The13th AÑO: 3
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NÚMERO 28
UNA R E VISTA IMA GINARIA
KAS PRODUCT | INTROFLIRT ALAN COURTIS | LIGHTS THAT CHANGE | MICHEL LEROY THE CULT OF FREE LOVE | THE SWAGGER | TAN FRÍO EL VERANO
[ Interview with Marc Joy of Lights That Change by Diego Centurión Translation: Bernardo Jimenez Mesa / Rodrigo Debernardis ]
A VERY, VERY REFINED LIGHTS THAT CHANGE
We’ve been eager to have this interview for The 13th for a while, ever since we go to know you (by means of “Shauna”) with “Voices”, but it’s been a long road towards this single, with Marc Joy releasing material and experimenting with sound and vocal structures until finding, in 2015, an ideal partner for the vocals, Mandy Clare. So in this interview we’ll dig deeper into Lights That Change. How was the band born? The live band as it is today was born out years of development and growing interest from the early releases over the internet, A friend of mine John Bryan (LTC bassplayer) suggested putting a band together to play live, at this time Mandy was not a permanent member. Was the use of different singers throughout the first releases part of a journey to establish yourselves as a band? No, I had no idea of what direction the band was
heading in those days. But it has been an interesting journey. How would you describe Lights That Change to our readers who may not be familiar with you? Lights That Change was to begin with not Lights That Change but lived under the name “Theme” for many years and a lot of the recordings then had simple labels like “Theme One” and “Theme Two” and was just a vehicle for guitar soundscapes, what people today would call shoegaze or dreampop, I would of thought more just psychedelic but we do get pinned with the shoegaze/dreampop label most of the time. I think the album could change that. Some of your influences, such as Cocteau Twins, can be clearly heard in “Whispers in February” and the latest single “Song to the Siren.” Now with Mandy established as the singer, the band seems to have a more distinct personality, moving away from the influence of Elizabeth Fraser. Do you see it this way?
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Yes, we have grown quite a bit, I have fallen more into place as a guitarist Mandy and John have a lot to do with production now. We have found we have moved more in a darker direction as Mandy I think relates influences like Dead Can Dance and Sisters of mercy, John is adding more sleazy ideas and I am finding the songs are becoming more interesting to deal with as far as guitar goes.
Was 2015 a good year for you? How have your releases been received? You’ve been a constant presence in our magazine since “Voices.” We have spent a lot of time getting our live sound together with new technologies and rehearsing. A hell of a lot of fighting. Voices was an unexpected surprise when we released it, it has done so well and still is doing well.
What other influences, perhaps less clear cut, can you mention? The Cure, PIL, Siouxie and the Banshees, Massive attack, The Sound (Adrian Borland).
Marc, what does the inclusion of John Bryan and Mal Holmes bring to “Light that Changes”? As I said earlier, it was John’s idea to take this out of it’s tiny box and on the road. Mal is an old friend who I knew would do way better than me with drum programming as he has done on OMD hit’s over the decades.
The music industry seems to have changed drastically because of the Internet and the breaking away from major labels. It seems harder to get people to listen to albums, and singles and EPs seem to have taken prominence. What is your perspective of today’s music market? Well, you don’t need to think of it as in your own back garden anymore, we now have the whole planet because of the internet and I think that’s fucking awesome. The major’s are chasing their tails trying to keep control of it all. I think music pirating is a problem but I do think it has it’s place. We need to find a way to grow with it still. EP’s and LP’s are great for so many reasons all though we released a lot of singles last year, not a big fan of singles but we needed to let people know we are still here while getting the album ready. Taking this into account, is live performance more profitable than recording nowadays? Yes, in so many ways than just the dosh (£$). People get an idea what you sound like live and networking is so good in person, you can also sell physicals and T-shirts.
Just released an EP, "Dark Narrows" are songs from upcoming album? No, Not one of those songs on that EP are from the album, That would be a cheat if we did that. “Voices” and “Starlight” are the only tracks from the album and hope they will be the beacons for the album. What can you tell us about the upcoming album “Bizantium”? It has 11 tracks and will be an awesome relief when it’s out there. What can we expect from this 2016 from "Lights That Change"? A very very refined Lights That Change. How can our readers get to know more about you? Contact us here: https://www.facebook.com/LightsThatChange/ We will try and get back to you asap.
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LIGHTS THAT CHANCE, A SHIP JOURNEY. Por Darío Martínez. Translation: Rodrigo Debernardis
I knew Lights That Chance just when their current line-up was consolidated, with the release of the single “Voices”, in May 2015. Launched by Ear To Ear Records, a Dream Pop and Shoegazer Canadian label, here is what we are going to listen on it: “Voice” is a nice, ethereal song, guided by a beautiful voice, which sails over crystal guitars, a deep bass sound and programmed drums. The seed was planted and composed by Mandy Clare (lyrics-voice), John Bryan (bass), Marc Joy (guitars-melody) and the collaboration of Malcolm (Mal) Holmes (of the famous pop band OMD – Orchestra Manouvre In The Dark) with drums programming. Two singles were also released in 2015, “Starlight” and “Song To The Siren”, this one an emblematic 4D label song, and part of the Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance live playlists, two influential bands in the music of Lights Thant Chance, although Marc prefers the term “psychedelic”. With all this, we can say that the EP that bring us here, “Dark Narrows” maintains the elements and high parameters of “Voice”, and show them as an authentic and proud british band. Two of the seven tracks are colleague`s covers. The first track names the album and is an optimistc dance tune which remind us The Cure. On tracks 2 and 4 (“Alma Matters” and “Driver”) guitars cross that thin line between Dance Pop and Shoegazer, adding some distortion and flanger effects. Track 3 is a very nice version of the OMD’s song “Souvenir”. At the end, track 5 “(…)” changes the way in a journey trying to get that perfect chord for that sound and joins the melody. A trip that I imagined as a “ship journey” in a sea of noise, where the voice travels between rubbed guitars and sound effect pedals. The band announces a forthcoming album entitled “Bizantium”, with 11 tracks. We anxiously await the release.
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The13th U NA R EVISTA IMA GINA RIA