Fireworks Night by James Shedden.
Straight from the opening clatter of Settle Down its clear that the new album from Fireworks Night (championed in Amelia’s Magazine many a moon ago) is something quite special. A violin curls hypnotically around the driving beat as the lyrics relish the ‘untold pleasures of human interaction‘ in grand orchestral style. (Why not teach yourself to play like this? Find excellent beginner violin lessons with private teachers here.) Across the Sea is a partly delicate, partly bitter tale that yearns for something more far away across time and space, whilst the grind of strings dominates in Broken Bottles. Even as the vocals come to the fore, as in That Easy Way (where the falsetto has more than a touch of Antony Hegarty) there is always a defiant beat to drive the melody along. One Winter, One Spring is a rollicking slice of what I have decided to term chamber folk: a beguiling mix of folk inspired narrative and chamber pop largesse (I say that in a good way) On the day of the album release I caught up with founding member James Lesslie.
Fireworks Night by Alex Green aka MSTR GRINGO.
What have you been up to since we last spoke in 2007? Has it been an eventful few years? What has changed and what has remained the same?
It has been a very eventful four years, even if the time between the two albums might suggest otherwise. When last we spoke the band was more a collective – which is perhaps a fancy way of saying I hadn’t worked out how to organise things properly. In the second half of 2007 Rhiannon and Neil, then Ed, joined playing violin, viola and drums respectively. In the autumn of that year we toured with another band that Ed and I were in called The Mules (also featured in Amelia’s Magazine, fact fans) and that cemented the line-up. It’s been the six of us ever since with the other half being made up of myself, Tim on piano and Nick on guitar and too many other instruments to mention. Through 2007 and 2008 we were lucky enough to play with some bands who I very much admire such as Frog Eyes, Sunset Rubdown and David Thomas Broughton. We also recorded and released an E.P in 2008 and began work on the album in 2009. We recorded it ourselves and that and other boring practical issues led to the rather long time it’s taken for us to release it.
New album One Winter, One Spring is released on Monday 7th November, did you deliberately time it for this time of year?
We had initially hoped it would come out in the summer so it was not entirely deliberate. When things got delayed it was suggested and seemed an apt, if a little hokey, combination.
What prompted your name, was it a particularly love of Bonfire Night?
It was the result of a rather poor joke that I can no longer remember. It has since turned out that my mum loves fireworks – she bounds to the window any time they appear near the house – and has decided we’re named on account of this, a story I don’t want to spoil.
Fireworks Night by Victoria Haynes.
Your music is described as a cross between folk and chamber pop, has it always been thus, and what influences have helped to shape your unique sound?
I think so, though the chamber pop factor has seemingly increased over the last few years. I think our sound is the product of the multitude of musical interests that the six of us have. I hope I am right when I say that Nick is keen on people such as William Basinski and Arvo Part, Rhiannon enjoys Bellowhead, Ed likes ABC, Neil Wild Beasts and Tim has all of the Tom Waits albums – they all end up in there in some shape or form. You might have to listen closely but they’re there.
What inspires your lyrics and who writes them? I hear that family, home and the sea are strong themes, why is this?
I write the lyrics to the songs. It is difficult to say what specifically inspires them but generally it might be the pleasure of attempting to express an emotion, a story, or a visual image that the music might have suggested with language. I was a few songs into writing the album when I noticed that the themes you mention seemed to be recurring in the lyrics so I thought I would try and develop them. The reason for their initial appearance may be where I grew up which was near the ocean. The attention to family and home probably connects to that as well as the fact that we are all around the end of our twenties and perhaps thinking about such things. Our parties these days have more food and less own-brand spirits with white labels that bark their contents, GIN, VODKA, WHISKY. Ouch.
Across the Sea by Zyzanna.
Have you made any videos to accompany this album and if so where can I see them and what are they about?
There are some videos on their way we hope. There’s one for Settle Down that’s being made by a man named Nate Camponi who I have never met but is very good with a camera. It is very near completion and should be visible in the next week or two. There are subsequent plans for doing ones for Across the Sea and One Winter, One Spring, the former hopefully will be done in mid-December and the latter mid-January. Ideas so far have included the use of old super-8 footage and film-noir using Lego. We shall see what emerges and let you know when it does.
Settle Down
What are your plans for the future and can we see you playing live anywhere soon?
We will be celebrating the album’s release with a show at The Wheelbarrow with the Bleeding Heart Narrative in London on 17th November and I think we’re also playing at the New Cross Inn on 14th December. We all have jobs and other things that make playing shows a less regular event then they used to be. We currently aim for one per month which seems to be working out. We will see how things go with this album before plotting our next project. I already have songs ready to go so we shall see what happens. I’d really like to get everyone together and have dinner at some point in the near future as well.
Here’s to a heartwarming Fireworks Night dinner sometime soon. One Winter, One Spring is out today on Organ Grinder Records. Make sure you grab a copy and spread the word because Fireworks Night is too good to be a part time project!
Fireworks Night by SarahJayneDraws aka Sarah Jayne Morris.
Categories ,ABC, ,Across the Sea, ,album, ,Alex Green, ,Antony Hegarty, ,Arvo Part, ,Bellowhead, ,Bleeding Heart Narrative, ,Broken Bottles, ,Chamber Folk, ,Chamber Pop, ,David Thomas Broughton, ,Fireworks Night, ,Frog Eyes, ,James Lesslie, ,James Shedden, ,MSTR GRINGO, ,Nate Camponi, ,New Cross Inn, ,One Winter One Spring, ,Organ Grinder Records, ,review, ,Sarah Jayne Morris, ,Settle Down, ,Stravinsky, ,Sunset Rubdown, ,That Easy Way, ,The Firebird, ,The Mules, ,The Wheelbarrow, ,Tom Waits, ,Victoria Haynes, ,Wild Beasts, ,William Basinski, ,Zyzanna
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