School of Seven Bells, consisting of the sublime Deheza twins and their lynchpin guitarist Benjamin Curtis, are set to hit Britain by a magical tempest storm with their debut album Alpinisms. Their lucid-dream evoking sounds, created by the hauntingly beautiful voices of the twins, have had them touring with bands such as Prefuse 73 and currently Bat for Lashes, who’s almost sold-out tour is initiating them into the perfect British fan base.
Catching up with them before their 4th gig of the tour in Leeds, they seem pleased with how it’s gone so far. All they knew of Bat for Lashes (who they say is still “pretty underground in the US”) is “that song with the bicycles” – ‘What’s a Girl to do’ - which Alej insisted “blew her mind it was so good”. This little knowledge considered, it was a great fit for School of VII Bells to go before Bat for Lashes, and I was extremely deflated when after only half an hour they blew us away with their final song and modestly departed the stage.
When introducing School of VII Bells to an audience in the UK, you would expect there to be a good understanding of their shoe-gaze ambient pop, what with the Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine’s perennial popularity. They agreed that these comparisons are often made about them, and with it usually comes a “… and I’m a hugee Cocteau Twins fan”, so the reference point is nearly always an encouraging hit. Ben talks of different sensibility in the U.S in more “base level” approaches to music, in contrast to the “appreciation of complexity” here; reactions which are different but equally good in both musical climates.
Both the twins and Benjamin were in previously successful groups before forming for this one, most notably the great cult band The Secret Machines of which guitarist Ben was a part of with his brother. The sound they have brought to SOVIIB is, however, remarkably different and has thus developed a fan base very much apart from their earlier projects. Ben admits that some SM fans “don’t understand the direction”, and most of their current bands don’t even know what their old stuff sounded like. When being determined to stay in the music industry, as they are, they realised that they had to challenge themselves. “Hearing the same music too long- you can fall into habits… when you want to be doing something for a really long time you have to develop your brain a bit more”.
They state that the dream-like atmosphere they invoke on record and in their live set is not a conscious effort; it is just a sum result of the three of them working together with a background in listening to psychedelic music. Hearing them on record, it is difficult to imagine just the three of them creating such an impressive sound. They say that playing live is “totally its own experience” but approached “with the same intention” hence it is just as good- or in my opinion- better.
Both Bat for Lashes and SOVIIB are headed by talented female artists; a fact which is unavoidably incongruous in an industry ever dominated by men. The twins smirk when we bring this up and explain it is something they are often reminded of. Alej passionately elaborates her views of the topic;
“I’m really surprised at how backwards things still are… Like when you’re at a venue and the engineer automatically bypasses the girl and asks the dude what’s going on. It starts there, but it can be anything from reading music press and girls’ voices are always “angelic”, or you’re “ethereal” or you’re a “banshee”. It feels like even if you’re singing with authority and in a very direct tone you’re still placed in the safe category”
As part of the music press, I can empathise with those who cannot help but describe their voices as ethereal, but there is also no doubt they are rifled with authority and blessed with a creativity that surpasses the uninventive mainstream sounds which are screamed down our airwaves. And with 69 more shows ahead of them, it seems that more people are actually tending to agree with this.
Showing posts with label Eliza Lomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eliza Lomas. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Monday, 16 March 2009
John McClure (of Mongrel and Reverend and the Makers) Interview 12/03/09
John McClure of Reverend and The Makers is renowned for being anything but tame, and catching up with him to talk about his new ambitious collaboration, Mongrel, is an exhausting experience in itself. The passion and intensity he holds for the new projects he has been a part of is testament to the inevitability of the success of Saturday 7th March in which their debut album, Better Than Heavy, will be distributed free with The Independent newspaper. The day is a product of the culminating revolution which started shaking long a go and which now, the strong-minded McClure believes, is about to explode in an epiphany of musical gritty reality.
“Music as you know it is dying”, he announces. “There is no way you can justify charging thirteen quid for summit that’s 50p”. Ever the voice of reason, his Yorkshire roots have proved to be swelled with antagonisms for the current apathy in the music scene, which in turn has made him ever the more enthusiastic to shake people up and beat the crowds. He talks a lot about the “former voices of rebellion”: - such as NME, punk bands and old Rock and Roll; all of which have merged into the docile establishment which, despite the masses of cultures, have insisted on ignoring most of them.
“Where is everyone?!” he asks with disbelief lacing every syllable. He waves a
“What’s rock music?” he probes me, in his idiosyncratic way which I soon see is embalmed in the depths of his soul. He wants to show the world that new music - passionate music - deserves a chance in the everyday world, instead of being confined to certain late hours on the radio. This is why at first glance, the collaborations with some of the best hip hop artists around perhaps seen incongruous for someone hailing from the
The new album is not only about producing fresh music, it is also embedded in the greater atmosphere of rebellion. The Independent newspaper is thus the perfect form of distribution, as McClure makes clear that Mongrel are “not afraid of telling the truth”- just as The Independent voices rebellious opinions and won’t stand short of contention. Is this new teaming of media the beginning of the end of music as we know it? With the credit crunch now in full steam ahead, collaborations such as this don’t seem too daft an idea at all.
See wearemongrel for tour dates and download info.
See instigatedebate and find your voice of contention.
Interview by Eliza Lomas
Grammatics Interview 11/03/09
Click here to listen/download Eliza's interview with Grammatics before their gig at the The Cluny!
Interview by Eliza Lomas
Interview by Eliza Lomas
Friday, 14 November 2008
Tourdates
I caught up with Jarrod from the up-and-coming London based music website to check out Tourdates’ benefits for us and how we can contribute all the way from Newcastle.
E: What were your motivations for starting the website?
J: We came up with the idea in 2001 from being frustrated musicians ourselves, and seeing how we and others had little chance of exposure when we were unknown. This was before blogs, of course.
E: So how does it work?
J: It’s like myspace, but without profiles of cats, dogs and pole dancers! It’s just all about the music.
E: What can we do on it?
J: As it works similarly to myspace, it’s like a music community for bands and listeners- bands can add their gig dates, mp3s and videos, and everyone can have their own music blog.
E: So… how does it differ from myspace?
J: We have transposed the form of the website into free zines in London called ‘London Tourdates’, of which 35,000 copies are distributed weekly. Although this is currently restricted to the capital, we are hoping to expand the magazines out of London in the future and get all our online content published. As well as this, the music plays continually when you are on the website, not breaking off when you are searching through the sites pages as on myspace.
E: Has it been successful so far?
J: Yes, 7000 unsigned bands are now featured from being online just seven months. The influences of the unsigned bands direct the users to artists with similar influences, so unsigned bands are made massively available to users. We have had 1.5 million visitors since the start.
E: What other features does the site have?
J: It has an Unsigned Chart [check out here!] which we are eager to expand awareness of. It is created genuinely, from plays and download numbers, instead of the commercial marketing of the real charts. Our RSS feed helps to expose this top 40 to as many people as possible, so real talent can be discovered from it.
E: What are your future plans?
To expand the website further afield, and also get more bloggers- anyone can sign up and if we like their writing they can be promoted to featured writers and get published in the magazines!
E: What were your motivations for starting the website?
J: We came up with the idea in 2001 from being frustrated musicians ourselves, and seeing how we and others had little chance of exposure when we were unknown. This was before blogs, of course.
E: So how does it work?
J: It’s like myspace, but without profiles of cats, dogs and pole dancers! It’s just all about the music.
E: What can we do on it?
J: As it works similarly to myspace, it’s like a music community for bands and listeners- bands can add their gig dates, mp3s and videos, and everyone can have their own music blog.
E: So… how does it differ from myspace?
J: We have transposed the form of the website into free zines in London called ‘London Tourdates’, of which 35,000 copies are distributed weekly. Although this is currently restricted to the capital, we are hoping to expand the magazines out of London in the future and get all our online content published. As well as this, the music plays continually when you are on the website, not breaking off when you are searching through the sites pages as on myspace.
E: Has it been successful so far?
J: Yes, 7000 unsigned bands are now featured from being online just seven months. The influences of the unsigned bands direct the users to artists with similar influences, so unsigned bands are made massively available to users. We have had 1.5 million visitors since the start.
E: What other features does the site have?
J: It has an Unsigned Chart [check out here!] which we are eager to expand awareness of. It is created genuinely, from plays and download numbers, instead of the commercial marketing of the real charts. Our RSS feed helps to expose this top 40 to as many people as possible, so real talent can be discovered from it.
E: What are your future plans?
To expand the website further afield, and also get more bloggers- anyone can sign up and if we like their writing they can be promoted to featured writers and get published in the magazines!
Monday, 10 November 2008
Kid Carpet
As an artist who comes from Bristol, us lot in Newcastle haven’t been exposed very much to the toy-instrument playing, sleeve-tattoo wearing Ed Patrick, or as better known as disguised in his acronym, Kid Carpet. I caught up with him post-US Election day to talk Daniel Johnston, Dan le Sac and the Europeon Song Contest.
E: How would you describe your sound, in a sentence?
KC: Disco-punk-standup-fall down-music. Casino keyboards, small battery operated lightweight devices...
E: Wow, why did you get started with playing these instruments?
KC: Simple enough reason really; so I don’t get a bad back! I can walk to a show, and there is no need to hire a van.
E: What about the sound they produce?
KC: Yeah- they work well, because I’m no maestro guitar player so it made it easier for me.
E: So with this sort of unique sound and bizarre use of instruments, it surely would hard to pin-point what your influences are…
KC: Well, not wanting a job and not wanting to be on the dole.
E: What about music wise?
KC: Ah music- The Kinks, Daniel Johnston… [An inspiring solo artist from America who has severe mental health problems]… I like the solo organ and singing, but I’m obviously not a manic depressive
E: Ever seen the elusive player himself?
KC: Yeah I saw him in London once, it was amazing! Me and my friends kept shouting out for him to play “Speeding Motorcycle” and he ignored us for a while, then shouted back [at this point he re-enacts Daniel’s emotion-ridden voice] “I don’t play speeding motorcycle anymore!”
E: On another note, you recently toured with Dan le Sac, how was that?
KC: Amazing, they were lovely people to hang out with and had perfect audiences for my style of performance- primed for spoken word and for partying. I’m prone to telling stories and babbling between songs, and because they were used to the spoken style of Dan le Sac it didn’t faze them in the slightest.
E: Ok, back to the gadgets, how do they work in live performance?
KC: Well I’m sometimes prone to knock things over and batteries will fall out, but I’m not a technical wizard so I can’t sort it out!
E: I heard a rumour that you applied to the Eurovision song contest last year, is this correct?
KC: Well I had a song I thought would win so I applied to Slovenia, Andorra, a couple of other places- they didn’t go for it.
E: Aw shame, did they even get back to you?
KC: Er, no!
E: That’s unfortunate! Just one final question- I hope you are considering coming to Newcastle again soon?
KC: Yeah, I hope so too! I will be touring again in late February, March.
If Kid Carpet is anything as good as he sounds, his performances will be incredible; so don’t miss him next time around!
Eliza Lomas
E: How would you describe your sound, in a sentence?
KC: Disco-punk-standup-fall down-music. Casino keyboards, small battery operated lightweight devices...
E: Wow, why did you get started with playing these instruments?
KC: Simple enough reason really; so I don’t get a bad back! I can walk to a show, and there is no need to hire a van.
E: What about the sound they produce?
KC: Yeah- they work well, because I’m no maestro guitar player so it made it easier for me.
E: So with this sort of unique sound and bizarre use of instruments, it surely would hard to pin-point what your influences are…
KC: Well, not wanting a job and not wanting to be on the dole.
E: What about music wise?
KC: Ah music- The Kinks, Daniel Johnston… [An inspiring solo artist from America who has severe mental health problems]… I like the solo organ and singing, but I’m obviously not a manic depressive
E: Ever seen the elusive player himself?
KC: Yeah I saw him in London once, it was amazing! Me and my friends kept shouting out for him to play “Speeding Motorcycle” and he ignored us for a while, then shouted back [at this point he re-enacts Daniel’s emotion-ridden voice] “I don’t play speeding motorcycle anymore!”
E: On another note, you recently toured with Dan le Sac, how was that?
KC: Amazing, they were lovely people to hang out with and had perfect audiences for my style of performance- primed for spoken word and for partying. I’m prone to telling stories and babbling between songs, and because they were used to the spoken style of Dan le Sac it didn’t faze them in the slightest.
E: Ok, back to the gadgets, how do they work in live performance?
KC: Well I’m sometimes prone to knock things over and batteries will fall out, but I’m not a technical wizard so I can’t sort it out!
E: I heard a rumour that you applied to the Eurovision song contest last year, is this correct?
KC: Well I had a song I thought would win so I applied to Slovenia, Andorra, a couple of other places- they didn’t go for it.
E: Aw shame, did they even get back to you?
KC: Er, no!
E: That’s unfortunate! Just one final question- I hope you are considering coming to Newcastle again soon?
KC: Yeah, I hope so too! I will be touring again in late February, March.
If Kid Carpet is anything as good as he sounds, his performances will be incredible; so don’t miss him next time around!
Eliza Lomas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
