Q & A.

FOR THOSE THAT HAVEN’T HEARD OF YOU BEFORE, DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN ONE SENTENCE:

Haydn: 4 introverts that somehow manage to make industrial-tainted melancholic pop despite their extremely varying and perhaps questionable musical influences – there is one AC/DC addict; one is named after a Cocteau Twins song; one loves traditional folk music a lot and one enjoys prolonged attacks on the eardrums from Sunn O))).

Amelia – 🥀🖤 but also 🥰

WHEN DID YOU START PERFORMING?

Haydn: I was reared on AC/DC. I heard Highway To Hell when I was 7 and that’s where it all started for me. I was out busking from that age and it feels like I’ve willingly dragged myself through a musical hedge when I look back at all the different things I’ve tried to do (including being a banjo player in a bluegrass band, among many other questionable things).

Amelia: Bluegrass isn’t questionable !! I was in an Americana band from the age of 15 and i loved how many different subcultures you would see in the audience. And everybody was enjoying themselves and not giving a shit about what everybody else was doing, just caring about how much fun they were having.

Kyalo: I sang “All Star” by Smash Mouth for a school talent show when I was 11.

Calum: I danced to Ricky Martin’s ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ at a caravan park in 1998.

INFLUENCES?

It changes constantly. Each member would have something different to say but we have a lot of common ground musically: Young Fathers, The Twilight Sad, The Cure, FKA Twigs, Radiohead.

YOUR FAVOURITE MUSIC VENUE IN THE UK: 

Calum – Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow

Kyalo – Glasgow Art School (R.I.P.)

Haydn – The Mackintosh Church in Glasgow

Amelia – Deaf Institute, Manchester

SHARE WITH US AN INTERESTING ANECDOTE ABOUT ONE OF YOUR SONGS:

We recorded the ‘Happy Days!’ EP largely in a studio called Black Bay on the Isle of Lewis. One of the tracks from the EP – And The Weight – was recorded largely by Haydn during some down time. In the recording process Calum joined in to provide some extra percussion, part of which was kicking a box of percussion instruments around the room to the beat. At around 1:09 in the song you can hear him screaming loudly after putting his foot through the box and cutting his toe. We sampled that and stuck it in just before all of the big drums come in, eternalising Calum’s pain.

YOU ARE SENT TO MARS, NO CHECK-IN BAGGAGE AND YOU CAN TAKE ONE RECORD. WHICH ONE?

Calum – Trouble Will Find Me by The National

Kyalo – 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack

Haydn – It’s Immaterial by Black Marble

Amelia – Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs – Marty Robbins

WE ARE PROUDLY SUBCULTURE INSPIRED. HOW ABOUT YOU? 

Calum – I’m inspired by anything that includes ‘other’ ways to do things. Subcultures often challenge norms and that’s an important thing to aspire to do. It’s particularly important in the current social climate of homogenisation; the way culture is presented and consumed is increasingly algorithmic, which is good in some senses but it can entrench tastes and close off possibilities. Healthy and open subcultures can be one of the ways to challenge this.

Kyalo – I’ve never felt like I fitted in, and my different ‘styles’ through different periods of my life reflect trying to adapt to the different musical scenes and cliches I immersed myself in. Nowadays I still draw upon these subcultures for stylistic purposes, but artistically and musically, I find myself drawn more to nature than people for inspiration.

Haydn – I’m not particularly inspired by any subculture in particular, but when I was a young teenager I really wanted to be a mod. My mum didn’t let me get the haircut and would have been too worried if I was driving around on a scooter. I find myself being influenced by books and other things I read, as well as just day to day occurrences.

Amelia – Subcultures are such an important part of growing up for me. It’s where you know you’ll find common ground, aspire confidence in others around you all for feeling like you finally belong. As soon as I turned 14 and could go to gigs I was there at least twice a week, in my uniform of tartan trousers and creepers, and soon made my pals in the indie scene. I think subcultures are more fleeting now because of how quickly everybody moves on from phases in their life due to the immediacy of social media and streaming platforms – you don’t have to get invested in something, you can have a little of everything. Life online is so transparent so it’s harder to feel like you belong in a singular subculture, but they are definitely just as influential.