Hey Eyre Llew, we’re buzzing to welcome you back to The Bodega. How are you feeling ahead of the show?
Excited man, it’s been a minute!
March marked your first live show in a few years, what led to the time away from the stage?
Like a lot of bands the pandemic hit us hard. We lost a lot of money over that time. We had a string of cancelled flights and tour plans due to lockdown as well as losing our jobs and such so it was a weird time for that. The momentum we had took a hit too which is something you organically grow around you. So when the covid stuff happened we only had one thing to soak up, and that was time. Lockdown became somewhat welcomed in hindsight for us. I suppose it was because we had been touring 20+ countries around Europe and Asia so much, doing 120+ shows a year for seven years in a row while holding down jobs and personal lives. It was a lot. We miss it, but it was an intense time. I think we realised over time that we needed to look after ourselves more and with that, focus on improving our personal lives where we could. Interestingly, where that has led is to us writing our second (and best yet) album which is going to Abbey Road for mastering soon and growing the team around us. We went from a three to a five piece and we’re loving it!
You’ve had a busy summer in preparation for the new album and the reception to it has been fantastic. Was it refreshing to see the overwhelming support?
Oh gosh yeah! Both shows this year have sold out. The atmosphere was buzzing and it’s so nice to see familiar faces at any gig but many of them for the Saltbox show in March we hadn’t seen for five years or so. Atleast since our last gig, maybe that was Bodega 2019 or Rock City in January 2020!? There were a lot of new people there too which was great to see! We were invited to play a festival and some shows in Europe as well, so that was the first time we took all six of us to a gig overseas. We had a great time. Missed it actually!
Before your break from live performance your last hometown show was at our place, do you have any fond memories of the venue throughout your time gigging?
Last time we played Bodega was in 2019 when we were on a tour promoting the release of our South Korean split EP that we recorded in Seoul with our tour pals In The Endless Zanhyang We Are. It was a fun, sold out night. We actually had Jonny Olley and Megatrain (now Divorce) support us for that show, who are both onto amazing things of their own now, headlining their own venues and smashing it! It’s lovely to see and they’re so deserving of that.
You’ve been keen to get fans on board in the production for your new album, the group vocal recording session looked great! Can you tell us any more about that?
Yeah we did that for our first album which came about through necessity really. We wanted to recorded a big crowd chant at the end of one of our songs ‘Edca’ and so did an open invite to our fans to our then band studio. We did a big Asda show for a load of beers and prawn cocktail crips then dived into the room with about 60 people. It was class and what we found was, not only did it sound wicked, but it was such a lovely way of getting to meet your followers in a normal and sincere way. Sometimes after gigs it can feel rushed and pressured, espeically at a merch stand with a queue of people and such. But spend an hour or two with people and you’re going to get to know them.
So for album two, we knew we wanted to do that again on a bigger scale. So this time we had about 120+ at Rough Trade and had our producer Russ Clark place mics all over the place. We built a DIY pallet conductors stage and had an open bar for some dutch courage. This album we worked on four songs instead of one and the results are amazing once we had everyone singing two or three takes! It sounds like a thousand-strong pack of wolves howling in Wembley or a viking horde screaming into Thors Cave. We can’t wait for people to hear it on this record, especially the people that were there. It’s so great!
What does the songwriting process look like for you guys, does it vary from track to track or do you have a similar way of approaching things?
Pre-lockdown we were just three guys in a band room jamming, that was the song. When we were all living apart Sam wrote a lot of stuff on acoustic and would send it to the Jacks. We just kept layering up ideas to form demos on Logic until we thought the song was there. We found this can be a liberating way of doing it really as you’re not limited to what you can do there and then in a live room. You compose what you want for the songs, and subjectively what the song needs. It’s what pushed us to form a five piece, we either had to go down the backing track route or grow the live lineup (which is way more fun and organic). So that’s the route we decided to do.
For album three, we’ve spoken about a similar process but we’re much more open now to writing, recording and releasing more often. There has been this dream for us to go away somewhere remote to write and record an ambient EP over a couple of weeks. So maybe we do that!
Lastly, are there any mad pre-show rituals we should be aware of?
This may sound basic or weird I don’t know but setting all my pedal settings on my pedalboard to what they need to be for the first song is a bit of a meditation ritual for me. Sometimes when i’m in other countries we’re learning the language of how to say things there, which is always worthwhile haha! Admittedly, we have collectively said we often crash energy wise right before going on. JB always believes that it’s probably our body’s way of saying “there’s something big coming mate, hold it back for a minute, wait for it, wait for it… ALRIGHT NOW” kind of thing. So sometimes you’ll find us backstage with a cup of peppermint tea and a quiet pint. We’re not a tequila shots in the eyeballs kind of band, though maybe we should try that sometime?
Have a great show guys!
Cheers, and thanks for having us! Viva La Bodega.
