Congrats on the release of ‘Grey & Old’! It’s such an enchanting and magnetic melody. What was the recording process for this single like?
Jack: “Thank you! It was a very simple process really, we didn’t want to overcomplicate it. It was recorded over a couple of days in our rehearsal room in Bristol, which ironically isn’t really built to record in at all.”
“We really wanted the song to breathe, so we chose not to use a click track. The base of the song is a live take of acoustic guitar which was actually the first take, then we overdubbed the vocals and Aidan’s electric guitar. Our drummer Paddy helped us record it too and we asked our good friend Jamie Beale, who mixed all of our previous releases, to mix it and that was pretty much it! We’re a bit clueless when it comes to the technical side of recording and mixing, hence our friends helping out, but this was kind of our first attempt at self-producing and we’re pretty proud of how it turned out!”
How did you all meet and when did you know you wanted to create music together?
Jack: “Me and Aidan met nearly 7 years ago now at University in Bath and we were best mates for years before we started the band. We always had a lot of crossover in our music tastes and would always turn each other onto new music. English Weather itself kind of started during lockdown in 2020. Aidan was actually living in Japan at the time and because of various COVID restrictions neither of us were going out very much. We started sending each other voice memos of songs we’d been writing, not for any reason other than just to get feedback from each other on if we were actually any good at it. Surprisingly we seemed to naturally write in a really similar style and at some point we agreed to try writing some music together when Aidan moved back to England. That’s how it all started really, it was just something fun to do and working together felt really natural! We spent a long time messing around and being really, really bad before we put a name to it and tried to record some songs properly.”
“We decided to search for some extra members a couple of years ago as we were starting to write and record more complicated arrangements that we were struggling to perform as a duo. We found our drummer Paddy on a local Facebook group and Tom, our bass player, we found on an app that’s basically Tinder for musicians. It’s a pretty perfect line up, we all get on really well and just gel really well musically.”
Where do you draw most of your inspiration for your songwriting?
Jack: “I think we both tend to draw heavily from personal experiences. In fact I really struggle to write about things that haven’t happened to me. “
“My song writing tends to be very emotionally driven and I’m really interested in how relatable very personal subjects can be. We’re all living through similar feelings and struggles and there’s something oddly beautiful about that.”
Which musical era or decade do you feel most connected to?
Aidan: “I think we all are connected to the music of the 70s in the band. Personally, I grew up resonating with punk rock music from bands like The Ramones and The Stooges which gave me a sense of identity. I also loved how the 70s birthed great funk bands like Parliament and Funkadelic, leading to some of the coolest samples in Hip Hop. Then getting older, I grew to love the folk revival and poetic singer songwriters like Neil Young, Dylan and Nick Drake. All of these influenced our music in some shape or form with each member of the band having a love of 70s music.”
What would you like listeners to take away from ‘Grey & Old’?
Jack: “There are a lot of songs about romantic love out there, but not many that I can think of about unconditional love and family. I hope it makes listeners think of someone special and appreciate the love that person has given them. Maybe it’s a parent, a sibling or someone they’ve lost along the way.”
What’s your take on the current balance between artistic integrity and commercial success in the industry?
Aidan: “The music industry these days feels rather unforgiving when it comes to commercial success. We see a big rise in new artists starting out with financial backing to create and produce the music they want. However, we do see a few musicians, from humble beginnings, out there who through persistence and dedication can break through into commercial success. Bands like Idles are proof that putting in the years and staying true to your artistic intentions can eventually pay off and bring giant commercial success. As a band, I think it’s important to remember why we make music; and for us it’s always been because we love writing songs. Seeing how we can push ourselves and evolve, whilst staying true to our roots is always going to be fulfilling, regardless of any commercial success.”
What musical goals do you have for the near future?
Aidan: “English Weather is currently in a very exciting time, we have finally reached a full band line up and that has allowed us to flesh out songs like never before. We are keeping our heads down writing and recording new music with the intention of putting this out incrementally throughout the coming months. In terms of performances, we now feel lucky enough to be picky with our live shows and hope to build a supportive community of fellow artists and fans that love grassroots music.”
You can listen to Grey & Old + the rest of English Weather’s discography here: