COME PL AY WITH BECKY HILL BEABADOOBEE
SAD13 / JUANI TA ST EIN / JW FR ANCIS THE IMBECILES / NEWMEDS LORYN / F UD GE / MERCI, MERC Y G A E YA / A M Y MON T G O MERY / EF É AND LOTS MORE...
BEHIND THE SCENES AND UNDER THE SKIN OF ALL THINGS MUSIC
PICK ME UP FOR FREE OR BUY ONLINE / #012 / OCT2020
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WHAT'S INSIDE
TEAM CPWM MANAGEMENT Tony Ereira tony@cpwm.co MAGAZINE Andrew Benge andy@cpwm.co LABEL Scott Lewis scott@cpwm.co DIVERSITY EVENTS Emily Marlow emily@cpwm.co
SPECIAL THANKS
...and in no particular order... Jemima, Warren, Becky, Bea, Camilla, Ian, Bree, Sadie, Amy, Chris, Juanita, Cheri, Rachel, Louisa, JW, Loryn, Rachael, Otto, Jamie, Nick, Merci, Anita, Gaeya, David, Alexandra, Ellie, Simon, Matty, Faye, Abi, Tim, James and everyone else who took the time to contribute and helped make this happen.
04 NEWS / NOVEMBER 2020 06 BECKY HILL 12 JW FRANCIS 14 GAEYA 16 FUDGE 17 ALEXANDRA HAMILTON-AYRES 18 BEABADOOBEE 21 SAD13 22 NEWMEDS 24 JUANITA STEIN 27 EFÉ 28 LORYN 30 MERCI, MERCY 32 ROSEHIP TEAHOUSE 33 AMY MONTGOMERY 34 TOOLBOX / SETTING UP A HOME STUDIO 37 MOUNTAIN CALLER 38 THE IMBECILES
SMALL PRINT
Come Play With is printed by Mixam. Copyright © 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher at andy@cpwm.co. Printed in the UK.
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NEWS
NOVEMBER 2020 Hi everyone Thanks for checking out our final magazine of 2020. It’s been quite a year for all of us so hopefully we’ve been able to distract you with some great music, writing/photography and events along the way. Sadly we didn’t get to put on many real-world events with November’s HerFest falling victim to the latest lockdown (we’ll pick it up again when we can.) We’ve got a couple of new releases coming in December - first up is our compilation album "Not From Where I’m Standing" on 4th December. 20 Bond themes all re-imagined by current and former members of The Wedding Present with all profits from the album going to a charity very close to our hearts and one that is going to be more in demand than ever: CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably.) Following that we have our new 7” single from Chanté Amour and Straight Girl landing a week later on the 11th December. We’re incredibly excited to be working with these two brilliant artists who we’ve long admired. All very different but we’re looking forward to be ending a tumultuous year with some exciting new music! We’ve also just launched a new call-out to try and identify some of the best music being made in Yorkshire right now by musicians of colour. News of that, and another earlier release, landing very soon in 2021. As we look back on the year behind us, it didn’t go quite the way we planned and we know that is true for most people working in music/art. We’ve released far less singles this year and one compilation album, Come Stay With Me - that we’re incredibly proud of - but there is tons in the pipeline and planned for 2021. Thanks again for all of your support. It means a lot. Tony & the CPWM Team
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BECKY HILL 6
At face value, Becky Hill is a pop star who found fame as a contestant on The Voice with a debut album out in March next year. Scratch the surface, and there’s more to Becky Hill than meets the eye. 7
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Becky first auditioned on The Voice when she was 17. She was voted out at the semi-finals, and spent time knocking on the doors of various management companies and music industry lawyers for representation. After securing a good team around her, she got signed by Parlophone, then got dropped after a few of her singles didn’t perform as well in the charts as expected. Not one to give up at the first hurdle, she formed her own Eko Records imprint with her manager and put her own money, time and effort into releasing her music. It paid off; after several high chart positions in the UK singles charts and BBC Radio 1 airplay, she caught the attention of Polydor. Now, eight years since she first started in the music industry on The Voice, she’s finally gearing up to releasing her debut album. ‘It’s been a mad old journey’, says Becky. ‘It’s kind of terrifying, but I definitely feel like it’s been a long time coming. I’m really proud of all the songs on there – it’s all killer, no filler! I’ll never get this chance to make an album over that long again, so it’s definitely exciting. I’m buzzing for it.’ Throughout her career, Becky has let the music find her, while always backing up chance with a huge amount of legwork on her part. ‘People make their own path if that path is what’s meant for them,’ she says to me.
‘I remember when my parents found out I could sing, they used to talk about sending me to a place like the BRIT School, and Mum said: no, if music’s meant for her, it’ll find her. And it kind of did.’
"THE VOICE BASICALLY TURNED ALL THAT ON ITS HEAD, AND IT SHOWED ME THAT OTHER PEOPLE DID THINK I WAS GOOD." She auditioned for The Voice as a way to test the waters of making music a viable career option. At the time, she was doing A levels and two bar jobs – ‘I was really bad at bar work’, she remembers. ‘I’m not the biggest people person, I’m not great at pouring pints, and I’m definitely not good around glass, I’m far too clumsy’ – and The Voice was a way for her to escape her hometown of Bewdley in the Midlands. ‘I knew I loved music, but I didn’t see it as a valid thing for me to do. The Voice basically turned all that on its head, and it showed me that other people did think I was good, and that there is a life outside of Bewdley.’ Having never been to London, Becky moved into a flat of her own in the capital, provided by the show: ‘I was getting paid £500 a week to be on there. It 9
was fucking madness, and I just never took it seriously enough. I just went and I had the best time. I tried my best, which my mum always taught me as a kid, and I loved it.’ She cites her youthful enjoyment of the novelty of the whole thing as what allowed her to keep on keeping on after she was voted off the show. ‘A lot of people were too burnt by the show because you are treated like a VIP and when you’re off the show, no one gives a shit, whereas I never really thought I was much of anything anyway,’ Becky reflects. ‘So I just went and knocked on doors myself. It was an experience I’m glad I went through, and I have fond memories of it, but I’m glad I never put much more weight to it.’ Becky is very much a pop artist, firmly part of the mainstream, but her earliest musical inspirations were vocal drum ‘n’ bass tracks. ‘I listened to those from when I was nine to twelve probably, and subconsciously I think it taught me how to write a top pop line.’ She sees her vocal line on Wilkinson’s ‘Afterglow’, which topped the UK dance charts in 2013, as being directly influenced by Chase & Status’ track ‘In Love’ featuring Jenna G. Alongside her mainstream success, Becky Hill still maintains a hungry and keen interest in the dance music underground; this year, she started her podcast ‘The Art Of Rave’, in which she talks to some
of her dance music heroes isn’t good at the minute, about how raves, dance and I can’t really see it music, and the electronic getting better.’ music industry have all changed since they first started in the game. Her conversations with artists "I WAS PUTTING like DJ Zinc, Sister Bliss of ON A SPARKLY Faithless, Pete Tong and Roni Size have given her DRESS AND BOOTS a fresh perspective on AND DOING MY the state of dance music MAKEUP, AND I'D today, where clubbing feels impossible for at least the JUST TOTALLY foreseeable future, and FORGOTTEN WHAT people are turning to illegal raves again to get their THAT WAS LIKE." dancing fix. Although the cultural context of a global pandemic means that today’s illegal raves come with their own unique set of dangers and moral questions, Becky still sees valuable parallels to be drawn between then and now. ‘You’ve got all this talk about M25 raves, which sound amazing,’ she says, becoming animated. ‘But they were dangerous. There was no security, no first aid, no drugs testing spots like there are in festivals now, and people are starting to revert back to that because there’s a strain of the cold virus going around.’ Presumably wary of flippancy, she pauses to reflect: ‘I understand it’s killing people, and I understand it’s a dangerous thing, but for me, you can’t just stop one whole industry from doing what it’s doing because people will find a new way and it will never be as safe. I’m worried about where the future is going to go for rave music and partying in general. It Words by Jemima Skala
crowd noise level: ‘These pens went far and wide, so the scale of it looked like there were loads of people there, but there were only 2500. Because they were all further away, you couldn’t hear them as much, but I tell you what, when they were all singing along, it felt like a proper gig. I loved it, but any excuse I think, at that point. I'd have loved singing to a kennel of scabby dogs!’ A less determined person than Becky Hill would have in all likelihood been knocked back by all the pitfalls and trials that she’s encountered along her career path. The music industry is notoriously not nurturing, and it mercilessly spits out young hopefuls faster than you can say ‘number one hit’. However, it’s precisely her love of performing that would see her eagerly singing her heart out to a kennel full of dogs that has successfully carried her through. She’s certainly one of the hardest working pop artists around, and whatever she does next, rest assured it’ll be entirely on Becky’s terms and in her own way.
That said, in August Becky played one of the first socially distanced outside gigs since March in Newcastle, alongside Sam Fender, Patrick Topping, Two Door Cinema Club and Van Morrison. Audience members were fenced in to allocated seating areas and ordered food and drinks via an app. ‘When I did that gig, I'd forgotten what it was like to actually be a pop star, I suppose. I was putting on a sparkly dress and boots and doing my makeup, and I'd just totally forgotten what that was like.’ Becky notes that the crowd atmosphere wasn’t dimmed at all by having people more spaced out. ‘It was initially quite weird to have people in The new single "Space" separated pens, and it is out now with her debut was also quite weird to album follows March 2021. have about 2500 people in a field that probably could have held 10-15,000. That was weird, but there was no difference in atmosphere, it was still really vibey.’ The only thing that differed was the 10
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NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
NEW YORK CITY WITH JW FRANCIS
INTRODUCTION Hey there, my name is JW Francis and I make lofi jangle dream slacker bedroom pop in New York City. I moved to this place 7 years ago and pretty soon after acquired my official sightseeing guide license because I was obsessed with the place. "This city is not what it used to be" is a common phrase, but especially true in this scary pandemic age we find ourselves in. That said, let me show you around a little bit as best I can.
HISTORICAL FACTS New York is trash. Literally, a surprising amount of Manhattan is built on top of landfill. Before it was trashy, the Lenape tribe of the Algonquin family of tribes preserved the land here and nurtured gigantic oyster reefs, an incredible diversity of birds (there are still hundreds of species here), and carved out miles of walking trails. One of the trails that survived was called 'the wide road' by the initial Dutch colonizers, or 'Brede Weg,' later changed to Broadway. If you look at a map of 12
Manhattan you'll notice that Broadway is the unruly rebel who doesn't follow the grid. That's because Broadway is an old trail, much older than this city. I wish I could only write about the history here, but I give 3 hour tours, so next time you're here, and it's less pandemic-y, hit me up and I'll spill all the beans. STUDIOS & RECORDING Sahil Ansari is a genius. He is my friend and producer and he runs a studio space called Dodge 112 where I spend a lot of time, and you should too. It's in
Gowanus, which is one of my favorite neighborhoods to walk down dead-end streets and see what kind of mutant plants are growing from the Gowanus canal soil. Check out more of Sahil's work here: www.sahil.is
art has long dealt with questions of the institution, yet art museums and galleries still disenfranchise ethnic and socioeconomic minorities. The cold hard truth is that these institutions use Black artists to fulfill a diversity quota. One Black artist and they are done. Black artists are passed for gallery representation, group shows, art fairs, biennials, etc. Turning the tables on systematic oppression requires resources and representation.'
BANDS & ARTISTS Well I'm just going to give you a list of people Sahil has produced who are not me and who are also swell: Glom, Margaux, Sarah Cicero, Fina, Quinn Devlin, Puppyface, Alex Lleo, Monkeybars, WYBTW, Slow Dakota, Nuns Honey and many, many more. Sahil is the best. Also, the keyboardist in my band Emily Sgouros is in a band called Moon Kissed that is just wonderful. And my roommate is in a band called Togs which is also wonderful.
www.blackartistfund.org
New York Cares is one of the best resources for volunteering - everywhere from packing meals to helping students - it's a big database of all different spots looking for people to help out. www.newyorkcares.org
SUPPORT Black Artist Fund is a fundraiser dedicated to supporting Black artists and creatives. Modern and contemporary Words and main image by JW Francis
GOING ON WALKS In our new pandemic era, I've found it more common to ask someone if they want to go for a walk rather than going to a bar. My favorite places to walk have been Prospect Park, Greenwood Cemetery, anywhere along the water you can find, especially if its a park. This will be more useful for people looking to get OUT of the 13
city, but I recently found a book called 'Batt to Bear: walking from Battery Park to Bear Mountain along the Hudson.' I saw the book and immediately said "YES I have to do this NOW.' So that weekend I crossed the GW bridge on foot and walked for 12 hours on a network of trails up the Hudson river. It was awesome and I didn't even know you could do that.
First thing I do when restaurants/bars/venues are back open. Go to ROKC and get a bowl of the miso veggie ramen, which is a life-giving force. And then you know what I really like to do is go to art gallery openings in the Lower East Side and just consume all the free wine and snacks before going on the gallery opening. That's not an option right now, but as soon as it's back on the table, it's what I like to do.
The debut album "We Share A Similar Joy" is out on 6th November on Sunday Best.
IN FOCUS
PUTTING BIODIVERSITY IN THE SPOTLIGHT WITH GAEYA
Biodiversity should be at the forefront of what we are talking about today. Biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in an ecosystem. It’s an understanding of the symbiotic interconnectivity of species that work tirelessly together to create the foundations of life. The discussion on the climate has been central for some time now but we need to also start talking about the importance of restoring and preserving our ecosystems in order
to turn a destructive pattern around and create something beautiful in return.
"I BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO EDUCATE OURSELVES IN ORDER TO LEARN STEPS THAT SUPPORT THE EARTH INSTEAD OF WORKING AGAINST IT." 14
My name is Gaeya. I am an artist and a songwriter from Sweden. The earth and nature has been the center-point of my life. With my music I shed light on the beautiful possibilities we as people have to restore this paradise to its natural beauty. I believe that we need to educate ourselves in order to learn steps that support the earth instead of working against it. One of the ways to do that, is to
strengthen our relationship with nature by spending as much time as possible with it. We have to remember that we come from this earth, that this planet is giving us everything that we need to survive even though we as humans are not making it easy on her. This planet is beautifully providing us with so much food, water and air every day and this is something we shouldn’t take for granted. I believe that we have a responsibility to give back and care for nature with gratitude and respect. Not just using earth's resources to fulfill our needs that are many times superficial, but actually
to make choices that are sustainable for generations to come. With the music of Gaeya, I’m putting these discussions forefront. At our Tipi Tours I invite the audience into a Nordic enclosure or a Lavvú (as called by the Sami people in northern Scandinavia), to sit around the campfire, where we create a space to explore the wonders of nature in a safe environment where people also can share their experiences with one another. In order to dig deeper into sustainability I’ve also
Words by Gaeya
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created a podcast called “tellUs”, where I meet with experts within sustainability who inspire us to choose a more sustainable lifestyle.
Finally I have 2 singles out that help reconnect us with the earth. “Contact” & “Truth”. Get in touch via www.gaeyamusic.com
5 QUESTIONS
FUDGE WHO ARE YOU? We are FUDGE. Arguably the best heavy and alt-rock band in the north (cough) and the UK (cough). As Tom Robinson said on BBC 6 Music, “They’re absolutely on fire; the wildest, most on-point guitar band I’ve seen since IDLES”. We’ve got a live show that will absolutely blow your socks off. We aren’t a band, we’re an experience. I don’t know how to describe something to you that you’ve never experienced, so come to a show, you’ll see what we mean.
WHY DO YOU DO IT? Because we love it. Amongst spreading the word about the nonsensical system we’ve been born into, we love it. Whether it be loud, soft, sharp or smooth ... music is something that cannot be explained by science or politics or maths. It’s something innate. The adrenaline rush you get from playing a sold-out gig to a room that is literally bursting at the seams is unreal. It’s a rush. We want the ultimate rush, one day it will be Glastonbury. But, above all, WHAT DO YOU DO? we want to inspire people to We LOVE what we do. We have pursue their dreams, to live a fucking great time playing their lives to the absolute gigs to anyone that will listen. fullest, and to be as happy We entertain. We graft our as they can ever be. We’re arses off playing music for this trying to inspire a break in the band as an escape. An escape endless nine-to-five cycle. from the corrupt, twisted, capitalist world that we live in WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW? today. But don’t be confused Jeeez. I think everyone knows or put off by the genre hard that: the old pandemic. We’ve rock. We spread love. We not done a gig since we played spread kindness. with Kid Kapichi in March AND Words by Otto / FUDGE
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IT IS KILLING US. However, that being said, we’re currently in the process of releasing a new EP. It was recorded and filmed completely live at Leeds Town Hall and we think it’s fucking ace. There are videos to watch, songs to hear, prints to hang up on your wall. Come get on board. WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC? Oooft, it’s a difficult time for music right now. You know, I'd say the hot topic of music right now is that live music is not happening right now. But it will, and it will be a direct consequence of what’s going on right now. Some of the best music ever written was during some of the shittiest times in history, just look at blues, punk, rock. I think the hottest topic right now is the amazing music and stories that will come as a product of the clusterfuck that we’re currently living in.
DIGGING DEEPER
ALEXANDRA HAMILTON-AYRES
ON DEBUT ALBUM 2 YEARS STRANGER...
I am a film composer and classical electronic artist based in Bristol. Having written music for theatre, circus, dance, opera and film, I love telling stories through music and visuals. My debut album 2 Years Stranger was written as a way of processing a two-year journey and rocky mental states. In 2017, like many of us in 2020, I found myself in limbo when my dad had fallen ill with ARDS and respiratory failure—as a result, he was induced into a coma. I was alone at my parents’ house, with dad suspended in a state between life and death, surrounded by his things. As a distraction from the rollercoaster of emotions, I started making recordings on my childhood piano. I have a really vivid memory of having what felt like my last phone call with Words Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres
dad and spent a lot of time at the piano after that in my own world. These recordings became the beginnings of my debut album, 2 Years Stranger. When listening back to the recordings, I found that they told the story of those two years. Some I left really raw and some I reworked and recorded again finding new textures using the Philicorda, accordion, clarinet and other found sounds. I wanted to capture the raw intensity of the clips still and Sink Into Another World was the first track I came up with and really defined the sound of the album–I think it also has subconscious filmic references. I guess the ultimate message is one of hope, human connectivity and art carrying us through challenging times, something we all need right now and it’s even printed on the record’s cover in the form of Dad’s still-life portrait of his SABR treatment mask. 17
I’m really close to my parents, especially creatively and it was a crazy minefield to go through with them both, it still seems like a bad dream and if dad hadn’t kept his mask, I wouldn’t have believed it ever happened. I never imagined this could be so valid to others and I have been precious about releasing it, as it feels like my heart is on a plate! Over a coffee meeting with my publisher we chose the album name from a list hand-scrawled in my diary and 2 Years Stranger resulted from misreading my handwriting, but it summed up the story so perfectly. ‘2 Years Stranger’ is out on November 20th and is available to pre-order on ecomix limited edition 12” vinyl on Alexandra’s bandcamp - ah-a.bandcamp. com with only 150 copies available. Follow Alexandra @ahamiltonayres Photography by Mich Rose
BEABADOOBEE Some artists just seem to capture the sound of a generation, with her bedroom-pop mixed with 90's grunge sound, Beabadoobee a.k.a Beatrice Laus has done just that - as well as touring arenas and going viral despite only being 20 years old. 18
Managing a sky-rocketing schedule after embarking on a whirlwind career alongside the strangeness of this year isn't an easy feat for anyone. Thankfully, Laus has been keeping it together well. “I’ve been managing better than I was during the album because there was so much to do. But, now I’m just chilling, which is great. I think that despite Corona being f***ing horrible, it has been really nice being at home and being able to do all of this, but I have the comfort of my bedroom and my parents downstairs and stuff.” After adding more triumphs to her increasingly star-studded resume over the last year, it's interesting to think about which memories have stuck out to her. “I mean, I think just going on tour with The 1975 was really fun. I got to play really big shows and my dream venues, it was really fun touring. Also, recording and creating the world of “Fake It Flowers” and being able to have as much creative freedom of what I thought I wanted to make.” Recently, Laus' debut album "Fake It Flowers", almost listens as a diary entry, with her personal experiences and relationships shaping the whole album. “Every song is about someone. I went into this not even realising how personal this record was going to be. Then, all of a sudden it was out in the world and the songs that were about certain individuals, like they f***ing clocked it. Oh my god so messy. Yeah, it’s influenced a lot." For her music videos for ‘Care’ and ‘Sorry’, Laus worked with her longtime partner and director Soren Harrison. Their shared history undoubtedly helped the process. “Because, we grew up with each other and we know, he knows what I want, and he knows the aesthetic I want it to look like. So, it’s
really easy that way. I think, like recording and filming songs like ‘Worth It’ and making those videos for those type of songs was quite traumatic, especially when it’s like so personal to my life. And, you know, so f***ing awkward...It's alright.”
"IT MAKES ME FEEL LESS ALONE, KNOWING THAT PEOPLE HAVE GONE THROUGH VERY SIMILAR SITUATIONS TO ME, AND IT MAKES ME HAPPY KNOWING THAT THEY DON’T FEEL ALONE EITHER." During the creation of the album, Laus never realised how personal it was until it was done. “Oh my god, this is the thing. I didn’t clock how much this was going to bite me in the f***ing butt, you know. I was like, ‘this song is amazing, it’s so nice to get this off my chest. Great. I feel great.' And, then I’m like, ‘oh my god wait, this song exists and people are gonna listen to this song’. I just never think about that. But, I think what makes me feel okay about that, is knowing that the more personal I am with the way I write, at least one person is going to be like, ‘I’m going through the exact same thing’. Or, ‘this song has helped me so much’. And, it makes me feel less alone, knowing that people have gone through very similar situations to me. It makes me happy knowing that they don’t feel alone either.” Laus is undoubtedly one of the most successful artists of our generation, from having her album stocked in Japan and being named the voice of Generation Z. Most would find that incredibly daunting. 19
“Oh yeah, so it’s definitely intimidating. I don’t think I am the voice of Generation Z, every time I read that I crease. I feel like people label people things because I am part of this generation. All I am doing is speaking about my problems as a 20-year-old girl from West London. I know that inevitably other 20-year-old girls are going through the same problems as me, you know. It’s like it just kind of happens. I’m talking about things that happen to loads of other people I guess because I’m being honest. And, it’s not intimidating when I think about it that way. But, I’m just being myself. I don’t want labels to influence the way I make my music, the way I view myself and the way I act.” Anyone on social media will relate to how dispiriting it can be, never mind someone with a following as large as Laus. However, she has developed a healthy way of dealing with it. “I think at first it used to get to me a lot, like the hate and stuff and being on top of everything. And, being on TikTok, I’m comfortable admitting I have no idea what TikTok is. I don’t know how to use it, my brother knows how to use it more than I do. It’s the one thing that makes me feel like a granny when I’m literally so young. I feel like I just missed it. For a few months, I missed jumping on the trend with that. I’m much more comfortable now, with like, hate and all that stuff, ‘cause I feel like I’ve come to terms with understanding that it’s not real. I don’t know, it’s cool that people talk about me, even if they f***ing hate me. As long as I keep the people around me happy and I’m happy, then I’m satisfied, you know.” Positivity is a trait that Laus tries to bring into all areas of her work, previously saying that ‘girls need to be empowering each other’. She kept this in mind while creating her album.
“Oh my god, there are so many amazing women that inspired the album specifically, as I feel like all the people I listened to during the time of creating, “Fake It Flowers”, were women. It was Alanis Morissette, it was Julianna Hatfield, it was the girls from Veruca Salt, and there are so many amazing women now, like Rina Sawayama. I think that she’s the best pop star ever right now. She’s incredible, and it’s so amazing to see an Asian woman doing what she loves. It’s also really comforting to see, and yeah it’s cool.” Laus has previously shared her memories of growing up with her much-loved bands The Smiths and The Cure. However, interestingly neither of those stick out as the artist behind the track of her teenage years. “‘Sheila’ by Jamie T. That literally was the soundtrack to my adolescence, it was obviously The Smiths and The Cure, specifically, I don’t know any of his other songs. I only know ‘Shelia’ and ‘Sticks ‘n’ Stones’, but it was Sheila that was always played on a night out.”
me and it would be amazing to inspire them too. Because at the end of the day, they're the future and it’s important to take care of that.”
"WHEN I PLAY MUSIC AND WRITE MUSIC IT’S HALF TO DO WITH HELPING MY MENTAL HEALTH, BUT ALSO KNOWING THAT I COULD BE INSPIRING AND ENCOURAGING OTHER GIRLS TO PICK UP AN INSTRUMENT."
Education with music and the arts are undergoing a lot of pressure at the moment. There’s still a lot of insistence to follow a traditional path something which Laus knows all too well. “I mean, definitely with what’s happening with the government and everything and that d***head Rishi [Sunak]. There’s definitely a pressure to have a 9 to 5 job and live that life, instead of following your Even if Laus hadn't followed a dreams. We’re just losing the career in music, she would still spirit of that. The good thing be finding her place in the world about this generation is that and inspiring others through we speak our minds. We have her work. “At times I feel like, all of these platforms to talk would I be as confident and about our opinions and what stuff. But, not much would we believe in - the more we do change if I’m being completely that, the more we can inspire honest. ‘Cause I think I would people to do whatever the f*** still remain as confused and we want. When I play music and baffled with life as I am right write music, it’s half to do with now. I have no idea what the helping my mental health, but f*** is going on. But, I definitely also knowing that I could be know that I would be trying to inspiring and encouraging other be a nursery teacher because girls to pick up an instrument.” if I wasn’t doing music, I’d want to be that. I still want to do There may be a large amount of that. At the end of the day, I’ve uncertainty with live gigs, but always wanted to be a nursery as well as wanting to perform teacher.” the whole album, there is a particular song which Laus is “I have a little brother, he’s got excited to share live. “I think Aspergers and he’s like the most one song which I can’t wait amazing person ever and I feel to play live is probably, ‘Dye It like, you know, children inspire Red’. Just ‘cause it’s a really Words by Camilla Whitfield
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empowering song to sing, and I can’t wait to just play that one with my band.” Laus has recently been collaborating with The 1975 on new music. However, she's content keeping her cards close to her chest for now. “I want to keep it a secret. I don’t know. It's just positive vibes and happiness. Happy vibes.” An artist wise beyond her years, positivity is a mantra which she has kept. “Not to sound cringy but at the end of the day, we’re all gonna die. Why waste a day of feeling sad when you can find a way to bring yourself back up again. I am that type of person to just wallow in my sadness. I have a therapist who tells me there’s this thing called comfort in familiar pain and I grew up always feeling sad. Now, as a young woman, it’s like I find comfort in that feeling. In my head, it’s like I always need to be sad to feel okay - which is really f***ed up. But, like after lockdown and spending time with my family and my boyfriend, it’s like appreciating everyone around you. They’re there if you feel s***, and you can just talk to someone, you know. I’ve always had a problem staying happy. But, I think I’m doing okay.” On a final note, what message does Laus hope to give through her music? “Well, I guess it would be that I hope they like it. I hope they get a feeling off it. Whether they f***ing hate it or they love it, and it makes them take up an instrument. If it evokes any type of feeling, then I’ve done my job correctly. Do you know what I mean? At the end of the day I write my music for myself, but it’s so nice knowing that I could help at least one person with their life.” "Fake It Flowers" is out now on Dirty Hit.
Photography by Callum Harrison
AWAY FROM THE NOISE
SAD13 HAVING OTHER PROJECTS...
I’ve played music my whole life but never expected it to become my source of income. Home recording was my diversion from OTHER commitments. I still have a bunch of songs on old hard drives with matter-of-fact titles like “New Song in Calculus” - I'd scribble down song ideas during lectures and hurry back to my dorm to make demos. Working random jobs since I was a young teen, I'd write songs after hours or on breaks, but when Speedy Ortiz became full time, I had to re-train my brain. You’re not really “escaping” into songwriting when the work you’re escaping from is performing other songs you’ve written. I’m lucky I have non-musical interests to dive into, like running. Training for races on tour is a cool way to get to see a city. Plus it Words by Sadie Dupuis
helps ground me in my body, adds structure to the chaos of travel, and helps alleviate the chronic pain that touring exacerbates. It’s nice to have something I do without any expectation of doing it well. Engaging with other forms of writing helps energize me too. I published my first poetry book in 2018, have been working on a second manuscript over the past couple years, and started a poetry journal through my label, Wax Nine, editing and publishing bi-weekly issues since April. But music is my main thing, and I’m lucky I have a few projects to rotate between to keep it from feeling like a chore. The last two shows I played before quarantine were for charity - a tribute to David Berman, for which I learned 20+ Silver Jews songs on guitar, and Hot Stove Cool Music, an annual covers revue 21
that unites MLB baseball players and musicians in all-star bands to raise money for education. Over quarantine, I’ve been able to play with, produce for or remix a number of remote collaborators. And I’ve helped organize or contributed to nearly a dozen different benefit compilations. Part of why I got into playing in bands was to make friends and community. Being reminded of music’s power to unite by working on other artists’ songs keeps me inspired when it’s time to get back to my own writing." Sadie Dupuis is the frontperson, songwriter and producer in the bands Speedy Ortiz and Sad13. Her most recent album, Sad13’s "Haunted Painting", came out in September on Wax Nine. Photography by Natalie Piserchio
DIGGING DEEPER
NEWMEDS THE TRUTH COMES OUT WHEN YOU’VE HAD A DRINK... I've been the vocalist for Hull punk/alt rock band NEWMEDS for around 3 years now, but I also own and run a bar called ‘Dive Hu5’ in Hull with our drummer Joe Brodie. Our band, bar and lifestyles have all been driving forces in our ‘out in the open’ approach to mental health since we started. Our band started in our bar, and our first song was based around a customer who frequently drank and spilled her guts. Almost every person I know likes a good drink, and some have struggled with drug problems. I know
a lot of people that are very susceptible and go to very dark places, sometimes even from day to day.
"FROM MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, THE TRUTH DOES CERTAINLY COME OUT WHEN YOU DRINK, BUT IN A MORE POSITIVE WAY."
drinking together from a social point of view; I've also seen some beautiful things happen too. For example, someone I know had the courage to contact her father for the first time in 27 years after a heavy night. She admitted she would never have done it sober, and only good has come of it.
Many times we’ve heard the phrase 'the truth comes out when you’ve had a drink', but it’s usually meant in a negative light. From my own personal experience, the truth does Personally, I've seen and certainly come out when you done some ugly things when drink, but in a more positive booze is involved, but I do way. Many friends have believe there is some use in us appeared fine on the surface, 22
myself included, but when they have a drink they start to spill feelings, thoughts and experiences. The saying 'get it off your chest, and you’ll feel better for it’ is, in fact, true. I am a firm believer than once something is either written down or spoken out loud it becomes easier to deal with. I find it hard to write a song that has little or no meaning. Every lyric I have ever written has helped me deal with, or rationalise, a situation in some way. Thoughts, feelings and problems I have held onto for sometimes years, have been eased by shouting them down a microphone into people's faces. The point I’m trying to make is that not everyone can be as open as me without having
a drink first, nor should they be judged for doing so. As bar workers in a place that is very much community driven, you become more than just servers of booze. You actually become counsellors and friends to the frequent drinkers. Lockdown had a detrimental impact on some of our lonely customers who rely solely on bars to socialise. Upon reopening we found there was a lot of stigma around bars opening and gyms still being closed. On the flip side some of our more lonely customers were overjoyed when we opened our doors again. One guy actually cried because all he had was that social aspect, and it had been taken away from him whilst he was going through his darkest time.
Words by Nick Cobley / NEWMEDS
I guess what I’m saying is, however you do it, whatever it is you want to do to make you feel better (within reason) do it—but talk, write it down, or get the driving force behind those dark feelings out. I'm very aware that alcohol abuse can be fatal in more ways than one. A good friend once said to me ‘everything in moderation, even moderation’. I took that to mean to be careful, but that everyone deserves and sometimes needs a blow-out to deal with the reality of the big scary world. The EP "Nothing Is Heavier Than The Mind" is out 13th November on Man Demolish Records.
Photography by Andrew Benge
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JUANITA STEIN Returning with her third record Snapshot, Juanita Stein opens up to Cheri Amour about the eerie silence after losing a loved one and how she conjured up the courage to bring back the noise. 24
It was while touring back home in Australia that Brighton-based musician Juanita Stein got the call. In the months that led up to that moment, Stein had been regularly visiting her father who was in hospital after receiving a diagnosis for an aggressive form of leukemia. 48 hours from taking off though, Stein was being pulled back to his bedside. Arriving at the airport laden with the merchandise she’d intended to tout at shows, she realised she was significantly over the baggage allowance. She was facing a $1,400 fine. “I just collapsed. I had to sit there and chuck stuff out,” she recalls from her home in Brighton, multiple guitars suspended on wall hangers around her. “It was the physical weight and it was the emotional weight. The whole thing was such an overwhelming trauma. Were it not for this record, I think I'd be a disaster.” The record in question, Snapshot, is Stein’s third release as a solo artist, following her decadespanning career fronting Americana outfit Howling Bells. It’s a record that marks the devastation and eerie silence thrust upon her after her father’s death last year. Because as Stein herself explains, when you’re faced with a life-altering moment like that, your world changes irrevocably. “On the same day they diagnosed him, [the doctor] sat me and my Mum down and told us he'd be surprised if my Dad would be around
for three days. From the second the words came out of his mouth, your life changes forever. It's a parallel universe and that's where I live now. Half there, half here”.
behind the mountain at dusk. It’s the same track that finds Stein admitting that ‘out of darkness comes a brand new rage’.
“It's funny because some people that I've talked to about the record all seem very surprised that "YOUR LIFE it isn't an all-consuming wallowing affair. If you CHANGES haven't gone through this FOREVER. IT'S before, that's the one thing A PARALLEL you don't expect is to feel this overwhelming anguish UNIVERSE AND about it all.” To the outside THAT'S WHERE I world, grief is a gulf; a void that has appeared in the LIVE NOW. HALF absence of someone who THERE, HALF used to be there. But often for those in the thick fog of HERE." grief (which hangs around long after the sympathy flowers stop showing up), That universe is brought there is also an unfinished to life through the songs dialogue. Suddenly, showcased in Snapshot. Stein is joined again by her you’re left standing alone brother, and Howling Bells halfway through your lives together. As Stein soothes guitarist, Joel Stein who in the title track, ‘I call also used the record as your name but no one’s something of a cathartic there / There’s no spell release. “He's such a frenzied guitarist that I was to ease the pain / Only a able to stick him in there photograph remains.’ and say, ‘Just fucking play Considering ‘Snapshot’ how you’re feeling’”, she is the titular work of the says, emphatically. But while the record might deal album, Stein confesses it was actually the last track with the visceral feelings the pair were experiencing that she wrote. Sitting down on her bed and in the aftermath of losing picking up the guitar, the their father, Snapshot is far from thirty-five minutes song became a summary of all the different songs of sad girl sing-alongs. that she had recorded up Opener and former single until that point, viewing ‘1,2,3,4,5,6’ is soaked in chugging overdrive through them as a total snapshot of her father and his life. a chorus that assures us He’s there in the blues ‘it’s all gonna be alright’. grind of ‘Land Of The Free’ While ‘Lucky’ bows out (“he was always more with a soaring guitar encouraging of the driven solo that fades into the numbers”) and his languid orchestral strings around rocker influence informs it like the sun sneaking the sprawling Jefferson 25
Airplane psychedelia of ‘Take It Or Leave It’ (“he just wanted to rock out”). Not content having to exist in a world without her father, Stein attempted to seek him out in other more spiritual - spaces but even those couldn’t satisfy the longing. “I've always thought if something like this were to happen, we'd be sitting down and having conversations all the time in dreams. Not only have they gone from the physical realm, but they've gone from the spiritual realm too and that's not what I was expecting.”
conjures up the courage to make noise again. It’s an ongoing process. Living half there, half here.
"MOVING ON, AS A CONCEPT, IS FOR STUPID PEOPLE BECAUSE ANY SENSIBLE PERSON KNOWS GRIEF IS A LONG-TERM PROJECT."
grief, it simply becomes this intrinsic part of our own fabric. With this third record, Stein has knitted hers into the subtle hues of greying shadows and rose-tinted glasses that no longer sit well. It takes a lot of courage to tackle an intimate and harrowing subject like loss and create a record that feels so welcoming and warm. But then as Stein reasons in closer ‘In The End’ ‘Nobody is a stranger / We’re all friends / Everyone will lose someone in the end.’
Max Porter in Grief Is The Thing With Feathers will tell you, “Moving on, as Juanita Stein’s third a concept, is for stupid Snapshot does exactly as record "Snapshot" is out the name suggests curating people because any now via Nude Records. sensible person knows a scrapbook of moments grief is a long-term and memories as Stein project.” We don’t get over Words by Cheri Amour
CURRENT ARTISTS
THESE ARE THE ARTISTS WE'RE WORKING WITH, LISTEN + FOLLOW ON SPOTIFY
IN THE MORNING LIGHTS
CHANTE AMOUR
STRAIGHT GIRL
SUNFLOWER THIEVES
LENU
VAN HOUTEN
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Open Spotify App > Search > Camera > Scan
5 QUESTIONS
EFÉ WHO ARE YOU?
I’m EFÉ (aka Anita Ikharo). I'm
an artist from Dublin, Ireland. Born in Nigeria but then moved to Ireland when I was 1. I play guitar (4 months of training) . I'm still a beginner but I'm getting there and promise once concerts are a thing I’ll be able to put down 'guitarist' on my CV. I loveeeee making music and loveeeeeeee making music videos to accompany a really good song. I also enjoy making dumb, funny videos - that’s often for my own enjoyment. WHAT DO YOU DO? I’m currently an artist, a college student and a parttime worker. A lil too much goin' on but slowly getting by. Come back to me maybe in like a year or two and maybe I can say I’m a full time artist. I hope that’s my answer next time :’)
Words by Anita Ikharo / EFÉ
WHY DO YOU DO IT? Well first of all I just love making music and videos. Being able to express myself and ideas through these art forms has been great and soooo fulfilling. I hope that I can inspire others, especially those that look like me because I honestly think there isn't enough people that look like me, especially within the type of genre/music I'd make. What’s crazy to me is I’ve received messages from black girls just sayin' like my presence within this ‘industry’ is needed and wanted and actually inspiring so I do feel I’m doing something right. It honestly just fuels my drive to be that person for them (I hope that makes sense). WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW? I just recently dropped my EP "What Should We Do This Summer?" So the lil buzz around that has been really nice. Hearing what people 27
have to say and how the EP resonated with them feels amazing to hear and makes me want to cry and continue CREATING and just get way better at my craft. Also college and that damn part time job. WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC? I guess the hot topic in music right now is the uncertainty of when live shows will kick back up again. I’m only really starting out with this music thaaang so it’s a bit of an advantage for me because I can just practice and get better at performing (and also perfect my beginner guitar skills!!) What I know for sure is that myself and many others miss concerts, and just crowds and singing with strangers, and also the joys of being on stage, performing. The EP "What Should We Do This Summer?" is out now.
AWAY FROM THE NOISE
LORYN THE NATURE TRAIL / VANCOUVER VS LONDON...
I don’t know if it’s just in my blood or it’s because of where I grew up but I’m just an outdoors person. I love and need to get out. I basically grew up outside and outdoors was more home than indoors. My home was Deep Cove, North Vancouver and as a kid having the mountain, lakes, space and wildlife (also some pretty fucking scary animals) was unbelievable to mess around in, I would be out playing from morning till dark and come home with half the forest in my hair. I always got such an energy from that open space. I was a hugely, annoyingly active kid. My Mom put me in gymnastics from a young age, I think possibly because she thought it would help to wear me out making her life a little easier. Mom and Dad were very different people. My Mom had a very logical, practical idea of what life and career she wanted for me and my Dad was more organic and took a day to day attitude to it. My Dad is where the music came from. He secretly took me to singing lessons as he knew my mom wouldn’t feel like it was a good use of the very little money they had. Mom knew nothing of Words and images by LORYN
the lessons until she came to a school performance where I was singing. I opened my mouth and her tears came in buckets. From that point, she was completely on board that music could be an option for me in a career. At nineteen I needed to up the game on pushing a career in music forward. British music had always played a big part in what I was listening to growing up. My Dad had so much love for British artists. I thought that if I wanted to make music seriously then I need to go where all that was at. So having never been on a plane before I headed to the U.K. to make music. I started in Liverpool and moved to London a year or two later. I'd obviously been to cities before but never lived in one. I love it but the outdoor space where I live in London is pretty different from living on the side of a mountain haha. I guess it was a subconscious thing when I was growing up, but if life got too loud or worries crept into my world for me I would be able to head out onto the mountain where no one was around and run my mind calm again. I never realised 28
how much this was a thing until I moved to a city where getting out somewhere open was a little trickier. It really does help me keep an eye on my mind, which is a fucking mess sometimes and I’ve found that I need to listen when it starts fidgeting a little too much. It’s like when things get hectic for me that’s how I'd calm myself. In Canada, I'd get up early, leave my phone at home and Forest Gump it around a place called The Baden Powell Trail. It's a huge 25 mile trail through some of the most incredible woods on the planet. I was lucky enough to find a place called Highgate Wood in London a few years back and it’s become my new Baden Powell Trail. I head there for a run through the woods once every couple of weeks (more if I can) to top up my energy and untangle my mind a little. It isn’t the same as Deep Cove of course but it does give me the same feeling and at least there aren’t bears in Highgate Wood (that I know of) and not being chased by a gigantic mountain lion is one thing less to fucking worry about from the off! LORYN's debut EP "Less Is More" is out now.
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NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
SYDNEY WITH MERCI, MERCY
INTRODUCTION Hi I'm merci, mercy - I'm an alt-pop artist from Sydney, and I just released my new EP no thank you, no thanks in October. I grew up in Jindabyne, a rural area of NSW but as a teenager I moved around the world, living in places like Beijing and Thailand. I have been living in Sydney for the past 2 years. I love Sydney because I can be myself here. Here's my guide to some of the best places to visit, go on dates
and hang out.
human being but also an amazing artist. Her voice is extraordinary and her lyrics are something I can not get out of my head.
PRODUCER Chris Collins. He is an amazing guy and I always love working with him. He EMERGING POP ACT makes me feel completely Is obviously myself‌ No but safe to freely write about really there are so many my raw emotions. He is amazing emerging pop acts also extremely talented in Sydney but I'd have to and I’ve loved every song say May-a is my fave at the we have created together. moment. She is a lovely 30
VENUE The Oxford Art Factory and that is not just because it was my first shows since covid. The owner is a great guy. All the staff made me feel like I belonged there and made me feel very welcomed. The venue also just looks extremely cool, I have never seen a place with such character and I can’t wait to perform there again.
BEACH SPOT Dolls Point beach because it is a great beach to take my nephew and niece too. There isn’t massive waves which is safe for kids. I have built so many sand castles with my nephew down there so it is very special place in my heart.
‘SERVO’ (SERVICE STATION) Metro Petroleum in Alexandria. It is down from my house and ever since I moved there I head down there to buy cigarettes... The guy that Words by merci, mercy
works there during the day is my favourite. I've been there so many times he now remembers me. Each time I go there we ask each other how we doing. It has become the best part of my day, especially during this time. I went in there today and asked him if he would take a pic with me and he was so lovely and said he appreciated that I appreciated him. Made my day, I couldn’t stop smiling on my walk home.
there that always seems so happy to be working there. The food is amazing as well, I always get the spicy scrambled eggs, it is so yummy. They also serve mimosas which is the perfect hangover cure. I love going there with my boyfriend cause its also a little cute romantic spot.
CHILL OUT SPOT The front of the ICC Building (International Convention Centre) at Darling Harbour. It is special to me cause it where I had my first date with my boyfriend. It’s amazing to just buy some take away food and sit on the steps eating and watching people go by thinking about who they PARKS & PICNICS are and what their days are Camperdown park because like. it's great for picnics with alcohol. It isn’t illegal to drink alcohol there too. It’s so lovely watching people just enjoying their lives with their friends playing games and eating food. I love enjoying a good cheese platter with some cider and some great company. The debut EP "No thank you, No thanks" is out now on Liberation Records.
CAFÉ The Sip Inn because it has a lovely lady who works 31
5 QUESTIONS
ROSEHIP TEAHOUSE WHO ARE YOU?
My name is Faye and I’m from the band Rosehip Teahouse. WHAT DO YOU DO? I make indie/bedroom pop from Cardiff in Wales. I play guitar and sing in the band and tend to write the songs.
how I’m feeling without turning to destructive coping mechanisms. It’s a bit of a life-saver really. I also just really really love playing music with my friends. There isn’t another feeling like it.
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW? In literal world terms, everything is a bit of a mess really isn’t it? Cardiff is back WHY DO YOU DO IT? Songwriting for me has always in lockdown, so I’m missing been a coping mechanism and my friends and missing playing gigs sooo much. But a way to explore my feelings. on a positive note, we have I used to find it very difficult recently signed with Big Indie to talk about what I was Records which is really really going through, spending way exciting. We’re going to be too much time in my head worrying and ruminating about releasing an EP with them on the 9th December called things I couldn’t change. ‘Fine’. Each song on the When I started songwriting, I record marks a very personal was suddenly able to express event or feeling for me and myself through lyrics and I’m so excited to release them that music, and that was back into the world where such a life-changing thing for they came from. We feel really me. I like to use my songs to fortunate to still be able to talk about difficult subjects release music, despite the too, like mental health and music industry being such emotional dysregulation. I a difficult thing to navigate live with mental illness, and at the moment as the world music for me is a way to continues to fall apart around talk about this and process it. There are two singles out Words by Faye Rogers / Rosehip Teahouse
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already, and there will be more over the coming months and you can pre-order the EP digitally or on limited edition Vinyl from our bandcamp or website! WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC? I think that the hot topic in music right now is diversity and representation. Year after year we are presented with an overwhelming amount of cis white male musicians and bands, particularly on festival line-ups and it’s getting a little tiring. I think it’s time we started giving more of a platform and more time to marginalised communities. We need representation from BAME communities, LGBTQ+. Let’s shine a light on trans musicians, non cismale fronted bands. We all need to work harder to make this happen and make it a normality As I said, we have a new EP "Fine" coming out with Big Indie Records on 9th December and you can preorder yourself a copy now!!! Photography by Adam Whitmore
DIGGING DEEPER
AMY MONTGOMERY ART WILL NEVER DIE...
We’re in Germany, it’s 8.21PM. “Monty! Quick! We’re gonna be late, come on! Have you done your vocal warm-ups? We’re on stage in 9 minutes! Do you need water?!” Michael exclaims, as I try to control my nervous, yet excited, racing heart with breathing techniques that I learnt in yoga class. In for 4, hold for 4, out for 4... Oh, how far away that propelling sense of adrenaline feels right now. The buzz from playing live to an audience is like no other, and I’m sure every Words by Amy Montgomery
other artist and performer can vouch for this. It may seem a little erratic, but this nostalgic reflection is what keeps the fire in my belly alive. It is also a reminder, that art will simply, never die.
"FIND WHAT KEEPS THE FIRE IN YOUR BELLY ALIVE. HOLD THAT SPACE..." In a time where I feel most disconnected from performing, one thing that still brings me some solace is delving into the healing 33
that music, and other forms of art bring to me. This may not be done in the flesh with a roaring crowd, but instead, reversed to be somewhat of an introverted absorption. Probably, a much needed one at that. So, I say, find what keeps the fire in your belly alive. Hold that space. Because a time is coming, when we will be out there, again, doing our thing, and we’ll be thankful that we didn’t let the art die. Amy’s debut EP "Intangible" is out November 20th.
TOOLBOX
SETTING UP A HOME STUDIO WITH TIM MALKIN FROM TALKBOY
One thing we all saw during lockdown was the emergence of the ‘home studio’; shiny new equipment piling into the spare room, ready and waiting to be used for recording your bands next masterpiece. Here’s the catch: turns out that setting up your own personal Abbey Road isn’t quite as easy as Google says it is, and you’re left with nothing but Styrofoam, cardboard boxes and a whole lot of confusion over six months later. In our attempt to combat this, we sat down with producer Tim Malkin (of Talkboy fame) to get all the tips and tricks for setting up your own studio. After producing, mixing
and mastering their latest collaborative EP, Empty Days Club, entirely from home, there’s no one better than Tim to help us out on this one.
"IF YOU MAINTAIN THAT IDEA OF GETTING THE BEST OUT OF THE EQUIPMENT YOU HAVE, YOU WILL DEFINITELY GET AN AMAZING SOUNDING TUNE" TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR HOME SETUP. ‘I have a pretty standard set up; I have a Mac which I run Logic X on, a Focusrite 34
Scarlet interface and a pair of Rocket KRKs. I do mic up my guitar amps which I think makes a big difference, I use a hardwired Vox AC30 with greenback speakers most of the time, as I find it incredibly versatile. In a similar way, I try to use as much ‘real’ stuff as I can - I have a wide range of spice jars for different shakers and have acquired some other good random percussion bits. Over the past few years I have been building up my own sample library of random things I’ve recorded mostly on my phone - I have a sample of my nephews’ acoustic guitar for instance and have a really useful one of an old piano in a lovely big room. All those background voices, cars going by, clicks
and pops help to make things sound a bit more unique.’
‘YouTube tutorials save lives. There are so many amazing in-depth videos on YouTube you can fall into a IF WE’RE TALKING ABOUT black hole of lessons on the SETTING UP THE VERY most niche thing imaginable. BASICS OF A HOME STUDIO, If you don’t know how to WHAT EQUIPMENT ARE WE do something, either ask LOOKING AT? someone more experienced than you or look it up on ‘I use Logic, just because the internet. I’ve wasted so that’s what I learnt on, but much time trying to figure any type of DAW (digital out how stuff works by audio workstation) is a myself and just getting more must, as is an interface of and more confused. That some sort. Moving on from being said, when you go to that I would say a good a studio, definitely be asking all-round microphone too, the engineer and producer I use a Sure SM58 Beta what, why and how they are for most of my recordings doing stuff. It’s a great way and I think it sounds great. to learn from people who Also, it’s worth saying here really know what they are that the microphone on talking about.’ an iPhone is pretty crazy. I watched a video about CAN YOU REALLY RECREATE how King Gizzard and the A STUDIO SOUND FROM Lizard Wizard made Straws HOME? In The Wind and he did the acoustic guitars for that ‘Oh, it’s hard to say! For on his iPhone, if it’s good me, the most difficult thing enough for those guys, it is to get right in a home for sure, more than good studio are the drums. In enough for me.’ my experience you need a more advanced set up ‘Getting onto more ‘in an to achieve a really highideal world’ stuff now, a end sound. There seems good pre-amp and hardware to be something about compressor make a massive the interaction between difference. And lastly, I got really good microphones, a really good bit of advice hardware and the sound once (I think from Lee Smith of a room in a studio that at Greenmount but not is very hard to recreate at 100% sure, let’s give him the home. That being said, I’ve credit anyway, he’s a lovely heard some amazing drum man) he said that you should recordings being done at get one piece of bizarre home, it doesn’t sound like hardware, whether that’s they were done at Abbey a soviet guitar or a £20 toy Road, but that’s the point. keyboard with animal sounds You’ve got to play to the on it, just something that strengths of what you have has switches to flick and and use them to enhance dials to turn. the song.’ CAN YOU OFFER A BIT OF GUIDANCE FOR PEOPLE GETTING TO GRIPS WITH ALL THIS NEW EQUIPMENT? Words by Abi Whistance
‘You’re always going to be disappointed if you aim for that high end shiny studio sound at home but if you maintain that idea of 35
getting the best out of the equipment you have, you will definitely get an amazing sounding tune that is unique to you. The great thing about recording at home is that you have time to figure out the best way to get the best performance out of whoever it is that you recording even if that person is you (which I imagine most of the time, especially at the moment it will be). Take breaks, eat food, enjoy being off the clock, and definitely save the project before alcohol.’ IF YOU WERE TO ONLY KEEP ONE BIT OF KIT, WHAT WOULD IT BE? ‘Boringly, my guitar, anyone who knows me knows I have a pretty unhealthy, dependant relationship with it. But I guess practically, if you think about it, it wouldn’t ever run out of battery would it?’
Tim is available for production services at timmalkinmusic@gmail.com Talkboy’s latest single Stupid Luck is out now, with their EP set for release at the beginning of next year.
Photography by Nick Porter
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10/11/2020 13:27
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5 QUESTIONS
MOUNTAIN CALLER WHO ARE YOU?
We are Mountain Caller: an instrumental, heavy, progressive power-trio with a passion for storytelling through vibrant, dynamic soundscapes. Take equal parts Cult Of Luna, Sleep, and Alice In Chains, stir and simmer together in a pot of guitar, bass, and drums, season with generous amounts of creative passion, visual ambition and 80s action and sci-fi movies.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
We tell stories through music. Our upcoming album Chronicle I: The Truthseeker is the beginning of a feminist allegory, following an anonymous female protagonist on her journey of discovery: of her own power and agency, as well as the truth of the endless vast expanse of the universe. We travel to mystical cities in unknown deserts, battling great behemoths, staving off rabid hordes of pursuers
WHY DO YOU DO IT?
Because we love it. We don’t make a living from this band, we didn’t form with any particular Words by Max Maxwell / Mountain Caller
motives of success or renown. All three of us have a strong desire and urge to create things, and have things we passionately wish to convey through music. We recognise this in each other, and have developed a deep friendship and bond because of it.
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?
We’ve just released a music video, in the run up to releasing our debut album. The video accompanies the second single I Remember Everything, and was brought to life by our dear friend Tom Le Bon and his incredible team. It’s a conceptually and visually lush experience which captures the essence of our band flawlessly in visual form. We’re always so delighted and grateful to be able to collaborate with such immensely talented people.
WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC?
The hot-topic for everyone is obviously the pandemic. In the music world and many other career avenues, it’s exacerbated many issues inherent within the industry. The complete financial unsustainability of a career in 37
music, the lack of respect and reverence given to it by the powers that be in the UK and America, and the crucial part it plays in enriching everyone’s lives. The urgency and instability of the current global situation has illuminated all these things with the harshest of lights. We’re lucky enough to have livelihoods that enable our musical career, and allow it to operate with relative creative freedom. This is not the case for a vastly growing group of people. The need for a viable income alongside to fund music making rules out those without a certain level of financial privilege. Considering that popular music was built on foundations laid by underprivileged, marginalised groups, that those people continue to be priced out of a creative career is a tragedy and an injustice "Chronicle I: The Truthseeker is out on the 13th November. smarturl.it/thetruthseeker
IN FOCUS
FUCK OFF WITH YOUR STUPID PRINCE RE-ISSUE WITH THE IMBECILES
The BBC ran a clickbait headline on their site the other day claiming that Prince’s "Sign O’ The Times" might be the greatest album of all time. This is absurd, because "Sign O’ The Times" is not only NOT the greatest album of all time, it’s also not even Prince’s best album. In fact 33 years ago, a lot of people said that it was quite shit. And it’s fine, music is subjective and all that. But the fact is that if you are in a position of “media power” and can get your stupid opinion on the front fucking page of the BBC website, where literally millions of people can see it, then maybe you want to think long and hard about whether you’re Words by Butch Dante / The Imbeciles
talking shit, running scared, or running shit.
Or, and here’s a concept, maybe use the same virtual For the record, the greatest ink to tune your global album of all time is "Sgt audience into something Peppers" by the Beatles. less than thirty years old, Obviously. But it’s ok if you done by one of the hundreds don’t agree, and you go with of bands trying to survive something by the Stones, (literally, and figuratively) a or Marvin Gaye, or Dylan, or global pandemic, and could Zepp, or the Pistols, or Stevie use the exposure and money a Wonder, or Nirvana, or Hanson bit more than Prince’s estate. or whatnot. Because they’re ($160 for the CD format? all worthy at some level or Fuck off you thieving fucking other. But don’t choose the chancers). second-best album by the purple rock gnome and then The new EP "Dissolution try to justify it because you Sessions" out now on happen to be a massive Prince Imbeciles Records. fan, and are on a deadline, and the PR company sent you the lush box set, and you couldn’t think of anything else to write. Right? 38
Photography by Drew Reynolds
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