Interview - Dani Sylvia

Singer-songwriter, dancer and actress Dani Sylvia is back with a brand new single called ‘Omnisicent’ fresh from earlier success in 2016 with the equally great ‘Free’. We caught up with the singer to ask her about her new single.

“It’s kind of a weird on as it’s about something that’s quite sadistic. It’s about careers or lifestyles which are a bit precarious, where you can’t guarantee that they’ll work out. I trained to be an actress but then I switched over to music and there’s quite a lot of rejection in both and they’re quite precarious careers. It’s about that and ‘when is it going to happen’!”

With a career in acting as well we were keen to know what attracted Dani to music over that. “I still have an acting agent and probably will do it in the future but I started singing with a group called Urban Voices Collective and they’re gospel music, and I fell in love with that, and that gave me the confidence to pursue my own career in music and to write music myself.

“I’d always written music but never thought it possible, so over the past couple of years I’ve been writing, and I’m releasing an album, and I’ve done my EP earlier in the year. It was my love for singing and song writing in general that made me give it a go.”

‘Omniscient’ came back after a bad day in the office. “It was one of those nights where I sat down at my piano and was like ‘urgh!’. I have such an amazing career and I’m lucky to do it with all the amazing people I’ve met and I love it, and consider the rejections a part of it but it was just one of those nights where I felt sorry myself but I got over it!”

The video for the single is now up online, and Dani confessed the video, which she’s wanted to film for a while, came about quite randomly. “My friend Bobby messaged me saying that he had this amazing space free for two-and-a-half hours near London Bridge [the next day] – do you want to do a video? We came up with this concept overnight and did it all really quickly in the slot with all the dancers. I trained in dance when I was younger [which helped]. I’ve not done a dancing video before so I didn’t know what it was going to look like, but it was good to merge my skills.”

The tracks is taken from Dani’s EP ‘Monologues’ which came out last February. “It was really good to make a start on something I could give to people to show them what I’ve been doing, that I haven’t just been sitting around! I’m proud of it, but the next batch of material for my album is on the next level so I have progressed.”

The album, called ‘Tall Tales’, is coming together with half of the album being recorded at Metropolis Studios in Chiswick, with a planned release date of early to mid-2017. “That is amazing,” Dani confessed, talking about going in to record a song called ‘Tears at my Piano’ a month ago. “My keyboard player played on Freddie Mercury’s piano which was the one Adele used for ‘Hello’ so we were all really excited about that, just to touch it!”

Dani will be marking the release with a small tour around converted churches in London. “Nothing is better than live,” she told us. “The thing I like to do is connect with an audience and have that kind of raw, vulnerable state on stage. I’ve got an amazing nine-piece band, with full backing vocals, keys, drums and everything. I’m lucky to have that close family around me.”

Dani Sylvia has a good pedigree of live gigs having performed at the Proms, at the 02 Arena and even at the closing ceremony to the London 2012 Olympic games. “We [the Urban Voices Collective] did the Proms with Paloma Faith which was one of my favourite performances. That was so much fun!”

Taking in Dani’s new quill-featuring logo and the titles of her EP and upcoming album, we were interested to know if she considers herself a story teller. “Absolutely! That’s exactly what I’d like to be. I want every song to tell a story and be something that people can relate to. Storytelling is definitely my objective. I hope they all have a message and something to latch onto, and there’s a little homage to my acting side too as when you’re training you have to do lots of monologues to the camera, and also with ‘Tall Tales’ there’s both a link to stories but also I’m quite tall, so it’s a nod to that too!”

With a supporting slot for Peter Andre coming up this Weekend as well as a trip to perform at the Unsigned Music Awards where Dani Sylvia has been nominated for the best songwriter, the future looks incredibly bright for her. But what are her hopes for the next year?

“I want to be able to reach as many people as I can. I do have quite big ambitions so I hope it all comes off, but I’m going to work hard until it does. For 2017 I would just like more people to have heard my songs – alongside my tour and the album that’s my goal!”

You can find out more about Dani Sylvia online.

KBPS Interview: The Mono LPs

Ste Reid is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Liverpudlian band The Mono LPs, alongside Vicky Mutch, Chris Barlow and Daniel Beech. We spoke to Ste as the group release their latest single ‘L.O.V.E and H.A.T.E’.

“Love and hate are two sides of the same coin and I think the emotions, when they are strongest, escalate to the strangest of places, even to like war between two people, and that’s what the song is about, strong emotions between people.

“My father has the news on loop at his house when I go round, [showing] all the terrible things that happen in the world, and I think that was one of the influences of the song, seeing the world today and trying to make sense of it.”

Talking about the lyrics of songs, Ste confirmed the subjects behind the words are important but that they don’t necessarily have to be political. “They have to mean something. That’s the problem we’ve got at the moment with the music industry. We’ve managed to perfect a three-minute pop song that will become like an ear-worm but the agenda behind the lyrics have become so superficial that it’s not furthering music.

“When we write songs, it’s got to say something, even if it’s just about your daily life. It’s got to reflect what we feel. It can’t be just about going to a club and things like that. It’s got to be like a critique on society.”

As shown in the music video to their latest single, the Mono LPs mix a more modern sound with more classical instruments. “When I first started I was just a singer-songwriter on my own. I met Vicky in college and she was on a course like me, but she was having trouble finding a place for her cello to fit, as a lot of the people were just doing pop songs, and I thought I was Bob Dylan in the time, and felt we could mix it together. [From there] it developed further, and there were mutual influences, from David Bowie to ELO, those people who decided not to stick to the norm.

“Every instrumental can find its own place in music. To use each instrument in the way it was intended is fantastic but to push it to a place that sounds more interesting will hopefully further music to more interesting places.”

Talking about this balance of music, what does Ste think of using real instruments over synthesized ones.  “There’s nothing wrong with synthesized music but you’ve got to be interesting in the way you use it. It can’t be a replacement for live music. It’s got to be an addition and have a purpose in a song. On the album we’ve got some programmed bits but it was for a purpose, not just because we were being lazy.”

You can see the music video for the new single on this page, but we asked Ste what it was like to record that. “It was a very long day’s shoot! It’s amazing what goes into making a video. In the video there’s a good and bad version of the band so it had to be done by split screen and with effects, so we had to record everything twice and get changed, so half the time we are in various stages of undress trying to change over between the characters.

“It was fun but you never know quite what it’s going to look like until it’s done!”

The music video was filmed a multi-disciplinary venue in Liverpool called ‘Camp and Furnace’. “The room we picked looks a little like an American sports hall. We incorporated the geometric painting on the wall as the artwork for the single, tying things together.”

With the interview covering the art of music, I was keen to know if the band was named after a love of vinyl, which Ste confirmed. “Vicky’s dad was a DJ in the seventies and he’s got absolutely tonnes of vinyl, and it’s all over the house. When we were trying to think of a name, we were flicking through the vinyls, and we came across, I think, a Beatles album and on the top said ‘Mono LP recording’.

“I just thought, the Mono LPs… An early incarnation of the band, before our drummer joined, was a little more sixties-influenced in its purer sound but we’ve got a lot heavier recently when the rhythm section joined us.”

L.O.V.E. and H.A.T.E. is taken from the band’s upcoming album ‘State of Decay’ out on the 4^th November, a recording that has been a labour of love for the band. “It was never intended to be an album to begin with. It was just us recording the next single, then maybe we should record an EP as we had these four songs and couldn’t decide which ones to release as a single.

“We moved studios and producer and it just developed from there, as we had all these songs. [On it] we have songs from when we started as a band until now and though the cello line runs through them the melody lines and the subject matters change, and we wondered how the songs will stand the test of time next to each other, and whether they would decay next to each other.

“It was a slightly pretentious thought on how these songs would sit next to each other, and if they were to sound dated or cohesive. When we recorded in the studios we had the demos from the EP and our first single Emilia, our producer managed to re-record stuff, and tie in the rhythms, and it just became a really interesting project and we’re really proud of it!”

The Mono LPs also perform live and have recently performed at ‘We Shall Overcome’ at the Zanzibar club, a charity gig to raise money for the homeless where they headlined. In performing live, Ste told us the band like to embellish their studio recordings. “Live, we’re a bit rougher and rawer, and more rock and roll. In the studio we like to add in [elements] but in gig terms we’re a little more punk rocker, and I like to be a little more raucous! We’re like a power trio with a cello! We try to make it as big a sound as possible.

“It does sound the same as the album I suppose but with a bit more venom live!”

The live gigs continue with an album launch in Manchester coming up in November and a charity Christmas show where they will dusting off a Christmas song they released last year, and perhaps a cheeky Christmas cover. “The Slade one is the closest to our sound!

“When we pick covers we tend to go for bizarre ones that you wouldn’t expect us to play. We do like a lot of funk, like Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ [which in our hands] becomes a rocky, cello-led version, which believe it or not does work, you just have to listen to it!

“We’ve done versions where we change the chords of songs, so it becomes its own entity, but sometimes you could ruin the entity of the song.”

Looking to the future, Ste is looking forward to the album release. “We have become a lot more confident in ourselves and the industry than what we were, so in the six months we’d like to get back into the studio and get another album out.

“At the moment Vicky and myself are writing some music for a production of ‘1984’ by George Orwell and we might make this side project into an album as well. There are lots of fingers in pies and we’ll see what comes of it!”

Find out more about theMono LPs on Facebook.

KBPS Interview: Avakhan

Avakhan are a female-fronted Swedish electro indie band with, according to their Facebook page, the melodrama of Florence And The Machine and the tight-indie sentiment of Sky Ferreira and Marina And The Diamonds. Ava, Kristoffer and Joakim make up the band, having met in Stockholm, and we got to speak to Ava and Joakim about their great new single ‘Just Let Go’.

“It’s a song that was written one and a half years ago and I have been involved in doing the production and the finishing touches on it,” Joakim told us. “It’s a fast, happy, beaty single combined guitars and synths, and it has a pretty simple but straight-up, good melody!”

Ava also revealed the song came about during their time at a party. “We had a really bad hungover and we ended up on the rooftop. It was the morning, and the sun was rising, and we wrote the song in about twenty minutes, and then went down to the studio to work with Joakim!

“[The song is about] how some people affect you, and do some bad, and crazy stuff!”

The reaction and feedback to the single has been positive. “People love the production and the melody, and think it’s very addictive and easy to sing along to!”

Avakhan released their debut album in 2008 and we were keen to know if their sound has change since then. “In the beginning we were pop influenced by jazz and soul but now we’re more influenced by Florence and the Machine. I have a background as a jazz singer so it was quite natural for me to have that kind of approach to put some jazz into the music!”

“At the beginning we were listening to a lot of jazz,” Joakim confirmed. “We started around that, building up a band, with eight people in a band, with brass and percussion and rappers, so it was a completely different act back in that period. We made the first album more in that style and we did some touring in those kind of clubs, around Stockholm and Sweden. From that time it’s a huge difference!”

Joakim was involved a lot in the production, and we wanted to know if that made shaping the sound of the record easier. “When we did the hangover demo I wasn’t quite as involved then, on the roof, but as a producer you want something that lacks any influence or colours, so I just got the guitar and vocals and then we started to make the single with the beat.

“I recorded the drums, bass and guitar live and added some synths. The vocals were two or three takes so it was a very fast production, so we had no clue where we were going to end up, but we had the idea that we wanted a fast, up-tempo single with a simple song line.”

Avakhan are now looking ahead to a new album in early 2017. “I think we are going to follow the same pattern. We’re not going back to the jazzy style! We are writing and record songs, and moving forward pretty face. I hope the record will be out in the spring.”

The recording and rehearsing has been fun so far for them. “We don’t have a concept or an idea from the beginning, it’s more like a feeling!”

“It’s more about what works live in the rehearsal room,” added Joakim. “What songs we pick for the actual album depends on what feels best playing with the four of us.”

Avakhan have live dates coming up in Stockholm including one in Mid-October. “We hope to book some gigs in the UK as well after being in the studio.”

Joakim confirmed that the band’s live sound is similar to their studio work. “When we do the production we base it around the four of us and then we might add some synths and keyboards on the backing track, but the goal is to be make the live sets quite record like!”

Looking ahead to the future Avakhan have big plans for more touring. “We want to go and play live a lot, as that’s what we love to do. The process in the studio is very exciting but to be on stage is the best!”

Electric Six – Fresh Blood for Tired Vampyres

Even as a long time and huge fan of Detroit rockers Electric Six, I’m beginning to lose track of the numbers of albums they’ve had thanks to a succession of side projects, Kickstarter releases and live LPs, but here we are on this year’s main album release and it’s number twelve, ‘Fresh Blood for Tired Vampyres’. And whilst the title refers to new members injecting some new energy into the band, this new album ends up feeling like it’s not quite as fresh as you’d hope, which is a sad thing for me to say as a big fan, especially when compared to the recent Kickstarter-funded soundtrack to their TV pilot ‘Roulette Stars of Metro Detroit’ which was such a great collection of tracks.

Coming in at thirteen tracks and forty-five minutes, things start off quite promisingly for the new release even if opener ‘Acid Reducer’ is only an instrumental and therefore lacks the energy that many album starters have brought to the table. It’s a solid electronic soundscape to open with and doesn’t outstay its welcome at one minute long, but it’s up to first track proper ‘The Number of the Beast’ (no, not that one) to carry the start, and it’s a catchy piece of electronic-rock with a memorable lead up to the chorus and some karaoke-friendly lyrical riffs, plus the electronic vocoder-effects and tempo shifts work well, as do the tongue-in-cheek mathematical references. It’s not their best song – some of the lyrics are a little forced – but it balances the band’s cross-section of genres, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and love of a hook well.

Track three ‘Mood Is Improving’ starts off in a rather sombre, downbeat fashion but the tempo begins to shift up and leads to a much more energetic chorus that lifts the tones up a little, even if the chorus is basically repeating the title. Its music style is more interesting than the final product. The verses don’t quite have the same spark as the chorus but the music holds it together well.

Up next are two of the best tracks on the album. ‘I’ll Be In Touch’ is more like classic Electric Six, mixing up a memorable chorus with some solid production, especially in the shift forty-seconds in, and a fun swagger. ‘Lottery Reptiles’, though not quite as great as the previously released remix, is one of the best numbers on the album with a more stripped-back rock feel and plenty of hooks slotted throughout its three-and-a-half minute running time. Sounding like it could be great live this has a strong sing-a-long feel to it.

‘Dance With Dark Forces’ is another one of the better tracks on the album, the poppy-club feel working really well, the lyrics and vocal tricks refreshing, and there’s even time for some production wizardary near the end to show off something a little different and it feels like the first song on the album where everything gels in a slightly more unusual way.

‘(Be My) Skin Caboose’, which lifts a little at the start from ‘The New Shampoo’, is another highlight of the album, the jazzy electronic music and shift into the chorus working well together and it’s a fun, poppy number with some pleasing funk to proceedings.

‘My Dreams’ is the best track on the album thanks to its funky, fast-paced and catchy chorus and its slow build up from the start through several tempo shifts. Though its explicit lyrics at time feel unnecessary, its energetic style is great and there’s time for some well-orchestrated electronic break downs. If one track was to be taken from the album to appear on a future best-of compilation it would be this one.

However, from this point the album takes a bit of a down-turn. ‘I Got the Box’ has its moments, mainly in the chorus, but it feels a little by-the-numbers for the most part. ‘Lee Did This To Me’ is a bit more energetic with a strong sense of fun in the lyrics next to a strong guitar riff playing through it but is otherwise a little forgettable, though it’s the best in this batch of songs thanks to its guitar work and daft lyrics.

‘Greener Pastures’ is definite filler and ultimately skippable, but at least ‘The Lover’s Pie’ adds a bit more pizzazz back to the album even if ‘The New Shampoo’ does seem to have influenced things again. From the electronic stuttering intro through to the funky bassline, this is a well-produced song with a neat jazzy breakdown.

Closer ‘Space Walkin’’ with its opening vocal effects and stripped-back style feels like a better entry onto the album and wraps things up positively, thanks to its evocative lyrics and commitment to the sound, though its not the strongest album closer.

Though there are some great songs on the album – primarily ‘Lottery Reptiles’, ‘Dance with Dark Forces’ and ‘My Dreams’ – I’m afraid to say that ‘Fresh Blood For Tired Vampyres’ will likely go down as my least favourite of the dozen albums so far. Lacking in any really memorable songs this feels like the band on autopilot, which is a shame in the wake of their great Kickstarter album from earlier in the year which is superior to this in songs and sound. This feels like the first album that doesn’t make me want to put it on repeat, which is a shame, though it does improve after a handful of spins. At times what seems to be a theme around ‘blockers’ becomes a little tired as that word appears time and time again across songs.

‘Fresh Blood for Tired Vampyres’ still has its stand out tracks but it doesn’t really jump out to me as a particularly exciting album though the three tracks I highlighted should make great inclusions into future live sets. Sadly in this case there doesn’t seem to have been enough fresh blood here to re-animate the vampyres.

(6/10)

Kaiser Chiefs – Stay Together

It was always going to be difficult for the Kaiser Chiefs to follow up their excellent ‘Education, Education, Education and War’ album, arguably their best LP yet and an incredible concept album without a duff track. For their sixth album the band have experienced their most radical departure yet, forgoing their familiar hook-based indie style for a much more pop-club vibe mixing up the sound of Girls Aloud with the Pet Shop Boys, in a style change that suits them but takes a bit of getting used to.

Almost titular opening ‘We Stay Together’ starts in a confusing manner as if the producer has accidentally missed off the first few seconds of the song, but picks up once the main musical hook comes into place to create a catchy, up-tempo opening number that sets the mood for the rest of the album. The electronic riff and production effect that makes up the start proper is well produced and suits Ricky’s voice, and once we get to the chorus the familiar energy and hooks of the band are clearly still all present and correct, and there are plenty of sing-a-long moments in this potential live-favourite especially the ‘And there’s a light on’ moment. Even a surprise backing vocal appearance by a Macy Gray sound-a-like (Sarah Thompson) adds to the moment.

After this new opener we get the two singles we’ve heard so far. ‘Hole In My Soul’, up next, is my favourite of the two. Relentlessly up-tempo and with a big and dance-y, chorus it’s hard not to be won over by its bombastic approach, huge production vibe, the strings and building drums, and karaoke feel, and feels like the best mix of the old Kaiser Chiefs sound with the new Xenomania one.

Debut single ‘Parachute’ is similar. I remember on first listen struggling with the change in direction but now, several months on, it’s easy to be whipped up by the building riffs and production and though it’s still a little over-powering compared to their previous material the poppier vibe suits them and the catchiness is still there, even if it’s closer to Girls Aloud’s ‘Untouchable’ than the band will probably care to admit.

So how does the rest of the album fair? ‘Good Clean Fun’ is a foot-tapping mid-tempo song with a fun pop-dance vibe and a solid chorus, even if plentiful references to sex feels like a weird subject matter for the band. Sounding most like something from their debut album, there’s also a surprising ska and reggae feel to the track.

From here the album takes a bit of a dip. The relentless drumming, autotune and lack of any real hook make ‘Why Do You Do It For Me?’ a little on the average side, though the chorus does grow and show its colours by the end and the electronic breakdown is something fresh, though it just feels too over-powering and over-loud.

‘Indoor Firework’ continues the feel of auto tune and stronger electronic focus and though the chorus has its moments the rest of the tracks feels a little scattergun and the song leans too much towards the filler side.

‘Press Rewind’ begins with what sounds like an ode to William Shatner and is the most Pet Shop Boys on the album and weirdly, though it’s the least Kaiser Chiefs sounding number on the album is actually better than the previous tracks, its soaring chorus, quirky rhyming lyrics, vocal cut-aways and extended instrumentals offer something that’s more dedicated to the cause.

‘Happen In A Heartbeat’ switches back to the over-loud, over-produced, simplistic club tunes and is pretty skippable, quickly outstaying it’s welcome. But at least that’s better than ‘High Society’, the worst track on the album with Ricky singing in a weird semi-falsetto and clipped vocals that make him sound like he’s impersonating a chicken. There’s something a little addictive about the style and swagger but it’s a tricky listen and a little too off-the-wall for my personal tastes.

‘Sunday Morning’ is almost as weird but is a much better listen with a fun, obscure vibe with Ricky’s accent making for something a bit different. It’s not great, but you can admire the style.

Official closer ‘Still Waiting’ is a better ender with a soaring chorus and a stronger familiar feel, and ties things together well, drifting off in a strong fashion.

We are then treated to a bonus track which kicks off with some gritty electronic drums but it’s not a really noteworthy track lyrically, with only its unusual production of note and Ricky’s attempt at sounding like Dire Straits, putting on yet another unusual accent.

In a nutshell ‘Stay Together’ is a mostly successful change of musical direction, but only when the songs keep a foot in both camps on the two singles and the opener, or doing something more drastic like on ‘Press Rewind’. Elsewhere the album feels distinctly over-produced and over-whelming, and most importantly very un-Kaiser Chiefy and the second half is a sharp decline in enjoyment.

There’s enough here to enjoy as a catchy, hooky album and it’s an experiment that has sort of paid off – and I admire their balls in doing it - but I hope it’s a return to their tried and tested formula next time.

(6/10)

Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter

It’s no secret that over the last few years, thanks to acts such as Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Kacey Musgraves, plus on these shores Ward Thomas and the Shires, I’ve become a bit of a country fun so I was happy to give the debut album of Nashville-based singer-songwriter Margo Price a shot.

‘Midwest Farmer’s Daughter’ sounds like a typical country album from the title and that’s pretty much what you get. Coming in at ten tracks and forty minutes, Margo’s country-drawl is familiar and the lyrical content of tough upbringings (“Hands of Time”) and XYZ are well-trodden topics, but it’s all delivered in a fun, friendly and catchy style. The lengthy opener “Hands of Time” with its steel-twangs has echoes of Kacey Musgraves, mixing a retro sound with more modern lyrical references, though with a stronger focus on the older style than Musgraves.

‘About To Find Out’ is a bit more upbeat mixing in more modern references amongst the more traditional style but having time in its three minutes for an extended middle-eight and piano breakdown. ‘Tennessee Song’ is one of my favourites on the album with a foot-stomping chorus and sing-a-long lyrics sheet. ‘Since You Put Me Down’ has a fifties-style swagger with its hefty double-bass and some gutsy lyrics and some well-produced extended instrumentals.

‘Four Years of Chances’, track five, is probably my favourite on the LP. Channeling Dolly Parton in her heyday, the reference to the title both literally and more metaphorically builds into a catchy hook that feels like the centre piece of the album.

‘This Town Gets Around’ has a ho-down style tempo and is another catchy number whilst it’s into slower territory for ‘How The Mighty Have Fallen’ which takes inspiration from Elton John and the Walker Brothers in its style, drum work and mix of strings. ‘Weekender’ is a bit more country both in music and lyrics, whilst ‘Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)’ is more mid-tempo but still full of swagger and delight. The album closes on the brief ‘World’s Greatest Loser’, a stripped back number that offers a sweet and touching end to the piece.

Overall ‘Midwest Farmer’s Daughter’ is a must for country fans. It doesn’t really break new ground and its lyrics are pretty familiar in the tropes of the music genre. Though it doesn’t have the same distinctiveness of more modern sounding acts like Kacey Musgraves it bridges between the styles well. Price’s voice is very listenable, the instrumentals well put together and the production clean and crisp, and there’s enough variety of tempo, style and vision to hold your interest.

(6.5/10)

KBPS Interview: Goldsands

Liam, Tom, Matt, Ramsey and James make up Leeds-based band Goldsands whose Facebook page defines their music as a mixture of “jazz harmony, pop melodies, atmospheric synths, vocal harmonies, hooky guitar riffs and emotional intimacy”. We caught up with the guys as they enjoyed their tour of the UK, fuelled by chocolate fingers passed around during the interview, to ask them about their atmospheric new single ‘A Place Far Away’, which was described by Matt from the band.

“Musically it starts off slow and intimate then builds up and then there’s a section right at the end where everyone can sing-a-long. It’s quite cinematic. It’s written about a film, and inspired by that, which is why it’s cinematic.”

Inspired by ‘Lost In Translation’, the movie with Bill Murray and Scarlet Johannsen, we inquired further about why that film inspired this song. “My brother recommended the film. I was watching it very late at night and I was very tired and usually I would fall asleep but the story just captured my imagination, and it came out pretty quickly the next day when I decided to write a song about it.”

The band confessed that such sources are big inspiration for them as songwriters. “I’ve written songs about Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Drive, Interstellar; I like writing songs about something really powerful. When you watch a film you can hear music with things, and I feel like it’s all connected, and that’s why sometimes it’s easy to write music to films, especially when you see a great story and it’s inspiring.”

But would they take up the opportunity to make music for a film if they could? “If they offered it to us I don’t think we’d turn it down! We’ve really enjoyed doing that kind of thing!”

‘A Place Far Away’ was initially self-produced by the band. We asked them if this helped keep the record true to what they wanted it to sound like. “Looking back on it a producer might have held us back in a way as we’ve each got such a clear vision of what we want to sound like, and we all work together to create that, and I think it shows in the end product. We spent so much time on it; we spent nine days recording it, mixing it and making it perfect, agonising over the smallest detail as we wanted it to be so perfect.

“Personally I was sceptical going into it without a producer as a lot of time it’s good to get someone in there to hone your thoughts but I felt like it gave us more freedom to experiment and nothing was holding us back with production; it all worked really well and we enjoyed it.”

Goldsands are in the middle of a tour which started in London last Thursday and has so far included Birmingham where they got a great turnout, and was also a headline slot. In fact the only issue is the band not having a van. “We’ve been squished into the back of a tiny car! But it’s part and parcel of being in a band!”

With the members so close on the travel we asked if they got on in such close proximity. “We get on most of the time. I mean we bicker, but James and Ramsey are like a married couple!

“We get on with it considering how much time we spend together. When we recorded the single we literally were together 24-hours a day, but it made us stronger as friends and connect with the music better.”

The band described their live sound, which you can see on their current tour, as full of energy. “Our tunes are really immersive on the recording so we try and replicate that live. We tend to pick up the dynamics and make it more exciting for a live show. We try to be really animated on stage, and dramatise it, as it is quite dramatic and cinematic music.

“We try to leave no gaps in terms of sound in our set. We just want it to be almost like one big piece of music!”

A video is lined up for their new single and is due out early November, and will capture the cinematic feel of the band. “It’s being filmed at Left Bank Church in Leeds and there will be contemporary dancers doing a choreographed dance to [the song]. We’re really looking forward to that and getting it out there!”

Looking ahead, the band are hoping to record an EP in January at the same location, which they had a great time at, and again will be self-produced. “We want to experiment with a couple of things; maybe get people in,” they said about it, with hopes for it to be out in February alongside more live dates.

Before our time was up with the band we caught up about their visual identity and the light-house on their logo. “It’s a pretty literal connection but we thought it was a lovely little emblem, and something you can associate with us. Most great bands have something you can associate with them: The Rolling Stones have the tongue, the Stone Roses have the lemons, and we wanted to make something for us like that.”

Finally what are the band’s dreams for the future? “We want to get into regular festival slots. An ideal goals for us would be Reading and Leeds and more ambitious would be Glastonbury. If we set the bar high it makes you work hard and we’ll get something out of it.

“We’re gigging at the end of this year and next year as well, to let people hear our music and see what we’re about, and develop a fanbase, and go from there, taking every day as it comes.”

Click here to find out more about Goldsands.