Hiya folks thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today, grab a brew and take a seat.
Ta! Pleasure to have a chat with you.
What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
Amelia: I’ve always been around music. I can’t remember a day when hearing music wasn’t a part of my life. I wanted to give it a go… so here we are.
Sam: I think we all have that passion and desire to mess around and experiment. I think it’s just something we all love doing, so we’re naturally drawn to it. It’s like our mutual release for all our stress and negative emotions.
Sean: What they said.
Introduce us to all the members of your group.
Amelia: I’m vocals and bass… well… a moan and a shout, with balls!
Sam: I’m Sam, the drummer and sometimes backing vocalist. Took a break from musical projects. Got back in with this one.
Sean: I moved down to London in 2019 and met Amelia and Sam within days of buying a new guitar. Amelia showed me a couple of early demos of what the two of them had been working on, and they were class! I couldn’t say no…
Name me your 3 favorite Albums.
Sean: Ever? Yikes. If I had to pick right now… Nowhere by Ride, Modern Life is Rubbish by Blur and Dots & Loops by Stereolab.
Amelia: Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral, T-Rex – Electric Warrior and Helmet – Betty. All amazing!
Sam: Pixies – Doolittle, Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream and Radiohead- Ok Computer. I’m cheating a bit here but honestly the one I come back to most often is Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd.
What was the first song you heard that steered you into a music path?
Amelia: Probably Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy, Hey Girl. (superstar dj’s, here we go!)
Sean: I heard Smells Like Teen Spirit when I was eleven and it blew my wee little mind. I think I have always wanted to be involved in music to some degree ever since.
Sam: For me Debaser by the Pixies was a game-changer, I think after the very first time I listened to that as a teenager I thought: “That’s f***ing awesome, I can do that!”
The music industry is the hardest industry in the world to progress in, how do you feel you are doing?
Amelia: We do this because we enjoy music, I’m pretty happy with that. We aren’t that concerned about how popular we are right now.
Sean: It’s not something I really think about. It’s all good fun and I get a kick when we are playing new spots and seeing that people have had a good time watching us.
Sam: Sometimes it feels like you’ve made big strides and sometimes just baby steps. There’s so much music being released these days and so much competition for exposure. We try not to compare ourselves to other bands too much. It can be dangerous to become obsessed with your image or how many likes your posts get on social media.
I’m seeing a lot of debate about women not feeling safe at music gigs, any thoughts on what we need to do to help?
Amelia: There are a lot of issues surrounding the safety of gigs at the minute, not just with women. I personally have never had any issues with my safety, but I have been taught from an early age to keep myself safe, to know my entry and exit points, and what to do if anything bad goes down. My dad was a security guard and he taught me this stuff. There are people out there that feel somewhat entitled to behave in an ill manner, we need to work together to resolve these issues.
As you develop as an artist and develop using socials, in what ways do you get new ears on your music? Any tips?
Sam: We aren’t the greatest self-promoters to be honest, but obviously we do use social media and promotional tools to connect to new audiences. I think a lot of artists these days benefit from really engaging with their followers. We are kind of lazy in that regard, but any attention you can grab from anyone you meet these days will probably help draw other people in.
Amelia: I nag everyone I can possibly think of to listen. If you don’t try you’ll never know.
Sean: We should probably hire a manager. I can barely drag myself out of bed in the morning.
Tell us Two truths and a lie about you.
Amelia: I spent a week in a self-induced coma.
Sean: I was punched in the face and had a wonky nose for 10 years before I got it fixed.
Sam: I broke my arm in an innocent arm-wrestling match in a sports bar.
What’s your thought on Spotify’s monopoly on the music industry?
Amelia: Spotify is a great cloud for music, but it feels somewhat dated in how it can be used to its full potential now.
Sam: It’s a bit of a tragedy for bands like us but as musicians but you have to adapt to changes in the business and try to grab whatever you can really.
Sean: Our generation grew up when the whole internet boom happened. We downloaded everything for free. I think as a result, we under-appreciate a lot of music being released as it’s all so cheap and accessible now! I think it’s a both a blessing and a curse for the industry.
Do you sign up for any conspiracy theories?
Amelia: I was literally just talking about this with people earlier! We were talking about if we believe people actually walked on the moon! I love a good conspiracy theory… whether or not I believe them is something entirely different!
Sean: Not a fan really…
Sam: I do believe Donald Trump is and has always been 2-3 aliens disguised in a skin suit this whole time. It explains everything!
Did you buy anything you don’t need during the pandemic?
Sam: I bought a Fender Telecaster (US)… I didn’t need it, but now I’m in love with it!
Amelia: Oysters! I was told to try them and pretty much threw up at the table! I didn’t need that!
Sean: Probably… a little extra toilet paper? I definitely didn’t buy Oysters though! Sounds absolutely rotten. I don’t get them? Wish I’d bought the guitar!
What was your worst experience on stage?
Amelia: Sam, drunk!
Sam: Ahhh… yeah that gig was bad… I wasn’t feeling well that day and made a stupid decision to have a few drinks before we went on stage. My arms literally started seizing up midway through our songs and I just couldn’t play anything right. Was totally embarrassing. Thankfully the guys we were supporting were really chill about it.
Sean: Once whilst performing, I slipped on some beer but somehow managed to sort myself out… I think I pulled it off, but it was moments from disaster! The audience must have thought I was moonwalking!
What makes you stand out as a band?
Sam: In some ways, we’re really just 3 friends writing loud alternative music for the fun of it. But also we do have a sort of never-back-down quality to us. We only do what we want to do and so we are always enjoying ourselves. I think that comes across in the music and at our shows.
Sean: Between the three of us, we have a formula that works. We each have our own influences and that makes the band what it is.
Amelia: We are all good mates so writing music comes naturally to us when we’re all interested in making the same sort of sound. We’re not trying to make a new scene or genre just doing what we like the way we like it.
I hear you have a new music release, what can you tell us about it?
Sam: Yes, we released our debut single ‘Bad News’ on valentine’s day 2023. We have a second one ‘Monster’ due to be released this Spring too.
Amelia: Bad News is a track about realising people aren’t always who they say they are and explores how we perceive and act on that realisation.
Sean: The “Tomorrow’s Fish ‘n’ Chip Shop” lyric on Bad News is a reference to Terry Hall, who had recently passed away when we wrote this. I remember showing Amelia ‘Friday Night, Saturday Morning’ by The Specials, so it really made me laugh when she came to the next band session with the chip shop lyric!
Talk me through the thought process of the new tunes.
Amelia: Bad News was the first song we all wrote together in the rehearsal room. It’s a bit different from our other material. Then Monster is a track about facing your inner demons and letting loose. It’s louder and more aggressive. We wanted to choose tracks that had strong themes.
Sam: When we went into the studio, we kind of thought Bad News was more of a B-side to Monster. A bit of a nod to bands like Radiohead and Placebo. But it kind of evolved into a new form during the recording session. So we decided to release the two tracks as separate singles.
Sean: Yeah, with the writing, we usually just work this stuff out in rehearsal. Get tinnies in and make some noise! Easy!
What was the recording process like?
Amelia: It felt like we were ready to record the tracks when we did. We’ve been working for a couple of years on our material now and we wanted to really do the tracks justice.
Sam: We were lucky to work with a mad awesome producer in David Holmes at the equally awesome Lightship 95. It’s literally a big red boat docked up on the Thames in East London with a brilliant studio space inside!
Sean: It was a really positive experience. The tide came in and I honestly almost fell over stamping a guitar pedal! Dave has all the great traits of a fantastic producer. He really pushed us to do our best. It’s all quite a laugh looking back… I had just come out of the hospital after an operation that left me a bit sore and Amelia almost choked herself to death drinking some water at one point. Dave must have been wondering what the hell did he get himself into…
Amelia: Yes, aside from the bit where I couldn’t breathe, it was a really good experience, Dave helped us really gel our sound together.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
Amelia: When it comes to writing, the lyrics are kind of random. I write little words down while I’m doing other stuff and see what fits together. Sometimes it takes a while before I finish a song.
Sam: I’d say the song writing part isn’t that hard for us as a band, we get a real kick bouncing ideas off each other. Getting both tracks sounding exactly the way we wanted in the studio was something else. The tracks are quite simple at heart so it’s about finding that right tone and energy to make them really pop.
Sean: Both tracks came out not sounding how I thought they would when we started. We worked a lot on the guitar sounds and there’s quite a few overdubs that we don’t usually perform live on the record. We’re still working out how best to replicate that in our shows.
Would you change anything now they’re finished?
Amelia: We learned that imperfection is key. I wouldn’t change anything, if you do that you’re never going to be happy.
Sam: I’m happy with how they turned out. We had some moments where we took a vote on adding or taking away certain parts and kind of worked it all out. I’m sure down the line once we’ve played them a thousand times, we’ll probably want to add something else or take something away. I don’t know.
Sean: I wish I had worked with my guitar tone a bit more to fill out more space during the first few bars but that don’t matter now really. I’m very happy with the finished result. Monster sounds ridiculously powerful! I couldn’t help but laugh the first time I heard the final mix of it!
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Sean: There’s a few people who really made an effort to come out to the majority of our shows the past couple of years. You people know who you are and we love you for it. Thanks to you lot!
Amelia: We’re f***ing great! Also very grateful! Keep your eye’s out for our next single!
Sam: Yes, there’s a release date coming soon. It’s called ‘Monster’ and it’s going to be big! Anyone who wants to see us live, we have gigs on April 6th at The Castle in Manchester and April 15th at the Hope & Anchor in London. More to come in May and Summer. Tickets will be available AUBREY Tickets | DICE Also follow us on all our socials @planetaubrey and @weareaubrey. Find us on Spotify :
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