Bursting out of Basildon, J B & Nice Nath are a pair of lovable MCs, joining forces for their debut EP, Greenhouse Romantics. Not only is this the Essex boys’ first project together, but it’s both of their first projects, period. Having dropped the EP in November, the duo’s witty one-liners have already led to support from BBC Introducing, BBC Radio 6 Music and countless playlisters.
Reverb Music writer Dom Walmsley sat down with JB & Nice Nath to get to know the men behind the mics. They discussed the importance of collaborating with female vocalists, exploiting Spotify analytics, and measuring success with Freddos. Read below to find out what happened when their music video shoot got confused for an adult movie. They’re charismatic characters with plenty to say, who are sure to grow greater as more light shines their way.
Nath: “It’s really sick.”
J B: “Yeah, it’s banging. It’s a nice buzz.”
Nath: “We’d been working on it for a while, it was sort of a lockdown baby. So to finally release it was relieving and exciting all at the same time.”
J B: “The reception we’ve been getting has been mad. Obviously, on Spotify you can see who’s got it on their playlists. It’s so surreal to see people you know of listening to your tunes.”
Nath: “I won’t lie, we’ve both been addicted to the Spotify for Artists app. It’s quality cos it tells you how many listeners you’ve got live, updates every couple of hours. As well as it breaks it down by gender, age, geography and how people are listening, whether it’s on playlists or suggested by the algorithm. It’s genuinely so exciting to see and the targeting will really help us tweak our sound and find out what we’re doing right.”
Nath: “So, me and J B went to school together. Since school we hadn’t really been in contact. But one of our pals, Jack Miller, is a director and cinematographer. And I stayed in contact with him after school cos I got into acting. We then started writing short film scripts and thought putting together a soundtrack for one of our shorts would be a good idea. Jack then contacted J B, as he knew he was into producing, which then brought us both together to make the track. Then ‘rona shut everything down. Hopefully we’ll get back to it in the future. But we’ve both got other work going on at the moment, so we need to prioritise that as it pays, rather than paying out to produce a short film.”
J B: “It’s almost a blessing though not being able to do the film. It brought us both together again and really motivated us to put something out there. I bought a mic and we just started experimenting, writing bars, producing and stuff. It’s been a really good creative outlet for us, cos you can’t go out and get pissed every weekend.”
Nath: “Yeah, there was no FOMO or anything. Cos of the restrictions, you didn’t get the feeling that you were missing out. So, we’ve been able to put the hours to productive means. It’s something that we’ve both wanted to do for ages. After the short film didn’t happen, we’d planned to do 30 second snippets so it could be shared on TikTok, with Jack Miller doing the video effects. I was gonna provide some vocals and J B was gonna produce. We started doing it and found it was just a dead idea [Laughs] and we both thought that we were capable of so much more.”
J B: “I think the more songs we did, the more we just started to love the whole process of it all. With each song we made, we could really start to hear the difference in quality. The more we did it and enjoyed it, the more we improved, and so the music just got better and better. We initially started off with some grime beats, but the more we played around with some ideas, it sorta slowly morphed into this jazzy/lo-fi kinda hip hop with more and more tracks.”
Nice Nath – Pic: Jack Miller
Nath: “So that’s linked to lockdown as well. The greenhouse is a metaphor for us being cooped up during the summer. And the ‘romantics’ part of the title came from the common theme that we started to notice across the other songs. I dropped a message to my mates in the groupchat asking if anyone had a greenhouse. One of them did, so we went round there and filmed the promo.”
Nath: “It was so handy us knowing someone who could do film and visual effects. I feel like it really helped push us in a certain direction and helped us with the branding.”
Nath: “For me, it really depends on the genre. I mean you have subsections of rap, like emo rap, where it’s all about pain and heartache. But then you’ve got other stuff like trap, which is more about what you’ve got and bigging yourself up.”
J B: “Yeah, I dunno. I think for our sound, we focussed on telling playful stories and cheesy rhymes, keeping it easy-going/easy listening, you know. But I don’t think we thought too much on what we were talking about or whether there was some sorta underlying meaning to what we were saying in our songs.”
Nath: “I think lyricism, especially in rap, changes with the type of beat you go for. It’s like with this new track we’re making, because the beat is harder, it’s bringing out a tougher side to our lyricism. I did my uni dissertation on rap, about the Compton/Kendrick Lamar scene, so I did quite a lot of research on battle rap and street rapping. It is completely different to the kind of stuff we’re putting out, cos they’re obviously not talking about pain and weakness. But, yeah, what we were going for… was complete cheese [Laughs]. It’s nice though, cos I don’t think it’s as common in rap. The sweetness and reminiscence of first love in ‘Chapter One’, for instance, is what I think makes us appealing to our listeners, as it’s not something they probably hear too much in rap.”
J B – Pic: Jack Miller
Nath: “Because we’ve been mates for such a long time, communication has always been easy between us. We’re just trying to be open-minded as well, I think. Because we’re both new to this and want to experiment, we’ve not clashed at all. When J B, for example, finds a beat or makes a beat, and because it’s different to the last track we worked on, neither one of us are going to shut down the idea as we want to have a good range of music. But if it’s shit, one of us will say it’s shit.” [Laughs]
J B: “Yeah, like Nath said. We both like experimenting and establishing different sounds. So we’re pretty open-minded at the moment whilst we try to establish ourselves and find out what kind of sound we want, that we’re happy with.”
Nath: “We’ll continue experimenting. Just you wait, our next EP will have harder lyrics and beats. We’ll call ourselves B J and Naughty Nath!” [Laughs]
J B: “I think obviously a big influence for us is people like Loyle Carner and Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn. People who really pioneered that jazzy sorta sound. And then on the hip hop side, it’s artists like J Dilla that have really influenced what kinda beats I like.”
Nath: “I don’t know about Essex artists. Most of our influence, I think comes from London or further afield. Artists, in a general sense, I love Easy Life. I think they’re wicked.”
J B: “In terms of local inspiration, Joe James and French the Kid are sick. But I’d say that they definitely inspired us in terms of our UK rap style, as opposed to the jazzy/lo-fi hip hop style.”
Nath: “We’ve just had a look at our Spotify statistics. My top one was The 1975. I’m fascinated by Matty Healy. Next was Dominic Fike, Lil Peep, BROCKHAMPTON and Billie Eilish. But this is obviously through the course of the year. Also, whilst these are predominantly American artists, I’d say I’m much more inspired by British artists.”
J B: “Just hearing the bars that Frankie Stew comes up with is mad. It’s just a lot more relatable than some of the US stuff. The slang, the tone, the flow.”
Nath: “Humour is such a big thing as well. This is something we kind of touched on in our last interview when talking about The 1975. During lockdown, I watched so many interviews with them. Probably something ridiculous like 13 hours. There’s one where Matty Healy talks about the importance of comedy in lyrics. So that’s what I try to incorporate into my lyrics. Comedy is a pure form of entertainment that really captures an audience’s attention. I think if you’ve got something comedic in there, even if its something stupid like in ‘Chapter One’, saying ‘Wear my church socks, they’re very holy”. You don’t often hear that in bars or in music. So when you hear it you’re like ‘Huh…. pretty funny yeah’ [Laughs]. A lot of UK rap is humorous and we’re not too serious with our bars, so we always aspire to the same sort of tone in UK stuff.”
J B: “So I reckon my biggest influence is Mac Miller. I really liked his progression through music [Mac Miller’s ‘Ladders’ goes off in the background]. That was sick! But yeah, uhm. How he changed from his early stuff, which was easy listening and cheesy raps, and then to come to the end of it, through Swimming and through Circles. His progression was just unreal. But yeah, I like Easy Life, Loyle Carner… quite a lot of indie stuff too. Especially when I was a teenager. I used to listen to so much Arctic Monkeys.”
Nath: “It’s quite on the nose this one. There wasn’t really any metaphorical meaning behind it. It fit the story. But funny story about those costumes… So obviously we were under lockdown and all that, and it was the day Essex went into Tier 2, but Southend stayed in Tier 1. We’d booked an Airbnb in Southend, which was really lucky as it meant we could shoot. So, the costumes were just ordered from Amazon and then sent back the next day [Laughs]. You know the economy ain’t so good right now, so you gotta keep the costs down. What’s funny as well is that whilst filming, there’s a part where J B walks through the door wearing his costume with his girlfriend, Beth, in her Cinderella costume. At the time, a group of lads were next door and kept seeing J B walk in and out of the house with his girlfriend whilst wearing the outfit. Some of ‘em were like, ‘Whoa, whoa, what the fuck’s going on ‘ere? Oi, they’re shooting a porno, they’re shooting a porno!’” [Laughs]
J B: “I was just standing there like ‘Oh my god, no’. There were about 20 of ‘em.” [Laughs]
Nath: “I was so glad that weren’t me! But yeah, the costumes were just to play to the transition of normal clothes to a fairytale ideal.”
Nath: “So greysea is a girl we know called Grace Marchant. She’s my mate’s girlfriend. We knew that we wanted a female vocalist for the EP, so I contacted her asking if she would be down and she was like ‘Yeah definitely’. Literally came round the same day and we did it there and then.”
J B: “I think the tone of her voice made the rest of the track sound so dreamy, which is what we were going for.”
Nath: “I think it’s so nice to have a female vocalist. They’re able to bring so much range to a song, and so that really provides us with as many options as possible when experimenting. I think collaboration with local artists, early on, is really key to finding what kinda sound we want and just getting our name out there.”
Nath: “As for ‘3 L’s’ that’s another artist called Leilani Liberis. She’s my sister’s best friend’s sister and she’s incredible. She’s only 17 years old, I think. But yeah, we got her in before greysea for a different track called ‘Sunshine Girl’ which we’d recorded. And when we went to buy a lease for the track, someone had bought exclusive rights to it, so we couldn’t use it at all. So, the track is just sitting there now. We might release it on SoundCloud eventually as you’re allowed to share stuff for non-profit. We got Leilani in for another track, but she just had different plans and stuff, she wanted to do a more solo thing. I will pester the life outta that girl though to get her back in the studio.”
J B: “We definitely need another song with her. She’s so talented. She’s everything big nowadays; when you look at artists like Billie Eilish and stuff like that. Her voice is just incredible. Her backing vocals on ‘3 L’s’ were mad, especially with the distortion as it goes from left to right. That was really Billie Eilish-esque. She added such a different element to the hook, it kept it interesting, you know?”
Nath: “Yeah, that was always the bit of the song that got stuck in the head. But hopefully she’ll get more music out, because if she does, you’ll definitely hear about her. I’m so confident about that. With greysea as well, she’s got a track that she’s been sitting on for a while and over the past couple of days I messaged her and was like, “When you getting that track out? Hurry up and get that track out.” But she’ll get it out soon, I’ll make her.”
J B: “Obviously, I can’t speak for greysea or Leilani. But it is almost like wearing your heart on your sleeve, if you know what I mean. It takes a lot of balls to put a song out. And you don’t want to have done yourself.”
Nath: “Yeah, I think for some people as well, there’s just a massive creative block most of the time. Life just gets in the way as well. You’ve got to prioritise making money at the end of the day. You’re not gonna make anything with making music to begin with, so you’ve just got to fit it around your work routine. That’s the treadmill of employment I suppose.” [Laughs]
J B: “I think some people are just a bit anxious or maybe perfectionists. They want it to sound a certain way and sometimes are never satisfied.”
Nath: “It’s so different for everyone. I wouldn’t necessarily put it down to money. I’ve never really been that interested in money. I’ve always liked being creative and performing. I’d really like to do a live gig soon. Someone actually got in contact with us after hearing the EP and gave us a couple of dates in December or a date in January/February. But there’s a 30-capacity limit. And with the changing situation, that’s probably changed as well.”
J B: “Everything’s so up in the air at the moment. But we’re both really keen to do a gig. So, I’d say that’s our goal at the moment.”
Nath: “Success, I think, at this point, is making the most of opportunities. We’ve already got 10K streams on Spotify, which is just unbelievable. A little bit of money is alright too I guess.” [Laughs]
J B: “If we could do it full time, that would be the dream. But, if you have the financial support there—”
Nath: “If you can afford to get a Freddo from the shop, summin like that.”
J B: “—then that would be ideal. I’m happy with what I’ve got, I just want the opportunity to make more music with Nath and see where it goes.”
Nath: “I mean, what we should’ve said is Ferraris, swimming pools and girls’” [Laughs]
J B: “For this project we bought the beats. We wanted everything to be quality, but we’re learning at the moment and hope to produce more of our own stuff going forward.”
Nath: “The big aim for this project wasn’t to produce our own stuff, but to get some music out there and build ourselves up.”
J B: “Yeah, now that we’ve done the EP, we’ve been contacted by so many local musicians who would like to work with us on our next project. We’ve got a proper list of collaborators now which we can use going forward.”
Nath: “And each track will be different. We know from the stats that we can make tracks genre specific and include other sounds that haven’t been heard in the EP.”
J B: “As for the type of sound, I do normally make trap-type beats. There’s a couple of local artists over in Canvey and Wickford that I’ve been working with. Just trying to cook up beats with them and learn a bit really. Yeah, just playing about with different styles. I dunno, I used to listen to quite a lot of emo rap, like that Lil Peep sort of style, which is what I’ve been trying to do with some of my beats. So yeah, I’ve been trying to branch out and learn as much as I can about each sort of genre. To see how much we can grow out of it and take certain elements we like from different styles.”
J B: “That was our rationale for the ‘Regrets & Desires’ beat changing halfway through. The first one was quite intense, playing off the pictures and adlibs and everything. And then it kinda cuts to this really wholesome, easy sort of rapping. I think they just contrasted really well with one another. I’ll definitely do that again.”
Nath: “I think the best route to take now is singles. If you upload it to Spotify, you’ve got a chance to tap into the algorithm, which is the treasure chest. I think it’ll be a lot easier as well to promote individual tracks over something like an album, as we can do more promotional stuff with it and capture lots of different people who like other genres.”
J B: “Singles will definitely allow us to be more creative. There’s no need for coherence, we can just chuck it out the window. Ultimately though, I think people are less likely to listen to a whole album than just one song. Which kinda sucks if you wanna do an album, but for now, it’ll really help with promotion. Especially with targeted ads. I saw something about Russ, the American artist, about how he just kept releasing constant singles. It took him years and years, but it eventually paid off you know.”
J B: “Plus, if we establish a sound that people love and recognise by producing singles, we can then look at doing bigger projects. But yeah, only after we’ve established ourselves and it can be pushed as far as we can.”
Stream our dedicated playlist of songs and artists mentioned in this chat:
J B & Nice Nath: Facebook
J B: Twitter / Instagram / Soundcloud / YouTube
Nice Nath: Instagram / Soundcloud
Reverb Music: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Soundcloud
Interviewed by: Dom Walmsley
The post J B & Nice Nath talk Greenhouse Romantics appeared first on Reverb Music.
Lamplighter makes beatscapes not beat tapes. Ashlar Ghosts is the Scottish producer’s new full-length album, adding to High Focus‘ growing stack of instrumental releases. The 18-track LP is a wet shoed commute through an icy dystopia, on the first day of finding beauty in the fog.
There have been seven years since Lamplighter’s last solo project The Senses, and five since Tell Them It’s Winter, his momentous collaboration with lyricist Ed Scissor. Now, on cassette tapes and digital platforms, Ashlar Ghosts is the sample-less, ambient electronica album for 2021.
We were lucky enough to learn all about the album from the elusive producer himself, who believes creating “mood” is the bottom line. Amongst talk of The Boys and the end of the world, we discuss Lamplighter’s perspective of his work and how he wants to show a glimmer of hope within the bleakness. He says it’s hard to make music that’s surprising these days, but trust us, this definitely is. You’ll even believe in ghosts.
“Tryna do something different I guess. I actually looked back at the last time that I did an interview and I was quite pleased to see that I got asked what I was gunna do next, and the thing that I did next was what I said I was gunna do. The last record I had out was Tell Them It’s Winter with Ed Scissor. Following that, I was really into the idea of making a record that didn’t have any samples on it. I’d already used synths and records before, but I did a bit of teaching myself how to get better at it, teaching myself about MIDI and things like that. I got myself a set-up I was happy with and then started working on making this record, Ashlar Ghosts. That process took me a long time. I’m also the kind of person who has periods where I do loads of work and periods where… not so much. Hence, what, five years passing since the last time.”
“I live in a building that’s made out of stone called ashlar. My thinking is that I made this whole record in this house and that the ghosts are in some way associated with what made me make the record. It’s an old building. Must have ghosts in it. It’s inevitable.”
“Probably a couple of different threads to that. One would be that just like anyone else I listen to a lot of different genres of music. The two biggest wings of genre that I’ve always been into have been electronica of some form and hip hop. Of course the two meet in some places, but I’ve always been into the idea of making a record that wasn’t so much like a hip hop record. I still definitely associate hip hop with samples, even though hip hop is obviously a lot less sample-driven than it used to be. So, I guess I partly wanted to do something that wasn’t really just a hip hop record and I partly wanted to explore kinds of music that I listen to but maybe haven’t really represented in the music that I make, in the past. So I think I was just trying to make a record that explored a few more of the things that I listen to. It’s a funny thing when other people tell you about your music and what it sounds like. In my head, most of the stuff that I’ve put out as proper releases, it’s coherent and has a similar kind of sound to it. And to me, this record has a different sound. But I’ve already been told by other people that it doesn’t.”
“I think why other people think it sounds the same is the mood of it – whatever emotional part of it and the mood. Then the reason I think it sounds different is more of a textural thing and just the obvious difference of having synthesisers making all the melodies, as opposed to samples of pianos, strings, stuff like that.”
“I’ve actually recently been thinking about the kind of music I’m going to be making next, and I’ve kinda got a feeling maybe what I make next might be informed more directly by contemporary classical music, perhaps. Although I’m not in any way formally trained as a musician, so I can’t claim to have expertise in that. Partly it goes back to mood. Part of the reason why I listen to contemporary classical music is that it makes me feel things and I would say the same thing about film soundtracks. It just really, really makes me feel emotions. The other way it maybe informs the music I’m making is that my new record has a lot of beat-less production on it. Its got a lot of production on it with beats but its got a lot of production without beats. My guess is, (well it’s not a guess), basically, if I wasn’t listening to a lot of ambient music, (which I am), and contemporary classical music, I wouldn’t have tracks that didn’t have beats on them. The more that I think about it, I’m just trying to tie together in my head all the different things that I listen to. I’ve never really tried to do that before.”
“I think the extent at which you’ve got me thinking there reflects the fact that I basically haven’t thought about having a visual environment. So my guess is that this is one of those fundamental differences between people, where some people have more visual representations of things in their heads and some people have less. Maybe it’s not even crossed my mind that my music has a visual representation, or maybe I’m misunderstanding the question mate.”
“Yeah you’re right, absolutely it has been said a number of times. And yeah, I just don’t think I see it in that way. Yes, I absolutely love the idea of the association between my music and film, and I love the idea that other people would think that’s a natural connection, but for me, it’s not about the visual structure of film, and more just about mood really. Obviously, when you’re watching a film and its got a great soundtrack that you love, (pick one in your head), if you’ve got a film soundtrack that has a particular emotional resonance for you, (like you know if you hear it it’s gunna hit you), I guess that music wouldn’t have that resonance on its own would it? The first time you heard it was with the film and the whole package hit you. You got this feeling, then when you revisit the music you get that again. I think for me that’s more what it’s about: not a direct link between my music and a visual representation, but more like a mood that’s associated with a film, and the emotion then just being in the music on its own. I was very fortunate enough to have a friend make that ‘Vanity’ video for me. As far as I’m aware I’ve got no visual talent whatsoever.”
“Yeah, the first thing that comes into my head is that nowadays things aren’t as broken down and segmented as they used to be in terms of genre. I would like to think that nowadays most hip hop heads would have a very open mind with regards to listening to other genres, maybe more so than they would have in the past. In fact, I’m pretty sure of that. There’s no question that this record, Ashlar Ghosts, is not a typical High Focus release. For a start, it’s instrumental. Not that High Focus doesn’t do instrumental records, but it’s not their mainstay. Secondly, it’s basically a record that’s pitched somewhere halfway between bass music and hip hop, and synthesiser-based soundtrack music. But personally I don’t perceive a huge divide between different parts of the hip hop scene in UK hip hop. I think the production styles that you find across the UK hip hop scene now are so varied that almost anything that you could produce would not be a bolt out of the blue for people. I think it’s quite hard to make something that’s a surprise to people nowadays.”
“I’m always interested by, do you know Mark Fisher the writer? He was basically a music and political journalist, sadly he killed himself a couple years ago, but he’s one of my favourite authors. The reason he came into my head is he said this thing that I really like. You could sort of accuse him of being negative about the scene nowadays compared to how it was 20 years ago, but he said something along the lines of: if you went to the mid-90s and played someone who was into jungle, hip hop and electronica at the time, if you played them new records from the same scenes now, no one would be that surprised by any of it. Whereas, if you went to 1975 and played them music from 1995, it would just fucking blow their minds. I kind of agree with his point because I think progress in music has slowed down. Things aren’t as alarmingly different as they were. I’ve got no idea how I got to that point in this conversation.” [Laughs]
“I can’t tell you a hell of a lot if I’m honest. We’ve been working on a record and I hope it’ll come out this year. And that’s really about all I can say about it…”
“I’ve watched the show but I’m not familiar with the comic. That’s a nice complement. I’m always quite amused by the character. Especially as I had no knowledge of the comic, it’s funny to have a namesake crop up in a TV show.”
“Firstly, it’s tricky because you’ve never lived anywhere other than where you’ve lived. But, someone a few years back described my music as ‘night bus music’ and I keep bringing it up because it stuck with me. I think that’s such an expressive phrase that if I say it, I take it you know exactly what I’m getting at? The idea of yeah, being on a night bus and it’s raining, the weather’s shitty outside, there’s definitely something about that mood that appeals to me and I want to recreate. I guess the three main places in my life, (all of which are in Scotland), have been Aberdeen, Orkney, (I’m lucky enough to get to spend time up in the Orkney Isles quite often), and Glasgow. These are all places that are well-known for having shitty weather, cold winters, etc. I think my music is not happy most of the time, although I’m trying. I’ve got no doubt that when I started making music all I was trying to do was make something that sounded really, really bleak and sad. Now, I’m trying quite hard for it to not just be that. I can’t completely get away from that, which is perhaps in relation to my roots and where I’m from, but I really, dearly want to be injecting this bit of hope into music. The main reason for that is that the music that moves me most that I listen to by other people is stuff that sounds really sad but has a tiny little slither of hope in it. To me, it’s not as special if that little bit isn’t in it.”
“So, my background has had an influence on me wanting to make bleak-sounding music, but with age, I’m trying to make something that has something else to it. The other thing though, and this is obviously a universal thing, is the time we’re living in and all growing up in. With things like the 2008 financial crash, zero-hour contracts, and just everyone who’s even got a vague notion of what’s going on in the world knows that we’re living in a neoliberal experiment that’s not really working for very many people. To me, I find the idea hard of wanting to make music that doesn’t reflect that in some way. If you think that the world we’re living in is a bit fucked up and it’s not the best way that we could be with one another, then that’s naturally going to come out in the music that you make.”
“By the way, I can’t remember the author’s name but there’s this concept you might have heard of before: it’s harder to imagine the end of capitalism than it is to imagine the end of the world. Just to cheer you up.”
“Good question. I’m really glad to be speaking to you and I’m really glad to be speaking to you at this time as well. I really like our symmetry that I’m speaking to you and the last time I did an interview was coming out of me starting to make this record. Because at the moment, I’m starting to make some new music and when I started to make this album, Ashlar Ghosts, I didn’t really know what kind of music it was going to be. I had a lot of ideas in my head, like it was going to be this genre or that genre. I didn’t really predetermine that before I started doing it and in fact had a bit of a struggle with working out what the hell it was. I find myself in the same position again. As in, I’ve got a bunch of ideas in my head about things I want to do, but luckily they’re different ideas to the ones I had a couple years back when I started making this record. I guess what the future holds is me making at least one more instrumental project, but by no means attempting to solely go down that path. In an ideal world I would want to be working across genres, doing different things, making instrumental music, making instrumental music within this scene, for film, and working with vocal artists. So what’s next? I dunno, something good I hope.”
“I did say that. Mr Key by the way, is an amazing guy, but it was just one of those long-out situations I think. We started talking about making the record and it was one of those things that sadly doesn’t exist. Me and Luke were both quite excited at the time and then I dunno, you know how it is, some projects run and some don’t. If I was to guess the reason as to why it didn’t happen, it was probably that I was concentrating so much on trying to do a solo record, I dunno. Maybe it’ll still happen.”
Lamplighter: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / SoundCloud
Reverb Music: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube
Interviewed by: James Wijesinghe
The post Lamplighter talks Ashlar Ghosts appeared first on Reverb Music.
A Yakul show is a visceral experience. They’re one of the hardest grooving neo-soul acts in the UK and their latest release Kaleidescope is a perfect snapshot of the gnarly synths and slippery harmonies that define their sound.
Entering 2020 after a big year of gigging, (including their second year at Sussex’s own Love Supreme festival and Ronnie Scott’s Late Late Show), the band was able to cleverly manoeuvre their live act into the recording studio just in time to enable this new release. With tastemaker Gilles Peterson shortlisting ‘Blossoming’ for Worldwide FM’s Track of the Year 2020, all eyes are on Yakul to track their movements in 2021.
Tom linked up with lead singer and keys player James Berkeley to talk about releasing music as an independent artist and why their music is even better for your health than the famous yoghurt drink they almost share a name with.
“We’re all really into all of the Studio Ghibli films. The music, the way that they look, and all of the concepts are just so incredible. I know a lot of them are children’s films but they’re still so dense.
“When we initially made a list of potential names I’d actually vetoed this one because, though I like Yakul, it sounds too close to Yakult. But everyone else was into it so hopefully people start to just get the reference and we can get to the point where people don’t care anymore. I feel like every band wants to have a really great story about how “the name just came to me in a dream and it’s just so meaningful”, but usually band names – and even to a degree song and album names – are something you have to grow into. It’s not something that sounds right when you come up with it. It’s something that only feels like the correct name once you’ve had it for a while.”
“The UK jazz scene has definitely influenced us though I don’t think we’re necessarily in that bracket. We get put in that bracket quite a bit which we’re fine with but it’s not been a conscious decision from us to go in that direction. We feel like we’re coming from more of the soul/R&B side. I guess we take some influence from some London bands that have a bit more of the electronic side or a bit more synthesis, like Vels Trio, some Yussef Dayes, Charlie Stacey and Kamaal Williams too. I would say a lot of the stuff that we also take influence from is over in the States. Like a lot of LA type stuff: all of Brainfeeder (Flying Lotus, Thundercat), Mac Ayres, Rob Araujo, Kiefer. In some respects we feel like we align better with LA than the UK.
“But when there’s a slight shift in the songwriting or arrangement style it’s never a conscious decision from the band, it just happens naturally based on what we’re listening to and the situation. For example, the majority of the stuff we’ve written this year is a little different from everything we’ve done before and I think one of the reasons is that we haven’t been gigging it. Normally you might try out a song live before you release it and maybe go back to the track and adjust it, but without having the live shows we’ve had none of that. So while I still think that everything we’ve written this year sounds like us, it’s interesting how exterior changes in your environment can affect the direction you go in.”
“We were really lucky. Apart from the vocals on a couple of them, we had all of it finished before March. We recorded the drums first up at Lightship 95 in London and did the rest in my studio. I know enough about engineering and production to get everything else to a good level. The last time we went up there was in January last year and we planned to release it by the end of summer 2020. When COVID started we had a meeting because it felt like a bad time to release a body of work and decided to just release singles. With a body of work it’s something that we really want to be gigging and touring. But with singles, it doesn’t feel like as big a statement so we can get away with just spreading them out throughout the year.
“When we got to about August we re-evaluated it a little bit and wanted to tie up the year with something and release it all together before starting a new campaign. We were extremely lucky because loads of people haven’t been able to release anything but we just had it prepared before.”
“We’re sitting on so much now [laughs]. I can’t say too much about it but the next thing that we’re releasing will be for the whole of this year. We’ve got a lot of stuff, more music than we’ve ever released. We wrote it all between April and the start of July in the first lockdown. Between that and the second lockdown we managed to get it all recorded and get it to the mix stage, so it worked out well. Now the worry is when to release it this year so that we can gig around it. It’s difficult because being such a live band, gigging is a vital part. It’s something that you’ve got to be doing consistently as a band and it’s always the way that helps us grow the most.”
Yakul – Pic: Bridie Florence
“We’re definitely open to working with a partner on releases. The thing that’s important to us is keeping control over it. It’s hard at the best of times to fund releases but at the moment it’s close to impossible. So it’s tricky to factor in having to pay for a PR plan and everything.”
“It’s very stressful. Around Christmas I make sure I properly shut myself down for a week or two and reset. The rest of the year – even if I’m not in the studio, writing, or practicing – I’m thinking about it: planning the social media for the next week, thinking about the artwork and different assets for the release. We’re lucky to have our management who are super helpful with that and take a bit of the pressure off. But yeah, it’s a constant thought which is why it would be nice to have a partnership. With the Vulfpeck route, we’d be more inclined to have a label services-type deal because it’s a win-win situation. You don’t have to give all your rights away, you also get to maintain all the control of when you release it and you get an advance that can help you fund it. There’s a reason why that’s become the new business model: it gives the artist more control. Hopefully we can sort something like that because funding this year’s going to be hard.”
“That was put together by one of our managers who used to manage The Brand New Heavies quite a while ago. They knew Sam Barsh from when he’d filled in on keys during the US leg of a tour and thought that it would be a good little link-up. We had a couple of ZOOM calls to talk through stuff. He’s the loveliest guy and he seemed like he was really into the music. He co-produced ‘Streetlight’ and ‘Company’ which were the first two ones that we released.”
“It was a really cool process working remotely like that. I would really like to go over to LA this year if it’s possible [laughs] to get in the room with him to work because nothing can top that. There’s always gonna be something missed by not being in the same room because everyone’s gonna have a slightly different direction that they want to take it in. I mean, it worked out really well, I’m so happy with all of those tracks, but it would be nice to get in a room together.
“We didn’t actually do any sessions properly over ZOOM. I sent him all the stems of those songs and either did some reference songs or gave him details of the direction that we were thinking of. Then he just did his thing on it and sent it back, and we just went back and forth with notes. It wasn’t the speediest of processes for that reason, but it worked out really well in the end.”
“Yeah I feel like that stuff can be the glue of a song, just those little sounds that you probably don’t even notice but if they were taken away they’d feel a little bit empty and things wouldn’t feel quite so cohesive.”
“Yeah it’s horrible to play live! We’ve only done it together a couple of times. We’ve been saying that I should get car wing-mirrors on my keyboard stand so I can see Sam behind me. That one was fun. With everything apart from ‘Streetlight’ and ‘Company’ we did all the production and then sent it to Jim MacRae (Jordan Rakei‘s drummer and co-producer/mixer) to do the mix. We’ve got a really good working relationship with him because he really gets what we’re trying to do and he’s only in London so we always just go up.”
“In the past I’ve done sample packs and stuff like that. But every time I’ve done it, even if it’s been jazz keys loops, when I get to the sixtieth one I’m like “Fuck, this is so boring!”. Maybe if it was one that was focused on my sound or our sound maybe it would be more enjoyable.
“Production generally is the main thing that I do now, especially not being able to gig this year. There’s a few Brighton people dropping stuff that I’ve worked with this year who I’m excited about. They’re all people who were already my friends but they’re also sick musicians. There’s Kaisha, she released an EP last year which I produced (Something Else) and now we’re working on a future one at the moment. There’s my boy Nico Cara who’s the dopest guy, he’s like the English Nick Hakim. My other boy Alfie Neale did an EP last year and we’re doing something else this year. There’s this girl in London, Gracie Convert, who I work with quite a bit who’s sick. I like continuing to work with somebody because, in the same way as in our work with Jim, when I’m working as a producer for others we get in a really good flow and we know exactly what each other are thinking.”
“Until recently, the Roland FA-08 has been the keyboard that I’ve used for every single gig. I got a Nord Stage 3 last January but we haven’t done a gig since I got it [laughs]. I did love that Roland, but I just love the Rhodes on the Nord and the feel of it. I’ve still got the Prophet 08 and I got this little Juno module, the JU-06A. It’s alright. It’s basically a Juno module, but I’ve got a Juno 106 now and compared the sounds and it’s not the same. But I’m not taking the 106 to gigs. I found it from this seller in Brighton two months ago and it’s in pristine condition. The module does the job for live. All of the stuff that we’re releasing this coming year we’d already finished before I got the 106 so there’s gonna have to be a lot more in-depth synthesis in future stuff we do as I get more into that, which I’m looking forward to.”
“That’s our man Adrian who’s this French guy who lives in Madrid. He did the poster art for a show we played in Madrid which was sick so we got him to do all of the singles and the EP. He’s got this abstract, weird style that we really like because it’s a bit different. It was cool having a theme across all those releases. This year we’re gonna do a totally different thing though. We have an idea of what it’s going to be but it’s still forming. Fresh year. Fresh music. Fresh brand.”
Check out all the bands and artists James mentioned here in our playlist:
Yakul: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube
Reverb Music: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube
Interviewed by: Tom Wijesinghe
The post Yakul through the Kaleidescope appeared first on Reverb Music.
This is Hackney not Camelot, where Nicki Knightz rocks vintage garms not shining armour. The London lyricist is one half of The Knighthood Society, a duo doing bits for alternative hip hop here in the UK. With a low, poetic style and uncompromised bars, Nicki’s music is a very real reflection of her mixed-race experience. For The Uninformed says it straight.
She rides for the misfits and the mistreated in a three-track EP that’s not to be missed. ‘India Arie’ was even crowned Toddla T‘s Coldest Record of the Week back on release. From spoken word sets to bedroom booths, we sat down with the humble MC to talk through the roots of her project and much more. It’s time you got informed.
“So The Knighthood Society is essentially an aspiring label really. It started off being a group thing, we had five or six different people in the group and then in the few years it slowly became just me and Henny Knightz. He’s the producer and the person that founded The Knighthood Society.”
“Definitely, definitely. For me anyway, I feel like I need to have a certain level of chemistry with the person to be able to fully express the things I want to express. Otherwise, sharing such personal, intimate things with someone you’re not really cool with like that can be a bit tense, if you know what I mean.”
“Before I created this project, obviously I knew I wanted to create a project, but I remember I was sitting down with Henny and he was like, ‘What do you want to say on it? What story do you want to tell?’. I wanted to tell the story of what being mixed-race means because often growing up, especially in the area I grew up in, (Hackney), it was like the mixed-race girl or boy was always something that was highly praised and in some sense quite fetishised. But for me, I never quite understood that because from my experience being mixed-race was quite challenging – pretty much like an identity crisis in some way. So For The Uninformed was for the people that have no idea of what being mixed-race means. I wanted to tell people my story and I’m sure a lot of other people’s stories because from releasing it, a lot of biracial people have said that they relate to certain matters that are discussed on the project. So yeah, it was basically for everyone that doesn’t know what it’s like to be a mixed-race person.”
“I would say music for me is my preferred method, reason being, in day-to-day life if I’m not really cool with a person, like I’m not really comfortable, I don’t really speak too much. If I don’t need to speak I’m not really like a speaker [laughs]. Never been the loudest person in the room, quite introverted, so music is definitely the medium where I’m able to fully say the things I’ve always wanted to say, you know? It’s a lot easier to do it through that platform.”
“Yeah so the ‘India Arie‘ tune, that’s inspired by one of her songs called ‘I Am Not My Hair‘ which I basically grew up listening to. When I was going through my hair breaking and whatnot, and I was having difficulty managing it and my mum was as well, I used to listen to that song because it felt like such a massive thing at the time. At one point when it was breaking and falling out I didn’t think I was gunna mentally or in reality get through that obstacle. So, I remember I found that song and it was like a comfort blanket. When I wrote the song in the studio it was like I’d done the same thing that she’d done essentially: talked about my whole hair journey and how freeing it can be when you just don’t give a fuck in some sense. So it was only right for me to call it ‘India Arie’ because it was her that helped me at that time, like a homage track kind of.
“’Blacker The Berry‘, to be honest when I was writing that I didn’t even have that Kendrick thing in my mind you know, it wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t really planned but ‘India Arie’ definitely was. ‘Blacker the berry’ is a saying that I’ve heard a lot of my life watching black movies, it’s always like a little joke within a film, ‘The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice.’ I wanted that song to show my ethnic side moreso, cos I often don’t really show my African roots through my music.”
“Yeah literally [laughs], that’s identical to what happens. It’s funny because the director was like, ‘Just act how you’d normally act.’ When you’re writing, it’s like, for example when you’re talking to your crush on the phone, you’re constantly moving around the room in really weird angles. It’s kinda awkward the positions you’re in at some times because you’re so taken away with what you’re doing. But yeah, it’s definitely identical to my writing process. I go to Henny’s, he’ll make a beat, then once I hear the beat I kinda go from there.”
“So I started spoken word first really. I started in secondary school times and I remember I had a breakup, like a stupid secondary school breakup, and I wanted some way to express the pain I was feeling [laughs]. I picked up my pad at the time and started rhyming, writing little bits of poetry. Then from that, I kept doing it throughout the process of that heartbreak and from that… What happened after that? I went to college. I remember it was really strange but a friend invited me to a spoken word event. I was in the crowd listening and was like, ‘This is kinda cool.’ It was like what you see in these jazzy, black movies where they’re in a poetry jam and it’s just a vibe. I thought ‘This is sick,’ and then after that I basically looked for more.
“I went to one myself and I remember being with a friend. It had an open mic and the person on stage must have said, ‘Who else wants to get up and say something?’. My friend started pulling my hand up to get me up on the stage and I’m like, ‘Are you actually crazy?!’. All the attention goes onto me so I’m like, ‘Oh. My. God.’ At that point I go on stage and get my notes on my phone and do the spoken word. After that, I got the bug and thought, ‘Shit, I can actually do this.’ So then I started going to more spoken word events and started chasing that but I dunno, something within me deep down, even whilst I was doing all of that, I felt like I really wanted to rap. I used spoken word as the platform because it was easier for me because it wasn’t on a beat. It was my stepping stone I would say to getting into music.”
“People I rate right now, IAMDDB is like my favourite at the moment. I’ve also been tryna listen to a bit more underground stuff because funnily enough I don’t listen to too much, mainly mainstream shit, but I’ve listened to a guy recently called Finn Foxell, he’s sick. Who else is there… I listen to FLOHIO, Lex Amor is dope, Little Simz. There’s a variety out there but that’s off the top of my head.”
“So this year I plan on dropping a new project. I’m in the works of it now so I’ve been writing, plotting, putting ideas down. Apart from that, hella videos to go alongside it. But really better quality than my last ones. I’m really gunna try and push the boat out if you know what I mean, just really top-of-the-class shit.”
“Yeah, for me it always has to get better. It can’t go down in terms of quality. It’s always gotta be better than the last.”
Nicki Knightz: Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube / Bandcamp
Reverb Music : Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Soundcloud / YouTube
Interviewed by: James Wijesinghe
The post Nicki Knightz on For The Uninformed appeared first on Reverb Music.
Brummie beatmaker dylantheinfamous is back with his second MOONLOOPS project on Blah Records. The 0121 native delivers 21 interstellar instrumentals, all produced, mixed and mastered by the man himself. He blends lo-fi hip hop with classic R&B cuts, making a beat tape perfect for space shuttle speakers.
Interviews with Mr. Infamous are few and far between, but we managed to pull him away from Ableton for a chat about all things Dylan. We discussed his impressive partnerships with the likes of Obijuan, jaydonclover, Bisk and CLBRKS, and learnt of an upcoming project under his MC alias Dylan Gray. Find out what it takes to be the definition of a prolific producer and why dylantheinfamous doesn’t want to “paint stormy clouds all the time”. We have lift-off.
“[Laughs] Drop Ross Barkley man. Definitely get rid of Ross Barkley. I think that’s it man, I think Dean Smith‘s doing a good job you know. I think he’s implemented a good little system, it’s not completely around Grealish. But I’d drop Barkley and put Sanson in definitely man, he looks good.”
“To be fair, I kinda make MOONLOOPS in the winter months. It’s a bit of isolation and solitude. It’s not a sad tape but it’s quite an emotional tape. It taps into a lot of emotions so yeah, it’s definitely a deeper release than a lot of the other stuff I do.”
“Yeah definitely. The idea behind that was, you know them early R&B songs with almost like cringey forced emotion, to take that and turn it into something a bit more real and heartfelt is quite an interesting concept that I like working with. I did it on the first MOONLOOPS as well and I took from romance movies and chick-flicks that might seem corny on the outside, but you can manipulate and work into something that’s a bit deeper. In my opinion anyway, that’s what I’m trying to do.”
“This bro [shows desk]. It’s literally a Mac, I’ve got a MIDI keyboard that I don’t really use, but it’s Ableton and sometimes the SP-404. For me, Ableton is like, if you have an idea in your head, you can just throw it down, you ain’t gotta mess about. I was on Logic for a bit but with Ableton you can just get your ideas down and work at your own pace. So definitely Ableton.”
“That’s a hard question man. I’m still learning this, but mixing drums. Definitely mix your drums because it can be very tempting to put some drums over a sample and think it sounds good and wrapped. But when you shape the sound of your drums and really manipulate the sound of them, you can do anything with them. The opportunities are endless. If anyone is looking to sample and do their own drums over it, definitely work on your mixes and your mixing of your drums.”
“There’s a few man. I like what Dweeb is doing – he just put out an album with CLBRKS that’s cold – Dweeb’s killing it. I definitely fuck with The Alchemist obviously, of course. Obviously Madlib as well. It sounds kinda selfish but I’ve been focusing on myself a lot recently. I’ve been listening to my old music and thinking how I can improve it, so I’m a bit out the loop right now.” [Laughs]
“Not the mixes themselves because I like how they’re kinda raw, but definitely the way the mixes make sense. Not every track has to be super gritty and super punchy. I’m learning to tone down some bits sometimes and that can help more in just turning things up and pumping it through.”
“Ah man. CL is the guy init. We haven’t really got much, we’ve got a couple demos and that but there’s nothing in the works. We’ll 100% be releasing more music, 100%. CL is the GOAT man, he’s killing it.”
“First of all, shout out Bisk init. The artists I would work with every day if it could be that, are either Bisk or Obi cos they’ve both got the same mindset where they just wanna do music. All the other shit can come later, we just wanna work on the music man. Beat after beat, rap after rap – let’s do it. But with Dylan Gray, it’s more of a… I didn’t realise until a few years ago how Birmingham hasn’t really got a voice. We’ve got artists coming out of Birmingham that are doing their thing, but you know, if you think of Manchester you’ve got like [Black] Josh, London there’s about a million artists, Bristol has its own scene, I just felt like I had something to say coming from this environment. Not that it’s that different to Manchester or London, but Birmingham has its own little quirks man. It’s definitely something I’m looking to explore more in the future. I’ve been working on a tape for Dylan Gray. I don’t know what it’s called yet and I don’t know when it’ll be out, but it’s coming.” [Laughs]
“So they say man. To be honest, it’s corny as fuck saying this, but music is what I do. I put my life into it, you know what I mean? Every day I’m making beats, every day I’m at the desk. Obviously, as you know, I support the Villa so that takes up a bit of time as well. I like watching films and that but really music is where it’s at man. That’s what I’m devoting myself to and that’s what I want people to know me for.”
“I’m not like officially signed to Blah but they’re the guys man. I think I sent Josh some beats when I was about 16 and they ended up on Yung Sweg Lord – ‘Thinkin‘ and ‘Dem Ways‘. That was just a really random thing man: I saw his email somewhere and thought ‘Fuck it, let’s see how this goes,’ and we’ve been working since then. And then I hit up Bisk and we were working, he must have shown Lee [Scott] some bits and he fucked with it. Then we did the languid.oceans thing with Obi and looms, so it’s all just been organic man. They’ve looked out for me so shout out Blah definitely.”
“A lot of shit man [laughs]. I’ve got quite a few productions coming. I’m tryna branch out a bit because obviously I’ve got a lot of work with Bisk, Obi, CL, so I’m tryna find new voices to work with too. Obviously I did the tape with Immi Larusso recently, that was really fun. His whole perspective on music is different to anyone I’ve worked with man. It’s more like vibe music, you can throw it on and just enjoy it. But yeah, I’ve got productions with all the usual suspects coming out soon. I’ve got Obi, Bisk, possibly a languid.oceans, who knows… I’ve got some stuff with Elijah Bank$y, jaydonclover of course, Franklin Armstrong of course, Dylan Gray coming soon. Working man.”
“Definitely man. The way that I view beats, especially since doing the vocal stuff, the beats are like if it’s a painting then it’s the setting. It’s the backdrop, it’s the sky, it’s the pavements. Then you let the artists do their thing on it. I don’t just want to paint stormy clouds all the time, you know what I mean? Sometimes I wanna paint pretty pictures man, and that’s what my work with jaydon is there for, and Obi as well – we’ve done some nice stuff in the past. But I don’t want to limit myself to just gritty, hard shit all the time because I don’t listen to that all the time.”
“‘Secondsin‘, yeah man. jaydon is sick. The funny thing with jaydon is she lives literally down the road from me. She hit me up on SoundCloud and I must have aired her for like a year, just busy you know. But turns out she was down the road init and we’ve been making classics since we linked up. It’s funny how it works out like that. It’s closer than you think.”
“I appreciate that a lot man. When I work with artists I like to really focus on their sound. That’s why I like doing these projects with a single artist rather than getting loads of people together. I like focusing on one style and trying to bring out different things in them, really hone in on what they’re tryna do. Definitely man.”
Peep our playlist compiling all the songs and artists mentioned above:
dylantheinfamous: Twitter / Instagram / SoundCloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Reverb Music: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube
Interviewed by: James Wijesinghe
The post dylantheinfamous talks MOONLOOPS [VOL. 2] appeared first on Reverb Music.
Oxford two-piece Sleeper Service are in full-colour with their brooding ballad ‘saturate’.
‘saturate‘ is the latest single from well-awake indie duo Sleeper Service. Backed by BBC Introducing and your future playlists, they’re masters of atmosphere and pack emotion into every moment.
You may remember we spoke to the guys in 2019 after the release of their debut EP You Won’t Believe The View. Two years later, ‘saturate’ kick-starts a string of new singles dropping over the coming months, with Greg and Tom drifting away from their indie folk origins into glistening, alt-pop waters. We’re talking lowercase titles, bleached barnets and airy earworms, all born in the band’s home-built studio.
Sleeper Service have been building in more ways than one; having constructed their professional loft-studio and grown both their following and sound. Plus, all of their music is recorded, mixed and produced from that one special place. In the pair, Tom Keogh plays more of a producer role, while Greg Munday does much of the songwriting – though they’re often switching and sharing hats.
This tune is four months in the making and was first written when the boys were both trapped with nothing but COVID and their instruments. Layering synth textures, subtle pulsations and cavernous echo, it’s clear that isolation has led to a greater exploration of the production board. Starting slow, ‘saturate’ moves through various contrasting passages, with Greg’s compelling voice carrying the listener the whole way. He sings of hard-hitting relationship realisations, culminating in: “I’m just 22 but girl you make me feel old”.
We also get a section of candid vocal chops during the track’s breakdown, where we hear snippets of a kitchen discussion between the two bandmates when they didn’t know the mics were on. Additions like this show how Sleeper Service are making use of broader elements in their music, mixing up the structure and embellishing their sound with experimentation. In an oversaturated industry it’s all about standing out.
Launched in a live stream celebration and performance session, ‘saturation’ is available everywhere now. It’s rich in vocal harmonies and luscious production, with a tumbling bassline that took the track to its premier on BBC Introducing Oxfordshire.
Watch the horizon as Sleeper Service work tirelessly to become the full-time musicians they deserve to be. All aboard!
Sleeper Service: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube / TikTok
Reverb Music : Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube
Written by: James Wijesinghe
The post Sleeper Service – ‘saturate’ [Review] appeared first on Reverb Music.
Bristol-based DJ iamdantaylor kicks off our On Deck mix series with slow sounds from around the globe.
As heard on Noods Radio and the speakers of church youth group afterparties, iamdantaylor always has unique finds ready to play.
The vinyl enthusiast and calmest of Gs has hand-picked a marathon of meditative music for your listening pleasure. He winds down the tempo with a selection of the world’s most relaxing tunes, strolling through ambient and electronica.
Stream iamdantaylor’s mix below and follow Reverb Music on SoundCloud for more.
Music for Feng Shui – ‘Birdwalk’
Joe Egan – ‘Arthur Mcbride’
Steve Hiett – ‘Blue Beach – Welcome to Your Beach’
Benjamin Lew & Steven Brown – ‘Profondeurs Des Eaux Des Laques’
Aphex Twin – ‘#3’
Four Tet – ‘Gillie Amma, I Love You’
Alice Coltrane – ‘Wisdom Eye’
Codona – ‘New Light’
D.K. – ‘Summoning the Spirits’
Shastro – ‘Dikara’
Roberto Musci – ‘Rack Railway To’
Susso – ‘Son Kunda’
History of Colour – ‘Rumba Juankita (History of Colour Interpretation)’
Nicolas Jaar – ‘Sunder’
Denez Prigent – ‘An Hini A Garan’
Bohren & Der Club of Gore – ‘Im Rauch’
iamdantaylor: SoundCloud
Reverb Music: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube
Written by: James Wijesinghe
The post On Deck: iamdantaylor appeared first on Reverb Music.
South coast songsters Wave Chase sing of sentimental seaside sojourns.
‘Sit by the Sea’ is the first official release from Bournemouth indie rockers Wave Chase in over a year. The long-awaited return of their signature shimmering guitars and soppy singing couldn’t be timed better as sunny weather and eased lockdown optimism takes centre stage yet again.
When we last spoke to Wave Chase in late 2019 they were gigging regularly and preparing for the release of their debut EP Tell me What to Know. ‘Sit by the Sea’ started life as a demo from the same time, recorded on Garageband by frontman George Kingman. The band wasn’t able to meet up and record this version until Bonfire Night 2020, the day the country descended into its second national lockdown. This song is timely, as its lyrics repeatedly yearn for outdoor escapism, each verse made of couplets contrasting the freedom of the seaside with a failing relationship:
I wanna walk along the shore
Don’t wanna have anyone to answer for
I wanna be out in the surf
Don’t wanna be face down in the turf
On the track’s BBC Introducing premiere last week George’s nasal vocals were compared to Circa Waves’ Kieran Shudall’s, but where ‘T-Shirt Weather’ is a nostalgic anthem for the past, ‘Sit by the Sea’ looks optimistically to the future, with George singing “I wanna talk about things to come” as he resents his time being wasted any longer by the subject of the song.
As Bournemouth natives, Wave Chase are certainly not strangers to the seaside. With half the band studying in Brighton at the moment, it’s no surprise that this particular brand of south coast surf rock comes so naturally to them. ‘Sit by the Sea’ was recorded a mile and a half from the beach at Brighton Electric Studios, overseen by YellowLace drummer Sam Ruthen who also grew up near Bournemouth.
While Wave Chase take inspiration from bands across the entire gamut of the British indie rock canon, ‘Sit by the Sea’ owes more to the sunny sounds of Brisbane, Australia. Upbeat and sparsely textured releases from the early to mid-2010s, (such as The Jungle Giants’ Learn to Exist and Bugs’ Growing Up ), clearly set the standard for bands like Wave Chase for what coastal rock music should sound like in the 21st century. Ever the nostalgists though, Wave Chase are sure to pay homage to the classic Californian surf rock sounds of the 60s, with a vintage combo organ making an appearance à la ‘Time Bomb’ by Avengers Six.
The track was mixed entirely using analogue gear by Joe Reeves, based in South London who has also worked with other Bournemouth bands including The Villanovas and San Marlo. It was mastered in Portland US by Timothy Stollenwerk (Surf Curse, The Dandy Warhols and Duncan Fellows) and the artwork was designed by Emily Welbers, a Dutch digital artist.
The boys are already billed for a hot summer of performances, including Portsmouth’s Golden Touch Festival. Catch Wave Chase on stages, streaming services and by the sea.
Wave Chase: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube
Reverb Music: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube
Written by: Tom Wijesinghe
The post Wave Chase – ‘Sit by the Sea’ [Review] appeared first on Reverb Music.
French party-starter SNDER lays down a techno masterclass, mixing through unabated industrial and acid.
A Nantes native, SNDER (formally known as Mouillette), has built a reputation as the man to call when you want to move all night.
His old name came from the French word for toast soldiers, and being the good egg that he is, he’s dipped into his stack of tracks and served us a fresh mix. An avid surfer and sustainability advocate, he’s no stranger to taking his decks down to the beach and throwing a doof on the dunes.
His mighty Mistinguerie series is a must-listen for more of the techno, house and acid that he’s graced us with.
Stream SNDER’s On Deck mix below and find all the sets from our previous guests here.
Pan-Pot – ‘Happy Birthday’
Mark Reeve – ‘Distance’
Tale Of Us & Vaal – ‘The Hangar’
Unbalance – ‘Stockholm Syndrome’
Shall Ocin – ‘SCI’
Benjamin Damage – ‘010x’
Jimi Jules – ‘My Father Was a Master’
UMEK – ‘Percussionix’
Guilou & Duc De Mourgues – ‘Dusza’
C166W – ‘Joyhauser’
Carl Cox, Reinier Zonneveld & Christopher Coe – ‘Inferno’
Ian Redman – ‘Moon Rising’
SNDER: SoundCloud / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube
Reverb Music: Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Spotify / SoundCloud / YouTube
Written by: James Wijesinghe
The post On Deck: SNDER appeared first on Reverb Music.
Long established as a cornerstone of the UK hip hop scene, prolific rapper Ramson Badbonez swaps the mic for the mixing desk for the first time with the release today of his explosive new album “Lead by Example” through New Dawn Records. One of the most impressive production debuts witnessed for many years is also […]
