Weekly > Interviews
Black Soul Strangers
While the world and his wife continue to go apeshit over the likes of Ellie Goulding and the rest of the industry tips (which are basically them telling you who they’ve put the most money behind), others are quietly going about their business, touring and winning people over the old fashioned way.
One such group is Black Soul Strangers, a group who list themselves on myspace as being from London / Dublin, they released their debut single called Lies back in November and follow that up with the excellent track The Haunting on the 14th March.
What better time than to dig a bit deeper into the groups minds and get to now them a little better? Exactly….read on for the interview!
Let’s start off with the typical and clichéd rock interview question… can you explain where the name for the band came from?
Its a take on what people think about people they don’t know. Its something that’s quite obvious back home in Ireland, where we used to be considered a friendly crowd, its quite different now.
You released Lies as your last single and have The Haunting coming out on the 14th March, how do feel the two tracks vary for anybody that hasn’t heard them?
Lies is a very drum and bass driven song. Its one of the older songs on the album. We bashed it out in a rehearsal room, making as much noise as possible. Then when we approached in the studio, we sat around with one guitar, and carved it into something a bit more structured.
The Haunting was one of the last songs written for the album. It’s a very sparse song with a strong tribal beat. Myself and Brendan wrote it while we were staying in an old school house in Donegal. We had a small drum kit, a guitar, and a piano. We work a lot better when restrict ourselves a little bit, and keep things very simple. I think this definitely shows in the song.
Are there any other sides to the band that those two singles don’t showcase that are more apparent in other tracks?
Yeah, I think the album will paint a strong picture of us when it is released. We consider an album to be one whole piece of work. It’s meant to be listened to from start to finish. There are other songs on the album like ‘Tristia’, or ‘Harp’ that really show this.
How is the album coming along and when can we expect that to drop?
The album is done. We recorded it last year in Dublin. We spent two months making it, and loved every minute of it. It will be out at the end of April.
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Add to favouritesTom McFall and John Davis have been involved in the recording and engineering process for the record, they bring a wealth of experience of course having worked with some real heavyweights, was it daunting at all knowing who they’ve worked with previously?
Not at all, when we first met Tom we were just very excited to get started. He’s a great guy, very professional, and has a lot of fire and passion in what he does.
What are the main benefits you feel they have brought to the recording of your album that you wouldn’t have got from someone else?
The experience that Tom, and John, brought to the record was such an asset. We’re new boys to all this, so it was great to have someone to show us the ropes. Tom got it. He knew what we wanted with the album and how to get there.
In ten years time people are looking back over the career of The Black Soul Strangers so far, what do you hope they are saying about you?
We are all very lucky and excited about what our band is. If we still feel that same excitement and have the same luck, that’s all that matters. I don’t think its healthy to be worrying what other people think.
Are there any pitfalls that often befall bands in the early days of releasing that you are aware of and keen to avoid?
We are releasing our album on our own label, so we are invloved in a bit of the business side. There are thousands of other bands in this same position. Because there are no labels controlling what gets released….who is good, and who is bad, anymore. We have got an ocean of music being released online constantly. So for any band, they better make sure what they do is good, and that it stands above what everyone else is doing.
Who else are you listening to at the moment and liking?
There are some great new acts that we are really liking at the moment…And So I Watch You From Afar, Sergeant Megaphone, We are Villagers.
Photo credit: Emma Buckley
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