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The B of the Bang
“A lo-fi, electronica-tinged, anti-folk cake with a gothic, grunge icing. Topped with cherries.” – subba delves deeper with their infamous Q&A…
The B Of The Bang are, in lead singer Wit's own words: “A lo-fi, electronica-tinged, anti-folk cake with a gothic, grunge icing. Topped with cherries.” Whatever it is, we like it. The 'band' are a rag-tag bunch of wandering minstrels, the songs are a veritable mix of hooks and melodies that coupled with Wit’s haunting vocals, plumb the depths of your soul.
How are you? Where does this Q&A find you?I'm rather splendid ta. Currently sat over a hot mixing desk in the studio.
How did the recording sessions for your new release go? Better than I could have hoped. It was engineered by Neil Elliott who plays guitar in
The Dawn Chorus...lovely chaps, fantastic band. If things were solely left up to me in recording, everything would be covered in distortion and reverb and sound like it was recorded on a 70's walkman in a shed. Neil made everything sound nice and shiny so, although it still has that lo-fi, grungy feel I think we found the perfect ground in the middle.
What goals did you set yourself before you started recording? Did you do anything differently this time, on purpose? why? I demoed the stuff prior to our signing to
Jelly Maid so I had a pretty strong idea of the album already. We recorded the tracks in little bursts of 3 at a time over about 6 or 7 months and we tried to use different techniques and different instrumentation every time. I was fairly against doing stuff like recording all the drums, then all the guitar...you just end up having the same sound for everything and it becomes a bit soulless and workmanlike. I knew I wanted the album to be almost continuous and for songs to overlap etc....it was more like writing a story (hence the title
"Beginning. Middle. End.") - I listen to a lot of film scores, in fact our next project is a soundtrack to a script a friend of mine has written.
What do you feel are your own limitations when it comes to creating/writing music?I'd played in previous bands who were much more traditional 'bass, guitar, drums' and i'd just gotten a bit bored.
The B of the Bang was really just me messing around and more and more members seemed to have joined along the way. Its great cos all those guys have other musical projects too and we all kind of muck in - some gigs there's 2 of us, other times there's 7. It keeps it interesting for us and, hopefully, the audience. Different arrangements and versions of songs keep us on our toes and I was never really one for going to see a band who just sound like they've stuck a record on.
Saying that though, you do have to be careful not to just chuck every instrument laying around on to a song on the album that, when you play it live is going to sound rubbish. Again, its about finding a decent middle point. Also, i'm pretty bad at a lot of the instruments so....although I like the naivety, it's annoying when you've got a lovely little accordion line in your head that, when you pick it up just turns in to the
'Allo Allo' theme....
Tell us 3 of your favourite songs from your career and the inspiration behind them? Tricky. It's usually the 3 i'm currently writing or recording. It's only when you've finished you can then stand back and say "thats rubbish" or "yeah, thats good". On the album though it changes -
"Desire Lines" i'm pretty proud of. It has a fantastic gal singing on it called Jessica from the band
Hall of Mirrors. There's a creepy vibe to it and we sampled some crickets chirping and turned them into musical notes. Desire Lines are routes you walk, through say a forest, that people will follow so the grass gets beaten down even more eventually becoming a path. I used some tenous link to that about fate and relationships and all that gubbins. Sounds quite nice though.
"Lung" is great to play live, it's about losing a loved one which, like a lot of people, i've sadly experienced so it's pretty hard to do but always quite cathartic....and......and....what shall I pick last? I'm gonna go with......
"Alfred, light the Fires" today I think. It came from a dream I had about a boy in the 1930's or 40's who burned down an old peoples home that had a future version of himself as an old man in. I have no idea what it means.
What do you love and what do you hate about life on the road? Tell us your funniest tour experience yet? The last tour was with our labelmates,
The Dawn Chorus and was most enjoyable indeed. Drummers being rohypnoled on boats, bass players fracturing ribs, kossak dancing in Liverpool, a joke book filled entirely with
Gok Wan related gags. All of these could equally be highs or lows. Hopefully we'll be doing it again very soon. Sometimes you just want to be at home in bed, watching
"House" but other times it can be the greatest fun a person can have legally.
What are the bands plans for the rest of the year? What exactly do you want to achieve with your band, now and in the future? Well, we're in the studio again recording the soundtrack I mentioned earlier. It's a film called
"Before Your Eyes" which, fingers crossed, will start shooting very soon.
Pinter Moments, the fellows doing it, did our
"Lung" video for us and we got on really well so....the album itself is going to sound quite different from normal
B of the Bang stuff. We're trying to do it all completely live to tape so no magic Pro Tools erasing any dodgy notes. Again, it just keeps us interested - I like a challenge......
Apart from that, i'll be engineering for a few other bands and playing anywhere that'll have us...
How would you describe your own/bands sound, or what do you hate being labelled as? Ohhhhhh....I don't know. I know loads of bands say "we can't be categorised" or whatever and it's not me being wanky and saying "we just love all music don'tcha'know...." but, the purpose
The B of the Bang started for was to try and see what we could achieve musically. Therefore I will go to my stock answer which is "electronica-tinged, lo-fi, anti-folk, alt-pop" - Of course, we sound nothing like any of that so probably....miserable, boring, indie folk would be more apt.
Who is currently moving you musically at the moment?Hmmm...I went to Rounder Records in Brighton at the weekend and had a bit of a revival from my youth as I bought
Pavement, Guided by Voices, a couple of
REM albums and
Bright Eyes. So thats current ipod fodder.
Bat for Lashes i'm a big fan of - she just has that extra something I think.
James Yuill i've been listening to a lot also, he does some inspired stuff. And I saw a fantastic new band at Great Escape called
Love Like Fire. A bit
Interpol/Duke Spirit/The Stills (all bands I love) so their my new squeeze.
What album changed your life and why? These questions are getting rather tricky now eh? I'm going to give you two. You'll just have to deal with it i'm afraid. The first one is
Nirvana "In Utero". I was about 13 and it's the perfect album for angry young chaps who are a bit geeky and feminine isn't it? It made me pick up a guitar. The second one is
Radiohead "Kid A". That made me put the guitar down again and buy a sampler. I'd never heard music like that before and it has led me on more experimental paths ever since.
If you could erase one single/album from history (your own or someone else's) which would it be and why? Blimey. Erm....i'm going to say
Elbow "Seldom Seen Kid" purely so I can make it and get all that extremely deserved and long overdue acclaim and attention. It really is a perfect album.
A rumour you'd like to start about yourself, or one you'd like stopped?There's a rumour going round that
Jack Malpas-Coker, who plays instruments and sings in our band is Greek. I don't know why this is a rumour as it is neither here or there whether he is Grecian or not. I would like to clarify the matter now though. He is.
The revolution comes, who would you like to be first against the wall (and if you're feeling particularly bitchy, a second, third, fourth and so on...)? Ruddy hell, we'd be here all day as there's about a million people I detest. It's a full time hobby of mine, loathing people. I'm going to pluck a name out of the air at random.
Nicholas Cage. Have you seen the "
Wicker Man" remake?!? Christ alive....
Best piece of advice you'd give to aspiring musicians, or the best piece of advice you were given when you started? Don't listen to anybody. Stick to your guns. Don't give anyone any money. Don't be rude to people. Always carry tissues. Remember to say
"please" and
"thankyou". Don't ever say
"dude". Drink plenty of water. Ignore everything I've just said.
If you're in a car going at the speed of light, and someone turns the headlamps on, would they do anything?Depends on the car. If you're in a
Hillman Minx, the world would end.
TOP 5 IPOD TUNESI'm just going to put it on shuffle if you don't mind....hang on....
1. Jeff Buckley "Grace" 2. The Cardigans "Marvel Hill"3. Portishead "Magic Doors"4. Johnny Flynn "Cold Bread"5. The Horrors "Excellent Choice""Like a spooky, cabaret-version of
Franz Ferdinand in charge of the college music department's instrument
store, dramatic, ever twisting and toe-tappingly perverse. Great stuff, in other words…" - Subba Cultcha
The B Of The Bang's debut album, 'Beginning.Middle.End'.
It's released on Monday 8th June on CD and all major download sites
Thanks to rich @ jelly maid music
Jeremy Chick
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