An Interview with Dead Cities

Continuing the string of interviews I've posted with local musicians and bands about how they go about writing their songs I recently got the chance to interview Ryan Wyatt, bass player with the multi instrumentalist Liverpool Folk-Rock band Dead Cities.

So in the beginning, what made you want to write songs?

Nothing really, Martin had a few tunes and hadn’t played for a while so me and Oli started playing on top of them and they sounded pretty good so we carried on for 3 months or thereabouts before we realised we were a band.


Who influenced you as you began writing?

Probably Martin without sounding cheesy, just because he had these songs lying about and me and Oli just threw anything over them we thought we could add.  After a while when we started doing songs from scratch with each other, I think it was obvious that people like Neil Young has an influence on us as a band and Led Zeppelin for me are always going to influence ideas I come up with.  The Beatles too and anything more contemporary we listen to as a whole together – Wild Beasts, Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes – there’s a lot of stuff in there.



So how did you all come together as a band?

I already knew both Oli and Martin, and they had played together in The Alterkicks. I had been playing in a few different bands around the same time, as well as my flat being in the same building as Oli’s, so it just kind of happened by accident really. Me and Oli had played in a few bands together already before Dead Cities, and as we lived in the same building as each other, and with Oli’s bedroom becoming a kind of local rehearsal room for bands we played in it, seemed the obvious choice for Martin to use me and Oli as the rhythm section.

Where did the name “Dead Cities” come from?

Martin had come up with a joke name which we would refer to ourselves as but when we realised we were turning into a band we just chose the name “Dead Cities” from a song title we had.  We managed to cut out all of the stresses involved in naming a band which is usually the biggest pain in the arse when starting a new project.


What would you say inspires you when you all write?

Wouldn’t be able to say to be honest as it can come from a film, book, concert you have been to, a noise you hear. For me I don’t really write as much as I usually help arrange or come up with melodies on top of existing chord structures so it is usually just something you think will add to a song for me.


You all play various instruments (live) but what’s you’re individual instrument of choice?

It would definitely be the bass as that is what I have played for 10 years in different bands and when people ask me to play with them it is usually to play bass. It’s the one instrument I feel completely comfortable on and never feel out of my depth on it. Since staring Dead Cities I have taken a real shine to the ukulele and find myself playing it everyday

Old Man (Live)

When you come to write a song do you find you always approach it in a similar way? Or do you have a formula as a band? (Do you write the songs as a band or do you write the lyrics and then approach the music as a band?)

It can work in different ways really.  Most of the time Martin will come in with a chord sequence and a melody and me and Oli will add what we think suits the song. It can result in me changing around different instruments to see what fits and Oli doing the same, then if we feel a song needs a change in direction or needs added sections one of us will usually come up with the idea of where to take it and it usually works without anyone thinking differently.  Sometimes we will literarily just write a song on the spot or in the studio and just take it there and then.


You grew from an acoustic band but have been branching out introducing other instruments, where do you see your musical direction going next?

Don’t have a clue and I would think that none of us do. We work on songs together and if they sound right they are in and if they don’t they will be put aside and we will work on something different. We might have 3 that we are working on all with different instrumentation that will sound like us but don’t sound alike so I think the sound always changes but can so easily come back to what it was we were doing at the start.  It’s all about how the song we are working on at the time feels. If it needs to be big it will end up big but if it needs to be soft it will be soft so I don’t think we ever have an idea of what the next track we work on will sound like.

What music are you all into at the moment?

I am into blues and have been for years and that is mostly what I listen to but I find I end up listening to a lot of music I hear friends playing or even listening to friends’ bands that I really look up to. At this very moment though it is The Movie Soundtrack to The Last Waltz by The Band which I just managed to get hold of at a record fair so that will probably be on my record player for the next month.


How would you describe your music, genre wise?

I wouldn’t know how to describe it really. If you say Folk people will expect Folk if you say Indie people will expect Indie and if you say Pop people will expect Pop I just say it’s a bunch of songs where we pass instruments about and try and create different sounding songs with just the three of us.


What's coming up in the summer? Recording?  Gigs?

I would imagine we will be going out and gigging over the summer as well as writing and looking at getting together more recordings for an album we hope to release this year. Unfortunately with being unsigned and some members working jobs and some unemployed the summer isn’t much different then other times of the year so you find you still push on and work as hard as any other time of the year. We have gigs starting to come in with Liverpool Sound City and one or two festivals so we will see what comes in and where they take us but in the mean time I suppose we will still just be writing, recording and drinking all of Oli’s tea and eating all of his digestive’s he tries to hide from us.

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You can find out more about Dead Cities and check out some of their music at: myspace.com/deadcitiesband

Stornoway, A Band On The Run - From Genre

Fuel Up (on Later With Jools Holland)

Stornoway are a band running from genre.  Genre has it's gifts and it's hindrances.  It can help people understand your music, it can help people who like similar bands discover you, it can help critics classify you. OK well that last one may not be a plus side but lets face it people like to classify stuff.  Be it types of South American tree, umbrella or in our case new bands. 

Stornoway have recently thoroughly disowned the folk labels that were thrust upon them from everyone from the BBC to the NME.  But why have they been pigeon holed into the wave of new folk artists?  Well because their debut album Beachcomber's Windowsill is undeniably folky, that's why.  I mean come on even the album name is folk to the hilt!  The production on the album is reminiscent of the Fleet Foxes and the parallels between contemporaries like Noah & The Whale, Sons of Noel and Adrian and Mumford & Son are their in the instrumentation; featuring songs with banjo riffs a-plenty in We Are The Battery Human,  fiddles in The Coldharbour Road and delicate acoustic guitars in The End of the Movie.  Stylistically they range between folk and the more raucous tracks like Watching Birds. 

I Saw You Blink (Official Video)

So this begs the question, what is folk music?  Well what does it bring to mind for you? For some when they hear the word folk they think traditional English folk music (which personally leads me to think of Morris Dancers and Maypoles), others think 60s folk revival.  Well the dictionary definition is as follows:

Folk

• plural noun 1 (also folks) informal people in general. 2 (one’s folks) one’s family, especially one’s parents. 3 (also folk music) traditional music of unknown authorship, transmitted orally. 4 before another noun originating from the beliefs, culture, and customs of ordinary people: folk wisdom.
  — ORIGIN Old English.

So then does modern folk music fit this definition?  Can we call Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons etc Folk?  Well no because we know who wrote their songs, they did.  Is their music traditional?  Well what's traditional? (Lets not go there right now we have enough on our hands with 'Folk'!)  Are they transmitted orally?  No.  We listen to their records.  So is anyone folk?  Arguably not by definition, no.

Zorbing (on Later With Jools Holland)

But who cares?  Stornoway like Marling and the Mumfords are all influenced by folk music, among many other genres.  So we should let Stornoway off with not wanting to be stereotyped as one of these new folk bands.  And their record has something none of the other bands have on theirs.  A Kazoo (on Watching Birds).

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Go listen to the album The Beachcomber's Windowsill now, available on spotify here.  They're also part of my nu-folk spotify playlist, along with a load of other great bands, which can be found here.

Interview with Shane Beales

Liverpool based Singer-Song writer Shane Beales has just released his 4th EP Heavy Clouds describing it as "honest melodic music".  He released the EP for free, and recently played a set for BBC Radio Merseyside. In 2006 he began Project52 which saw him write, record and release a song a week for a year and Muzikreviews.com described him as ‘Quite the up and coming artist’. In this interview I asked him about how he went about writing the EP and what spared him on. 

So in the beginning, what made you want to write songs?

I grew up in a musical family and everyone was writing their own songs so as youngest child, it just seemed the thing you did when you were old enough!

Who influenced you as you began writing?

I used to live in Melbourne and there is a folk pop band called “My friend the chocolate cake” and their lead singer David Bridie was a huge influence when I first started. Simple piano songs – beautiful!  Also Radiohead, Ben Folds and Dave Matthews band plus of course, Jeff Buckley.

What do you say your muse is, what inspires you when you write?

I am inspired singing about hope, change and being confrontational! (hope I don’t sound too much like a politician.)

What’s you’re instrument of choice parts of ‘Heavy Clouds’ seem piano led, while other tracks are definitely guitar led?

Both I guess – quiet and loud! Most of my songs lend themselves to either one or the other, though I used to happily play piano for hours on end without getting blisters, which is more than I can say for the guitar.

When you come to write a song do you find you always approach it in a similar way? Do you have a formula?

My only formula is to trust my instincts, I tend to write quite quickly and later rue all of my mistakes!

Do you find your approach to writing a song like ‘Across the Sea’ differs from writing a song like Crunch?

Yes  - the lyrics for across the seas were very much tied in with the music from the beginning – whereas I had the idea for The Crunch initially just instrumentally and had to find some lyrics just in the nick of time before it was time to record the vocals.

You released ‘Heavy Clouds’ as a free download, why did you do this?  Do you think artists should have to give away there music for free?

I released it as free download for promotional purposes to reach new listeners and also to question what monetary value music deserves. Why is 79p a track is the right price for a download or £10 for a CD?  

Do you think it’s a necessity with how today’s music industry works? I don’t believe it’s absolutely necessary to give music away for free, it should be a decision made on the merits of each project. I would hope people don’t feel that they are forced to give music away.

Your new album ‘Heavy Clouds’ is available now, what can listeners expect from the EP?

Heavy, sometimes musically, sometimes lyrically, confrontational and ultimately uplifting. With a variety of sounds and entry points…

How would you describe your music, genre wise?  Your latest release, Heavy Clouds, seems quite rocky.

Alternative singer-songwriter I guess, It’s honest melodic music from the heart. Sometimes aggressive, sometimes gentle, always sincere.

What's coming up for you, any gigs or recording?

In August I’m moving to London, promoting Heavy Clouds EP and preparing for an album is next. Also playing with my wonderful band!

You can download Heavy Clouds for free at Heavy Clouds.com, You can also find out more about Shane on his Myspace and Site.  Heavy Clouds is also being sold as a Remastered Limited Edition on CD with super artwork for £9)

Hustle & Cuss by The Dead Weather

Hustle & Cuss live at Coachella 2010

Hustle & Cuss is the first release from The Dead Weather’s Sea of Cowards follow up to last year’s Horehound, which debuted less than 10 months ago.  You can download the track for free here on DW’s site.  Instantly recogniseable as The Dead Weather, Hustle & Cuss is more funky than anything on Horehound, when I first heard it I was immediately reminded of the Black Keys whose songs have a similar dirty groove to them.  Sea Of Cowards is due for release on the 11/10th May.

For Fans of: Black Keys, White Stripes, The Kills.

'Kentucky Pill' by Johnny Flynn.

'Kentucky Pill' is the lead single from Flynn's  new album 'Been Listening'.  This catchy mandolin driven track with its uplifting trumpet riffs make a perfect sonic background for Flynn to sing his vivid and imaginitive lyrics over.  From the first roll of the drums and boom of the bass the song hearlds something new, the mandolin reminds me of west african music, this shows Flynn is making music with influence far beyond its country/folk roots.  I can't wait for the album in June.  

Also part of my 'Nu-Folk' spotify playlist - here.

Seth Lakeman at the Liverpool Urban Centre, 7/4/10

When I was asked if I’d like to review Seth Lakeman’s gig at the Liverpool Contemporary Arts Centre I jumped at the chance, having heard of the Mercury Prize nominated Folk Singer, but never getting the chance to listen his music I was interested to finally hear him.  I hadn’t heard his music before so I checked out his albums before the show, I’d like to be able to say I was impressed.  Even more so I’d like to be able to say my opinion was changed by his performance.  But I can’t.  When listening to his albums it struck me that something was missing.  I couldn’t put my finger on it.  But having stood just 5 feet from him during his set I realised what it was that was missing.  While he played a confident set with varied material I felt throughout the set that there was a spark missing that let the songs down.

Guy infront of me at the gig in a stupid hat.

The evening began with support acts that were comfortably similar to the headliners style  with The Kevin Critchley Outfit playing in a similar vein to Lakeman’s own brand of slightly rocky English folk.  They opened with an energetic set, with songs from their debut album Scars. With a depleted band, just guitar, violin & cello instead of their normal 5 piece the KCO performed a confident set, engaging and joking with the crowd between songs. They were followed by Dan Donnelly who played a solo set accompanied only by his loop pedal, which he used to create his own backing using the body of his guitar for percussion and layering several guitar parts up to create songs like ‘Cigarette’ and ‘Diamonds in the Road’.

I went for a sit down at the back half way through

Lakeman’s set began with a track, ‘The Hurlers’, from his current album Poor Man's Heaven.  He then announced that he was releasing his next album Hearts and Minds on June 14th before playing the title track. He played several more new tracks during the rest of the evening.  Throughout his set Lakeman switched between violin and guitar and while I felt he lacked a certain spark of conviction in his voice his fiddle playing made up for this. He was ably supported by his band and while his particular brand of contemporary English folk may not be my cup of tea, I can easily appreciate its appeal to so many of his fans.  His songs are well crafted and he and his band played a dynamic set, changing the tempo of the evening several times, slowing the mood right down only to bring things to a peak announcing ‘I hope you don’t mind another hoedown’ and ending the set with ‘Poor Man’s Heaven’ before returning for an encore with an up tempo ‘Race To Be King’.
While Seth Lakeman might not be to my taste he was certainly interesting to watch live and he kept his audience’s captivated throughout.

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This review was written for liverpoolacoustic.co.uk