BIRTHDAY CARD Say hello to Aylesbury’s new synth-poppers.
BE NO RAIN
London-based pop maestro Be No Rain - who you might recognise from his set at Dork’s recent online festival, Homeschool (remember that?!) - has a treat for us in the form of debut album ‘Strawberry Backstory’. Here, he gives us a glimpse behind the curtain. Words: Sam Taylor.
CONGRATS ON ANNOUNCING YOUR DEBUT ALBUM - WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE RELEASE? ARE THERE ANY RECURRING THEMES OR CONCEPTS? The album is called ‘Strawberry Backstory’ and we’re looking at releasing it in the third quarter of this year. The subject matter is often based around love and heartbreak but really, it’s about memory or the act of remembering. WAS IT FINISHED PRELOCKDOWN? It was finished almost a year before lockdown. That might be another reason why postponing the release didn’t really cross my mind. It was recorded in a studio that I built with my producer and some friends of ours in Battersea, called Kite Yard. DO YOU HAVE ANY GRAND PLANS FOR WHEN YOU’RE FINALLY ABLE TO TOUR THE ALBUM? In my wildest dreams, it’s a sevenpiece prom band playing the entire album front to back. It’s so difficult to envisage what the future will hold for live music, so my wildest dreams seem as good a place to start as any. The giant papier-mâché strawberry will definitely be part of the crew regardless. P
HI GUYS, HOW’S IT GOING? Josh: Hey, Dork. We’re all good, thanks. We’ve been enjoying the sun, playing too much PlayStation and doing a bit of writing. WHY ARE YOU CALLED BIRTHDAY CARD THEN, ARE PEOPLE DISAPPOINTED WHEN YOU DON’T ARRIVE WITH A FIVER FROM THEIR NAN? Josh: I heard ‘birthday card’ used as a lyric in a Sufjan Stevens song and though it was unorthodox and for some reason stood out. A fiver?! Surely your nan must be blessing you more than a fiver on your birthday. WHAT HAS THE BAND BEEN UP TO SO FAR? GIVE US THE TL;DR. Conor: Two singles - ‘Shy Away’ and ‘Radio Star’ - and show after show up and down the country. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN IMPACTED BY LOCKDOWN, HAVE YOU HAD TO CANCEL MUCH? Josh: We’ve had to cancel a few shows and since the lockdown obviously haven’t been able to rehearse together. Though in some respects the lockdown has had a positive impact on us creatively. Now that gigging is out of the question, we just spend our time making beats and writing.
WHAT’S THE NEW BAND SCENE IN AYLESBURY LIKE? IS THERE MUCH TO DO? Josh: Pretty much non-existent. For a town that was once somewhat renowned for being a music hub, it’s now quite the opposite. There’s not a great deal to do, but we all make the most of it. WHAT’VE YOU GOT COMING UP, DO YOU HAVE NEW MATERIAL? Conor: We’ve been working on new material the whole of lockdown actually! The only benefit of not being able to play gigs is that songwriting has been our only focus. Between us, we’ve probably demo 20 or so ideas. We’re working on our next single at the moment which will be coming out in the summer. It’s a really happy one, so we’re looking forward to getting that out there. WHAT’S ON YOUR BAND BUCKET LIST? DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING SPECIFIC YOU’RE AIMING FOR? Conor: Venue-wise, the Roundhouse has always been on my band bucket list. But our dreams are much bigger than that, naturally. We’ve always said if you don’t want your band to be the biggest it can be, why do it? TELL US A SECRET ABOUT YOURSELVES? Conor: Our latest single ‘Radio Star’ reuses an element from an old, old Birthday Card song, the first song we made a music video for back when we started the band. P
GEORGE MOIR
George Moir’s new single ‘Big Boy Cruising’ is an incredibly charming, laidback pop hit in a similar vein to the likes of Rex Orange County, and it comes with a self-animated video which - we kid you not - sees our George riding a tricycle through Postman Pat land. It’s proper great, and it’s time to introduce yourself. Words: Sam Taylor. WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTO MUSIC? I first got into music really early; my mum used to have this mad cassette tape collection which she’d play all the time. It was a mix of classic Glen Miller and Nat King Cole, with Nina Simone, some jazz tracks, and a bit of Contemporary Christian stuff thrown in. Anyway, I was three and wanted to be a jazz pianist. My parents eventually got a piano. WHAT ABOUT ANIMATING? THAT’S SUCH A COOL SKILL TO HAVE. Haha, it might sound cool, but it’s literally the nerdiest thing ever! I got into it when I was like 10, I stole the family digital camera and made a load of Lego stop motion films. Eventually, I ended up doing it freelance straight out of school. TELL US ABOUT YOUR DEBUT EP, ‘SPARE ROOM’? I wrote the songs as a way to process things that were going on in my life, and make sense of my own mental state. It’s really an exploration of personal perceptions, and how looking at different situations through different lenses can really change how you look at your life. AND YOU’RE WORKING TOWARDS ANOTHER ONE? Yes, another one’s on the way! The next one is a bit more jolly. I’m still trying to make sense of life, now more so than ever, so there’s still a lot of the same attitudes and ideas in the subject matter I sing about, but I’ve had loads of fun with approaching serious stuff with a bit of a lighter tone. P READDORK.COM
25
HI BE NO RAIN! HOW’S IT GOING? HOW HAVE YOU BEEN FILLING YOUR TIME DURING LOCKDOWN? WE ENJOYED YOUR SET AT HOMESCHOOL THE OTHER WEEK. Once the writing was on the wall a few days ahead of lockdown my producer, Rob Brinkmann, and I decided to quarantine together and get to work on my second album. We haven’t broken stride, so I think we’ll have the sophomore record finished before the debut is even released. It’s our way of bypassing ‘difficult second album syndrome.’
BIRTHDAY CARD - AKA JOSH SAW (VOCALS), CONOR RICHARDS (GUITAR), GEORGE HARRISON (SYNTHS), LESLIE ADRIAANS (DRUMS), AND TOM RITCHIE (BASS) - MAKE HUGE ALT-POP TUNES THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT 80S, A LITTLE BIT THE 1975, A LITTLE BIT MGMT. Bright, synth-heavy bops that have so far seen them share stages with the likes of SPINN and Glass Peaks - and they’re just getting started. Josh and Conor fill us in.
N
DO YOU RECKON THIS VIRUS BUSINESS IS GOING TO SET NEW BANDS BACK FOR A BIT? IT MUST BE TOUGH NOT BEING ABLE TO PLAY SHOWS AND FESTIVALS. Josh: It certainly feels odd not playing a show every couple of weeks. I don’t think new bands should dwell on the fact they can’t gig, though. It is what it is. Everyone’s still adapting to the ‘new normal’, and I think that will give bands some time to hone their craft and write stronger material.