INTERVIEW: Screamin’ Whisper — Music Musings & Such

INTERVIEW:

Screamin’ Whisper

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AN insatiable force with a brand of music that…

fills the body and provokes all sort of imaginative visions – Screamin’ Whisper are the band to get the heart, bones and brain buzzing. I have been speaking with them about their upcoming album, Filth, and the themes that inspired it. They talk about their latest single, Angels Don’t Watch Broken Homes, and what happens now – where they are touring and what they have planned.

The guys talk about their musical influences and how their songs come together; how the band stand out in a busy market; if they get time to unwind away from music – the lads each select a song to end the interview.

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Hi, guys. How are you? How has your week been?

Hi. Our week has been good. We’ve been rehearsing hard for our album launch on 17th May at Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh. Our drummer, Zak, also got an ‘unconditional’ for college; doing drumming, of course...so we had a celebration.

For those new to your music; can you introduce yourselves, please?

We’re Screamin’ Whisper, an Edinburgh-based band. We’re a kind of Rock/Indie sound, I suppose. We’re a three-piece, made up of a set of identical twins, Brian and Martin - and Zak, who is almost the triplet we never had.

Angels Don’t Watch Broken Homes is your current single. What inspired the song?

Yes. It’s the newest single from our album, Filth. It was inspired by realising that, sometimes, it’s better to move on sooner rather than later – when something will never be the same again, the memories are probably better left intact.

It is from your upcoming album, Filth. Are there particular themes that influenced the songwriting?

In terms of themes, there was no conscious theme through the whole thing, really. In hindsight; it seems influenced by experiences of being young and making mistakes. Maybe finding out that the world isn’t as forgiving as you’d sometimes like...

In summary; a lot of stupidity was involved.

I hear bits of The Rolling Stones and T. Rex in your music. Would it be fair to say you have a love of Rock and Glam legends?

Yeah. There’s a lot of influence from that sort of era. Brian, our singer, gets compared, vocally, to Marc Bolan quite often, actually.

When we play live, we get compared to The Stones surprisingly often as well. I guess it’s the fact we try to put on a show. We’re not really a stagnant band when we play live: there’s a lot of space to play with on stage when you’re a three-piece, which is nice.

What sort of music did you all grow up around? Did you always know you wanted to be musicians?

We all grew up around relatively old music: certainly, not listening to the current charts, anyway. Bands like The Doors, Bob Dylan or, even, Gorillaz all had a big impact on our early years.

We have all been quite sure music was something we wanted to do from a young age. So, when we formed in 2015 - after several years of playing together in other projects - we were quite sure that we were all set on a career in music.

How does a Screamin’ Whisper song come together? Do you all write songs together – or will someone tackle lyrics and bring it to the rest of the band?

Brian does the writing for the band. He usually sits down to write on his acoustic guitar and then brings it in to show the rest of us. Sometimes, he comes in with a full demo he recorded, with all the parts for us to hear. Other times, we just jam it out in the rehearsal room. It really depends on how clear an idea he has on what the song should be.

There are a lot of bands out there right now. How do you guys stand out from the crowd?

I think we stand out because we try to take things into our own hands as much as possible. We design our own merchandise - which reflects the band. Things like our T-shirts that say ‘Basser Is a Knobhead’ sold out very quickly because our fans realise that our bassist is, in fact, a knobhead.

So; I think it’s more about being yourself than ever - especially when people can see a lot of sides to you by simply checking out what you’re like online.

Do you have any gigs lined up? Where can we see you play?

Right now, we’re just focused on our album launch. We’ve been keeping gigging quite dry since the first single came out last month, to focus on rehearsal and, also, we can build a hype for the album launch next month. We’re hoping to fit in a few festivals in the summer and we’re making plans for a tour as well.

What do you hope to achieve in 2018?

We’re hoping to (just) build out following and profile on the back of the album. It’s all about continuous progress for us. Once you’re moving forward, there’s nothing to complain about. We also have plans to have our second album finished by Christmas. It’s pretty much written so, after festival season, it’ll be straight to recording, really.

Have you each got a favourite memory from your time in music – the one that sticks in the mind?

As a band, the best memory must be when we played in the National Museum in Edinburgh. It was really special; it has high ceilings and is really picturesque. (There were dinosaurs there!). But, also, we had a great showing of support that night, so the atmosphere was electric. It really was one of those magic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

If you could support any musician alive today, and choose your own rider, what would that entail?

Probably The Rolling Stones. Just to say you’d shared a stage with a band like that would be a story to tell the grandkids. I’d say they’ve got a few great stories to tell in the dressing room, too! Or, maybe, Liam Gallagher. He always has nuggets of top quality wisdom to impart - or just his outspoken opinions are a sight to behold.

As for a rider; beer is a must. Probably sandwiches or crisps, too. They’re always good to keep you going. Although, Martin doesn’t ever eat before we play. He feels like he’ll be sick if he does. I can only imagine him vomiting on the front row…like a scene from the early days of Punk!

What advice would you give to new artists coming through?

First thing is to always get things in writing. Otherwise, be real: put on a show and learn every aspect of the business. It’s your job to do it right until somebody else offers to do it for you better. That’s the practical advice out of the way…

But, as for being a band; be something that everyone else is afraid to be. If you are something that people don’t see every day, that’s more than just the music, then people will want to see it in person. Like a circus!

IN THIS PHOTO: Imelda May

Are there any new artists you recommend we check out?

We’re big into people like Imelda May. She’s got a really cool Soul/Rockabilly vibe...or maybe Sundara Karma. They’ve got a nice, loose Indie vibe. There’s a lot of quite strong bands of that ilk around in Britain at the minute. Good stuff.

IN THIS PHOTO: Sundara Karma/PHOTO CREDIT: Anna Maria Lopez

Do you get much time to chill away from music? How do you unwind?

Recently, there hasn’t been so much time away from music. But, when we have time, drinking is always a winner or, if it counts as time away from music, going to see local bands is also a winner.

Brian dabbles in animation and has been working on some cool visuals for the upcoming shows. Zak often can be found at the local skatepark. But, reading is generally a great escape.

Finally, and for being good sports; you can each choose a song and I’ll play it here (not any of your music - I will do that).

Okay…three choices:

We Are the Dead by David Bowie