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Papooz talk ‘The Garden’
France’s Papooz are made up by Armand & Ulysse, a duo originally thrown together as teenagers during boozy gatherings of literary obsessives in Paris. Regularly bunking off from studies at the Sorbonne, they would meet up at the city’s Luxembourg Gardens. Early and altogether more earnest aspirations - made whilst outrunning the garden’s guards in a haze of weed smoke.
We spoke to the duo, getting their thoughts on ‘The Garden’ as well as discussing some of their upcoming projects...
How have you guys been? What have you been up to?
We’re great. We’re both in Paris working on the recordings of our third album. We did a recording session with our live band at our drummer’s studio (La Ferme Records) in the south-west of France, near Bordeaux, the minute confinement was over.
What was it that originally led you both collaborating together musically?
Chance. We ran into each other and became friends eight years ago. We both were in love with guitar music, bossa nova and classic rock songs. We started writing songs together and recording music on GarageBand directly through the computer’s microphone, releasing them every Sunday on SoundCloud. It all grew from there.
‘The Garden’ draws influence from both the Renaissance period and peak-era MTV. What made you want to mix these ages together?
Armand had this idea to do a sword-and-sandal movie about the genesis when we were going over the lyrics of the song. A lot of paintings of Adam & Eve are from the Renaissance era, most of them are by the German painter Lucas Cranach L’Ancien. We scooted through his work and tried to reproduce some of his paintings with a shitty DV camera. As for the MTV influence, if you were born in the 90’s like us, it’s something you couldn’t escape. It’s the essence of music videos: shoot a band in a sexy way.
What is it about the story of Adam and Eve that made you drawn to the idea?
It came more from the title of the song ‘The Garden’. Then we sat down with Victoria Lafaurie & Hector Albouker (our friends who directed the video), and thought he could be fun to re-write genesis book 3 a bit, and put the blame on Adam. After all, he’s the one who eats the apple!
Why did you chose to work with La Ferme Records for this single?
It’s the first place we ever played music together with our live band. Back then it was only a barn with a run-down piano and no windows. Kids were crashing there for the summer, and we jammed with the local musicians playing blues and old RnB tunes. Our drummer, Pierre Marie Dornon, made it into a full operative recording studio within a couple of years. It’s amazing the amount of work he’s accomplished. The studio is all wooden, and very beautiful. There’s an old stove, you record facing a splendid garden, the first town in 15 kilometres away. It’s a dream.
The music video is incredibly DIY. Do you think you would’ve chosen to shoot a video in this style, had there not been reason to do so?
We just went with the flow. Everything was close because of the confinement. Production companies weren’t even budgeting films! The fun fact for our directors was to shoot something really aesthetic (scenes from old paintings, long de-zooms, backlight lighting) with some really shitty gear. It’s hard to tell what camera we used, it looks in between Super 8 our Super 16!
You mentioned earlier that you’ve been working on your third album, when can we expect to see that?
We don’t know for sure with the COVID situation… But we hope to release a full new album in 2021! We might release a few singles before that.
Which artists have you been listening to recently?
A lot of Hank Williams, the lastest Angel Olsen song ‘A Whole New Mess ‘, the new Oracle Sisters EP and some tracks by Emitt Rhodes.
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Children Of The Pope
Who are Children Of The Pope? Well they’re your friendly dystopian biblical rockers that serve all of your DIY needs. We have the pleasure of introducing the band on a very personal level, with their first ever published interview. In this exclusive first, we will take you on a journey allowing you to experience what is Children Of The Pope. You can currently find their latest single ‘Dying Cold’ on Spotify, and keep watch for the 1st of March as their exhilarating new single ‘Street of Chance’ is set for release, you will not be disappointed.
The band is made up by João (lead guitar and vocals) a tall Brazilian-Italian man with a degenerate sense of humour, Fells (drums) a Tropical Rio De Janeiro Latin lover born in the wrong era, Karolina (vocals) always aware of her surroundings, usually everyone is looking at her whilst she’s staring back at them, Lizzy (bass guitar) a runaway daughter of Reading town, with a portfolio of Christian praise on excess, Callum (lead and rhythm guitar) who's tale claims that he staggered to London from the depths of Cambridgeshire after a drunken bender, and last but not least, Deniz (keys) a Turkish man who knows more about music than any other person in the business.
Although this is understandably a difficult time for any band to be in, our interview with João had a true feeling of benevolence, which in turn is portrayed through their live shows too, Children Of The Pope are a rarity in the scene. There is a clear sense of comradeship with the punters and the band and this clearly correlated with the level of enjoyment they emit from the stage.
How would you describe your music? What bands would you say are your biggest influences?
“Dark, grand Dionysian music”, Dionysiac tunes from the folk to the folk. We try, through means of intoxication to turn ourselves into squirming mediators of artistic endeavour to entertain the regular layman sitting at the pub or the average house wife listening to us on their stereo. “We come from a long line of entertainers’’, Although we have immersed ourselves in every kind of mind altering dystopian sounds from an early age, it was really the old times garage rock and roll that portraits our personality best, rough dirty beats with catchy melodies and plenty of underlying cynicism. To name a few, we could put Os Mutantes, Link Wray and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins on that list.
We’ve seen you guys a good few times at Windmill now, what would you say your biggest gigs have been so far?
We have headlined a few sold out shows at The Windmill and venue MOT, trying my hardest to remember, id say these were the civil partnership gig at the windmill in 2019, One of the great Bible Club Nights in the same year, and a few gigs we put on at the MOT.
How have you guys been fairing with the pandemic in terms of getting your music out there, gigging is obviously at a moot point now, but how have practices been going?
We try to make the most of what we can get. We never made any significant amount of money from music anyway, so it doesn’t change much financially and we are always broke, but it could be worse if this pandemic had hit us in a different period of time. We have taken this chance to record and work on new material which is something that we put a lot of effort into, as it pleases us just as much as playing gigs, like working on a painting.
Considering the last question, how was ‘Dying Cold’ recorded and released?
‘Dying Cold’ was recorded in The Bookhouse Studios in surrey quays, we practiced it a lot in our church space and booked the studio for 8 hours only (all we could afford), Bashed the songs out all first try and spent the remaining hours working on overdubs and polishing the rear view mirror. We Held on to the songs for about 6 months not sure what or how to put it out there. We emailed every single record label we knew but it was no use, I assume because it is hard times for everyone in the industry, so we just chucked it onto Spotify ourselves. This whole ordeal of trying to get people to notice your music can be extremely exhausting so we just try to do our thing and hope for the best.
You guys always have a very streamlined approach to performance, the sheer talent is evident and you’re electric! Are there ever any bumps in the road or hiccups on the way?
Although we are shy to say it but we always believed in our great work, believed that we knew what we wanted and that we could in fact do it. You have to put yourself in some sort of godly altar in order to make a difference, even if you cry yourself to sleep at night. If you don’t believe in yourself you are set up to be mediocre.
Thank you, the road with the Children Of The Pope have been always smooth when it comes to reception, I think we gave the kids what they wanted when they wanted it. Before the Children Of The Pope formed, there were long years of sheer rejection blast-projected onto all of us.
Going on from this incredible single, how was ‘Street of Chance’ recorded? What made you guys feel that this would be better to release separately from ‘Dying Cold’? How was it written? What was the inspiration behind it?
‘Street of Chance’ was recorded in the same batch of songs as ‘Dying Cold’ at BookHouse Studios in Surrey Quays. The melody and structure was written in a cooperative effort between all of us in the studio but then I laid some old lyrics I had for another song that were inspired a documentary called “streetwise”, that I watched when I was younger and had related to it deeply. The film is about street kids from Seattle in the 80’s and their everyday hustle to survive the city, hence the lyrics about broken families, dirty overgrown alleys and all other types of stuff you learn in the royal academy of life.
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Words by Aidan Dunne
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THE GOA EXPRESS
From Lancashire and Yorkshire comes THE GOA EXPRESS, a five-piece group with their latest single ‘Be My Friend’ - a track that pushes the importance of friendship as something deeper, and to reject the falseness and flattery of the modern world. The band further describe the song’s message as being about “taking a step away from those who’re always trying to get close to you and as both a shout out to individuality and an acceptance of rejection. It’s a dismissal of the modern world's hyper-connectivity and a return to privacy, rather than the involvement of everyone knowing everyone's business all of the time.
We talked to James from the group to get his thoughts on what it’s like to be a band during lockdown, the new single and much more...
You guys have been together since you were teenagers, have you always been known as THE GOA EXPRESS?
We met at secondary school in Burnley and have been close mates since; a trip to our first festival in 2016 and a move to Burnley college cemented the friendship. Starting at 16, the ‘band’ started messing around in the practise rooms we were banned from and then slowly progressed - at our own pace - to playing live.
Finding a band name is the hardest part of being in a band. Initially, we struggled and our attempts weren’t great. Out of frustration, we chose The Vermis as our first band name. James tattooed this on his knee but scratched it off within a week when the name changed again. We settled for THE GOA EXPRESS after James and Joe’s mum spotted it on the back of a soup tin.
Can you remember what sort of music initially made you want to collaborate?
We were all quite big into 60s stuff when we were at college and I guess that’s when we started taking the band a little bit more seriously. Anything from early Rock n Roll to late Psychedelia seemed to get played a lot at parties and gatherings. Nothing other than boredom, however, made us want to collaborate together.
Which artists have you been listening to recently?
Folamour and Aldous Harding.
‘Be My Friend’ came at a time where the internet is considered the best form of staying connected. Do you feel that social media is changing the idea of ‘friendship’ means?
Friendship is friendship, it can only be defined by those who share it. All we can say is that it seems to be a little more intrusive these days, and we’re not sure whether that holds more positives than negatives overall. Real intimacy and thoughtful communication seem to have been lost somewhere along the way.
You collaborated with Ross Orton on the production of ‘Be My Friend’, how different were his techniques to Nathan Saoudi who you produced ‘The Day’ with?
Working with both Ross and Nathan had benefits. Nathan had more of a DIY approach when recording ‘The Day’, and for half of the first day we struggled to get anything working. Soon after, however, we got into the groove of things and the song took shape. He had some great ideas and took it in a great direction.
We originally recorded a demo of ‘Be My Friend’ with Nathan at Champ Zone and then later took it next door to Ross, who worked his magic in the next building. There was both a relaxed and productive atmosphere in the studio and his crazy collection of synths kept us busy for the 2 days that we spent with him.
Which venues are you most looking forward to playing at when you can?
The Golden Lion in Todmorden has always been home to us. Gig and WAKA treat us like family and have since we were little ‘uns. It’s never just a gig, but always so much more than that. Hopefully, they can get back to doing what they do best - putting on great nights.
Aside from that, we also look forward to playing just about anywhere in Manchester, as most of the independent venues there have been important with our progression. It’s always easy for us to stay out and make it home okay.
Is it frustrating to be in a band right now?
It’s a little frustrating, but so what? We aren’t gonna let it get to us. It’s too easy to get down these days. We still meet up all the time, go out & have fun, practise in the city and do pretty much everything we used to. The only thing that we can’t do and miss, is playing. Hopefully, we can fix this soon.
What’s next for THE GOA EXPRESS? More music soon?
Much of the same - taking everything as it comes and enjoying ourselves as much as possible along the way. We’d like to think there will be more music soon. There’s no reason why not, we have stuff ready and waiting to be recorded. We’ll have a rough demo of all our tracks down soon.
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Pillow Queens Debut Album
Dublin band Pillow Queens are a band who are both concerned with producing music alongside pushing for social change. Forming back in 2016, they released their first EP the following year titled ‘Calm Girls’. 2020 saw the release of their debut album ‘In Waiting’ - We caught up with their guitarist, Cathy McGuinness, to find out who Pillow Queens, as well as discuss what their album is all about.
Who are Pillow Queens? Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
Pillow Queens are a four-piece Indie rock band from Dublin (Pam & Sarah), Kildare (Rach) & Wicklow (Cathy). First and foremost, though, we’re friends. We’ve known each other for many moons and we’ve been in some very bizarre and funny situations together. None of which we’re prepared to write down. All of these things considered, we felt it only right to start a band and it looks like we were right!
What’s the motivation behind your music? Where do you find inspiration?
Our music is the offspring of our experiences. Love, life, loss etc. We take inspiration from our surroundings and our past brushes with music. We’ve all played in bands previous to Pillow Queens. I think we have all taken a lot from those bands. When we joined forces, it just clicked. As four queer women playing together (that experience was new to all of us!) we just kind of got it. We had similar experiences we all related to. So, while this sounds superbly cliché, I think we inspire each other.
The band seems to be going from strength to strength since forming, what’s been the highlight moment for you?
I mean, the obvious would be touring on a double-decker bus with SOAK, playing with Future Islands, Pussy Riot, American Football, selling out all of our favourite venues in Ireland and loads of great spaces in the UK. I think for all of us, though, to be asked to be part of KEXP in Iceland was the pinnacle. We were all trembling with fear and frostbite but we loved every second. DJ Kevin Cole is such a dude as well, what a gent!
‘Holy Show’ has had a brilliant reception since its release. What’s it like as a band to see people respond and engage with your material?
It makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside!! The first time we played ever, people sang back ‘Rats’ to us. We all looked at each other and said “err what?”. People were invested and they wanted us to do well. That wave of positivity was magic.
Fast forward to touring in new places where people would come to us after shows and tell us what our music means to them. I think it fuels the band, honestly. Pillow Queens feels like it’s run on a community. It’s not just us anymore, our fans are an integral part of what Pillow Queens is. We have parents coming up to us now saying that their daughters look up to us!
We asked people to send us selfies for our video for ‘Liffey’. Seeing everyone’s face in the Liffey was surreal. These people cared enough to be part of something.
Speaking of new releases… How does it feel have released your debut album?
Ohhh... it’s a wave of all of the emotions. We’re excited, we’re scared and all of the things in between. We all feel like the album is how we want it to be. Hopefully everyone else does too! Every time we get tagged in a review though, my stomach does flip a bit. Thankfully, so far everything has been positive.
What was it about the name ‘In Waiting’ you felt best described the album?
We all have different interpretations of the album title. It was suggested and it just felt right for each of us individually. When we discussed it, we all had really different ideas of what it meant, but all equally valid. It was fun teasing it out actually. We felt that ‘In Waiting’ felt like that space between childhood and adulthood and that incongruence in between, yearning for both but having neither. Our generation seems to be stuck in that gap. We keep getting screwed by our government and the idea of having a home or a permanent job is a foreign concept and if that does happen, we are embarrassingly grateful. We are waiting for something better. An equal Ireland for all. For our brothers and sisters in Direct Provision, Mental Health facilities, in Homelessness. We are all in waiting.
Have you made any plans to tour with the new music soon?
Yes! And we are remaining superbly optimistic about this. We have a tour planned in February for Ireland and the UK. Tickets are selling like hotcakes so you better get on it!
Who influences Pillow Queens outside of music?
Our families. After the tour, when all the shenanigans are done, we retreat to our mam’s for hugs so they can tell us we are ‘good girls’. We can pretend to be rock n’ roll but the love and support from our families is second to none.
Also, I think the girls really dig Harry Styles, it would be remiss of me not to say. And I’m a big fan of Britney.
#FreeBritney
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Inside the mind of Lazarus Kane
Streatham-American cowboy, Lazarus Kane, is a man of many mysteries. His latest single ‘Night Walking’ was in his own words ‘originally written as a Bond theme for ‘Live And Let Die’ back in 1973, however it lost out to Paul McCartney and Wings, whose ingenious use of the surprise reggae section was the cherry on top for Sir Roger Moore’. A hard man to read, who really knows when it comes to Lazarus Kane? We talked to the man behind the sunglasses and tassel boots to see for ourselves...
So, your new single ‘Night Walking’ has been out for a little while now, how has the reception been?
The reaction has been one of the most humbling of my life here on planet earth. Not even the birth of my twin sons, Xavier and Samson, comes close to the extraordinary feeling of releasing a pop song onto the internet. Since its release, I’ve sold all my possessions and now spend my days on bended knee, praising a huge monitor projecting “PLAYLIST” at me all day, every day.
There’s been a lot of speculation as to where the idea for ‘Night Walking’ originated from. Could you set the record straight?
Well, it was originally written as Bond theme as I have discussed with other journalists, but where did it actually come from? Who knows? Somewhere deep inside the human psyche I guess. It’s a primal song, written to the tempo of an inebriated wander through nocturnal streets. There’s poetry in movement.
Can you tell us a little bit about what influences you outside of music?
Recently, I have been reading the works of Francis Plug, a fantastic author, and, a dear dear friend of mine. His book ‘How To Be A Public Author’ is truly spellbinding, and, in my opinion, he is one of this centuries most underrated authors. I implore you to seek out his work, pronto.
What initially attracted you first to Bristol, and then the South London music scene?
Look, I just go where the strong winds of small venues take my battered body. I hear the trumpet call? I obey. In many ways, I am a troubled superhero, soaked to my very marrow with export lager and grease. Don’t look at me! Time is slipping away and what have I to show?
Which artists have you been listening to recently?
Big dig on ‘Pain Olympics’ by Crack Cloud. Also wearing out my tape machine with ‘It was a Good Day’ by Ice Cube. Stone cold classic, hahaha!. Also, a rather pretty ditty called ‘I Don’t Know’ by Beastie Boys. Tearjerker.
From what we’ve seen, you’re the king of sarcasm when it comes to… well, just about anything. Is that something you’ve picked up since coming across the pond? Or is it who you’ve always been?
I read a book once called 12 Steps To Perfect Sarcasm. For me, that was the real turning point.
Was this always the plan? Did you ever expect to be producing music and playing live shows when you were younger?
I prefer not to make plans. Life has a nasty habit of scuppering them with a particular zest. The best thing you can do is ride the sweet wave of life in whatever way you can, and to enjoy the ride. This ain’t no return ticket baby, and there are NO REFUNDS.
Lastly, what’s Lazarus Kane’s plans moving forward?
Living, Laughing, Loving.
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DEADLETTER talk ‘Fit For Work’
South London band DEADLETTER are vetrans of the scene, playing regularly at local venues such as The Windmill before the pandemic threw live music into a world of uncertainty. We caught up with lead singer Zac from the band to see how they’ve been coping with the latest restrictions, as well as talk about releasing new music under the new name.
How did you arrive at the name DEADLETTER?
We decided a while ago that a name change was due. We regard DEADLETTER as a whole new entity, not associated with our previous incarnation. Of course, there’s no need to erase history, but we weren’t happy with what we had to show with the previous name, and because of a year’s worth of dissatisfaction in tracks we’d recorded, and producers we’d worked with who maybe hadn’t quite clicked with our “sound”, it ended up seeming a good idea to release a fresh single to the world as a phoenix from the ashes rather than tailing on from an EP which, on the whole, no longer represented us as a band. The name change was an incredibly stressful process - inevitably so when there are 5 other people to please with each pitch. However, one night in a pub in Brixton, DEADLETTER was spoken, written down on a napkin alongside 4 or 5 other names, to which we then spoke about each one, crossing them off until DEADLETTER remained.
With the name change and new music you’re bringing out, did you view this as an opportunity to start fresh?
As previously mentioned, I think it was time for a new start. Not only musically but, I suppose, stylistically. We’d gone for a fairly DIY approach both in sound and visuals back with Mice, which is fun up to a point, however, there’s only so long that you can make stencils in your living room before feeling the urge to “clean up” if you like. You look around you, and yes, it’s wonderful to think that the members of the band are the ones behind the “style” but I think a fresh set of eyes and ears is what’s really needed to create an atmosphere that works like clockwork and has just enough elementally to be eclectically appealing. I think we’ve also learnt how to play our instruments (at least everyone else has, I prefer to just hold a microphone these days- much better after a show too- I’m on my second post-performance-pint whilst the others are still arguing about 9 volt adapters). All in all, it was seen as an opportunity to sort of say, fuck you, we’re going to sound like a well-produced band whilst still playing our raunchy mix up of Post-Punk and garage tunes, and it’s going to work.
Do you guys hang out together outside of the band?
Myself and Alfie (Drums) were born and brought up (for a few years) within a 20-minute walk of one another. The same goes for myself and George (Bass) who both attended (two different) schools together until the age of 16. It started out just George and I going busking on weekends, with the addition of Alfie, and was decided fairly early on that due to the lack of musical potential where we came from (small towns in the North of England), that perhaps moving to London together one day would be an attainable and wholesome venture. I’m not sure about the latter, but we made it happen (the struggle was definitely the word of the day for our first few months together). Of course upon moving here an expansion of sound was decided on, and we now regularly wake up to one (or both) of the guitarists lounging about our abode. Since COVID-19, we’re all in different places, but no doubt will all convene as one again when London starts to open up musically.
Can you tell us a story about ‘Good Old Days’? What does it mean to you?
‘Good Old Days’ was and is my way of expressing regards for an issue that I felt shouldn’t be explored in too explicit a manner - so as to maintain an air of both dignity and sensitivity in an implicit way. The song’s title is a phrase taken directly from one of the many perpetrators of reminiscing about the history of the USA for the most shamefully deplorable reasons. I find it disgraceful that you have these people in positions of power, trying to leverage the historical hatred and discrimination against minorities for personal/political gain (and that isn’t to say it isn’t the same here in our own country). Prejudice in any way is and always will be something I, and, I can easily speak on behalf of the others for this, completely despise. I think if progress is desirable and worth striving for, then prejudice is synonymous with regression.
Are there any bands you’ve been obsessed with over the last few weeks?
I know that Alfie’s been getting stuck right into those new Massive Attack singles that they’ve released on Youtube. Alfred’s always been an avid Massive Attack head- maybe that even rings through in his drumming at times- hard to say without an outsider’s perspective. The others are funny because one day they’ll be indulging in Don Juan’s reckless daughter, and the next I’ll have George sending me some South London drill, absolutely enamoured with it. I suppose I’m similar in the sense of diversity, but my phases tend to be a little more pigeonholed. If I’m listening to Dylan, it’ll be Dylan, The Band, Neil Young, Townes Van Zandt, likewise if I’m listening to The Fall, it’ll be The Fall, The Bad Seeds, Young Marble Ginats. Ebbs and flows, but in a more coordinated way. We’ve also unanimously shared our love for Fixer-Upper, the new single from fellow Northerners Yard Act, and look forward to seeing what else they’ve got up their sleeve for the coming months.
How would your most recent single ‘Fit For Work’?
‘Fit For Work’ in itself, is far more than a statement about the DWP. I gathered all these ideas of writing this long, drawn-out tune about the brutality of British society and government, and realised that perhaps it was a case of “the less words, the better”. It’s supposed to put all these outrageous ideas on the table, but is unfortunately also heavily rooted in reality. Imagine something as absurd as seeing someone in a wheelchair and saying “well at least you have strong arms”. Now imagine a member of our beloved ruling class doing the same… What comes across as extreme and overemphasised actually doesn’t rub off all that far from the truth, and that’s the whole idea encapsulated within the song.
When did you record the track? Was it difficult to work on music collaboratively given the current climate?
When lockdown hit we all sort of headed our separate ways- got out of London as quickly as possible before it was off the table as an option (we all just made it pre the 23rd March Lockdown announcement. It was definitely 23rd March by the way- before any of those cretins start trying to claim otherwise. Obviously, we had this single ‘Good Old Days’ ready to go, but upon its release quite quickly realised that if we didn’t come up with some sort of plan of action, it may be months and months before being able to share anything else with the world. Luckily, we were able to use the same producer, Rhys Downing, again, and were able to get to London and get the track done just as Lockdown had started to ease.
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We’re Back!
It’s been an unusual few months to say the least since we last posted back in October... We’re sorry for the lack of content and information about where Lost and Found have been, it’s been a combination of personal commitments and unforeseen circumstances regarding.
We began working on our next print magazine straight after the release of Issue #2, interviewing artists and getting the designs ready to print. We ran into problems when restrictions became tighter and were struggling to meet deadlines as a result. Unfortunately, we had to scrap Issue #3 as a result of this, which was hugely disappointing to us as we really wanted to continue with the momentum we’d built up. However, we’ve decided we don’t want to waste what are some great interviews with fantastic bands! So we’re going to release the content we collected through our website instead. They’ll be released over the next couple of weeks (keep in mind most of these interviews took place over August and September).
We reason we took a break from October until now was due to personal commitments and wanting to return completely refocused on the magazine. Our aim from now is to keep updating our website for the foreseeable future with new interviews and content until we can move back to into print as well!
Thanks for sticking with us!
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The Ringards latest single ‘Helen Mirren B/W Septums (Muzzle Me)’
London based band, The Ringards, have kicked off October with their latest single ‘Helen Mirren B/W Septums (Muzzle Me)’. The tracks tease us with a new sound that the guys have been working on throughout these isolated months. ‘Helen Mirren’ takes elements of baroque pop and mixes them with alt-rock, similar to that of TLSP. While ‘Septums (Muzzle Me)’ takes a heavier approach and doesn’t hold back on the punchy guitar riffs and pounding drum beats.
We caught up with Vinny from the band, to see what he’s been up to recently as well as find out how the band have been operating since the pandemic shut down the live music industry.
How’ve you been Vinny?
I’ve been okay, just started my third year of Uni and have started to write some new material.
What can you tell us about the new singles?
All I can really say is, they’re bloody amazing. We spent a hell of a lot of time on these ones and we’re really excited for everyone to hear them.
How do you feel about them when comparing them some of your previous work?
They’re quite different to any of the other tracks, we’ve got some sort of sound grounded now and these new songs give a little insight into what the new sound is like.
How do you go about writing and recording music over such a tricky period?
We’ve all been writing bits and pieces through lockdown and sending them to each other to try and adapt bits we see potential in, trying to make something good.
What’s your thoughts on the live music scene at the moment?
It’s a weird one at the minute, still finding it all quite jarring. The sit-down gigs are pretty good, it’s nice to hear some actual live music again.
With that being said, when do you think people can expect to hear your new music in person?
Hopefully in the next couple of months! We’ve got something in the works right now that we’ll announce once everything’s sorted.
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Kimbo Nice release ‘Joop! Homme’
Ever since their last single ‘Yolanda’ released back in April, fans have been buzzing to see what Bristol band, Kimbo Nice, would have in store next... The answer is ‘Joop! Homme’, a self-aware track that realises both the changes and consistencies in our lives.
Looking to find out more about the new single, we caught up with the band; speaking to Ali (vocals), James (guitar), Taryn (drums) and Oly (bass) who’ve been collaborating together since early 2018.
Kimbo Nice formed around early 2018, what’s changed about the band over that duration of time?
Ali: During this time Taryn came through to take the reins behind the drums. Our sound and style has developed. We’ve moved on from certain songs and just want to carry on creating, having fun and expressing ourselves.
James: We like our songs to remain relevant to our current lives. As our lives change the songs change with them, we try to keep our sets fresh and exciting for both us and the audience. Singing about something that happened to us a year ago is hard to fake.
Can you talk about your latest single ‘Joop! Homme’ a little bit?
Ali: 'Joop! Homme' is a realisation that something’s change and somethings stay the same. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. It’s about being free and having fun but also about realisations, about self awareness and reflection. Compromise is necessary but compromising yourself can be too much.
Taryn: We wanted 'Joop! Homme' to sound a lot fuller than our previous releases, so we worked closely with our producer Dom Mitchison to create different layers of percussion inspired by bands like LCD sound system, FEET and Squid. They’re subtle, but the shakers, claves and all the other percussive pieces involved really helped to bring the song to life.
What sort of music influences went into the writing and recording of this new track?
Ali: I remember listening to Slow Thai around that time and Baxter Dury.
Oly: Also a lot of Fontaines D.C. and Dominic Fike.
It feels like we’re so close to live music’s return after the longest time out, but there’s still talk of a ‘second wave’ happening. What’s your opinion on the situation?
James: For the love of God please don’t let there be a second wave.
The UK Governments initial slack response to this pandemic has prolonged any sort of national recovery. Outside shows, socially distanced seated shows and live streams seem to be the safest bet until the time is right. As much as I’d love to I don’t think we should rush into playing packed out sweaty rooms again too soon.
With everything going on around us, everyone is adapting. Working from home seems to have been made more possible, and the new norm in most professions. Do you think that long-term; the concept of seeing a live performance will be shared with bands live streaming?
Oly: I’m sure gigs will still be the main focal point for when artists are performing as live stream is not the same. But there will definitely be a rise in people putting on home shows for fun or even pre album listens as I think it's a great way to keep fans entertained when artists are not on tour.
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Roscoe Roscoe’s new single ‘Brain Retrieve’
East London based five-piece Roscoe Roscoe are the newest iteration of psychedelic music to emerge from the prolific capital, first noticed by many for their BBC televised performance at Glastonbury last year despite having no released music. Their explosive debut track, ‘Brain Retrieve’, released on the emerging label and collective Slow Dance Records on 19th August 2020.
Despite clear nods to a shared love of 60s counterculture, their take is not sheerly revivalist but circulates a fresh pulse of blood through the veins of the chameleonic genre. The reference to a host of older and more recent sonic influences, including avant-pop bands such as Stereolab and Broadcast, alongside psychedelics Wand and Tame Impala indicate that their approach to making music is that of a generation who have been able to take non-specific and widely drawn sources via the infinite bank of the internet.
Like their contemporaries, the Mercury award-nominated Black Midi, the teenagers met whilst studying Music performance and Technology at The Brit School. Their band name came out of a random online generator, a testament to the lack of pretension that some might think their education and talent would suggest. Made up of frontman Charlie Read Clarke, Guitarist Jacob Muna, Synth player Milanka Caballero, Bassist Charlie Brown and Drummer Ben Limmer, the group have at once an incredibly fresh energy and a laid-back attitude that spills into their music. Their unique sound brims with glowing guitar tones and melodic, shimmering synths, self-described perhaps slightly tongue-in-cheek as ‘a warm, floating dream’, as they are often on the edge of veering to something far heavier. ‘Brain Retrieve’ certainly sets them out with a bang, and the track sounds massive right from the opening guitar riff.
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GFE release ‘Persuade U’
GFE are your perfect blend between Shoegazey post-punk and Lo-Fi electronica and with their new EP, ‘Persuade U’ the heat is turning up with them at the end of the summer.
I caught up with frontman Matt Fletcher, getting a totally exclusive insider interview, discovering how their music has developed from the tail of their album, ‘Struggle Sessions’, their creative processes not to mention a certain dalliance with ‘psychoactive substances’ and ‘celebratory fags’.
The blend of electronica and spacious vocals blew me away whilst listening to ‘Persuade U’, which is in some contrast to 2019’s ‘Struggle Sessions’. Is ‘Persuade U’ the direction you want to go with the band?
I expect I'll start writing more music later this year and the direction is something I'm still deciding on. It will depend on circumstances and who in the band is around. There's not much guitar in this record, so I'd like to try writing songs on guitar again, so we'll see where that ends up.
What made the change from being a more shoegaze/post punky vibe band in ‘Struggle Sessions’, compared to the much more atmospheric and rhythmic based tunes heard in the new EP?
The writing of the EP was during a reflective and difficult time for me personally, so there's a lot more melancholy in the lyrics and atmosphere of some of the songs. We had a dalliance with some psychoactive substances at the time of writing which had an effect on the sound, which I think is much more psychedelic and atmospheric. Finally, personnel played a factor. Oscar (drums) and Dave (guitar/keys) are both in demand as session musicians as well as being involved in a number of personal projects, so basically it was just me and Beal (bass) writing together and trying to get songs churned out. I've collected quite a few synths and drum machines over the years so they replaced the absent humans.
What are the biggest factors in the creative process and production with the EP.
Usually I'd make a beat on a drum machine, mess with it on Logic, maybe have a synth part and Beal would write a bass part. Whilst he would be writing/practicing before recording, I'd be singing a melody, maybe with a few prominent lyrics but mostly nonsense. He would record his bass and fuck off outside for a celebratory fag. In that time I'd record my nonsense and decipher actual lyrics from that and re-record. Then we'd throw around ideas about structure and finally add more instruments and finesse!
What would you say the titular track of the EP would be?
Well the EP is called ‘Persuade U’ after the song. ‘Persuade U’ was written whilst we were writing 'Struggle Sessions', but it wasn't really a fit in that album, but we always resonated with it. In some ways it was a catalyst into writing this EP and influenced the style and sound.
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Words by Aidan Dunne
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TV Priest’s latest single ‘This Island’
TV Priest are back with their latest single ‘This Island’, the first from their debut album 'Uppers' due for release mid November through the label Hand In Hive. In their own words, the track is “a song about feeling under prepared in your responses yet powerful in your convictions”. In true ‘TV Priest’ style, they tackle the incoherence and inarticulate responses, both personal and political, in a time and place you don’t fully understand anymore.
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Interview with James Martin
Your favourite alternative musician’s favourite alternative musician, James Martin, is slowly becoming a potent influence on the burgeoning London alt rock/pop Scene. Whether working with Black Country, New Road’s Isaac Woods, Famous or Jerskin Fendrix, James Martin brings an otherworldly brilliance to the music. However, much like Brian Eno, his solo work stands-out as much as his collaborations.
His debut Our Giant Panda is Not Pregnant feels like nothing else out there at the moment - sounding like an electronic Orphic descent to the underworld.
I caught up with James Martin to dive a bit deeper into his immersive debut and how he is using his times these days.
How would you describe your music?
It’s pop music, which is to say, it’s an attempt to bear witness to human suffering which does not presuppose an experiential gap between the instruments and victims of that suffering.
Your debut release Our Giant Panda is Not Pregnant released by Slow Dance just celebrated its first anniversary. Could you explain how that album came together?
A few years ago I found myself living in a friend’s garden shed for a few weeks. I couldn’t really sleep in there, so I just decided to stay up at night writing that EP using my phone, my laptop, and Audacity software. Later on Slow Dance decided to release it, for which I am very grateful, because it allowed me to stop tinkering with it and now I’m working on something new.
Often your music feels like it is ingrained with messages or ideas, are there any songs on Our Giant Panda that are especially interesting to you in terms of what they attempt to communicate?
Yes! I guess the whole thing has one message: “this is the story of a conversion”. We can view it like this: in logic, "No X is Y" is the converse of "No Y is X". So the conversion of the proposition “No material objects are sacred” to “Nothing sacred is a material object” is not representative of a religious conversion; we’ve just upcycled the absence of the sacred with respect for the immaterial situation of the sacred, and the victory gained by swapping that predicate and subject is pretty pyrrhic. That’s why I put Rachmaninoff’s setting of the Magnificat into “Introduction” and “The Assassination of…”, to signpost how this incarnation of something has to fail and flail in order to get conceived – to be acknowledged for what it is.
There is a rich versatility in your vocals across your music, ranging from powerful choral performances to theatrical rap and everything in-between. Do you consider your voice as a malleable element in your music?
Yes, everything, voice or computer or guitar or dignity, needs to be malleable in service of the music. I can’t change my voice; I was born with it and my entire body would have to change the way it sounds. So whether it’s voice or acoustic instruments or electronics, it’s about having lots of limitations, but total freedom within those limitations to keep hammering away.
You are in the process of finalising a monograph about Taylor Swift, could you explain what that’s about and how much her suddenly dropping Folklore presumably ruined your plans?
I think Taylor Swift’s music demonstrates a combination of thematic density and popular accessibility which hasn’t been seen in the English-speaking world since the plays of Shakespeare and Marlowe. My essay is an attempt to fight for interpretations of her music which are serious and avoid mystifying what she’s doing for fan service, or subjecting its readers to dry critical theory. I doubt folklore will be topped this year for the sheer craft of its songwriting, so I'm very glad it happened when it did. But yes, I do need to rewrite the whole thing this summer!
Who or what out there inspires James Martin?
At the moment I’m really into Lingua Ignota, Merlin Nova, clipping., Pharmakon, Bola de Nieve and Nadah el Shazly especially. But if I want to get more reliably inspired I tend to read rather than listen to music. So I’m currently making my way through Herrlichkeit by Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Susan Sontag’s diaries, which are amazing. I also like watching television shows where basically the same thing happens in every episode. Narrative arcs do not inspire me.
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Words by Robert Davidson
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Fontaines D.C. ‘A Hero’s Death’ Album Review
With their debut album Dogrel smashing through the underground scene and into the mainstream, the Dublin band have been the subject to a whirlwind of touring and sellout shows ever since 2019. However, recently they’ve been back collaborating with critically acclaimed produced Dan Carey to bring us, A Hero's Death, an album that intents to serve as a true expression of themselves in the present day whilst reflecting on their past experiences.
Sonically taking much of what worked with the first album and mixing it with Grian’s maturing lyricism, A Hero's Death sets off strong with the familiar track ‘I Don’t Belong’ exploring the dismissal of expectations from other people who consider themselves loyal, consider this to be the anti-‘Big’ of the album. Its steady drum pattern coupled with progressive guitar rhythms, make for a beautiful real ballad with serious undertones, setting the bar high from the start. While this style and attitude is consistent throughout the album and is shown on tracks such as ‘You Said’, ‘Sunny’ and ‘No’, each song carries an honest narrative that we’ve come to love from the bands material.
Songs such as ‘Televised Mind’, ‘A Lucid Dream’ and ’A Hero’s Death’ provide us with the pace and energy that we loved from the first album, whilst still conforming to the album's intentions. It’s through the wailing guitar breaks and heavy Prodigy style bass that ’Televised Mind’ tackles issues of the public opinion being reinforced through a lack of challenge, and idea that we’re being robbed of our individuality, exclaimed through the Grian’s vocals “It’s a Televised Mind”. Meanwhile, title track ‘A Hero’s Death’ offers genuine advice on the appreciation of life, whilst throwing shade towards the disingenuous relationships they found in Hollywood, seeming to target The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The message was well and truly received when the show decided to pull live performances of the band from their YouTube channel.
While the album may have been quick off the back of their debut album, it certainly wasn’t forced or capitalising on any moment. Reflecting on their experiences over the last year, A Hero’s Death picks up the pieces left from their rapid rise to fame, and puts Fontaines D.C. back in touch with who they truly are.
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The Rills return with ‘The Angler’
'The Angler' is the Lincoln trio's first release of 2020 so far, and sets the tone for their debut EP release due later this year, building on their reputation as a ferocious live act, cutting their teeth around East London pre-lockdown.
The track bursts with a vast range of musical influences, channeling the raucous nature of IDLES, as well as an emphatic adoration of songwriters old and new, citing Hotel Lux, Fontaines, The Pogues & a plethora of Speedy Wunderground artists as key inspirations.
'The Angler' optimises the characteristics of the lad you wish you never met, persistent in his quest for a connection through dubious means, but never successful. The Rills namecheck the Old Blue Last & Blues Kitchen as hotspots for 'The Angler' in an ode to the stereotypes of London’s often overwhelming nightlife.
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‘Divine Intervention’ (Gum & Ginoli Remix)
Since 2018, GUM (Jay Watson, of POND & Tame Impala) and Ginoli (James Ireland) have been working together on mixes and remixes for artists such as Paul White, Moodoid, Faux Real and Local Natives. Drawing influence from house, techno, disco, rock and hip hop amongst other things, their music is informed by their work together in the Australian band POND. Their latest collaboration with PVA, on their stellar debut single ‘Divine Intervention’, reimagines the dance track through influence of house, techno, disco, rock and hip hop. The track also doubles, as it also marks the one month countdown to PVA’s highly anticipated new music release.
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Flyte release ‘Losing You’
Flyte and Bafta-Winner Mark Jenkin continue their collaboration with the video for ‘Losing You’, another glimpse into Flyte’s second album, produced by Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver). Their first collab during lockdown was on visual for Easy Tiger and a brilliant creative relationship was born.
Flyte are renowned for their complex and rich vocal arrangements and melodies, with lyrics steeped in literary imagery. Inspired by their time in Laurel Canyon, the band recorded their next full-length record in LA with producers Justin Raisen (Angel Olsen, Ariel Pink), Andrew Sarlo (Bieg Thief, Bon Iver) and Ali Chant (Aldous Harding) on mixing duties. LA was a much-needed new environment to confront the personally challenging subject matter written back home in London, and an opportunity to work with some of their musical heroes.
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