PRIMARY COLOURS

BEVERLEY KNIGHT TALKS TO THE NEWCASTLE QUARTET ABOUT THE RELEASE OF THEIR NEW EP

Change: you can embrace it or shy away from it. Newcastle-based indie rock outfit Primary Colours welcome the former, and they’re acutely aware that their journey has led them to become what they are today. Finlay Ireland (bassist/co-lead vocalist) readily agreed to explain more: “Every band has growing pains, we’re no exception, by the time I joined they had been through two bassists, and since then the band has been through two drummers.”

With Corey Hunter (rhythm guitar/co-lead vocalist), Callan Dance (lead guitar), and Finlay secured, drummer Sophie Purvis arrived last. Finlay recalls: “We auditioned Sophie by having her record our second EP. She absolutely smashed it, so she’s been in ever since.” Originally, their sound was akin to a 2000s indie band, but has shifted as they have matured: “I’d say a major factor in our sound changing was Corey becoming more comfortable writing on guitar and us gelling as time went on.”

Finlay thinks about how they have grown in the musical sense: “I’d say our sound is mainly jangle pop/punk, with psychedelic hints.” While the band’s personnel may have changed, they remain committed to their material, resulting in the release of EPs Stay At Home Part 1 and 2 – albeit with a little polish here and there... “I wanted to rewrite all the lyrics Corey didn’t write; Part 2 is much more of me wanting to make these songs something we can be proud of lyrically.” Finlay explains that re-release of the band’s material has helped to cement their sound, explaining that their first EPs “didn’t capture the raw sound of a live show, they sounded too clean, and we felt like we had to remedy this before we moved forward.”

I’D SAY OUR SOUND IS MAINLY JANGLE POP/ PUNK, WITH PSYCHEDELIC HINTS Image by A.Haller

Part 1 is out right now, with the release of Part 2 following on 29th May. Deliberation ensued about whether releasing the music in two sections was the right way to go. Finlay expands: “We went back and forth a lot on whether to do an album or two EPs. We settled on the two as the songs were recorded in separate live sessions, they wouldn’t have sounded right lumped together in one project.”

As a whole, the Stay At Home EPs provide a good old mix of influences and a nod to different eras, and whilst Part 1 has a mellower, more acoustic atmosphere, Part 2 uses its full force with bag loads of energy: “Part 2 is a lot more genre-bending. We have a surf rock song, then a punk song, then an indie song, then a weird kind of jangle pop-punk song. Whereas we think Part 1 is a throwback to 2000s indie. There is one song on Part 1 that isn’t really new; it was just never recorded before; it’s called They Don’t Even Know, and we’re proud of how it turned out.”

Exploring that playful punky edge has been a fun element that the quartet has relished. Finlay concludes: “People Pleaser is as punk as we get, and has always been a favourite for the band to play. Gaslight’s chorus is the heaviest thing we’ve done up to date. Playing Gaslight is just sheer catharsis for me. Being able to scream and thrash around, it’s like cleaning my soul.”

Primary Colours release Stay At Home EP Part 2 on 29th May www.facebook.com/primarycoloursband