Would you care to introduce yourself?
David Richards (Rhythm Guitar, Vocals), Paul Mclean (Lead guitar, Vocals), John Paul Dunne (Bass, Backing Vocals) and Graeme Ellis (Drums, Backing Vocals)
How would you describe the music you make?
Post Punk with a mix of electronic and contemporary Indie, we’ve just added a synthesiser to the set-up so yeah its moving more towards an electronic sound and maybe shedding a little of its punk roots. We’re mixing the song styles just now, some slower and more ambient songs recently being written.
How did you start out making music?
Myself David, I was always into music since my early teens, first came DJing for years but I also had a guitar, and always wrote songs. Then the home recording revolution unfolded and I bought Cubase and a Keyboard, kind of in the mind to make purely electronic music, meanwhile I did a degree in Commercial Music so naturally ended up around bands a lot. So I fancied a go, started a pretty bad band but luckily met Ellis through that. He'd done the Scottish Pipe band thing plus played in a couple of bands. We then couldn’t really find anyone for a while that was committed but through an advert in McCormack’s Music shop found Paul and JP. They’d been in loads of bands and covers bands for years; they’d even been impromptu and one night only members of ‘Monkeytribe’. They had a good back catalogue of songs and ideas too.
What process goes into the way you write songs?
Sometimes one of us has a song in a skeletal form and we bring it to the studio, sometimes we have bizarre jams that songs then just seem to spring from. Paul and John Paul have an 8 Track, they've had it for years, they have tracks and ideas they can’t even remember recording but they often lead to songs. It’s an Aladdin’s Cave. We all pitch in with the writing though, Ellis might come and grab my guitar and say how about this, Paul might take John Paul’s bass and say what about that. I write all the lyrics in story forms and fit them to the music after, the other guys sometimes help with delivery ideas and how best to match music and words.
What can people expect from your live shows?
Recently we’ve built the set to have more fluidity, intro tracks, and continuous mixes between songs. Cut the banter, because frankly we’re shite at that and just really try to make as many good sounds as possible in a half hour or so. Things have become a lot more methodical and tighter. We try to work the dynamics just now too, so maybe you’d hear our quietest song followed by our fastest. Overall, exciting we hope!
What are you all listening to at the moment?
I’m obsessed with Soft Cell and Sonic Youth right now. Contemporary music though, I’m enjoying Egyptian Hip-Hop, Warpaint, Foals, Crystal Castles. Paul’s listening to The Bunnymen and XTC, but then The Kills one minute, Tinchy Stryder the next, a real eclectic mix. Ellis loves his 90’s Indie like Blur and Pulp and John Paul’s listening to Arcade Fire as well as many of the above, but again I think we all listen to a lot of 80’s and 90’s Indie and electronic music, on rotation really. Marquee Moon lasts the exact time it takes to get over to the studio so that’s been the car favourite.
What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2011?
First we release a single ‘Apparitions’ with 17Seconds Records on January 31st. It’s our first release so we’re really focussed on that. It has a Nevada Base remix on the b-side of our song ‘A Fair Escape’. We have the single launch the Friday before at The Admiral; we’ve got the gig running as a kind of one off club night. So bands on later, support coming from Chris Devotion and the Expectations (ex The Elvis Suicide). Some of us DJing after as well as guest DJ’s. Then we play Club Fandango on the 1st February. Then a summer E.P is in the pipeline, we’re going to put some varied songs on including previously recorded songs and some brand new tracks, yet to be recorded. Try to show what an album could shape up like. Some festival action possibly, hopefully further radio support from Lamacq, Vic Galloway and Tom Robinson and see how the year goes. I think we are all more excited than ever though and that’s very much because of the new material that’s being written.
Apparitions by fiction faction David Richards (Rhythm Guitar, Vocals), Paul Mclean (Lead guitar, Vocals), John Paul Dunne (Bass, Backing Vocals) and Graeme Ellis (Drums, Backing Vocals)
How would you describe the music you make?
Post Punk with a mix of electronic and contemporary Indie, we’ve just added a synthesiser to the set-up so yeah its moving more towards an electronic sound and maybe shedding a little of its punk roots. We’re mixing the song styles just now, some slower and more ambient songs recently being written.
How did you start out making music?
Myself David, I was always into music since my early teens, first came DJing for years but I also had a guitar, and always wrote songs. Then the home recording revolution unfolded and I bought Cubase and a Keyboard, kind of in the mind to make purely electronic music, meanwhile I did a degree in Commercial Music so naturally ended up around bands a lot. So I fancied a go, started a pretty bad band but luckily met Ellis through that. He'd done the Scottish Pipe band thing plus played in a couple of bands. We then couldn’t really find anyone for a while that was committed but through an advert in McCormack’s Music shop found Paul and JP. They’d been in loads of bands and covers bands for years; they’d even been impromptu and one night only members of ‘Monkeytribe’. They had a good back catalogue of songs and ideas too.
What process goes into the way you write songs?
Sometimes one of us has a song in a skeletal form and we bring it to the studio, sometimes we have bizarre jams that songs then just seem to spring from. Paul and John Paul have an 8 Track, they've had it for years, they have tracks and ideas they can’t even remember recording but they often lead to songs. It’s an Aladdin’s Cave. We all pitch in with the writing though, Ellis might come and grab my guitar and say how about this, Paul might take John Paul’s bass and say what about that. I write all the lyrics in story forms and fit them to the music after, the other guys sometimes help with delivery ideas and how best to match music and words.
What can people expect from your live shows?
Recently we’ve built the set to have more fluidity, intro tracks, and continuous mixes between songs. Cut the banter, because frankly we’re shite at that and just really try to make as many good sounds as possible in a half hour or so. Things have become a lot more methodical and tighter. We try to work the dynamics just now too, so maybe you’d hear our quietest song followed by our fastest. Overall, exciting we hope!
What are you all listening to at the moment?
I’m obsessed with Soft Cell and Sonic Youth right now. Contemporary music though, I’m enjoying Egyptian Hip-Hop, Warpaint, Foals, Crystal Castles. Paul’s listening to The Bunnymen and XTC, but then The Kills one minute, Tinchy Stryder the next, a real eclectic mix. Ellis loves his 90’s Indie like Blur and Pulp and John Paul’s listening to Arcade Fire as well as many of the above, but again I think we all listen to a lot of 80’s and 90’s Indie and electronic music, on rotation really. Marquee Moon lasts the exact time it takes to get over to the studio so that’s been the car favourite.
What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2011?
First we release a single ‘Apparitions’ with 17Seconds Records on January 31st. It’s our first release so we’re really focussed on that. It has a Nevada Base remix on the b-side of our song ‘A Fair Escape’. We have the single launch the Friday before at The Admiral; we’ve got the gig running as a kind of one off club night. So bands on later, support coming from Chris Devotion and the Expectations (ex The Elvis Suicide). Some of us DJing after as well as guest DJ’s. Then we play Club Fandango on the 1st February. Then a summer E.P is in the pipeline, we’re going to put some varied songs on including previously recorded songs and some brand new tracks, yet to be recorded. Try to show what an album could shape up like. Some festival action possibly, hopefully further radio support from Lamacq, Vic Galloway and Tom Robinson and see how the year goes. I think we are all more excited than ever though and that’s very much because of the new material that’s being written.
Myspace
Soundcloud
17 Second Records
No comments:
Post a Comment