You’re a London based band from different parts of the UK. How did Earthsea come into being?
We all met at university and it all began from there. We were previously based in Manchester, but London is more or less our home now. We’ve played under a few different names over the last few years as our style has evolved.
Who plays what?
Dom sings and plays keys/electronics; Will plays drums/electronics; James plays bass; and Jamie plays electric guitar. We generally tend to produce our own material, although we’ve started to work with certain producers on our most recent tracks.
Your music has been featured on radio, what’s the general reaction been?
Generally very positive. It’s hard to get any sort of meaningful radio play for indie/alternative music, so we appreciate it if it happens.
You have embarked on tours, what’s been your favourite gig?
We’ve played a lot, but probably our EP release show back in 2017 at the Camden Assembly (formerly the Barfly) in London. It was one of those occasions where everything fell into place and was a very memorable evening.
Your songs have different styles, what’s a typical writing session like between you?
Generally very collaborative. We tend to record pretty much everything we think of, which forms a healthy archive of ideas that can be turned into songs. Our best mode of working is long rehearsals or writing retreats where we can fully flesh out material.
What are you currently listening to?
Generally lots of things at any given time, our tastes are wide. The new Caribou album is great, as is the long awaited Tool album.
Earthsea is a reference to a fantasy series, what are you currently reading?
Currently The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (I’m into the Amazon show at the moment). We are generally big fans of science fiction and the fantasy genre.
You have been recording new music in the studio, what’s been a major challenge for you?
We’re currently recording our first full length album, which is both an exciting and hugely daunting task. We’ve made huge strides creatively in the last year, so a major challenge is trying to mould the songs into a coherent body of work. As a band we still very much favour the album as a concept (despite the trend against this in the streaming age) as it’s a way of articulating a lot more ideas both musically and lyrically. Beyond that it’s time and logistics, which are ongoing issues for any band…
What songs are standing out for you right now?
We recently released a single ‘Bad Head Bad Heart’ (out on all the usual services) which is a taster of the kind of songs we have in the pipeline in terms of mood and artistic direction. Many stand out, but one that’s been in my head recently is a song called ‘Minor Wins’, which is a song based around a melody played on a slightly out of tune piano. It has a quite a cinematic feel to it (and channels Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ vibes) which is an element we’ve not previously brought out in this way in our songwriting.
What are you looking forward to most in the next 12 months?
Finishing out debut album! This album is shaping up to be definitive statement on our sound and what we are as band, which is very exciting.
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Spotify: ‘Earthsea’