Interview – See Emily Play
A coach station is not the usual place where we conduct our interviews, but luck and last minute plans had it that the interview with Emily Ireland from See Emily Play would be conducted in a small café by the coach rank. While the busy coach bays transported back and forth a myriad of people we would never talk to, we talk about her upcoming gig (Sunday 20th, Library Theatre, Sheffield), her new ep, Four feet from the door, Pink Floyd and Superhero names.
It’s all related. Honest. (more…)
Interview – Conquering Animal Sound
A few months ago, Tonan reviewed the wonderful Kammerspiel by Conquering Animal Sound. The band is currently quite busy but managed to answer a couple of questions that were sent their way. (more…)
Interview – Milk Maid
It was a neither dark nor stormy night in Sheffield. The Harley was going to host a night of fuzz drenched garage (review) and an offer for an interview with Milk Maid‘s Martin Cohen had been offered by their lovely label, FatCat Records.
I meet Martin Cohen by the bar and we haphazardly get ourselves placed in the entrance of the Harley hotel, where it was supposedly quieter. Sadly, the recorded interview sounds garbled and slightly distant, which in hindsight feels like one of their songs; full reverb on, ghostly voices and a crunchy fuzz. (more…)
Interview – The Hot Soles
The Hot Soles. We’ve talked previously about this band. Three gigs (The Harley, Club 60, The Bowery) and also as a wake up song (yup). The three gig reviews done by three different writers, all enjoyed them live. So it was natural to get an interview with them. (more…)
Interview : Cobra-fist
Image: Glenn Miller (check his work on our webcomic!)
Picture this: a warm, sunny September afternoon and you are just walking on Ecclesall Road and all of a sudden you look at the trees and yell “Hey! Is that a ninja up there?!?!?!”. You thought you saw three ninjas (with the only difference being they got palette-swapped) but now they are not there…they are.. behind you! But they are friendly ninjas, and they just saved you from a Samurai (stupid tachi-wielding melonfarmers).
We thank the trio. They call themselves Cobra-fist. The name’s origin, a mystery. The trio’s identity, an even bigger mystery. We notice they have musical instruments. One of them introduces himself as Myth and we thought it was a good idea to interview them… (more…)
Interview – Dead Sons
Dead Sons are a Sheffield based band that have released a couple of dark (almost country noir) songs this year while giving out some great shows (specially their cracking set during Tramlines 2011). We sent them a couple of questions via email and they managed to answer them on their overbook schedule (recording, preparing for tour, rehearsing ’til the Pale Rider comes by to collect the rent).
Interview – Cats:For:Peru
It’s a very quiet Sunday at the Frog and Parrot. A couple of jokes about Sheffield looking like a deleted scene from 28 days later fall flat and after having the strongest thing next to a coke (a coke with a lemon wedge), we talk.
Out of the 5 cats, only Lucy (drums), Keith (bass) and Ad (keys, guitar, voice, ukulele, beard wrangling) are here. The rest of the band (Stella and Rich) are either fighting robots or dodging well-armed spreadsheets.
Interview – The Payroll Union
The Payroll Union are a Sheffield band that has been doing the rounds for a while, but it wasn’t until this year when it all started to fall into place. Between an EP launch in a cozy little pub, a stint on the Busker bus during Tramlines and a couple of Hoedowns (one which ended in a massive hay fight), the band is getting loads of good word of mouth.
A meeting with the band was arranged at 2Fly studios. When I get to the studio, the band are still recording. The song is ’1826′ and although the basic layout is pretty much finished, they want to add an extra layer of detail to the song. Melodica, a spot of keyboard and even the sound of breaking wood (courtesy of a 2×4 being destroyed in the studio) are added.
The Payroll Union are Ben (drums, vocals), Paul (bass) and Pete (guitar, main vocals) and they have been recording for the entire weekend. They look slightly tired but happy about how the song is panning out, so we take a stroll around and settle down at a Mexican restaurant to talk about Americana, history and why your influences might not determine how you sound.
Interview – The Ravenna Colt
Photo by L Park (from The Ravenna Colt's website)
The Ravenna Colt. A powerful name for a powerful band with an album full of pure emotions and reverberated atmospheres. We reviewed it quite recently and thanks to the very kind people of Karate Body Records, Tonan and Sam got to email Johnny Quaid, who answered our questions post haste. (more…)
Interview – Firesuite
It was the week after their Tramlines triathlon, but Firesuite were not taking a single moment off. They had new songs to practise and old songs to fine tune. They are in a corner room at Stag Works and after fiddling with some pedal settings and joking for a few moments, they proceed to rip out a few tunes.
We then go into the main courtyard, a couple of cigarrettes are lit, a few brews, ranging from ales to beers, are opened and a lot of questions are fired towards Firesuite. Wait, who are they? Well, they are Christopher Anderson (guitars, voice), Sarah Griffiths (guitar, voice), Chris Minor (bass, keyboards) and Richard Storer (drums). Christopher’s brother is taking photos and video, while a friend of the band, Stu, is also present. Stu plays keyboard during live renditions of ‘Sci-Fi Lullaby’. (more…)
Interview – Captives on the Carousel
Captives on the Carousel
Captives on the Carousel are a very interesting duo. Take one guitarist (Sarah Morrey) with a very ethereal voice and a cello player (Ben Eckersley) who sometimes ropes out a BOSS pedal and loops to create an army of ghost cellists to help him.
Add to that mix lyrics that feel like the lost tales you remember reading in a book in a cold Autumn afternoon and you got their sound. Now, in contrast to that very stark setting, we (that’ll be Tonan and Sam) got to talk with the pair after their splendid show at the Folk Forest during Tramlines 2011.
Interview – The Wooden Birds
Photo by Alicia Vega
We love music, that’s a fact. We also like music with a lot of heart in it and The Wooden Birds fill the bill perfectly. So when the opportunity arose to interview them, we gladly went for it!
We’ve previously reviewed their fantastic new album, Two Matchsticks and Mr. Andrew Kenny was kind enough to answer some questions regarding the current workings in The Wooden Birds machine of musical camaraderie.
Friends of Friends – Five minutes with Vetiver
Photo by Alissa Anderson
Sloucher’s PM was lucky enough to catch up with Vetiver brainbox/band leader Andy Cabic after the band’s recent gig in Brighton (here’s a shameless plug for our review). The band is touring to support the release of new record The Errant Charm, which has already scored the accolade of ‘Best summer album of 2011’ in the Sloucher offices. Check it!
(more…)
Interview – Yonderboy
A long time ago (sorry), I met Sammy Thompson (drums), Curragh Treanor (guitars) and Bruce Woods (bass) from Leeds-based powerhouse Yonderboy for a spot of Bungalows and Bears. The battery ran out near the end of the interview. The card was damaged and it took a lot of dirty little tricks to recover the majority of the interview.
But, enough technobabble and let’s dig into what these three gentlemen (out of the five that currently make up the roster of the band) had to say regarding influences, music and whether triumvirate is a word or not.
Interview – Shipping News
Shipping news. Source: Shipping News Facebook
Shipping News are a band from Louisville, Kentucky. Their sound is equal parts post rock, punk and hardcore elements. Last year, they released a monster of an album called One less heartless to fear (shameless plug – review) and we loved it quite a bit. Since we (Tonan & Sam) are unabashed fans of the band, we managed to cajole an email interview with them. They are Jason Noble (guitar/voice), Jeff Mueller (guitar/voice), Kyle Crabtree (drums) and Todd Cook (bass) and they make a very cathartic sound when they take the stage…
An interview with 65daysofstatic
It’s not a secret that I enjoyed thoroughly both We were exploding anyway (review) and Heavy Sky (review), the two records that 65daysofstatic released in 2010. I also waited for the stupid fire alarm to go away before their Tramlines gig, but it was not to happen that day.
A few months later, I would go and read that they were going to re-score Silent Running, a film I like because I saw it in a drive-in back in Mexico a few years ago. So it was pretty cool to finally get to see the band rock out at Queens Social Club and even better to catch up with them again. Last year I interviewed Joe Shrewsbury (link), this year I managed to get to chat with Paul Wolinski after their fantastic show.
Interview – Mazes
Interview Mazes
“We are touring with different bands, keeps it kind of interesting”
—Jack Cooper, Mazes.
Interview – obLONG
“What’s this for? What publication?”
“Sloucher, we told you Steve!”
“Uh? I don’t know what’s going on (laughs)”
—Steve Genn & Hugh Ruiz, obLONG.
Interview: Japanese Sleepers
Source: Japanese Sleeper's Facebook. Go say "hi" to them :)
l-r: Gemma, Neal, Alex, Andy & Stephen
I’m slurring my words and my friend, Sr Huevo* is even worse. I tell him, “Don’t fucking say a word” during the interview I’m about to do with Nottingham/Sheffield-based band Japanese Sleepers, “Not a word!” Sr Huevo shakes his head like he actually understands what I’m trying to tell him.
“All my lyrics are really sad, I find it hard to write lyrics that are…it sounds really emo doesn’t it!?” Says lead singer Andy whilst discussing his musical style.
Sr Huevo: “You need to cheer up mate”
“It’s cliché but the best artists seem to come out of heartbreak or existential crises. I went through all my songs on iTunes the other day and tried to look for songs that are happy, lyrically positive and it was out of 6,000 songs I could think of maybe like, 14. This is why my lyrics are so sad!” Continues a chuckling Andy.
Sr Huevo: “Was this Spice Girls by any chance?”
Andy: “Yeah the one Spice Girls album that I’ve got!”
In my addled mind, Sr Huevo may as well be Michael Parkinson right now. This is going to be great…
(more…)
Interview – Kerry Brown
Photo from Kerry Browns Facebook.
Kerry Brown. If you know your 90s rock history well, the name will ring a bell. If not, here’s a first clue: he was in a band called Catherine (maybe a Spotify or Video might jolt your memory?).
Interview – Dust on the Breakers
Interview – Dust on the Breakers
Since we first heard Dust on the Breakers’ début EP, American Reclamation
Interview – Skint + Demoralised
Skint + Demoralised
I meet Matt Abbott at a small, comfy pub in Wakefield on one very cold day back in November. It was a strange experience. Not because of him (he’s a top fella), but because one of his singles was the first I reviewed here in England. I guess life is just like that.
This interview was supposed to go earlier, but life has a strange way of messing with your plans, so in advance, a sincere apology to Matt Abbott, the voice and soul of Skint + Demoralised. For what it’s worth, it was a very nice conversation and, for his age, he does know his music.
Interview – Esben and the Witch
Rachel Davies‘ voice is fit. Not only when she is singing the vocals in Esben and the Witch‘s debut album Violet Cries, but also when you are talking to her in person. It is hard to imagine how the wailing banshee vocals echoing over ‘Marching Song’ could erupt from the petite beanie wearing woman sat in-front me.
