Interview: Conformist

54-46 Caught up with Conformist  last week, who has produced in our opinion, one of the most exciting and innovative albums to come out of Wales this year, ‘Paid To Fake It’.

Innovative, mesmerising and most of all challenging – this record is a fantastic piece of ingenuity that is deservedly the recipient of lots of praise. All of us here are really looking forward to his next release which is on the horizon for the beginning of 2015.

 

 

First of all, wow. Where do we begin? Did you have fun making this album?

Not sure if “fun” would be the word….!  It was like one long therapy
session.  There was occasional moments of relief when I would stumble into a
decent idea….in between the computer crashes, software failures and data lose
setbacks.  This was a record I made at home over the course of about 3 years
but some of the tracks were written 8 years or so back.  Towards the end I
just wanted to finish it and move on really.  When you’re not restricted by
studio time budgets you can be your own worst enemy.

For people who may just be getting to grips with your tunes – how would you
best describe your music?
Atari Teenage Riot covering The Sex Pistols, recorded by Aphex Twin then
chewed up and spat into a garbage can.

 

Who inspires you musically?
Everything but other people’s music. (Ed – top answer)

                                                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joq2VaBu694

Can you describe your journey in music from the beginning to where you are now.

Shy boy lacking social skills given a PC and cracked software, lives in tiny
remote Welsh village, moves to the City to sit in dark room for years at a
time to make weirdo music to general bemusement of others.

How would you rate the health of the current Music Scene in Wales? Bands I
have previously chatted to bemoaned the lack of lack of an independent
mid-sized venue – resulting in less support slots for Local bands for
instance..  Is there anything you would do to improve the scene?

It’s healthy and vibrant.  Lots of people working hard for very little/no
financial gain just because they love music.  Gotta be admired.  Swn
festival is awesome, HUB festival too.  Personally I’ve always found it
really difficult to get gigs locally for Conformist so I can relate to that
struggle; would be great to have a larger venue in Cardiff to create some
more high profile support slots for our local bands.

Favorite Venue?
Locally Clwb Ifor Bach.  Good PA and sound engineers.

It is tempting to draw the comparison between your work and The Avalanches
‘Since I Left You’, what do you make of this?

Yeah that’s cool, I’ll take that!  Haven’t listened to that track in a long
time.

Favorite band/musicians?
I find reasons to dislike just about everyone but off the top of my
head….Flying Lotus, Clark, David Bowie.  That’s 3.  I can’t decide on 1.

Vinyl or CD?
I buy CD’s.  I totally get why people go vinyl but for what I do, if I hear
a sample that I want to use, I’d prefer to rip it from the CD.  Don’t like
the pop and crackle of vinyl when sampling.  Too Hip Hop cliché.

The best gig you’ve ever done?

Probably the Pop Factory last year.  During my first song people started to
put their coats on, not a good start, by the end of the second song the
venue was empty aside form my friends and the supports.  So that was a good
one. The Parrot in Carmarthen was a fun one; broke a knuckle and trashed my
£300 Kaoss Pad with a single kung-fu-esque arm chop.  Good times.

‘Post Death Sales Spikes’ – Bladerunner? Are you a fan of Vangelis?
Musically this is probably my least favorite track on the album and was the last thing I finished.  About 5 years ago my
best friend committed suicide; this is a loose tribute to him.  He would’ve got the humor in the track.  Not a massive Blade Runner fan, the score is cool, I prefer Ennio Morricone over Vangelis.

When we spoke earlier you said you had something up your sleeve for 2015..
Please, elaborate!

A new Conformist record before the summer, promote the fuck out of it,
hopefully play a few festivals and possible/probably tour.  Lots of
remixing.  Get a suntan.

Thanks for your time mate – all the best with future recordings (please give us a shout when its about!) 

Listen to ‘Paid To Fake It’ here:

http://www.conformistmusic.co.uk/#

Conformist’s Twitter page – https://twitter.com/conformistmusic/media

TB

Interview: Homes

54-46 bumped into Homes earlier this week to talk gigs out of a helicopter over Rome, Protestant Hymnals and his contemporary musical influences.. Catch his latest single Dualities Cave here.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCVG-0JrdV0

 

For non-believers and future converts, how would you best describe the Homes experience?

Harmonies, 1970’s track arrangements, soul chord progressions and a good old story!

Tell us a bit about your musical journey so far?

As far as I’m aware it started with my dads influence on me from a young age forcing copious amounts of Motown, Soul and 60/70s Garage Rock bands down my ears! He’s a drummer that’s been playing in bands since the 60s. He made sure that I had a very good understanding of rhythm before id ever even think of playing an instrument. My mother was a trained secondary school and a concert level pianist which probably explains my love for the classical and 19th century romantic composers. Unfortunately my school was pretty backward and I was told i was ‘ an unsuitable student to play music’ which has probably given me an urge to prove them wrong after all these years!

The first band I started was pretty awful Deep Purple wannabe band when i was 14 called the Outback. We were bad, but it gave me my first taste of playing to an audience and under pressure. It was where i started to write songs, arrange and learnt to record which I’ve developed over the last few years to where i am now. Since then I’ve played in dozens of bands and a number of different guises from solo to 6 piece world dance outfits. HOMES is the full band outlet for my songwriting and Dylan Morgan is what i go under for solo purposes. =

You describe your music as an amalgam of trip hop, neo-psychadelia, romantic composers of the 19th century and country. That’s quite an eclectic mix! Who would you describe as your biggest contemporary musical influences?

Good question and one I usually find hard to answer. I come from deepest darkest wales which is musically steeped in protestant hymnals, country and psychedelia which i believe manifests itself somewhat in the music I write for HOMES. But some contemporary artists and bands I really rate at the moment have to be Wave Pictures, Metronomy, Chilly Gonzales and Roberta Fonseca. They all have a big influence on my songwriting at the moment for all sorts of different reasons. Including arrangement, storytelling, use of harmony and all out energy!

What is the way forward for Homes? Any releases on the horizon?

Well at the moment we are recording an EP that is as yet untitled, but are really excited about. We’re hoping to have it out in the new year, but can’t guarantee a specific date as its a work in progress. What I can say is that we’re taken a step back playing live for the time being to get this done, but are gonna be playing plenty of shows and festivals next year!
As a Cardiff Band, how would you rate the health of the current South Wales music scene? 

The music industry as a whole, is in a bit of low point at the moment. Live music venues closing down, record companies folding and numbers are down for attending shows! I’ve been living in Cardiff for about a year and half now and am so happy to see the music scene not only alive and well but thriving as well. There’s an amazing community feel to the music scene here, which I never experienced when I was living in London. Of course like any industry there are cliques, but to be honest I’ve never really felt that here. If you’ve got something good to show for what you do musically and work hard, peoples ears will pick up and word will begin to travel. I love it and feel there’s something going on in Cardiff that the rest of the country need to wake up and pay attention to!

Any plans to tour?

Absolutely, once we have the EP out then we can book some shows to promote it.

Best gig you have ever played?

Easy, i once played a gig in a helicopter above Rome in Italy. It was pretty bonkers!

(Ed- Surely this needs some elaboration?!!?!?)
Best gig you have ever been to?

To be honest one of the best bands I’ve ever seen has to a band from Bristol called Goan Dogs. They’re a 6 piece that mix tropical soca and cypso beats with desert rock. Their harmonies are extraordinary as is their songwriting.

Favourite venue in Wales?

My favourite venue in wales is either the Moon in Cardiff, because it has a lot of character and sounds amazing. Or the Penarth Pavillion because its pretty grand.
If you had to burn a 5 track tape to impress a lover… what tracks would you pick?

Oh I’d just play her Astral Weeks by Van Morrison. But if she wasn’t into too much smultzy lovey dovey then probably The Meters – Rejuvenation

Vinyl, Mp3 or Other?

Vinyl hands down.
Your favourite musical decade?

The one were living in. There’s more incredible music being made now than ever before and am very fortunate to grow up in this digital age where we can access any type of music on the planet in an instant.

 

 

 

Wish you all the best in your upcoming EP…

 

TB