Introducing: Warehouse Republic

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Rich Ward

Warehouse Republic are a four-piece blues-rock outfit from Epsom who’ve earned themselves comparisons to the likes of Oasis and the Beatles. Actress Rachel Hurd-Wood appears in the video for debut single ‘Revolver’ and follow-up ‘Not Today’ is out now. Before their acoustic performance at Camden’s Bar Solo, Creature stopped by for a chat over a couple of beers with Charlie, Alex, Ben, James to talk about their music, their name, and above all how they managed to get Rachel Hurd-Wood to star in their music video…


First of all, where did the name Warehouse Republic come from?
Charlie: It’s sort of like the spirit of freedom or rebellion from the old illegal warehouses. It’s about doing something against the tide.

So you guys see yourself as something different?
Alex: Well, we are different.
Charlie: We’re different from the mainstream, what the mainstream is.

You don’t want to follow what anyone else is doing?
Charlie: Not at the moment. It’s just generally a bit bland, you know? With all due respect to everyone, it’s more or less Topshop indie boys or electro or the X Factor.
Alex: There’s a kind of a magic when you step onstage and you’re not just stringing off songs that everyone’s heard on a CD. Too many artists do that nowadays.


Is that why you enjoy playing acoustically – it gives you a chance to re-work your material?
Charlie: Well, we literally just said we were going to improvise everything tonight! I think we’ll probably see how much we like it after we finish maybe. But I think the thing we’re really proud of is the fact we’re really good musicians; that seems to have been lost in a lot of modern music…

You only formed last year and already you’ve got a manager and a music video – what do you put such quick progression down to?
Ben: Hard work I think.
Charlie: I’ll paraphrase Gary Player, the old golf player: ‘the harder we work, the luckier we get’. We do work really fucking hard, you know? And we’re good, to be honest.

What were you doing before the band?
Alex: I wasn’t doing anything! I was on an extended gap year trying to find a band. Luckily this was the first band I applied to.
Charlie: I was a professional piano player for a bit, and I was in some bands. That’s about it to be honest.

How did you get Rachel Hurd-Wood to appear in your video?
Charlie: I had to sleep with her.
(Everyone laughs)
Andrei (their manager): To clarify, I used to have a photography studio and met Rachel through a photoshoot.
Charlie: That’s not true either! You got to know her through Alex.
Andrei: Oh yeah.
(Everyone laughs)

Warehouse Republic’s sound has been compared to that of some well-known bands, but who do you guys think you sound like? What are your influences?
Ben: Certainly bands like the Beatles obviously.
Alex: Led Zeppelin.
Charlie: Zeppelin. Zeppelin is probably the band’s band, if you know what I mean? Then the Beatles followed by the Stones.
Alex: We aspire to be as good as them.
Charlie: If you’re not aspiring to be them, you’re just doing it for the fucking beers or whatever.

You’ve been pretty unlucky with some accidents and injuries. How has that affected the band?
Charlie: We were so grateful to have each other anyway, if that makes sense? All that did was slow us down.


In particular Charlie, you had a near-death experience – has this influenced your songwriting? What’s your muse?
Charlie: Oh shit. Erm.
James: Most of the songs are about girls.
Charlie: No, not really. It’s deeper than that, a lot deeper than that. I like the kind of extremes in human nature. Most of its optimistic, the rest is spiritual – but not in a God way. There’s a new one called ‘Earth Calling Earth’ which is about looking-in on mankind from space. There’s also quite a bit of Aleister Crowley in there as well. He’s misunderstood.

You supported Dodgy recently. What other bands would you most like to support?
Ben: Kasabian
Charlie: Led Zeppelin if they reform. The Beatles – are they around still?
Alex: The Foo Fighters I guess.

What does the rest of 2011 hold for Warehouse Republic? What are you hoping for?
James: We’re releasing another single in October/ November time called ‘Turning Tricks’.
Charlie: We’re gonna do kind of a big gig to support that and we’re doing a really cool video. The girl who’s the central character gets her tarot cards read and then each band member will be what happens on the cards.

Any Hollywood celebrities lined up for it?
Ben: We can’t give you that information at the moment.
Charlie: Andrei genuinely is working on that on the moment.
Alex: Isn’t your cousin like Keira Knightley or something?

Sum up what Warehouse Republic is all about for us.
Charlie: Alex?
Alex: Magic
Charlie: Jimmy? I’m going to have to hurry you.
James: Freedom
Charlie: I’m going to go with magic. We’re going with magic.

www.warehouserepublic.com

Introducing: Art Elliot

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Betty Wood


Midwest American singer/songwriter and Creature advocate Art Elliot talks to us about his music and why you might be forgiven for expecting him to turn up in a dog-collar…

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/881721" height="200"]

Hey Art, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your musical background?
I was born and raised in Iowa.  At age nine I inherited a kind of spaceship-looking organ from the 1970s.  After about two years of lessons I switched to piano.  I moved to Oakland, California to attend Mills College for music composition.  In school I was writing new chamber music (along the lines of John Cage, Morton Feldman, Gyorgy Ligeti) and got to the point where I was composing string quartets that lasted half an hour and pieces that used paintings as scores.  After awhile I found writing and singing my own songs to be more satisfying.

You’re independent right? Where are you performing?
 I’m based out of Oakland, California and am independent at this point…

If I were to say ‘who are your biggest influences’, how would you respond?
Well… the one artist who covers all of those fields of influence [music, literature, films etc] for me is John Cage.  Other influences in music would include Frank Zappa, Randy Newman, Ben Folds, Colin Blunstone (with the Zombies and solo) and Billy Bragg to name just a few.  As for literature I like classic sci-fi (Philip Dick, Arthur Clarke, Robert Heinlein, et al) and Kurt Vonnegut.  For Art, I’m drawn to abstract expressionism particularly Mark Tobey and Clyfford Still.

What message are you trying to communicate with your music?
I tend to write lyrics that could possibly have multiple meanings.  I like leaving things open so you can bring your own meaning to a song.  Other times I just like to tell an interesting story.

Who would you file yourself next to in terms of a ‘sounds like’ category?
If Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Colin Blunstone shot themselves into outer space moments before the apocalypse went down and became the progenitors of a new musical style upon landing on a new home planet I think the result might be something similar to what I sound like…


When you’re not recording you can be found doing… what?
I work in a library, accompany a church choir, drink copious amounts of coffee and enjoy tending my potted plants.  I have a soft spot in my heart for the music of Iron Maiden and Burt Bacharach.  For what it’s worth I have a little piece of paper stashed away somewhere that says I’m officially qualified to write music.  I also have one that says I’m qualified to perform marriage ceremonies.

You can hear more of Art’s music here.

One Track Mind: a conversation with Mechanical Bride

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Betty Wood


You’ve probably heard the (Tim Burtonesque) name Mechanical Bride being slung around a fair bit in recent months. MB a.k.a Lauren Doss is not only a supremely talented singer, she’s also an incredible instrumental musician with an arsenal of skills to back up her vocals. Her album Living With Ants has just been released, and we took time to chat to her about her favourite song on the album that stands out as something special…

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us… firstly we’d like to ask which track you’d pick as your favourite track you’ve recorded. What makes it so special to you?

Magpie is a song I’m really happy with. The sound of the recording turned out so beautifully and because it’s so simple it really glows with the analogue sound and warmth. The cornet part that Alistair plays is magical. The simpler songs came together the most organically and were really fun to record.

Is there a back-story to the song, or an event that inspired it? What led you to writing the song?

Originally I wrote Magpie as a four-part accapella song, with weird dissonant harmonies and it was intended to be like an old folk song and lullaby. I came up with a piano piece a few years later and just tried singing the tune along with it, and it clicked into place. It was the first time that had happened for me with writing where I’d reworked something old, with something new, so it was a nice moment for me.

What was the song writing process like for the track? Do you tend to follow the same rules when writing, or did this song dictate its own tract?

No I don’t have any song writing rules, it’s always a bit of a fumble in the dark then something glimmers! Magpie was the result of a little poem that I’d written and then I initially recorded it with just my voice and the harmonies that worked a bit like polyphony on creating the melody. I had just discovered medieval chamber music and that time!

What influences were going on around you when you wrote the song and how have they played out in the track? We were thinking in terms of other artists you were listening to at the time, a book you were reading or even the people you were hanging out with… Looking back, can you pick elements of the track out?

It was a culmination of two times several years apart. The melody and words were written when I was just about to finish my degree and had been researching a lot about the voice, sacred and secular music, polyphony and folk music. I’d been seeing a hell of a lot of magpies and took it as a bit of a sign and liked the idea that they were following me and looking out for me like guardians. They are quite a superstitious bird and they also already have that folk connotation. I wanted the vocal piece to be sweet and comforting like a lullaby and create a melody from just the voice in harmony. The later addition of the piano part, on reflection, In Rainbows had come out and I think I was really influenced, and always have been, by the style of Thom York’s piano playing, it’s something I can relate to.

Finally, we’d like to ask whether there’s a big difference between a liveperformance of the track and the studio recorded version? If there is, is this an ‘enjoyment’ thing, or more about the sound?

The live version has different instrumentaion; we lose a cello and exchange a cornet brass part for a flute or an accordion. It’s purely logistical reason, none of the four of us play brass, so we just use what we’ve got which has the same airy timbre to it. It definitely changes the sound from a slightly jazz feel to much more folky. It’s also fun to do different arrangements for different occasions, it can bring different elements of the song out, and keeps it new to us.


Download your free copy of Mechanical Bride’s track Colour of Fire at her website here or stream it above.

One Track Mind: A conversation with Young the Giant

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Betty Wood


Continuing our One Track Mind series, we had a chat with Young the Giant guitarist Eric Cannata about their track Islands.  Mellow, California tinged and spontaneous, if you’re not familiar with Road Runner Records’ Young the Giant, then this track serves as a definitve window into their sound…

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us… firstly, we’d like to ask which track you’d pick as your favourite track you’ve recorded. What makes it so special to you?

I think ‘Islands’ is my favorite track on the record because it has a lot of space compared to the other songs. It also was the most spontaneous song that we recorded. When we originally wrote ‘Islands’ it was a fast paced guitar heavy song and then transformed into the atmospheric mellow tune it is on the record. The fact that it changed and leaves room for the listener to breath on the record is why it’s my favorite.

Is there a back-story to the song, or an event that inspired it? What led you to writing the song?

‘Islands’ is definitely one of the songs on the record that was influenced by living in southern California.

What wabout the songwriting process for the track? Do you tend to follow the same rules when writing, or did this song dictate its own tract?

This song was the most unique in the way it came about.  We wrote a totally different version of it then decided to strip it down. We started with the idea of merely using bass and vocals to start the song, then added layers including acoustic guitar, cello, pump organ, and a mellow drum beat.

What influences were going on around you when you wrote the song and how have they played out in the track? We were thinking in terms of other artists you were listening to at the time, a book you were reading or even the people you were hanging out with… Looking back, can you pick elements of the track out?

At the time while writing ‘Islands’ we were listening to a lot of Beach House, Erykah Badu, Four Tet, Jose Gonzales, and Broken Social Scene to name a few.  Living in LA influenced the song as well…

Is there a big difference between a live performance of the track and the studio recorded version? If there is, is this an ‘enjoyment’ thing, or more about the sound?

There is a difference between the live performance and the recorded version of ‘Islands’.  At the end of the live version we breakout into a much heavier groove while Sameer keeps singing the end chant. The recorded version fades out with a mellow drum beat whereas live we try to bring a lot more energy to the song.  I think we enjoy playing it live like this because we look forward the end groove and it also goes straight into the last song of the set, ‘My Body’.


Give their album a listen here and check out their new video for the single ‘Cough Syrup’.

Introducing: Cyra Morgan

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Betty Wood

Creature editor Betty Wood speaks to New York singer/songwriter Cyra Morgan.

Cyra by Amelia carson

If you’ve been following our Mix Tape feature for the last few months then you’ll be aware of Cyra’s spectacular sound. Possessing an etheral style that does nothing if not prick at every hair on your body when you hear her sing, Cyra’s one of Soundcloud’s most precious discoveries. When I was compiling the mix list back in April, I stumbled upon her music completely by chance – since then she’s enchanted listeners the world over with her vocal-driven brand of acoustic folk that dabbles it’s toes in the likes of Alanis Morissette, Lisa Hannigan and PJ Harvey.

Cyra 'Two' by Amelia Carson


 

 

Cyra, we already know you make beautiful music, but what else is there to know to know about you? What’s your background?

I’m originally from Rhode Island. I moved to New York in my late teens and my life changed. I’ll always love NYC because it helped me to find my inner-warrior, it’s where I began to have the courage to find myself.

I’ve lived life as the token ‘struggling artist’ waiting tables, tending bar and trying to perform whenever I got the chance. I was also interested in acting at the time, but I tend to be a bit of an introvert so acting’s not for me… Oh the awkward auditioning stories I could tell you….. but we won’t get into that.

 

Mandala by Jamila Walker

How long have you been performing for? Were you in bands growing up, or was music something you came to later on?

I’ve been performing for as long as I can remember – if that includes performing in my room with a hair brush microphone for an imaginary audience. Singing and writing is all I’ve ever wanted to do. It was never been a choice really, it is just an essential part of who I am, who I’ve always been. My therapy.

When I was very small, around four years old or so, my dad (who plays banjo and loves bluegrass) would put me up in front of a mic and have me sing John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’ for all of his friends. I think I knew, even then that performing was going to be a huge part of my life. I also loved writing as a kid, I think I wrote my first song when I was around ten. I didn’t have many outlets to perform growing up but when I moved to NYC, I performed with bands every now and again. I once tended bar at this cool little lounge on the Upper West Side, and whenever the bands would come in, I’d jump out from behind the bar to do a song or two.

Cyra Morgan by Amelia Carson


What do you model your songs on in terms of style, instruments and influences? (Did I hear a loop pedal in the mix?)

Lol, no loop pedal, I’m not that sophisticated. Stylewise, I’d definitely say indie folk. I’m not a musician, I basically play just enough to grab a feel for my songs and I can hear the rest in my head. Which is why I adore Soundcloud because it has enabled me to connect with some amazing musicians. I truly feel for the musicians I try to explain my vision to though….. Usually I can hear guitar, strings and sometimes piano.

What would we find on your Ipod if we had a nose?

I think that my ipod might have multiple personality disorder….. I’ve got everything on there….. Lisa Hannigan, Damien Rice, Regina Spektor, Fiona Apple, Portishead, Elbow, Arctic Monkeys, The Beastie Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, Matt Costa and of course some of my collab buddies Mass Distraction, Rotorro, Straina the list goes on and on…..

Outside by Peter Tinkler


Are you a professional musician or are you just doing this for fun?

I would have to say I’m in the process of becoming a professional musician. I do what I do because it comes from a place deep within my heart. Singing, writing, working on music makes me feel like flying….. I don’t think that there is anything I would love more than to be able to support myself with my music, but I try not to get too caught up in that aspect of the industry. I’m just going with the river and hoping it takes me to a happy place.

 

Cyra Outside - Amelia Carson

Make sure to ‘Like’ Cyra’s facebook page. She’s playing live in New York all summer, so if you’re over that side of the pond make sure to check her out. HUGE thank you to our contributing artists Peter Tinkler, Amelia Carson and Jamila Walker for their outstanding work.

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