I woke up with a fever, my belly in a knot as my alarm went off. I was going to interview Half Blind, a local band who have two eps. In my nauseous state I put on my primary colours and got on the train. I manically made notes in the back of my notepad. My brain casually connecting dots, a musician’s equivalent of conspiracy theorist. I sit down with my trademarked single pit sweat. I was a mix of orange octopus and millennial marionette. I wait…. they appear and I am at ease.
I am always afraid of feeling intrusive but they accepted me with a calming presence. Half Blind were happy and everyone shook my hand, even people that weren’t in the band.
I then realised I now needed to find somewhere to sit. Luckily the magnetically relaxed Ezra grooved at the radio station. We sat on the sofas and got down to it.
I am obsessed with expression, this ep stuck with me, a certain rhythmic nature that ran through. A stew of pop sensibility and dirt. It is something that isn’t as present nowadays. I always wonder how artists create their work, in hopes that finding out how won’t kill the cow but allow me to learn how it turns grass into pat.
A list of band killers
1. Ego
2. Ringo wanting to write songs
3. Throwing a plum
4. The Killers
This is the main fear of most bands, they finish before they get started. They create a precedent before they need to. They had a strong grasp on themselves and their mission, a confident belief in their ability as artists.
I tongued an ulcer the whole time. Bonjella hadn’t worked. I also have shaving rash all over my face and a spot on the back of my ear. Keeping interest and focus while covered in unrest is like trying to catch flying ants with a plank of wood. I picked my finger skin. The band gave well crafted answers and I felt like a fraud.
We live in a time where solo artists write alone, record alone and release on their own and call themselves a band. It is nice to see a band at its purest of heart and mission. They are self admitted melody minds, they want to write catchy songs.
There seems to be an abrasive attitude towards this musical mentality. I have sometimes stood on this side; my love of Cage, Glass and Reich can get in the way. Every creative has a difficult mission be it conscious or not, a karmic path made for you. A voice that beats in your chest to be let out as a lions roar, an expression that has occurred before but is different every time it is heard.
I notice that my posture has slipped from confident to fatigued, I rub my eye for clarity as my mind begins to disconnect. I join them back in the room as I begin to ask about how they have dealt with cliche and trite in songwriting.
I had emptied my brain, what I thought was going to be half an hour became a 2 hour conversation about life, music, philosophy and if we had spoken for any longer we would have discussed the yellow hats and tattoos.
As I sit here at my kitchen table, drinking cranberry and raspberry juice while trying to write quotes from the interview. It dawned on me that I lost something every time I tried to transcribe. I have accepted this and will allow you to make your own mind up.
If you would like to listen to the whole interview then you can go here:
We cover everything, you have been warned.
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