Hello Gabriel how are you?<\/b><\/p>\n
Hello Del, thanks for asking, truthfully I\u2019m not 100% but on the recovery having been knocked sideways by Covid earlier this week. Keep wearing those masks!<\/p>\n
Congratulations on the release of \u201cLachrymose\u201d how does it feel?<\/b><\/p>\n
Thank you. I\u2019m pleased this tune is finally seeing the light of day, and the reaction to it has been very pleasing so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the story behind it?<\/b><\/p>\n
Unlike some of the songs on the forthcoming album, there\u2019s little in the way of a direct narrative behind this song – I was aiming to capture a mood more than anything. It\u2019s a song about crying, about releasing emotion in a full and open way, for whatever reason.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always been, if not close to tears, then in the vicinity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s from your second album \u201cTongue And Groove\u201d under the name Night Works, what was it like putting the album together?<\/b><\/p>\n
Hugely enjoyable. I got to work with some wonderful musicians in some great studios, as well as including bits of the original home demo recordings. James Greenwood who produced it is so imaginative, creative and positive, as well as being a technical virtuoso. He was the thread that stitched it all together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your favourite track from it?<\/b><\/p>\n
It changes from day to day! In terms of representing something new and groundbreaking for me, there\u2019s a tune called \u2019Sweep it out your hair\u2019, which as well as being the most personal song on the album, is musically something I\u2019ve never done before. There\u2019s elements of the minimalist composers in there, as well as Arthur Russell. I worked with composer Josephine Stephenson closely on that tune, and what she brought marries really well with James\u2019 and my own sensibilities, I think.<\/p>\n
What did you learn from recording this album compared to the first one?<\/b><\/p>\n
I think to just relax and enjoy the ride, really. The first album was my debut solo LP, and being much younger, looking back on it I felt I had something to prove. This one was much more about the vibes, haha.<\/p>\n
You recorded the single in London, Margate and Paris, three very different locations what was the reasoning behind that?<\/b><\/p>\n
It just worked out that way, really – it was about where the players were, where the right synths were, and so on. Lachrymose is one of four tunes on the album where the rhythm track – drums, bass, keys, guitar – was recorded live at Studios Ferber in Paris, with a great group of musicians who I\u2019d met over the years of working on and off there, with Metronomy and then Christine and the Queens. It\u2019s such a beautiful, grand old room, wood panelling everywhere, and it sounds fantastic. We then brought the session back to James\u2019 studio in Margate to work into it, adding his synth solo. The Solina (synth) string part was overdubbed at Press Play studios in Bermondsey on the same day we recorded the tune \u2018Warm Feeling\u2019 (also on the album). I\u2019ve used Press Play on and off since the early days of my band Your Twenties – it\u2019s owned and run by Andy Ramsay, the drummer from Stereolab, and it\u2019s full of great equipment. Finally, we tracked the vocals at Big Jelly studios in Ramsgate. That\u2019s four different studios! A real VH1 Behind the Music scenario.<\/p>\n
You have a launch party in September, how\u2019s preparations going for it?<\/b><\/p>\n
So far so good! I am putting together a really cooking live band and we\u2019re going to announce some special supporting DJs very soon. It\u2019ll be the first Night Works full band set since 2013, as I\u2019ve been doing solo sets on and off since then! A real celebration.<\/p>\n
You are an artist from Margate how did it all begin for you?<\/b><\/p>\n
Well, I\u2019ve been based in Margate since 2016, prior to that I was in London, and before that Brighton and prior to that, Totnes in Devon. I suppose it all started when I moved to Devon as a teenager and borrowed my friend Richard’s four-track tape machine. I started a band with him, James Hoare (who went on to be a part of Veronica Falls, Ultimate Painting and the Proper Ornaments) and Joseph Mount (who went on to found Metronomy). We started writing and playing our own songs pretty much from the off. It was kind of like band training school. Everything else has built from that, really.<\/p>\n
What did you listen to growing up?<\/b><\/p>\n
Inevitably I was exposed to my parent\u2019s musical tastes as a child, so the Beatles, Paul Simon, Bob Marley. Once I started my own explorations I added the Beach Boys, Bowie, Wu Tang Clan, Missy Elliot, you name it. I was a real omnivore, still am.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve worked with Christine And The Queens having co written \u201cTilted\u201d as well as playing in her live band, what did you learn from that experience?<\/b><\/p>\n
Looking back, what\u2019s been most fundamental about the experience of the CATQ live band to my own development, is what it means to work at a level where the standards are uniformly high, and the expectations are that every night each show has to be perfect and brilliant. Her team, from the technical crew to the dancers and the other band members, were all super-talented and I came out of it a better musician. In terms of the co-writing, it was a really specific technical challenge to get the new, English version (\u2018Tilted’ was originally a French song called \u2018Christine\u2019) bouncing and skipping lyrically like the original, but with a new, adapted meaning that would make sense but also keep the poetry and uniqueness of it.<\/p>\n
COVID had a major impact on the creative industry, what kept you motivated?<\/b><\/p>\n
In terms of Night Works music, I just tried to do what I could to keep things moving. My day-to-day life remained as busy as ever – I\u2019m part of the teaching faculty on the BA and MA Songwriting courses at ICMP in London, and there was no interruption to teaching. We just switched online and got busier than ever. I\u2019ve also got two kids, so I didn\u2019t have a chance to take a foot off the gas. No need for extra motivational factors!<\/p>\n
The last couple of years have been a time to reflect, what did you learn about yourself?<\/b><\/p>\n
Haha, see the above answer. I honestly haven\u2019t had much time to reflect since the beginning of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Did you pick up any new skills?<\/b><\/p>\n
I learned how to use Microsoft Teams \u2026 sort of. I don\u2019t think anyone really knows how to use it! In fact, I got good at co-writing songs remotely. I had two successful projects come out of that time, my collaborations with Belgian producer Haring (check out \u2018Furnace\u2019) and the French band Keep Dancing Inc (listen to \u2018Moving on\u2019). We did them completely over email and zoom, during lockdowns.<\/p>\n
What are you listening to at the moment?<\/b><\/p>\n
Steve Lacy – can\u2019t wait for the new album. Dijon is a new artist I\u2019m digging.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What are you looking forward to doing next?<\/b><\/p>\n
Genuinely excited about making new music – my own music, and working with others. Co-writing wise, I\u2019ve been writing some songs with a very cool young artist called Khazali. In terms of my own stuff, now that Night Works LP2 is nearly here, I am starting to make music that\u2019s still me, but might not be Night Works. So far it\u2019s me and a nylon-string guitar, it\u2019s got a kind of bossa nova feel. Six years by the sea is rubbing off on me!<\/p>\n\n\n