I recently got the chance to catch up with Edinburgh's own Painting Rockets for a chat!
How would you sum up your 2018? Keli - "Our 2018 as a band was both quiet and huge. We spent most of the time behind the scenes writing our new record and planning out what direction we are heading in. It's been a year we've needed to really focus on how to tighten up our craft and collaborate with more people, which is what we've done, and as a result we have produced the most solid music we've ever written. Our highlight had to be spending 5 days down at Abbey Road Studios recording our new songs. It was an unreal experience, one I didn't think I would ever get. It was special, and I'm very excited to show everyone what we've been up to." Stephen - "We actually started out the year by playing at the legendary King Tut's in Glasgow, so that was pretty cool and the crowd was great, but for the rest of the year we focused solely on recording new material for 2019." Plans for 2019? Keli - "Big plans! We've rebranded, have new releases to come, changed our direction and plan to show all this off to people very soon! 2019 is the year we come out from behind the scenes and back into putting ourselves out there for everyone to see." Stephen - "We've been working very hard on writing and recording new music with Luke Bovill of Woes, and it's a brand new side from us that's inspired by pop and lo-fi vibes. So we're very excited to drop that this year and play everywhere we possibly can." Any new music in the pipeline? Keli - "Heck yes. Lots of it. And it's nothing like anything we've done before." What are your influences for song writing? Keli - "I'm really influenced by pop and soul. My natural vocal and melodies tend to go towards that. Soul for the feeling behind it, pop for the fun behind it. My guitar is really influenced by indie artists such as Arctic Monkeys and the 1975 as well as Lianna La Havas and Maggie Rodgers. My influences are a big mish mash of genres. It's bringing all those elements together that I find most fun." Stephen - "I think when we first stated out we gravitated towards the sound of bands like Paramore, Pvris and Biffy Clyro. But lately I've been loving The 1975, No Rome, Billie Eilish and Bring Me The Horizon. We've been listening to a lot of pop and electronic music in the studio." Thoughts on the Scottish Music Scene? Keli - "The Scottish music scene has had it's up and downs for sure. It's such a small community when you look in the scale of things compared with the rest of the world, which I think makes it harder for people to take notice. Edinburgh has taken a massive hit with venue closures, which is sad as the capital. But I think in some way it made people's attitude to attending live shows and supporting local artists change. It's a great scene absolutely bursting with talent, we just need to keep supporting it so it gets the recognition it deserves. Stephen - "I think the Scottish scene is strong right now. There's definitely a resurgence of pop and rock bands in Edinburgh & Glasgow, and I think what's great about it is that we're all there to help each other out." Favourite Scottish bands or artists? Keli - "Oh, so many. I think the Scottish scene is brimming with fantastic music, and it's cool to see Scottish artists being successful in the industry at the moment. My favourites right now have to be Lewis Capaldi and it's a bonus that he's so funny. Be Charlotte's new track is awesome. Fatherson are one of my all time favourites - Ross' voice is one of the best out there. VUKOVI are killing it for females in rock and those riffs are insane. Another favourite of mine is Woes. We work very closely with Luke and he's showed us the new album and people are gonna go nuts for it. It's killer." Stephen - "Donnie Willow, Woes, Ikari are killing it right now." If you could cover a song, what would it be and why? Keli - "My day job is to cover songs for people's weddings so I'm out of ideas! One I'm practicing right now is And I Am Telling You by Jennifer Hudson because I wanna be able to nail those high notes. I'm also working on a Cher cover. Because... Cher." Stephen - "I've never been a fan of covering a song in the same genre, so it would maybe have to be something so out of left field. Maybe one of the new Billie Eilish tunes, You Should See Me In A Crown is a banger." What's the most bizarre thing to happen while you were onstage? Keli - "I'm not sure it counts as bizarre, but I know it was embarrassing. I remember speaking between songs and doing the usual patter of "we'll be kicking about after the show, come speak to us" and I remember pointing to what I thought was my manager at the time and specifically saying "and our manager Chrissy, who's over there, will be by the merch stand so come say hey" and this poor guy looked back at me so confused and concerned whilst my manager Chrissy starts waving at the back screaming "no, no, Keli, I'm over here". The whole crowd laugh and I looked like an idiot. I didn't have my glasses on, okay?" Stephen - "It was more of a terrifying moment, let me try and set the scenario. We were playing at King Tut's last year, ready to open the set with a brand new song. After our set intro, I was supposed to hit this big riff to start it all off, but my rig decided to completely reset itself leading to a couple seconds of complete silence. Luckily it kicked back in just as the drums came in, but for a second I almost seen my life flash before my eyes. It did accidentally sound great though, so maybe that should happen more." If you only had one album to listen to, what would it be? Keli - "Oh my gosh, that is a ridiculously hard question. I'll narrow it down to three? Paramore - After Laughter, Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway, and Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not." Stephen - "This would probably change every month for me, but it would likely be The 1975's 'I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it'." What is your guilty pleasure song? Keli - "I have no regrets and feel guilty about none of my musical choices. But anything Hannah Montana is up there. Miley 4ever." Stephen - "Take On Me by a-ha, I have no idea why. It just happens." If you had your own festival, who would be your 3 headliners? Keli - "This answer drastically changes depending on my mood but at the moment it is Paramore, NAO, Frank Ocean"
Stephen - "Painting Rockets, obviously, Foo Fighters and Biffy Clyro. Just because I'd like to meet them and watch them play live from the side."
Comentários