indie – Page 8 – RCRD LBL

December 11, 2019May 14, 2020

Interview with indie soundscape songwriter Officer

London-based Indie soundscape songwriter Officer AKA Dc Logan was born in Glasgow and brought up in Northern Ireland. Officer’s debut album entitled ‘Myriads’ was crowd-funded by his fan base and described as “Flawless & promising” by FAME, “Deliciously dark with huge atmospheric rollercoaster landscapes” by RKC and “Stratospheric and yet disarmingly intimate” by Right Chord Music.

The indie songwriter Officer is a solo artist who is supported by a collective of different musical friends. Watch videos for singles ‘Can We Talk’ ‘Laughing Rafters’ ‘Glass Ceiling’ and ‘My Darling Defibrillator’ on YouTube. New album ‘Night Tennis’ will be released in February 2020, and is preceded by new single ‘Tilt The Clox.’ and ‘Heavening’ (Watch The Bottles).

Looking back, what were some of your earliest entries into music appreciation? And music production?

Well, I was around a lot of religious and sectarian music as a kid in Northern Ireland and so discovering music that brought people together was really amazing for me. In my teens, I headed out anywhere I could find alternative live music, from local punk bands to ancient traditional Irish folk music at pub firesides. I grew up in a few different pretty sheltered and strict old school charismatic churches too which meant hearing a lot of old and often really beautiful spirituals and hymns being sung at high intensity, something my parents were a big part of, with my grandfather having been a traveling gospel preacher. It was odd that music would be either dangerously territorial and divisive or wonderfully embracing and uniting… in both directions you could feel its power. In the end, I was really captivated by artists like The Clash, Marley, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Rage, Ash, Glen Hansard, Damien Rice, U2, R.E.M., The Verve…

Music production… you know, the first thing I ever remember doing was playing a guitar with only four strings on it, then beatboxing, and then singing straight into my neighbor’s aunt’s laptop mic, inspired by having just seen Ash and U2 play at my first ever real gig. It was a little poem-cum-song I’d written about my mum and dad’s divorce before ever having learned a single song by anyone else. I kind of went straight into writing cos I felt I had lots I wanted to write about or just express in some way. A couple of years later I moved to London into a flat with a couple of other musicians who had an old eight-track Akai and Garageband on their PC’s and we started experimenting with all that.

Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when putting music together?

I make a lot of notes and record a lot of melodies as I go… I pick up and play something every day really and have, for as long as I can remember, been a constant scribbler of little poems, thoughts, stories, images, doodles, feelings. When it comes to actually focused writing I usually have a kernel of a poem or a beat or a melody or something that I feel is uniquely expressive of me or where I’m at or what I’m going through or grappling with in the world around me. But it happens in lots of different orders and methods for me… I find that just keeping open to whatever way things are coming is both a lot of fun and highly inspirational in terms of both initial inspiration and enough inspiration to keep you fresh and resolved to completion. So sometimes I write in a really loud live band setting, off the back of whatever noise we’re forming together, and then other times entirely on my own quietly on the acoustic or my little synth. Some songs come in minutes and are like precious little gifts being just given to you for nothing and others take huge amounts of perseverance, reworking, and focus. Something I have found helps me though is to only give very limited time to any given song in one go.

What gets your creative juices flowing?

It’s just in me, like a constant thing I can’t shut off, it’s hard to describe… but I guess just caring about people really, both up close and at a distance. Also things like the sea, swimming, a good book or film, a unique place or time, a good chat over a bottle of wine and a campfire… and actually, the really early morning hours are fuelling of creativity for me, they are something that gets my music bones moving… I’m not a great sleeper and have experienced some both first hand and secondary trauma and anxiety here and there that can at times keep me up, but then being awake and thinking and feeling through things in that relative silence brings some imperfect but beautiful things out. Loads of this new album was written at two, three and four in the morning.

As a musician, it becomes apparent that there is a huge difference between the art and the business. Is there anything about the music scene that you would personally change?

Honestly, I don’t know where to begin with that, it feels like an awfully unhealthy place such a lot of the time in all honesty. But then, you can look at one aspect and be really inspired, find inclusion, authenticity, togetherness, something really valuable, and then other times it’s like being caught in a bit of a tidal wave of something deeply uncreative, artistically and mentally paralysing, emotionally isolating, without integrity or any iota of peace or worth… guess it depends who you’re with and what you’re caught up in.

Studio work and music creation or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?

I truly love it all. I love the live gigs though, that’s where it’s at for me, if I have to choose. But yeah, searching, pursuing, waiting for something completely honest and magical to come in the writing and recording process also gifts you some incredible moments of elation and deep satisfaction, even when it’s draining. With good friends, it’s all a joy and adventure.

What is the most memorable response you have had to your music?

I’ve had unexpected sing-alongs and encores in packed places which is incredible in what it does for your soul but I have to say I’ve had more than a few emails or other contacts from people now telling me my music has or is really helping them through something really tough for them and that has been something really dear to me and helps me keep going when the struggle of being an unsigned artist with very little resources from a working-class background has been too much to carry here and there.

What’s on your current playlist?

I don’t do playlists, I get obsessed with albums, devour them and move on, so my recent listening has been a lot of Big Thief mixed in with some Sharon van Etten, Nick Cave, Angel Olsen, Van Morrison, Idles, R.E.M., Black Pumas, The Cure, some traditional Irish folk of long ago.

Breakdown the news for us: what can we expect from you in the near future?

A couple more singles, videos, live sessions, and then the new album, Night Tennis, in February, which is my second album – both albums have been fan-funded albums. The last little run of shows we did were all sold out but if I’m honest it’s been a real struggle to get gigs outside of London and I want to open it up more and get out on the road to other cities and music-loving places on a support tour or something. I’m looking for help and contacts with that. I have a third album pretty much written that I’m looking forward to recording, so hopefully that’s not years off either.

Famous last words?

Just never stop not don’t being you! – Something I, in drunken passion, advised a slightly more sober friend who was a bit down in the dumps in an attempt to encourage them. They laughed, so it worked.

Officer appeared in a feature on Exit Through Sound

Follow Officer online

December 11, 2019

December 11, 2019May 22, 2020 Mew Zikwryder

UK indie-rockers Anteros announce 2019 album, share new single and mesmerizing music video, “Fool Moon”

London-based rockers, Anteros, share their new single and accompanying music video, “Fool Moon,” in an exclusive premiere with Billboard, who says the new project “lets the band make a broader statement than it has previously.” Filmed in the Moroccan desert, this is the third in a trio of visuals the band has recently released. Prior to this, the band released the “Ordinary Girl” single and video, as well as “Call Your Mother,” which received praise from Paper Magazine for its “gleaming pop melodies, raw vocals, and roaring guitars.” The latest track, “Fool Moon”, is taken from the group’s highly anticipated upcoming album, When We land.

Anteros are a band who refuse to be typecast. While standing firmly outside of any box, they’ve proven their ability to nail any genre or idea they put their mind to, having spent their formative years experimenting with dreamy indie pop, gritty electronic rock and shimmering disco. When We Land is where it all comes together; in one glossy, masterful package, the four-piece have created a unique sound that is both wholly refreshing and reminiscent of the greats who came before them.

Recorded at The Distillery with Mercury Prize-winning producer Charlie Andrew (Alt-J, Marika Hackman, Bloc Party), When We Land is Anteros’ first full-length release following a string of critically acclaimed EPs and singles, as well as a number of sold out headline shows and major support slots (Two Door Cinema Club, White Lies, Blaenavon.) They’ve been championed by BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Jack Saunders to name a few, and amassed over 4 million Spotify streams and counting. It’s with their debut album, however, that Anteros fully introduce themselves to the world as a force to be reckoned with.

Watch the new music video for Anteros’ “Fool Moon” here:

WHEN WE LAND – TRACKLIST
01. Call Your Mother
02. Ring Ring
03. Honey
04. Afterglow
05. Drive On
06. Breakfast
07. Ordinary Girl
08. Wrong Side
09. Let It Out
10. Fool Moon
11. Anteros

Follow Anteros:

November 29, 2019 Mew Zikwryder

Saint Mars offer ‘Help’ with their newly released song

Indie rock band Saint Mars have just released their latest song, ‘Help’ via Grá Mór Phonic Records. The track stars the impressive vocal range of Tryzdin, a 15-year old high schooler with millions of Youtube views behind his name.

Saint Mars speak of both Tryzdin and the track proudly when they say, “‘Help’ showcases Tryzdin’s mature and hard-hitting vocals, alongside with an infectious chorus and deceptively uplifting modern pop hooks. The song describes the antagonist nature of relationships based on attraction/repulsion, driven by passion, and prone to breakaways such as bullying and harassment.”

Their previous single, ‘Loveghost’ received a SongBro Award for Best Singing and amassed nearly a million views across streaming platforms. The track also proved to be popular on the radio, receiving radio play in over 20 different countries.

Follow Saint Mars:

Website – Facebook – Twitter – Soundcloud – Youtube – Instagram – Spotify

November 18, 2019

Singer/songwriter Cameron Bloomfield releases a new song ‘Wanted’

London-based singer-songwriter Cameron Bloomfield has unveiled the double release of new single ‘Wanted’ and new EP ‘The Morning After’, out now via Manchild Creations.

An introspective, soul-searching release, ‘The Morning After’ is underpinned by self-reflection, with Bloomfield reaching deep into his emotions. It is the official follow up to his debut EP ‘The Night Before’ released in 2017 which saw him garner support from notable titles like Clash, Spindle and 1883 Magazine.

A haunting, heartfelt snippet, opener ‘Intro’ sets the tone for the rest of the EP. A downbeat slice of funk/soul follows on lead single ‘Another Man’s Woman’ which received the honor of a world premiere from the legendary Elton John on his ‘Rocket Hour’ radio show. Marking the second time he’s been championed by the industry veteran, following his support of the pre-EP single ‘Lazarus’.

Cameron continues to delve deeper into this terrain with ‘Without You’. ‘So Simple’, combines Bloomfield’s signature velvet vocals with percussive elements and smooth guitar riffs. Closing things out, the aptly named ‘Tequila’ is an ode to the devil’s liquor.

“‘The Morning After’ is coming back to consciousness, feeling what’s going on now, and putting together the pieces of what’s left from The Night Before,” Bloomfield explains. “It’s a particularly visual project for me, one that I have put a lot of myself into, and dealt with a lot of demons through the making.”

He continues: “It’s almost a case study of my relationship with relationships up to this point. Whether they’re my relationships with women, with music, with partying, with life, in general, my default position has been to dive in headfirst and see what happens. I still don’t disagree with this as a mentality but ‘The Morning After’ is checking myself for a second, realizing the road and working out how to go on.”

A polished, pop and soul-infused track, the latest single ‘Wanted’ sees Bloomfield craft an infectiously upbeat and motivational vibe. Inspired by an epiphany Cameron came to after experiencing some personal turmoil, the song is an inspirational anthem about harnessing the power we have to change the situations we find ourselves in.

He explains: “The song came at a time when I was realizing a lot about myself and my situations. It was a real turning point in my perspective – mainly to stop looking everywhere else to explain why things weren’t working out and take a bit of responsibility. I wanted to create something sonically that had a bittersweet feeling, both uplifting and reminiscent, grateful and regretful in equal measure.”

Bloomfield will perform live at East London venue The Old Blue Last for a headline show on 25th November. The performance comes from having recently played an intimate set at MTV’s PUSH Live alongside Joy Crookes and Sody at Tape London.

A finely crafted selection of tracks, ‘The Morning After’ is evidence of an artist who has deftly tapped into his emotional psyche.