Hiya Colin from Blindness & Light, thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today. Grab a brew and take a seat.
What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
There’s was no thought process at all really, in the same way that we don’t think about breathing it’s just natural and totally necessary. I wouldn’t know how we’d cope without doing it.
Introduce us to you all and your musical history.
Blindness & Light are an informal collective of like-minded musicians into indie/post-punk. I am the singer / songwriter / guitarist and the only common thread through every track. There are 12 of us in total, spread out from Anglesey, Noth Wales to North East England and many places in between such as Liverpool, Manchester and Barnsley. Paul McConnell provides the bass groove on this track and Helen Reynolds is the dreamy backing vocalist. Glenn Welman is the drummer here and makes his debut on our first release with real drums.
What’s the live music scene like in Anglesey right now? Anyone we should be looking out for (bar you, of course)?
It’s not good. Mainly covers bands for the tourist industry. I understand that people have to earn a living but I get tired of hearing every man and his dog doing Wonderwall. There are a few original artists though such as Holy Coves and Celavi. We do have quite a few band members from Liverpool and Manchester so we aren’t completely starved. Bands like Gdansk81, The Brindley Rats and Mike Ryan set the scene.
I’ve seen a lot of people struggling for support recently online. What’s your view on the industry?
It feels pretty broken really. Emerging musicians just seem to be prey for scam artists. If we break even it’s a major achievement. There’s no money in it just a lot of love. We all have day jobs and I don’t really see that changing. Merch sales are our lifeblood.
Where do you feel you currently sit within the music industry?
We’ve had over 30,000 radio plays and the last 2 singles have reached number 1 in the European Indie Chart but still I think that we’ve only got our feet on the first rung of the ladder. We are achieving what we set out to do in many ways though. We are 100% independent and can write and record whatever we like. That artistic freedom is an absolute privileged and we’ll protect it with our lives.
Tell us two truths and a lie about you.
Do I need to say which is which? Ahhh, I’ll leave that to the readers. I once did a duet with Orville the Duck covering Atrocity Exhibition by Joy Division. We are vehemently anti-racist. We record all our own tracks in a makeshift basic studio on Anglesey.
Do you ever worry about people taking things the wrong way or cancel culture? Discuss….
We did at first but we’ve been surprised at how switched on people are. We’ve had so few nasty comments we’re starting to regain faith in humanity. Our fans seem to float above the toxic world created by those obvious “world leaders”.
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories? If not, why not?
I think there’ll always be conspiracies. People are greedy for money and power. Should I stage an assassination attempt to improve our Spotify streams? 😉
Tell us something about a member that you think people would be surprised about.
Two members of Blindness & Light live in Tokyo. Quite a move from Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
What are the next steps you plan to take as a band to reach the next level?
We’re a bit lost as to how to do that. There’s an element of chance and determination. We’re hoping that our next album “I Dreamt I Had Insomnia” will catch some attention. This will be released on vinyl/CD/digital after the Xmas mayhem has died down.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
“Mersey Bell” is taken off the forthcoming album and will be released on 6th December. While walking back from Widnes to Runcorn late one night with the shadow of the death of a close friend hanging over us we decided to climb up high on to the ramparts of a local railway bridge across the river Mersey. When we reached the top we discovered a huge shipping bell which I decided to ring out in the middle of the night. It was such a powerful memory amidst the waves and the wind and the reflections from the chemicals plants and oil refineries. We felt that it was a fitting tribute to Richard RIP.
What was the recording process like?
It was our usual approach of just getting the basic song down and seeing how it needs to be improved again and again and again. We prefer tracks to be unfinished when we start to record. The studio is like an instrument in itself. All songs create a life of their own eventually. We’re always surprised by the comparison of start to finish. Benedikt and Thomas at Outback Studios in Germany look after the mixing and mastering and we still have control over the production.
Colin M Potter is singer/songwriter/guitarist.
Helen Reynolds provided backing vocals once again.
Paul McConnell from Liverpool band, Dog Tooth joins us for the first time on bass.
Glenn Welman plays drums.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
Don’t force it. Songs can take 10 minutes or 10 years to write. Just keep reading loads of books and make notes on your phone of every small idea that comes to you from any angle. These can spark a tsunami if you’re lucky. At times there’s a total drought. People watching is useful!
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
Nope, it’s a snapshot in time. It’s sealed.
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