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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Spokes
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 13 January 2011
Originally formed in Preston in 2006, close-knit Mancunian outfit Spokes first gained recognition in 2008 with their self released EP ‘People Like People Like You’. Their latest single ‘We Can Make It Out’ was released in November, and is an uplifting mix of soaring strings and raucous shoe-gaze with a grandiose choral sound.
In eager anticipation of the forthcoming album, ‘Everyone I Ever Met’, due to be released through Ninja Tune imprint Counter Records on 17 Jan, we approached the band’s Liam Morley with our Same Six line of questioning.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I always loved writing lyrics when I was younger, I’d play really simple guitar lines for them and record it onto a four-track, then never play it to anyone. Owain was pretty much the same, he played in a lot of bands, though, and worked in a little community studio, so he got to stay after hours and record his stuff playing one layer at a time. He can play a lot of different instruments because of that. JM and Matt were in different bands together for years, but Ruth had only played in orchestras and choirs, so Spokes is actually her first ever band.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Intense feelings of love, impatience, parties in JM and Matt’s basement, cold rehearsal rooms in Manchester, our wonderful warm rehearsal space at JM’s parents house in the north east, and Ruth’s piano that never quite went completely in tune.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Sometimes me or Owain will bring in some kind of idea or half written song and then we’ll flesh it out, often with it being completely different in the end. Most of the time though we’ll just come up with stuff on the spot and jam it out. It always gets interesting when you first demo stuff because you really get a sense of what going to work or where the song needs to go.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
We try and let each song have it’s own personality and be different from the last, so it would be hard to pick out specific influences. Stuff that gets played in the van though would include The Doors, Sonic Youth, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Dave Brubeck, Kate Bush, Sunn O))), Peter Broderick, that kind of thing.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Turn the lights off, light the fire.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
Our dearest hope is that as many people enjoy the new album as possible and we get to travel around playing shows and having fun. Repeat as needed.
MORE>> www.myspace.com/spokessound
