Barney Interviews The Talks

This article originally appeared on the blog at Songeist.com

At Songeist we have no remit for the genre of emerging artists we promote; from classical to hardcore punk, our ears are open. However, we won't pretend we don't have our personal preferences and, for his sins, ska music is something very near and dear to the heart of Barney Songeist, to the point where 'Can't Remember To Forget You' by Shakira can often be heard emanating from our office when everyone else has gone to lunch. And so, it's his pleasure to be able to catch up with Jody, Pat and Iain from one of the great hopes of UK ska music, The Talks, whose rugged, rough-and-tumble ska and dapper British style has turned heads over the last few years, in both the UK and mainland Europe.

The Talks
B. Hey The Talks. Let’s get the formalities out-of-the-way. Can you give everyone The Talks in a nutshell; your style, where you guys met, what you guys have done up to now. Then we can move on and get into the details!

Jody. In a nutshell... The Talks are 4 lads from Hull that all met from playing in different bands together previously or studying music together. So far we have had one album out in 2011 and an E.P called ‘West Sinister’ which we released early last year and we are currently two singles in to our new album which will be released soon.

B. Cool! Your last two singles ‘Radio’ and ‘Don’t Look Behind You’ are streaming on Songeist now and feature on your forthcoming album ‘Commoners, Peers, Drunks and Thieves’. When did you record the album, who did you record it with and, most importantly, when is it going to drop?

Jody. We started demoing and jamming the album throughout 2013 but didn’t actually properly start tracking the album until early 2014. Luckily myself and Pat (lead singer) run a recording studio in Hull which helps, so this time all the album has been recorded at AOO Studios. Previously with ‘West Sinister’ we tracked the E.P in our studio but sent it out to a producer for mixing which made life easier. But with this album we are doing the lot, as some tracks were written in the recording process. Saying that, it did take a little longer than we'd hoped because at times we did found ourselves a little too close to the project; tracking, producing, arranging, mixing and mastering all takes its toll! So it did become a process of leaving it - to get some head space - before returning back to it, and continuing the session. It's a longer process but a good learning one!

Hopefully all being well, we should have it out in October.


B. One of the things that I love - and find very interesting - about you guys is that you’ve managed a nice balancing act between existing in the UK ska scene and getting mainstream attention from BBC Introducing and others. One reason for this is that you manage to achieve the live energy of the US ska-punk bands like Rancid that the underground circuit demands, but you manage to retain the identity of a UK band like The Specials or The Ordinary Boys that more commercial enterprises can get a handle on. In a scene that has often been stifled by the pop-cultural cul-de-sac of UK bands aping US ones, do you see your Britishness as a factor in the band’s character and consciously attempt to retain it? What do you think of UK ska bands that look and sound exactly like US bands?

Jody. I think it’s a case of knowing who and what you are; we are British and it seems that’s what people like about us and what sets us apart when we go over to play Europe. We are blessed that we have been left with a history of amazing music coming from the UK; The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, The Specials... and it seems that other country’s artists are also influenced by the UK, so why would we look to be anything else when we've been left with such a legacy? So I suppose with us loving the British sound, it tends to sound more British naturally. But saying that, it's like you say, influence from the States with the energetic style, or anywhere in the world is always huge too. I guess if it's good and inspiring to us, we tend borrow aspects of it.

Any band from the UK that is playing ska music, American, European or British style, we support and good on them. It's all good for a possible re-emergence of the musical genre. We would never denounce a band for playing their own music and putting the work in.

B. It’s not just sounding-American that can hinder the progress of UK ska bands. Stylistically ska music doesn’t have a great representation in the mainstream and has a healthier underground scene in countries like Germany, which you guys tap into. On tracks like ‘Radio’ you have the sound of a fresh and vital band but underneath it all is essentially a ska band that the music industry, ironically radio especially, might perceive as being ‘retro’. Is your game plan to set your stall in the ska scene and hope that your songs, style and talent will bring you to success further afield or do you have an approach to avoid the pitfalls of getting stuck behind the glass ceiling of being labelled a ‘genre band’.

Pat. Yeah, it can be a bit of a drawback being labeled by some radio and media as being retro sometimes, but most people listen on and realise it is progressive as well.  Ska is a great style and we love to play it and try to progress it in our own way as much as we can, but there does come a point when it stops being familiar in its feel and then of course it's harder for a lot to identify with. The new digital distribution doesn't allow for crossing genres as much either. The iTunes buttons to identify genre like a nice neat 'Ska' or 'Rock' or 'Indie' or whatever it is. But saying that, no musician or artist wants to be cornered into one style. So we are, and have been, pushing the boundaries when writing. Sometimes it works and sometimes not, or maybe not for now anyways. The hope is once a band is established people are open to hearing what else they have to offer I think. That's certainly how we feel anyway.

The Talks, pushing things forward.

B. On the forthcoming album there’s a track that features Itch (ex-The King Blues) which has a strongly anti-war lyrical bent. How did your collab with Itch come about? Do you feel that it is important for bands to express their political opinions through music and which artists inspire you to do so?

Pat. The track 'Ceasefire' was born of just seeing so much mayhem going on in the world. I guess it's always been one of our things to say what we see and hopefully convey a message. Many of our tracks have that kinda of angle. It was a pretty natural thing to ask Itch to get involved as I feel The King Blues had a similar style in speaking out, as do many of the bands in the punk and ska scene. I've always loved Itch's style and the fact that he loved the track enough to do it was brilliant. We've always enjoyed working with people we admire the style of and hopefully there's gonna be more to come.

B. Across the forthcoming album, and indeed your back catalogue, there are forays into many genres, from new wave pop to dub to tracks with more of an experimental, jungle-influenced sound. I see this as being in the tradition of The Clash, who always attempted to bring other styles into their sound while retaining their own aesthetic. What is your philosophy on bringing other styles into The Talks fold, and how do you retain your own identity while playing music ‘outside’ of your box?

Pat. I absolutely love bands that try diversify their sound and I always felt there is so much greatness in so many musical styles; so much so you feel like a kid in sweet shop when you're jamming out new ideas with the band. I guess it can get a little out of hand and we have to rein it in a bit and keep a sound that doesn't become too unfamiliar. We intend to keep trying new things, there's so much diversity out there, and there are a lot of great bands that have managed it, so that always gives us confidence.


B. How important is the city of Hull to The Talks? The city has had its share of social and economic adversities and yet manages to win City of Culture and have a tremendously close-knit and thriving music scene. Events like the Songeist-sponsored Humber Street Sesh and the work of Warren Records and venues like the Adelphi, Welly and Fruit give the scene a real sense of community, with bands of all different genres associating together. How do you feel this has happened and why do you think live music is so important in Hull? Other than the awesome Counting Coins, who else should we be checking out in Hull?

Iain: Hull is extremely important to us. Like with most bands, their home town is the place where they met, where they took their experiences and moulded them into songs, where they learned how to perform, the place that gave them life, and this is exactly how we feel about Hull. To be granted City of Culture is a great accolade, something to really work towards and show the rest of the world all that we have to offer. Bands don’t really segregate themselves stylistically here, we all appreciate just how hard each other works and are equally supportive of the scene. I think it works this way partly because of the recent social and economic upheavals; it’s a city on the up with everything to gain. We’ve been hit pretty hard in the past and not too much has been expected, so no one’s really living in anybody’s shadows. There are loads of great bands to check out, just to name a few: EndofLevelBaddie, Life, Young Jack and Black Delta Movement.

B. The video for ‘Radio’ takes place in a record shop and has scenes of people digging through the crates for vinyl. You’ve also released vinyl in Germany yourselves. Do you feel an affinity for the physical product and the album format? How do you think that acts can keep the tradition of the LP and record shop alive in a digital, playlist-orientated world?

Jody. Absolutely, with the vinyl its like it's a real, real product... a real piece of art and that's what I love about vinyl. Also I think by releasing a record it shows that you are investing in your band - as they are not cheap to manufacture - but people who collect vinyl know that and that's why they're still a bit special to this day. The download code does help towards this... but ultimately bands need to release more vinyl and inspire people to hear how it sounds rather than some hacked MP3 that has had the tits compressed out of it through some extra fake bass-boosting earphones that they picked because they were cheaper and more colourful, physically and sonically. Ssshhhh...

But what I think is paramount to a bands growth, is keeping the album format alive, whether that's digitally or physically. It seems that most bands release single after single to maintain momentum which is fine, but with an album it's more personal, taking the listeners on a journey through your music and the way you agonise over which way to take them through the album and where to break it up with a slight change in style or feel. This, I think, is always gonna bring your crowd closer to you because they have had that journey with you. They know the album tracks that everyone who bought just the singles doesn't, and that can't be a bad thing. Of course this is just our thoughts on the process and I guess time will tell once we have had 'Commoners, Peers, Drunks & Thieves' out for a while.



B. You’ve been playing a great deal of festivals this summer and getting The Talks sound out there across a lot of different countries. How have you found the reaction of fans in Europe? Do they need more time to get engaged than a UK crowd or are they even more up for it?

Iain. The European reaction to the band has been wicked. We’re lucky enough to have entered a lot of territories with good billing on some big festivals, which has really helped boost things. The audiences in Germany, Belgium, Holland and France are equally as up for it as those in the UK, if not at times moreso. They seem to engage instantly and latch on to the vibe. They really seem to get the vibe of the band live. In Germany for instance live music seems to have a heightened level of importance and going to a gig is a real event, not just going to the pub for a pint and as a by-product there’s a band on. Live gigs seem less saturated so they are better organised, promoted and more of an anticipated happening.

B. Finally, let us know what you guys have coming up and where we can keep in touch with you guys?

We're just finishing up with the festivals and then we release the album in November. We hit the road straight after, with three weeks in Europe and then a few weeks in the UK in November touring to promote the album. After that we will probably hate each other for a while, ha ha.

Give us a like on our Facebook or Twitter and you can keep up to date with us that way.

You can stream tracks by The Talks on Songeist HERE.

Music Guidance. Thinking About... Who You Are

This article originally appeared on the blog at Songeist.com.

In this special weekly guidance series we're going to be exploring three key aspects of your band's existence and encouraging you to consider these elements of your act with as much thought and deliberation as you write your songs. Simply expecting the inertia of creativity to steer your ship into the right direction is rarely enough; your band's command of who you are, what you do and how you come across are all hugely important to consider. Across the series, Barney will use some real-world examples to illustrate how important these factors are and help you to apply these concepts to your own band.

READ PART 2: THINKING ABOUT... WHAT YOU ARE HERE.

THINKING ABOUT... AN INTRODUCTION

Within four months in my current band, we managed to make more headway then we had in four years in our previous band. Within a year we were firmly established in our scene, being regularly played on BBC Radio 1, taken on a package tour with our heroes and signed to one of the biggest independent punk-related labels in the UK.

While playing the same songs we'd played in our old band.

I’ll be honest. We didn’t do this by suddenly being the best band around or by having the best songs and the best singing voices. Learning to write good songs and play great live shows and all those other things arguably(!) came later and, like all bands, we’re still learning. In fact, all we did was disband one band and start another with a small shuffle of members six months later. But this time we had a clear, defined, and mutually understood philosophy of who we were, what we did and how we looked.

 Even Kurt Cobain had to think about these things.

NO CONSIDERABLE MUSICAL CHANGE

By considering the factors that I will discuss in these blogs and tweaking your approach accordingly, you too may be able to go from languishing local band to being an established part of the national gigging circuit with no considerable musical change. If my last series From The Garage To The Stage was about thinking about everything that happens on stage other than the music, this series is about everything that defines a band other than the music. And these factors are actually just as important as the songs you write.

These blogs will be most beneficial if used as a jump-off point for discussion between you and your band members. The whole idea is that you, as an emerging band, get on the same page about who you are, what you do and how you look. If you have a unified vision, it's half the battle. Organise a band meeting, hash these things out and I guarantee you'll be making a positive and productive step for your band.

What's that coming over the hill? It's a band that know WHO THEY ARE.

DEFINE YOURSELF

First things first. Who are you? What are you giving to people that they can't already get? They're questions, whether consciously or not, that every successful band can answer. The first, and most important, thing to do is to define yourself. What are you giving to music? Where do you fit into what is going on? In terms of members, each band is as unique as a fingerprint. The make-up of no two bands is exactly the same and the music can reflect the various influences, personalities and talents of the people who make it up. Of course, that doesn’t mean switching genres every single song to account for your different tastes. It means that you figure out what unique sounds this distinct combination of musicians can create together and can slot into what is happening in music now. And then focus on that.

Sounds obvious right? Well, you'd be surprised how many bands get together based on liking similar music and 'jam' to 'find their sound'. All well and good, but then they forget to sit down and identify what it is. Just one aspect of your act that's unique is enough make you memorable. Even now, speak to anyone about Welsh indie-rockers The Automatic and they'll probably say 'is that the indie band with the screaming guy on keyboards?' Of course, what sets you apart doesn't have to be something as visceral as a screaming keyboard player. It can be anything that makes you a band that are doing something distinctive among the other bands out there that aren't. What is distinctive could be anything from your vocal accent to using a certain instrument or just a new twist on an old idea.

I can feel some of the purists out there raising their eyebrows... perhaps this feels contrived and gimmicky? Maybe this seems contrary to the creative process? But why is it a gimmick to identify something that came naturally to your group of musicians and set out to explore it in the hope of creating something truly original? The simplest way to look at it is that if you’ve invented yourself, even if people don’t like you, they remember you. You'll always be that band that did that thing. And that thing will work in your advantage as long as there are other bands out there to give a context to what you do.

Radiohead. Blowing Genres To Smithereens Since Kid A.

CONTEXT

'Inventing yourself' doesn’t mean that you need to concoct a new genre of music from the ground up; as long as you can creatively frame what originality you have with other contemporary music and it makes sense - be it one step more extreme or one step towards a different style - then you are a unique snowflake in the musical sky. Very few artists are as pioneering as say, The Streets, who appeared, apparently cut from whole cloth, with a truly unique sound. But even The Streets' influences rang so loud from every song on ‘Original Pirate Material’ that the context of where he fitted into the pantheon of British dance and pop between The Specials, The Prodigy and everything else was obvious to all. Conceptually, you, me and the majority of bands out there are actually just steps away from another.

Think about those old Rock Family Tree diagrams. Now, instead of the act's line-ups and histories, think of those Rock Family Trees in terms of genres. Most successful acts in any genre are really only small steps away from each other in style and tone. Consider Muse's chart-friendly pomp-rock distillation of Radiohead's prog excess and back to Imagine Dragons' latter-day facelift of early Muse. Like it or not, pop and rock music exists in a place and time and the zeitgeist is a crucial element of commercial music. Attempts to ignore these road-signs, or even kick down the traffic cones, are ill-advised for an emerging band. Sure, Radiohead now straddle entire genres of music, but it's important to remember that didn't happen overnight. For years they were a British guitar band navigating their way through the alternative rock landscape before blowing everything to smithereens with Kid A. I see emerging bands out there attempting to make their premature version of Kid A, expelling all their influences, talent and passion without a vision or context to hold it all in place.

Enter Shikari. Master of Context.

IT'S NOT WHERE YOU'RE AT... IT'S WHERE YOU'RE FROM

With bands like Klaxons, Friendly Fires and Enter Shikari actively blurring the lines between what it is to be a guitar act and a dance act, popular music has never been so stylistically open. But while it seems like those acts are just throwing together their record collections and making music, it's crucial to understand that the mechanics of those band's genre-crossovers are deceptively sophisticated. They expertly blend a prescribed mix of styles that make sense for their audience and fit within the lineage of the bands that have come before them and the scene they're in. Even though they flirt with dance music and DJ culture, they utilise these ideas as rock acts that understand their crowd's distinct tastes and frames of reference. If you know, like these bands, that your audience can contextualise, and enjoy, the specific mix of genres that you can uniquely provide, then hey... there's your context. But remember that, by design, these guys make it look easy and one man's record collection is another man's jumble sale.

As well as the context of the musical landscape, it's vital to think just as deliberately about your cultural context. Successful music generally relays an authentic truth about the culture of the people in the band and the place they're from. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have a strong cultural context as tattooed, perma-tanned funk-rockers from Hollywood. It's hard to imagine a band from Grimsby, tattooed and perma-tanned or not, having the same success with the same songs. The cultural context of a band is a part of its strength. Think about bands like Oasis and Pulp and how the identities and cultural context of Manchester and Sheffield are indivisible from their music. Ask yourself, does your music say something about who you are and where you are from?

THINKING ABOUT... WHAT YOU DO

Thanks for reading. Next week, in 'Thinking About... What You Do' I'll put across my argument about why success for emerging bands doesn't start by aiming for the stars at all... but by aiming for the roots. For now, don't forget to let me know what you think of the blog and please share it!

Playmobil shot courtesy Xurxo Martínez‘s Flickr used under Creative Commons License.
The Automatic shot courtesy beana_cheese‘s Flickr used under Creative Commons License.
Radiohead shot courtesy Taras Khimchak‘s Flickr used under Creative Commons License.
Enter Shikari shot courtesy Natalie Aja's Flickr used under Creative Commons License.

Barney Interviews Echotape

This article originally appeared on the blog at Songeist.com

Next Tuesday, September 2nd at the Sebright Arms in London we have three of the best emerging bands in the UK taking the stage; Echotape, Lion Bark and FARO music. Headliners Echotape play a distinctive, impassioned brand of indie-rock that's been electrifying crowds, and online music listeners, over the last year. With the guys dropping new single 'Whiskey Bar' this week, Barney caught up with Mike from the band to fill us in on what's been going on with Echotape and their thoughts and philosophies on their ascent.


Echotape

B. Let’s get the basics out of the way. Give us a potted history of Echotape; previous bands, where you’re from and what you guys have done so far.

M. Well, we’ve all know each other since school and college days and been in bands around the area (yes, they all had dodgy band names, Donny Whistle was one of Dan’s old bands). Marc and I are brothers so we have known each other a bit longer! We all live together in our band flat in the depths of Hampshire. Echotape formed a few years ago and decided we’d just enjoy it and have fun. A couple of highlights have been playing in places like The Viper Room in Hollywood on a US tour, and Moscow Stadium in front of 8,000 people. It’s definitely fun!

B. ‘We Should Feel Like We Are In Love’ has been an emerging artist success story in terms of its online popularity and has really got a lot of eyes onto Echotape. In order to kick some knowledge down to other Songeist users, was there anything unique about your approach to publicising the track that you think helped with its success or do you feel that it was simply good tune and video = good response?

M. It’s all been completely organic. Obviously we’ve tried to promote it by setting a release and starting a promotion campaign with a tour around the single release but there’s no special technique we’ve used. We knew it was a great song but have been overwhelmed by the support it’s had. It’s easy to pick up the lyrics and relate to so I think that’s definitely helped.



B. The song also signifies a crystallisation of Echotape’s sound, with you guys bringing a passionate, heart-on-your-sleeve style of indie-rock that’s really unique. Having heard older songs by you guys that were clearly steps on the road to the quintessential Echotape sound, can you speak of this stylistic journey? How did you decide to take your sound the way it went? Was it something completely natural and unspoken or was it something you guys planned and discussed?

M. Thanks for the kind words; glad it comes across that way as that’s what we hoped. It was definitely planned, but it was a natural progression to get there. You have to have a certain sound so people can hear a track for the first time anywhere and be like ‘oh that sounds like Echotape’. Once we found the sound we all knew that was it. 'We Should Feel Like We Are In Love' has become our signature sound and with the success it had its sort of become a yardstick. When we’re writing new songs, if it’s not up to that standard it doesn’t progress. So yeah, it was all planned with how we wanted it to sound! The new single 'Whiskey Bar' is in the same vein as 'We Should Feel Like We Are In Love' so I think we definitely do have a signature sound.

B. The video for ‘We Should Feel Like We Are In Love’ is remarkable for its incorporation of live audio at the start and the way it viscerally presents the band’s live show. It gives off the DIY spirit and personality of the band the way in which a biography or review never could. Was it your idea to have the live show the theme of the video, or did you simply get the right director, at the right time?

M. We try and keep everything as real and honest as possible so decided just to throw a party, invite all our friends round and just film it. We knew we wanted to showcase the live onstage energy we have, and show everyone having a great time, without it looking staged of course. The best way for that was to just have a party. We had our friend Chris Warsop film it for us, who’s helped out with other projects we’ve done and Dan edited it. We noticed it sounded cool with the live audio at the start so tried to blend that in with the recorded audio. I think the vibe of the party comes across and it makes you want to be a part of it. Which people are more than welcome to be!



B. You guys have covered a whole smorgasbord of classic rock; Springsteen, The Small Faces, George Harrison, Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie songs all make appearances. In these days of Live Lounge cover culture - where bands scramble to cover the latest pop tracks in order to get online hits and, the more cynical may say, appear hip - was it a conscious decision on your part to reject this or are you simply rocking the tunes you love? How do you compare classic bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s to current bands?

M. There are a lot of acts on YouTube that cover recent songs, but it seems they do that as it’s the thing to do as it will get them more attention, so I agree totally with what you’re saying. We just wanted to have a bit of fun with it, so picked songs that we think are good and would enjoy playing.

I think it’s hard to compare bands from certain eras as it’s all subjective. There are so many great bands throughout the years that are all completely unique. Hopefully we can help fly the flag for the new generation of bands coming through.

B. Sky News did a feature on you guys, focussing on the DIY aspect of Echotape. Is the DIY culture of jump-in-a-van-and-do-it an important part of Echotape’s ethos? With stories of you guys jamming with Carl Barat, one wonders how bands like The Libertines, and the homespun London indie scene of the early noughties, influenced Echotape?

M. We’re always working and trying to do something to help promote the band. There’s so many bands out there to swim up against and if you’re not working hard you’ll just sink. It was nice for Sky News to pick up on the stuff we’re doing ourselves. There’s still a way to go but we know as long as we keep working at it we’ll get there!

It was a surreal moment playing with Carl. He had a chat to us after and was really complimentary. He’s from Whitchurch which is the town just down the road from us so we had a local connection. He wants to try and help us out too if he can so it’s great to have someone like that on your side. The Libertines are definitely an influence on us. Their shows are always like one big party, which is a vibe we try to create too.



B. You’ve got a new single ‘Whiskey Bar’ dropping this October, streaming on Songeist HERE. Can you let us know a little about the new single and your progress in terms of a full-length album? Do you have a producer on board?

M. It was all recorded in our studio here where we live. We have our friend Undy who lives here too and is our resident producer. He’s pretty much the fifth member of the band. He does the sound for all the live acoustic videos we do too. The single is out on 13th October and have been getting some great responses so far from only having it online a few days. At the time of writing it’s currently top of the indie rock chart on SoundCloud and has been trending with thousands of plays flooding in. We’re hopeful it will do well as it’s another feel-good song.

We’re currently recording and writing our new album with an expected release date early next year so look out for that. We were recording drums last week in a huge wooden shed, which was great fun!

B. What can we expect from you guys at our Songeist Showcase on September 2nd? Any naked stage invasions planned?

That invasion wasn’t planned but everyone attending is welcome to! It’s our singer Marc’s birthday that night too so we’re making it a big celebration night. We’re planning to perform a brand new track in the set too that we’re all excited about. It will definitely be a great show.



B. Did you ever find out what happens to moths when it rains?

M. Yes! We got told they have really strong wings and can deal with the rain easily. For anyone reading this, we asked the question at the start of one of the acoustic videos we did! Thanks for taking the time out to ask us some questions Songeist!

You can stream and purchase tracks by Echotape on Songeist HERE.

Barney Interviews Felix Pallas

This article originally appeared on the blog at Songeist.com

More often than not on Songeist, we'll hear the name of our featured acts on the UK live circuit before we ever see their profile on the site. Other times, we'll simply be perusing the list of new, unfamiliar acts that have recently joined and be blown away by the sound that comes out of the speakers. This was the case with Felix Pallas's 'Too Sad For Tea', a massive track that recalls the epic indie-rock of Coldplay and Keane. We found out that this Belgian band have been working on their debut album with renowned producer James Sanger (Keane, Dido) in the Normandy countryside so we caught up with bass-player PJ who gave us the low down.

Felix Pallas

B. It’s tradition on my Songeist interviews to start with the obvious question. Who are Felix Pallas? Please give us a bit of background on the history of the band, how you met and what you’ve done over the past year and a half?

PJ. There's a little bit of history behind Felix Pallas. Basically, at the core of the band there is Simon and I. We are brothers and have been making music together at home with a piano and an acoustic guitar, for a very long time. Simon wanted to start a band at the end of high school and found it necessary to put his 'team' together because he entered a music competition starting the next week. That's where Xavier (Guitarist) and I came in. We called ourselves Breathe The Sound and composed three songs. We quickly learned our voices blended together smoothly and our musical compositions could mean something. A month later we won the competition and had to play in Sweden. After a couple of years of moulding our own sound, we decided to add a drummer, Ziggy, to the band. The configuration of the band still hasn't altered, however we changed the name of the band. That's where the story of Felix Pallas started at the beginning of 2013.

We decided to take our music to a higher level and looked for a producer, Belgian or foreign, it didn't matter, who'd shape our music into a more polished sound. We found the brilliant James Sanger and stayed at his Vibey Studio's for three months. Located in the beautiful countryside of Normandy, this was a place where nobody could distract us from doing the one thing we were there for; creating music, day in, day out. After our French adventure we tried to find a way to perform our songs live. That took us a long time, but it gained the interest of our fans in the meantime. We started off live with a UK tour in different pubs and clubs in London, Brighton, Manchester, Worthing and more.

Right now we're finishing the last bits of an upcoming EP, which we'll be releasing in September.

B. At the moment, you’ve only got a few - admittedly amazing sounding - songs out there including ‘Break The Silence’ and ‘Too Sad For Tea’ on Songeist. How has the reaction been to the material so far?

PJ. It's different for the both songs you mentioned. 'Break The Silence' is a song full of energy and happiness, therefore widely appreciated by many fans. But with Too Sad For Tea, frequently written as 2S4T, there was an instant impact on earlier fans and close friends. While writing it in Normandy, with every step the song evolved, we knew this was a new sound and atmosphere we were really liking. 2S4T, therefore, is a perfect example of what we want our songs to be: mysterious yet melodious, dark yet sweet.

The great part of sharing the new songs with people is not only putting them online, but performing them live. People clearly like the way we sound live, especially because they didn't expect us to play the new songs that way - loyal to the original, yet with more guts.



B. While retaining your own Belgian identity, your sound recalls the indie rock of UK bands such as The Verve and Coldplay. Are you influenced by bands from the UK and if so, which ones? How do you manage to maintain your Belgian individuality while taking influence from bands from different parts of the globe?

PJ. We believe most pop or indie music nowadays doesn't have to be limited by where it comes from. Everybody's making music and in every country there are great bands, singers and instrumentalists. Western music is getting so polished - that's also what we wanted to sound like - and is influenced by so many pioneers of different styles of music, that music is breaking the boundaries of countries and styles. It makes it more difficult to stand out, but the bands who do are 'hot' and 'authentic'.

If our music recalls the great British indie rock, we can only be grateful, because you've really got many talented musicians. I think it's because James Sanger warned us about sounding too American, when it comes to singing. We really tried to sound distinct, whereas other bands who aren't native English speakers all sound similar. That's one way of trying to stand out. At least you've noticed!

Sounding Belgian isn't a real label, I guess. We're just sounding the way we do, because every individual of the band has a different background, varying ideas and distinct tastes. We just didn't want to 'sound' Belgian, because then we'd be limited.

B. In the video for ‘Break The Silence’ you’re seen playing live in London and you’ve also completed a UK tour and been back several times. You guys sing in English and are getting support from Amazing Radio among others. Do you see the UK as a big potential market for Felix Pallas? How was the reaction at the Islington 02 Academy show you played?

PJ. The UK scene was a real eye-opener for us. We've never anything like that before. You guys are spoiled when it comes to venues and opportunities fornew bands to play. Also the vibe in those venues, pubs and clubs is very positive as if everybody in London, for instance, is looking for new talent and enjoying live music. It's different than in Belgium. So yes, the UK obviously is a big potential market. But we don't think it's any easier for the fact that there are more opportunities. However, it keeps the good vibes up.

The show in the O2 Academy was booked slightly after our first UK tour. We had a blast. We came over from Belgium in the afternoon, so we didn't have to find a sleeping spot the night before. Xavier and I drove together, but we were delayed. It was a race against time: we just parked our car somewhere outdoors, rushed in, tuned our gear and started the set exactly on time, without sound-checking. Luckily the rest of the band and had set up all our gear and instruments. It was an amazing evening and we established some good local contacts.



B. In the same video, you’re heard doing a stunning live acoustic take of the track. You also mix acoustic sets in with full-band sets across your live outings. Do you feel that playing stripped-down is a good proving ground for the quality of musicians and vocalists, especially in these days of backing tracks and pop miming?

PJ. Generally, we love playing with a backing track. Not because it's safe and keeps you in time - which is an advantage for sure - but because the sound we want to deliver to the audience has to be the full sound that we believe the songs should consist of. Otherwise it's like playing a Brian May solo on a glockenspiel. Then again, we loved busking on the streets of Notting Hill and Guildford. We just want to play our songs to as many people as possible. We want to be heard. I think that's the best possible answer to your question.



B. How has the port city of Antwerp shaped the sound and ethos of Felix Pallas? Does the city’s melting pot of Dutch, Belgian and French influences make its way into the sound of the band?

PJ. As mentioned above, we don't think the location nor the melting pot of languages has a direct influence on the music we make. Of course, we can't deny that living in the beautiful city of Antwerp - with it's typical habits, language, food, people, industries, atmosphere etc. - must have had some underlying affect on the music we create. We really like to see ourselves as a band from Antwerp. We all live and create here and went to school in the suburbs. Antwerpians tend to have a really close bond with the city. If there's one city we would make a song about, it would be Antwerp, definitely.

But more than Antwerp, Normandy's countryside and it’s wet and ice-cold winter days, has given us the atmosphere in which the songs are drenched.

B. We’ve heard about a forthcoming EP from Felix Pallas. Who have you recorded it with, how is it sounding and when is it coming out?

PJ. It's coming out very soon. We recorded it at James Sanger's Vibey Studios, apart from for some extra stems we did at home. Colm Ennis, who was an assistant in Normandy, and thus lived with us for three months, did the final mixes. We are mastering it at Metropolis Studios, where we know Alex Robinson, another assistant who worked for three months with us in Normandy. We felt that they understood how we wanted the music to sound.


B. Are there any other great Belgian or mainland European bands we’re missing out on in the UK that you think are worth us checking out?

PJ. I think the biggest revelation this year must be Stromae, the bilingual producer / artist / dancer from Brussels. He is probably the most authentic musician we've seen growing in Belgium and beyond and is a sort of a modern version of Jacques Brel. We are also liking Balthazar and Netsky.

B. What’s coming up over the next year for Felix Pallas?

PJ. Only time will tell. We hope that we can convince many people of our sound and songs. Hopefully Songeist will give the first kick-start. We are grateful to anyone who's putting in effort - no matter how small it might be - to believe in our music. Thank you so much for featuring us!

You can stream and purchase tracks by Felix Pallas on Songeist HERE.

I Know You Got Red Soul

This article originally appeared on the blog at Songeist.com.

Here at Songeist we've all been huge fans of the Brighton-based Red Soul since hearing their spine-tingling debut track 'Dreams Are High'. The duo combine Mike's production, which leans heavily on soul samples and classic hip-hop beats, with Stephanie's gorgeous, honey-dipped jazz-pop vocals and it's a potent mix. This week, Red Soul have dropped their full five-track EP, which you can grab on Songeist now, so it's a great time for Barney to catch up with Mike and Stephanie to get us up to speed with the story so far and learn a little more about the alchemy of their winning formula.

Red Red Soul. Mike and Stephanie.

B. Hello Mike! Sorry to start with the obvious question but you guys are fresh as they come so we'd love to get a bit of background. Can you give us a brief history of Red Soul? How did you guys meet?

M. Hey man, yeah sure, Steph and I met in the Summer of 2012 when we both worked at a restaurant in Brighton. I came down from London to spend my summer holiday there and my brother gave me a job at the restaurant he was managing at the time. Steph worked there already and my brother told me she was a sick singer. We became friends but it wasn’t until I was back at uni working on a jazz project that we thought to work together. Steph vocal’d the track for me and it was then that we started to think about putting together a project of our own as we liked each other's styles. Over the next few months we started sending each other demos and ideas for the EP started coming together.

B. Hi Steph. Your debut, the Red Soul EP, has just dropped. People who want to grab it can head to your Songeist profile right now. Is it part of your plan to produce an EP to get the word about Red Soul out and build popularity before dropping an album or is it simply a case of getting what you've recorded up to now out there and lets-see-what-happens?

S. We actually didn't really know when we set out where we would end up in terms of an EP or album but we've just started writing some new stuff we're really excited about! We are working on writing and recording an album because we may as well now we've had so much fun getting here already! Plus the feedback we've had has been really encouraging.

B. I described 'Untrue' as "a sound that bridges the gap between Dilla’s Philly hip-hop and contemporary post-Winehouse pop". Was it your intention to mix underground hip-hop with a radio-ready vocal or is this a happy accident? Do you see yourselves as a hip-hop act or a pop act?

S. I think it was sort of a happy accident! Traditionally I am quite a commercial singer and I take massive influence in my writing and vocal style from artists like Amy Winehouse, where as Mike has always been far more underground in terms of what he creates musically, probably a reflection on what he listens to as well! I think its cool we've both stayed quite true to what we love but mixed it into something a bit different. I think our style will keep evolving too.

B. The EP's production is heavily sample-based, and even makes reference to this in the introduction 'Is It Art?'. The sped-up soul samples on 'You're My Hope' recall classic Kanye and Just Blaze, while there's a heavy J Dilla and DJ Premier vibe to the whole EP. Are the production techniques of golden age hip-hop something you prefer over the synths and sampled beats of contemporary trap and chart hip-hop and can you express why?

M. I think there is certainly a place for more synth-heavy production in hip-hop as well as other genres, but I love everything about sampling. The idea of finding a piece of music that most people have forgotten about and paying respect to it by breathing new life into it is really appealing to me. I love capturing the real emotion in the instruments of the original tracks and trying to bring that to my beats; most of the samples I used for the EP are from some of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard.

A classic Akai MPC sampler and Brighton beach; both Red Soul essentials.

B. As well as your guise as Red Soul, a hip-hop duo consisting of you and Stephanie, there's also the Soul Purpose crew. Can you outline the differences and specifics of these different identities? Do you have to wear a different 'hat' in your participation in either party?

M. Soul Purpose is what we call our collective of musicians and visual artists. It’s a pretty tight-knit crew of people who just respect each other’s music and want to push ourselves to make better and better material. We all help each other out with videos, music and mixes as much as possible and different combinations of us make up different artist guises. We’re putting together a Soul Purpose mixtape at the moment and have been working on a few nice videos for that so expect to see those dropping in the coming weeks. In terms of working with the other guys, for me, it’s not a hard adjustment to make as I love making more traditional rap-based hip-hop too. I started out making beats for rappers, so its always fun to get back to that. I think Steph enjoys working on some different styles too.

B. Both the videos for 'Untrue' and 'Dreams Are High' feature a great deal of footage of the beach, streets and haunts of your native Brighton. Do you feel that your Brighton location is a strong part of your identity as an act?

S. I think because it's where we met it will always be relevant to us, and the writing of most of the tracks was over summer when Mike was spending lots of time in Brighton. I feel like the people and the place really influenced what I wrote about lyrically. We are both living in London now so maybe that will evoke a change in stuff but I spent three years studying music in Brighton and meeting amazing people and that's really shaped me as an artist.

B. How do you guys write? Is it literally a case of Mike producing the beats and Stephanie writing over that? Or do you work on the beats and vocals together?

S. Mostly Mike will send me a beat he's been working on and I'll play it a couple of times and record demos of anything hooky I come up with vocally and send it over to him. If he likes it I work on lyrics, decide what I feel inspired to write about, figure out where the track should go and listen to the sounds I want to take influence from a lot for a week or two while I write. We almost always scrap stuff and rewrite in the studio and wrote 'Is This Art?' in Mike's house in London over a bottle of wine, suddenly panicking that we had to record it the next day so it definitely varies a little bit.

B. Just to return to the blend of pop and hip-hop that Red Soul purvey, I'm wondering about how this affects your plot in building your act? Most hip-hop acts will grow their following through underground club nights and culture. Many pop acts will create demos and look for management before doing live shows. Are you approaching the act as part of an underground scene or simply pushing the music to anyone and everyone who will listen?

M. As we started out just doing the music cos we loved it, we hadn’t really thought too much about releasing and promotion strategies whilst we were working on the EP. At the moment we’re working on getting a live show together and are talking to a few people about the next steps in terms of getting our name out there. Most of our views and likes have just been down to word of mouth and people showing us love by spreading our music which we really appreciate!

B. You're giving the EP away for free. What is the reasoning behind this? Do you think the way that the internet has affected our consumption of, and economic relationship with, music over the last 15 years is a good thing for an emerging act like Red Soul? And can we expect any Red Soul on vinyl? Because it would sure sound good!

S. I definitely think that the way we have to approach the industry now is entirely different to what it would have been 15 years ago! The thing is, rightly or wrongly, a lot of people simply aren't prepared to pay for downloads any more by artists they love, so we certainly didn't expect them to spend money on our music cause people don't really know it yet. We do make reference in our music to samples and the idea of art vs stealing. It's an interesting debate. We just want our music to be enjoyed and listened to by as many people as possible! We have also discussed pressing to vinyl and its something we'd absolutely love to do in the future!

B. Finally, let us know what you guys have got coming up and how we can follow you guys!

M. Cool man, we are working on a couple of tracks at the moment which we are really excited about finishing. We’re planning on dropping them as soon as they're ready, hopefully this summer, whilst starting to gig and working on our album. Follow and like us on all the usual social media sites as well as our new website.

Visit Red Soul Music HERE.
Follow Red Soul on Facebook HERE.
Follow Red Soul on Twitter HERE.

You can listen and download the Red Soul EP by Red Soul on Songeist HERE.

The Five Things You Need In Your EPK

This article originally appeared on the blog at Songeist.com.

This week, I’m going to get into answering a question I’ve received from Songeist member Jim Bridgeman from punk n' rollers Fish Hook.

JB. "Hi Barney. Have really enjoyed reading the blog! I have a question about press / promo packs. Would you say there are any rules to using these? What should / shouldn’t be in there, who should / shouldn’t they be sent to. I’ve often tinkered with the idea but never really done this properly. Thanks."

THE FIVE THINGS YOU NEED IN YOUR EPK
Be they Zipped-up as part of an EPK, or simply presented on a band's sites and social media, there are several key elements that make up any band’s complete electronic press / promo pack. EPK, or electronic press kit, is a term coined by the inventor of online music sales certifications Andre Gray, and popularised by sites like Sonicbids and Reverbnation, to denote a complete, one-stop resource for a band to present its assets to a promoter or press. Although there is a lot of crossover between the two, for the sake of clarity and the limitations of this blog, I’m going to concentrate on a general EPK rather than a press release to go with a record release. For an emerging artist, an EPK is a great way to ‘introduce’ yourself to a promoter or press in an easily digestible, but comprehensive, package.

THE EPK IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE EPK
Think of your press pack, or EPK, as the digital equivalent of what sending a CD in the post with your biography and contact details folded around it used to be. However, with the help of the internet, we can painlessly use this package to include a few more things to help in our promotion, such as high-quality photographs and logos, videos and MP3s, and other assets. It's very important to remember that we’re entering an age when downloading content itself is going the way of the floppy disk. Now that people are switching to simply using streaming content and their Skydrives and iClouds for storage, even downloading the EPK content alone might be undesirable to the other party.

That’s not to say that just because downloading ZIP files is dying out, EPKs are. Everything in the EPK is vital to have at your disposal. Completing your EPK then uploading it to your various sites, as both a ZIP and the separate audio and visual assets is going to mean that you have everything accessible and up-to-date. Even if the way that the content is disseminated isn't always going to be via the ZIP download, your EPK is still essentially presented piecemeal across your sites. So devising and collating it as one 'project' makes complete sense to ensure your content and copy is synchronised.

The circle of life

1) YOUR MUSIC
When it comes to EPKs, which include large music files as well as other assets, keeping the file size to a minimum is key. You might get that one promoter that enjoys the efficiency of an EPK and refuses to jump around your sites for your assets, but also doesn’t want to wait an hour for your five-song WAV opus to download either.

A maximum of three MP3s at 256kps bit rate is sensible. Make sure that the MP3s are correctly ID3 tagged. Correctly tagged MP3s mean less hassle for the user, it ensures the tracks are named and ordered correctly and they look professional and organised. Fill in the track name, artist, album ("Your band name EPK" is fine for an album name in lieu of anything else), genre and, importantly, track number. This will ensure that when the files are dragged or copied into an MP3 player, they will appear in the order that you want them in. As a fail safe to make sure that the tracks are in the right order (often MP3 players are set to use alphabetical order to denote track order) it’s fine to put the track number at the start of the song name on a promo release. Also recommended is attaching the MP3 artwork directly to the MP3 file.

For creating and editing MP3s and their tags, I recommend MusicBrainz for editing and LAME Front End for encoding but of course, Windows Media Player and iTunes are both more than capable of doing all these tasks. Any music that’s going in your EPK you should have uploaded, tagged and ordered in an online streaming playlist on a site such as Songeist as an alternative to these MP3 files and include the live link to this playlist in the covering email.

2) YOUR BIOGRAPHY
A biography is a must in your EPK and is an incredibly valuable asset to your band. It’s standard to format the biog (as well as additional text like gigs, links and contacts) as a Microsoft Word DOC file, which can be read by practically any system. A PDF is acceptable and has more scope for fancy imagery, but PDFs can be very large and are a pain for a journalist or promoter to cut and paste text from. A TXT or RTF file is fine to read, but is less functional in terms of images, customisation and links than a DOC. A DOC represents the best mix of functionality and size; the file is small and easy for a writer to work from but you are free to include hyperlinks from the document as well as a small logo and photo at the top of page one.

I’d keep your biog to the point, between 200 and 500 words. Three paragraphs of three long sentences will do the trick. The way I structure biogs is to have the opening paragraph an overview of the bands location, style and influences. The second paragraph will deal the band’s most recent record and activity and the third paragraph will be an overview of history in terms of live shows and records released. That way you can periodically go back and tweak paragraphs two and three to reflect recent developments or things you want to highlight, but the first paragraph stays largely the same, and is the paragraph most likely to be quoted on blogs and gig promo.

If you want greater detail on my views of how to write biogs, my Top 5 Mistakes That Bands Make In Their Biogs blog was recently featured on the Unsigned Guide. As Marcus Reeves kindly commented in response, it’s also very important to get someone to proofread your biog. Like a folder of badly tagged MP3s, there’s nothing that screams 'amateur' more than a biog riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes.

Spelling mistakes. Setting you apart from the compitition since day one.

3) PHOTOS AND LOGOS
Do not underestimate how important visuals are to press and promoters. Ultimately, while the success of your band is probably not going to hinge on one photo, it has far more influence than you might imagine. Don't get your mate to photograph you in the garden and do a logo on MS Paint. If money's an issues, just like we've all done gigs for exposure at the start, there are hundreds of band photographers in college that will do you a shoot for peanuts, as well as decent logo designers who will do the same. For the sake of an afternoon's research, you can massively enhance your band's appeal with good images. Two large, print-quality JPEGs at least 1500 x 1500 pixels in size is enough. One live shot and one studio shot, or one portrait and one landscape, will provide versatility. Resist the urge to submit every single one of your studio shots 'just in case' as it will just increase the file size.

Providing a graphic file of your logo is also very useful. I'd go with a PDF of the vector art over a JPEG. There is a school of thought that says a large JPEG is preferable, and maybe it was in the past, but in my mind, anyone currently designing a poster or putting together an article for a magazine is going to have the capabilities to deal with a vector PDF. This means that you can attach the file as a smaller size and the image will not degrade when it's manipulated. The designer will have the ability to change the colours and style of the logo to suit their art if they have a vector. There's nothing more cool to see than a nice festival poster where your logo is stylised along with the rest of the artwork and a PDF or EPS will make the designer's job that much easier to make that happen. The format it comes in might be the difference between him or her bothering or not.

If the EPK is accompanying a specific release, by all means include a large JPEG of the album or single cover at least 1000 x 1000 pixels in size.

4) PRESS QUOTES, LIVE DATES, CONTACTS AND LINKS
Rather than having these details as a separate document, it’s absolutely fine to include the press quotes, live dates, contacts and links in the same DOC file as the biog, making a neat, two-page document. It’s also acceptable to have these as separate documents if you need to split things up a little (having a separate file for a full UK tour might be necessary for example) but always aim to keep the document as compact and clutter-free as possible. Again, be sure to format and proofread correctly and bear in mind that we don’t want a breakdown of everything you’ve ever done, just a digestible, well-presented summation of it.

It’s tempting to include every great press quote you’ve ever had but, as with all these things, efficiency is key. Three short quotes that you present in a way that grabs attention is better than three paragraphs that describe the minutia of how great you are but don't fit on a flyer.

Your list of contacts needs to include at least one email for the band or management, and that goes for your social media and websites too. I can’t imagine how many promoters or blogs have just given up on bands because they don’t have emails displayed on their Facebook or rely on Contact Forms on their site. I know I have. Sorry to burst your bubble, emerging artists, but you don't need to avoid stalkers just yet. Soundcloud messaging might be easy for you, but it isn’t easy for someone who works in the industry and needs to save, organise and cc their correspondence in the way that email allows.

Don't go overboard with the links. You should definitely include your official site, Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud and could include preferred music vendors such as Bandcamp or Songeist but every last social site isn't necessary. One link that’s becoming an increasingly vital is your band’s YouTube page. Make sure your YouTube Page has its best foot forward. If you're busy on YouTube and your homepage is constantly rotating through content for hardcore fans, create a playlist of a few of your select promo or live videos and link to this playlist through the hyperlink in the text.

Fish Hook's Rachael. Expect her EPK on its way!

5) OPTIONAL EXTRAS
If you're sending out promotion for your latest single, or the whole appeal the band hinges on your visuals, you might want to consider including a promo video as a small MPEG in the EPK. Everyone has access and familiarity with YouTube now, so I would generally advise against sending videos in EPKs, specifically because of the increase in the file size. That being said, it’s certainly been something that I’ve done, and been encouraged to, do in the past.

Another thing that’s a standard in an EPK is a stage plan. If the main purpose for your EPK is to send out to live venues, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with including this. However, I would certainly confirm that it’s been read and acknowledged before turning up to a gig and expecting a full rider and saxophone stand based on the fact it demands one on your stage plan in your EPK. There’s a handy stage plan creator HERE.

Finally, it's important to note that this blog is my breakdown of a small, efficient, multipurpose EPK that's easy to download, touches all the bases and is my personal preference. Bands can make a wonderful impression by presenting all of the above in a huge, multimedia PDF file with interactive menus and videos if they so desire, especially if they're targeting to specific press and promoters who have a vested interest, patience, and ultra-fast broadband. Whether having an esoteric, resource-heavy EPK is something you want to utilise over the small, humble, 'does what it says on the tin' EPK I've described is something you need to decide for yourself.

SENDING IT OUT THERE
With the separate assets complete, remember to take this opportunity go back over all your sites and refresh your tracks, photos and copy to correspond with the material in your EPK. Then select the place where you're going to store the EPK, such as Dropbox or OneDrive. It's a good idea to upload the assets separately in two separate folders so you can give people who, say, just want the tracks, the option to grab them. That means first Zipping up your MP3s into one folder, then Zipping up the photos, logos and DOC file(s) in another folder and uploading them separately. Then take both the original folders and plonk them in another folder called 'Your Bandname EPK'. Zip that up, upload it, and you’re done.

Last but not least is your covering email. It’s important to take the same care and attention to detail in writing this email as you did in making your EPK. I'd use your email’s HTML editor to link using words like HERE rather than having long, ugly URLs all over the place like this… http://www.songeist.com/tw/4V5a9em

Laying your links out like this would be perfect.

Listen to 'Your Band Name' EP HERE (link to your streaming site).
Download Full 'Your Band Name' EPK HERE (link to the EPK file).

Good luck!

Barney

I’d really love to hear any more questions you guys have about music and promotion as it pertains to emerging artists. Please email me your thoughts, suggestions and queries to barney@songeist.com

Vinyl photo courtesy Acid Pix's Flickr used under Creative Commons License.
Sign Spelling photo courtesy John Lillis's Flickr used under Creative Commons License.

Closing in For The KillBillies

This article originally appeared on the blog at Songeist.com.

Killbillies are Ben Childs, Micah Scott and Zak Mahoney. This brutally hardworking three piece can be found playing their jammed-out mix of impassioned originals with classic bluegrass, country and folk, somewhere in a bar in Miami, Florida on every night of every weekend. As the band drop their second album, Transplant Life - which you can hear and buy on Songeist now - Barney catches up with his ex-bandmate and British ex-pat Ben Childs to fill us in on everything we could ever want to know about mashing together British folk and Americana but were afraid to ask.

The Killbillies (from left) Micah, Ben, Zak.

B. Hello Ben! How the devil are you? For those of us that don’t know, can you give us a brief introduction to Killbillies? How did you guys get together and how would you describe your style?

BC. Hi Barney! Well thank you. Long time, no see, Old Bean! In answer to your question, the style of music we play is very influenced by the instruments we play. We have feet drums, a standup bass, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and accordion. This gives us a palette through most kinds of European folk music to bluegrass, country and Americana. It's a rough and ready folky sound that draws from a lot of influences. Although we take stylistic conventions seriously we also enjoy a lot of different types of music and this is evident in the noises we make. We go where the songs and instruments take us and the last thing you could accuse us of is purism!

B. The album Transplant Life has dropped recently and the tracks are available on Songeist now. It’s the strongest and most coherent statement that Killbillies have made to date. Transplant Life presumably refers to your moving from the UK to Florida. Do you actually see the album as a concept album around that theme or is it just a cool title?
BC. I agree it is our best one so far although our début self-titled record can hold its own! We have been writing for a while and quite a few songs didn't make it. The creativity that we have found however bodes well for the imminence of the next album. The name of the album speaks of the unifying factor between the members of the band. None of us are original Floridians. All of us have moved here in our early adulthood. The songs speak of where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. We all have songs on the album and they describe our loves and losses, mistakes we have made, successes achieved, the oddities of our new surroundings and some social commentary on both Florida and where we hail from. It isn't a concept album as it has no unifying narrative but as a collection of songs it describes our lives as transplants. It's also a cool title.


B. One thing that interested me is the ties, and differences, between British folk traditions and Americana stylings that you manage to combine on the record. Across the album, I think you do a wonderful job of mixing the sounds and it feels like, from song to song, the styles often lean one way or the other. I hear the British pastoral echoes of Nick Drake on 'Invocation' and straight-up US bluegrass on 'Bring The Light' and 'Alligator Smile'. Are these slight shifts in style the result of having different song-writers in the group? Do you discuss and plan out the balance between British folk and US Country and Western or is it something you just go with as it comes?

BC. This is a good question! It's not planned out but rather the end result of having both European and American songwriters. Micah and I have been developing a sound since the conception of the band and we have always had different ideas of where songs should go, how they should move and what we are trying to say through the music. We have found that with this record, songwriting took precedence over stylistic concerns. Micah wrote 'Bring the Light' and Zak and I wrote 'Alligator Smile'. Both songs were written very much in the American tradition. Zak wrote 'Long Way Down', the most Irish sounding song and he is American.

With 'Alligator Smile', Zak brought a riff and I wrote the words and chords very quickly upon hearing it as I had been ruminating over something like this for a while. Then we jammed it as a band and played it live a few times to get the structure right.

Micah's favorite music is blues and old time Americana and this has had a huge effect on our writing and playing. His song, 'Bring the Light', that you mentioned displays this prominently. In direct contrast to this is his waltz 'Quarries of Pawlet' which sounds very European and almost Beatles-ish at times.

B. The album has a live sound, with all the instruments arranged and played in one take as they would be at a concert, with very little post-production, which sounds like a very conscious choice on your part. Was this something you considered? Is it making a statement about current production values or did you simply feel that this production style would showcase your talents in a more natural, and therefore more exciting, way? Or was it simply a financial decision to cut down on hours in the studio?

BC. Yes we did think about it. We recorded many of the songs prior to our recording at Blackwood Studios in Lake Worth with Chad Palmer. Previously I had recorded them and we were all unhappy with how regimented the sound became. I have, through living in Manchester for many years and playing in Sonic Boom Six, a dance and rock/punk background where you want the music to hit as hard as possible and be right. Not always with punk but certainly with dance music.

What we found is that the way we were recording was drying up the spontaneity of the music and we were left with a collection of songs that sounded nothing like each other. I, and I'm sure Micah would agree, wanted the music to sound like it does when we play it. Many of the takes are first takes. It isn't necessarily about making a statement about modern production values, it is about making music that you like the sound of. Music is a subjective medium!

In answer to the last part of your question, we could have pored over the album in post production and weeded out imperfections and we spoke at length about this but my personal feeling is "on to the next one!"

Killbillies love it live.

B. When the band started out, there were just three members, and you were using quite novel approaches to the rhythm section between the members. How has the band developed in terms of members and instrumentation and why have you made the choice to expand? Do you feel you’ve lost any of the novel nature of the act by expanding it or is it freeing not to have to consider playing drums with your feet any more?
BC. Killbillies was started by Micah and I in 2011. The current nuts and bolts version of the band is still just a three piece- Zak, Micah and I. We still use the feet drums. It has proven an excellent guerrilla approach to the Palm Beaches! However, we have had many other people play with us over the 3 or so years. The most recent and integral to to the band is Virgil Price. He supplies the accordion parts that drive much of this album, co-wrote the last track 'Paper Aeroplane' and was playing with us for a good long time. Another great musician, Neel Shukla, provided the drums for the album and played with us for the release party. Neel is a beast of a drummer and a very nice man!

B. 'Cradle To The Grave' is the song you chose to go with a video with. Can you speak on the style and lyrics of the song? What prompted you to choose this song as the song to represent the band in video? And is that your motorbike?!

BC. It wasn't really a video choice but more of a promotional thing. We had a bunch of footage from the album launch show that Patty Shukla (Neel's wife) recorded and I was trying to keep busy and get it out there. When I was piecing it together on my computer I thought "well hell, I'll have a stab at a video!" As it so happened, my brother-in-law, PJ, was wheeling his bike in while I was editing and I thought "It's now or never!" This is my effort at pushing the songs a little. We are going to release some official videos in the near future so keep your peepers open.

B. My personal favourite on the album is 'Long Way Down'. Across the song it relays different situations in your life and relates them to a central concept. It’s definitely a song I think could be interpreted in different ways by the listener. Can you give some background on the ideas being explored in the song? I don’t want to look behind the wizard’s curtain too much but I’d love to know a little more about where you’re coming from.

BC. Zak came to me with this song and said "Oh my god this a banger!" I quickly agreed. Zak and I worked on the lyrics together and then we jammed it into the song that it is on the album by further working on it at shows and practices. Zak says that his eight-year-old idealistic and eager self would be pissed off with the man he is today. He is a man who has felt the heavy tides of lost love, tasted addiction and grappled with the vacuum of irretrievable innocence. But when you part with your childhood frivolity you do gain the ability to see a little more beauty.

B. How did your time spent in the UK and worldwide punk scene over the years influence your approach to being in The Killbillies? Which part of the DIY philosophy have you applied to your band?

BC. My time spent in the UK punk scene made me feel like a rockstar and I enjoyed it!

I was scared when I moved to Florida because I didn't know how to make money. I spoke to Micah. He was a few years ahead of me in terms of migration. He knew how and we started a band. That is the root of all of this music.

Everything I did with Sonic Boom Six enriched me. You remain my deepest, firmest go-to's for knowledge and insight and love. DIY means do it yourself. We are. For a long time we have paid our way playing our music in different towns every weekend. Being a working musician is a dying breed and not to be sniffed at. We work hard at keeping that concept alive.

Speak to Micah Scott about DIY. He is without doubt the leader of that side of the band and achieves it with style and grace.

To quote Jimmy Cliff.... "You can get it if you really want".

B. On a more general note, how does the US live music scene differ from the UK live scene? Pros and Cons? From here it looks like you’re playing live lots, in venues that look like American bars, very different from the live venues of British cities. Can you speak on that?

BC. I find that in this area it is easy to get a gig... but a certain type of gig. We own our PA. We play 3-4 hours at most gigs and play 3-5 times a weekend. The main places we play currently are bars but also, concert halls and festivals.

It is hard to say how it compares because West Palm Beach is not a good cross section of America. We have been out on the road, up the east coast and found ourselves in similar venues to that of the UK. There is more similarity among cities in different countries than there is between city and suburbia in the same country.

My answer is that to become a festival level band is just as hard to attain here as it is in Europe.

B. Final questions, let us know what you guys have got coming up? Any plans to tour the UK?

BC. We are coming over soon. We have been figuring out the touring unit. Finally I'll persuade Zak to put oars through his double bass and you won't be able to get rid of us!

The future holds many possibilities and our UK trip is LONG overdue.

You can listen and purchase Transplant Life by Killbillies on Songeist HERE.

If a Lion Barks in a Forest, Everyone Will Hear it

This article originally appeared on the blog at Songeist.com.

It's been just twelve months since the release of their début song 'Two Prongs,' and in that short time Brighton's Lion Bark, true to their namesake, have been making a lot of noise. There's been gushing write-ups in blogs like When The Gramophone Rings and Indie Shuffle, features in the NME Radar, Clash Magazine and The 405, not to mention sessions for BBC Introducing and even Burburry. As the band get ready for the release of their next single 'Come Into My Arms', Barney caught up with Ozzy and the guys to give us the skinny on the recording of their hotly-anticipated debut album, frontman Guy's distinctive voice and what it's like to play a session on a boat.



B. Sorry about the predictability of this question but let’s get it out of the way like pulling off a plaster! You guys are a new band so please give us a brief history of Lion Bark; where you met, who are your influences, what you’ve done until now…

LB. We all have quite different musical histories. Each interesting individually, but they're long tales for other times. These stories merged 3 years ago when we all moved to Brighton and began writing together. We were at music school, being taught how to murder our imaginations when we birthed the band. Shortly after, we left the institute, for obvious reasons. Our career history consists of a lot of writing, a handful of gigs, and half a tea spoon of song releases. As i write this, we're about to release our next song, Come Into My Arms, which we had a great time recording. And, in terms of influences, it's a never ending list, which i shan't bore you with.

B. You don't need me to tell you that you guys have been getting an amazing response to the small amount of material you have out there. There's been a huge amount of plays and views of your 'Longhorn' video and blogs are really building you up. Has the weight of the hype added any pressure or are you taking it all in your stride?
LB. Thank you. It's certainly been enjoyable to watch the materials reception. We've received a few emails from people that the music has really touched and lifted. That's such a joy. I see uploading and sharing a song as akin to smiling at someone in the street. It's a little thing, what with all the music out there, but it can brighten someone's day. If they smile back it just makes us smile more. I'm sure that individually, we feel different levels of "pressure" though. We've said things like, "sounds Two Prongsy. That's good." or "let's just write a happy one.", when we're wondering about how a song will be received. But we've learned so much over these few years that it's hard not to apply it to our music, and so that natural progression or deviation from the old happens by accident. The thought that occurred a few seconds after Two Prongs release, "Oh man, now all our songs have to sound like this or people will hate us." has been well and truly shattered. Our new singles, to us, feel like a whole different ball park and we're excited to share them. So, to answer your question, we're taking it in our stride now. Pressure becomes excitement when you're proud of your work.


B. The most immediate thing about 'Lion Bark' is Guy's vocal style. The way I described it to a mate was ‘grown man’ vocals. Has the croon quality of it been something you’ve attempted to feature in the songwriting or has it just come through naturally? It's distinctive and unique and that takes a real maturity and confidence to put out there. Has there been any vocalist that has particularly influenced the Guy style?

LB. Haha, yeah. I remember when i first heard Guy sing, i thought it was strange but had a lovely tone. It's just one of those "that's how it is" things. It's how he's always sung, and he wasn't going to change that to be in this band. It's probably been the easiest part of our songwriting, it's the constant. We can throw whatever sounds we want underneath it, but that's how Guy sounds so ... that'll be there no matter what.

B. The video for ‘Longhorns’ is remarkable, almost a horror. Ben Pender, the director had a very in-depth explanation for the way it interprets the lyrics. Was this something you collaborated on or was it a case of leaving him to interpret the lyrics as he saw fit and present the resulting idea to you?

LB. Yes, Ben is a friend of ours and he had offered to make the video for us. I was readying ideas for collaboration, we had some storyboards flying around, when all of a sudden this finished idea of his was on the table. He had the know-how, the equipment and the passion - so it sort of steam-rolled from then on. And from "then on", to it being finished, was a very short space of time. The idea accurately represents the lyrics for the most part, as he did converse with Guy on the subject matter. But yeah, we were all proud of the result. Ben and his team did a great job.



B. You played on BBC Introducing live session in the library with a stunning arrangement of 'Longhorns'. The live vocal harmonies really jump out. Did you have to think a lot about the stripped-down arrangement or did you essentially just play the live version without drums? What was the experience of the BBC Introducing session like?

LB. We just played the song in a really simple format! That was it really. Same song, just with less going on. The experience of being in the studio was a fun one, and hopefully not the last.

B. There's a wonderful video of you guys playing 'Two Prong' in a boat on YouTube. You're all very professional and earnest looking in the vid but that must have been an absolute hoot to do right? Was it a memorable experience and is it any harder to play intricate folk guitar on a rocking boat than it is on dry land?

Ha ha. The thing that made playing guitar hard in that boat, was trying to hold the one mic we were recording the sound with, between my knees as i played. Other than that, I'd say it's similar to playing on dry land. I suppose our next challenge would be to do an acoustic session, but just be swimming as we play. That might prove harder. But yeah it was great fun.



B, Brighton is a city known for its music scene, especially the more arty and (does inverted commas sign in the air) hipster indie bands. Have you found being in Brighton a help to your progress or is it harder to stand out with so many other bands vying for attention?

LB. Brighton has a strange and wonderful music scene. The list of inspiring musicians and creative persons here just goes on and on. I would say that being here has helped us, partly because - we wouldn't have met otherwise, and because all the other bands here already sound so good. If it doesn't inspire you and make you up your game then you're at the wrong gigs. The thing that makes a band stand out the most in Brighton, for me, is the level of maturity they have. With so many musicians around, you can tell when a band don't really know what they're doing. I mean that creatively, and technically. It's natural to be at the starting line at some point, we've all been there, but a lot of the acts in Brighton have been going for a long time. And they sound great because of it. As for ourselves, we're one leaf on the musical tree that is Brighton, we're not trying to stand out per se, but we're involved and we're having fun.

B. I've seen the studio photos on your sites and can't wait to hear the result. Let us know where you are with new material. Are you working with the same producer as last time? What can we expect in terms of new material?

LB. The line up of people we're working with has changed around a bit. We had the pleasure of working with Tarek Musa, musician/producer extraordinaire for the first two singles, and since then we've been invited up to work with Barny Barnicott. Last time we were in the studio, taking those pictures you've seen, we were on a confidence high and were just experimenting as much as we could. So, don't expect these next few releases to be tame.

B. Your new year’s resolutions were posted on your Facebook. Nearly halfway through 2014 it’s time to take a look back. Did you…
Learn a new chord? If so, which one?
(Tasteful) Fill a song with cowbell?
Release and sell your own brand of cereal?

LB. Ha ha. I haven't learnt any chords actually, but i've invented a few. "The Glory Chord" has made it's way into our live set. ( But no, we have learnt some chords, some named ones. We're just not sure on their names )

The cowbell waits in the shadows.

The cereal is ready, but we're not sure the public are.

B. What’s the rest of the year got in store for Lion Bark? Throw us your social networks and site and any final info so we can keep up with your ascendancy.

LB. The year has excitement in store. We've got our happy faces on and we're eager to share our creations with you. Best place to check for these, and other updates, would be at www.lionbark.co.uk. From there you can reach our Facebook and other social media where it all goes on.