoken word performance. Adam had told me that his performance would be a dystopian monologue where he toyed with the idea of analog synth noises burbling away in the background as he delivers his intergalactic status report. I idly suggested that I wouldn’t mind adding a few ad hoc noises live whilst he played, not giving much thought as to what that would entail. As it got closer to the show, I asked Chris Hardman (drums) if he would help me construct a drone in the background to complement my synthy warbles (Chris is a sound engineer for the Beeb by trade). So, when it came around to doing the performance, Chris did some live manipulation of the drone whilst I added some improvised noises on the synth. Feeling a little left out, our bass player Nick (who has since left for pastures new) started to pick up his bass and join in. Now, Chris records everything for posterity and the performance was very well received, so Cardinal Fuzz suggested that we release it as a one-sided vinyl, which was released as ‘In The Year 2039’. At the time, we were putting ‘Sixth Side Of The Pentagon’ together. We had discussed bringing other voices into the album. We had also discussed how ‘Sixth Side’ should reflect our geopolitical views in some way (which is pretty tricky as an instrumental band, believe me). Adam is both a political and sociological lecturer. Given how impressed we were with his stand out performance, it almost seemed like the stars had aligned to bring us all together.
After ‘Sixth Side’ was finished, we always knew that we would want to maintain a creative relationship with Adam (who wouldn’t?), We had done a live version of ‘Tentacles’ with Adam, so we knew that we could get things together in the rehearsal room and that it did seem that the next logical step would be to do an album together. Seeing as Dead Sea Apes have generally worked within the instrumental spectrum, how was the change to working with a vocalist? I suppose all of us had been in bands with vocalists before, so it didn’t really seem that odd, and especially as we had done live stuff with Adam, we were pretty much comfortable in each other’s presence. Adam really took the bit between his teeth.
Did DSA make the music to fit the words, did Adam write around the music? Just how collaborative was the process? How long did the album take to write and record – from a production point of view it sounds like a million dollars.
At the point where we started Warheads (which was originally going to be titled Ancoats Community Centre Raga Workshop), Nick had left the band to start his own business, so Dead Sea Apes was just Chris and I. Our usual process of writing in Dead Sea Apes is to do long jams; listen back, pick out stuff that we like, drop in any creative suggestions or directions and develop it from there. We knew that Adam was only there for a limited time, but it just seemed to flow naturally. Adam had a few pointers where he wanted it to go but gave us all the space for it to be processed through the DSA machine and then just picked up the baton and ran wherever it went. Alternatively, Chris and I would start working up a riff or an idea, and Adam would conjure something from his big black ring bound book of words – which was perhaps more in keeping with our usual methodology. Nothing seemed to faze Adam though, he was always more than up to the task. I honestly thought that Adam would do a series of monologues and spoken word pieces in the Moorcock/Cooper Clarke style, but he obviously had a bit of latent vocalist waiting to bust out of him.
As for how the album sounds, well… that’s all down to Chris’s consummate skill as producer, engineer and musician. Everything that we record is recorded in the rehearsal room, but you would never know given how good Chris with his production. Personal biases aside, he is pretty bloody amazing.
I love the album art! Who designed it and what does it mean? Is it partly a reference to The Thing?
That’s all Adam’s work. He has a massive collection of grotesque, amusing and insightful stunning drawings that we could pull from. Presumably, he draws these in lesson times when he’s meant to be marking exercise books.
The first track is huge surprise, sounding as it does, like the Dead Kennedy’s! Where did that come from??
Again, some of the steers came from Adam. He envisioned that kind of nexus of psychedelic punk, punks on acid vibe – Hawkwind, Chrome, Butthole Surfers etc but I think his inner Jello was maybe activated by the surf-y East Bay Ray-ness of the opening riff? He had the germ of an idea but it quickly got recomputed by Chris and I.
I love the groove on ‘Retreat To Your Bunker’! The bass reminds me of ‘Telephone Thing’; by The Fall!
Well spotted, that man. We sketched out the song without a bassline, so I had suggested a sort of Gil Scott Heron type of thing which is kind of reflected in the bass line that Chris (who is, coincidentally, a huge fan of The Fall) came back with. I’m kind of put in mind of the beginning of Frankie’s Two Tribes with this song. We resisted the temptation to record it whilst wearing white vests, though. We are children of the 80’s after all, and the fear of nuclear annihilation was ever present after being fed the nightmare fuel of Threads, When The Wind Blows and any number of worryingly sober public information films.
Parts of the album don’t sound anything like Dead Sea Apes, how was it playing totally new styles?
That was quite a refreshing break in all honesty. I think that with Warheads, we were given the chance to play around with styles and themes a bit, whereas with DSA (and without trying to sound pretentious), the sound pretty much comes straight from the heart.
PiL’s Metal Box is an obvious comparison for me, with Adam as the sermonising John Lydon.
Well, I think Adam had kind of picked up that PiL are a big influence for us, as I think it is for is for him. As far as the sermonising goes, especially with ‘Reduced To Zero’, I think that he is plugging into some real contemporary anxieties with how KPI and ‘target culture’ have pervaded every aspect of everyday life. That’s how I read it, anyway. I’m sure that he’d be able to explain it a lot more eloquently.
One of the things I like most about DSA is how a track on an album tends to pave the way for the album after. ‘The Sixth Side Of The Pentagon’ is the gateway to the album of the same name, on which ‘Tentacles’; sets the precedent for Warheads. I love how your discog is like tumbling down a rabbit hole. Can you tell us about this creative process and how deliberately you set out to make this chain?
There is always a bit of a time lag between when an album is released and what you are working on currently, so it can feel like a bit like that we are all over the place with ideas but I like to think that there is some consistency. The idea with DSA is to try and filter our influences organically and variedly through our music. I like to think that we avoid being generic or being too keen to hop on whichever vogueish influence comes into circulation. I always thought that input = output. Opening yourself up to lots of music fills your head with a wider set of ideas to process and percolate down to your own sounds. We’ve always been keen to share music between us. I think a lot the ideas have developed over time, too. Dub is something that cropped up pretty early with us as a band. I’ve always been interested where that intersects with rock music e.g The Clash, PiL, The Pop Group etc. We also came of age in the 90’s where remixes were the norm as B-sides and stuff and they were often pretty dubby, especially from the likes of Adrian Sherwood, The Orb and Andrew Weatherall etc. Also factor in the way bands like Massive Attack, Little Axe and others who would introduce quite leftfield guitar ideas to be reprocessed that through dubby production. At the same time, there was a reissue label called Blood & Fire, who reissued lots of classic dub and roots reggae albums (partly funded by Mick Hucknall, I hastened to add. Mick Hucknall clearly played a huge role in my musical development. I need to let that sink in!) – so a lot of that filtered into my unconsciousness. I’m not sure about Chris, but I’m sure the innovative production work of King Tubby would have piqued his interest quite early on. He has pretty expansive listening tastes in any case.
What was the idea behind splitting the track ‘The Sixth Side Of The Pentagon’; through the album, splintering it in time? That song seems like a real creative turning point. The bass on that reminds me of ‘Love Lies Limp’; by Alternative TV.
The initial idea of doing a full album in a total dub style was Nick’s, after we had released Spectral Domain, where we’d done an extended dub track called ‘Sixth Side Of The Pentagon’ (the title of which was nabbed from a short film by Chris Marker. The title seemed to suggest that slightly paranoid occulty/conspiracy/deep state vibe that shot through Spectral Domain). From what I remember, Chris had started to take little sections out of the larger jam that became ‘Sixth Side…’ (the song) which became the thematic interludes in the album. It did suggest itself from there. I always saw it like cutting little cultures off from some mould and letting it develop in the Petrie dish of the rehearsal room, which is admittedly pretty mouldy. It is definitely one of my favourite things that DSA have done.
Going back further, Lupus is a bloody bleak album isn’t it?
It is a little! But, if you think Lupus is bleak, wait until you hear our new album, The Free Territory. It sounds like The Beach Boys in comparison!
How and when did the band first get together and what was the first release? How do you look back on it? Also… why Dead Sea Apes?
We got together as a band way back in 2009 on one of those internet dating sites for musicians. So, 10 years ago this year! The first thing that we released was a self-released EP called Soy Dios, which got re-released on our forever home of Cardinal Fuzz a couple of years ago. Its hard to get any perspective on looking back on it, as its always been a part of our set, so never really went away for us. To be honest, that got us quite a bit of positive attention at the time, so its hard to look on it with anything but fondness. 10 years has flown by at a rate of knots and a lot has happened in that time, sometimes without us even noticing it. What we have done is built a back catalogue of records that we are really proud of. We’ve also managed to play lots of great shows and connect with loads of really nice people in the meantime One of our founder members, Nick left last year to set up his own business, so that was a tough time until we could find someone to step into his big shoes. But we’ve found Mr Jack Toker on bass, whose fitted like a glove. We have also expanded the line up by taking Mr Alistair Reid (also in Manchester based Surfy-garage rockers Thee Windom Earles) on keys. As for the name, Dead Sea Apes are a fabled group of Dead Sea dwellers who turned their ears from God and got turned into Apes for their lack of faith. They then went on to develop their own brand of instrumental rock on the shoreline. It seemed as good a name as any.
For the tech-heads, what guitars and pedals do you use?
Man, you must be something of a masochist for asking me that question, as I’ve got a fair old sized pedal board on the go. My favourite pedal of them all is called the Interstellar Overdriver by Death By Audio which is just divine. Wasn’t cheap though! I do swear by the Echo Machine by Behringer, I swear by them enough to have two of them on the go at any one time. They are cheap and cheerful clones with slightly shoddy build quality, but they are amazing. I’d consider having a third if that wasn’t ridiculous. I generally have to take 3 guitars with me everywhere we play because I do like to play in lots of different tunings. It does look a bit extravagant to the untrained eye, but there is no way I’m doing the silly tuning work that would be required between each song. If you are still awake at this point, I play a Guild Bluesbird, jerry rigged with a Bigsby tremolo as my main guitar (which I absolutely LOVE!). As for my others they are Squiers and Epiphones, which as much as they are budget range guitars, I don’t really see or hear any difference in them to their more expensive siblings and love them equally.
What’s next for the Apes from the Black Sea?
Well, considering that we had such a long time out of the loop, we are coming out swinging. We did manage to keep the wheels rolling by releasing a compilation of odd’s and sods called Recondite and Warheads whilst we were a two piece. We also have been finishing off our new record, The Free Territory. We started it back as a 3 piece but have worked on it ever since. It was originally meant to be a cassette release, so we did some of the recordings to tape and is full of spooky tape hiss for added atmosphere. Tonally, its much more in the same place as Lupus. It is a lot darker, introspective and a bit more experimental. It has some full band tracks and others pieced together over time. We also managed to rope in Nik Rayne from one of our favourite bands, The Myrrors to play on it. He was staying at mine for a short while, so we made him sing for his supper, so to speak. This album will be kind of an end piece of the original line up of Dead Sea Apes too. Nick, our original bass player left to open B’Spoke café in Heaton Mersey (good luck, Nick!). So, that takes us up to where we’re up to now. We have a new line up with Al and Jack. On Jack’s first rehearsal, we had a couple of jams with Nik Rayne and those are coming out on vinyl towards the end of the year for those of you who enjoy free-form extended pieces. We are also writing new stuff that sees us going off in new directions, hopefully we’ll start to get that recorded next year – but we are going to be giving them a run out at a few upcoming gigs that we have in May/June. We have also got a gig booked in Belper with Adam Stone (does ASDSA sound like a good band name to you?). We’ve also recorded some tracks for a 7” which will come out with the next issue of Optical Sounds. Thank you for asking the questions – and putting up with the long answers!
colourhorizon 