FEATURE: Spotlight: Blue Bendy — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Blue Bendy

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AS I am keen to cove…

PHOTO CREDIT: Jason Sheehan

a range of artists from different genres for my Spotlight run, I come to a sextet who are very promising. You do not hear of many larger bands. Apart from the likes of Black Country, New Road, and a few others, most bands are four or five-piece. One band I am new to but very excited about are Blue Bendy. They do not have too many tracks and videos on YouTube at present, so it is best to check them out on Bandcamp and Spotify. I am going to pepper in some of their tracks. So we can discover more about a brilliant young band, there are some good interviews out there. The next two are a bit shorter and punchier. Loud and Quiet spent time with the band early last year. It is exciting seeing this fascinating band cement their sound and take steps forward:

“It seems that the band has come a long way since those early show. Formed in 2017 by Nolan and guitarist/synth player Joe Nash shortly after both had moved to London from Scunthorpe (“I was just sort of making some music on my own and Joe had heard them. He approached me and said, ‘You’re amazing, can I start a band with you?’ and I said, ‘Yeah fine.’”), the band was initially completed by bassist Sam Wilson, Harrison Charles on guitar, and Oscar Tebbit on drums. “We asked [Oscar] to join because he could ride a motorbike and we thought that’d be a good idea. It’s good for posing with,” Nolan deadpans. It wasn’t until they’d been gigging for almost a year that Morgan joined the group, bringing with her another synthesiser and softly-uttered vocals that serve as the perfect counterpart to Nolan’s Lincolnshire drawl – think Laetitia Sadier meeting Mark E. Smith. “Since Olivia joined, it feels like we’ve been trying to make something weirder, and poppier,” says Nash.

Their first show as a six-piece was in June 2018, although Morgan was yet to learn all the parts. “I’d only been playing for a week or something, so I was kind of fake playing on stage,” she laughs. “No one knew.” More gigs followed, including coveted support slots with Squid, The Magic Gang, Scalping and Omni, which won them plenty of new fans, including Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos, who approached them backstage after the Omni show. “We came offstage and he was just there talking to us,” says Nolan. Do they keep in touch? “I think we sent him a meme,” quips Morgan. “We have a bit of back and forth with him on Instagram,” says Nash, “he’s a part-time commenter on our posts.” Surely enough, when a picture of the band crops up on my feed that evening, Kapranos has commented: “Great photo!”.

The band are planning on sending him their new music once it’s done, and they share a collaborator – the producer Margo Broom, who has worked with Goat Girl and Fat White Family, and at whose Hermitage Works Studios Blue Bendy have been spending increasing amounts of time. Broom comes up a lot over the course of our chat, and it’s clear that access to her and her studios has had a major impact in developing the band’s sound.

“She heard ‘Suspension’ and wanted to get us in,” Nolan recalls. “I guess she liked it to some degree and thought she could do a better job, basically.” Broom seems to be a kind of mentor and, at times, a seventh member. “I don’t think [she] would like me saying this, but we’re often sort of all over the shoulder, keeping an eye on what she’s doing. They say not to make certain things part of a committee, but it’s quite a lot of give and take, I think.”

IN THIS PHOTO: Tom Porter for Loud and Quiet

Making things happen genuinely by committee, in a band of six, is no mean feat, but it is clear that each member has a real say in every aspect of Blue Bendy. “It’s democratic, isn’t it?” Charles says, as the others appropriately nod. “I think when there’s six of you, you’ve gotta realise – and it’s taken a while – that sometimes less is more. And you’ve just got to strip everything back.”

“I mean, we all have the same end goal,” says Nash, adding that having Hermitage Studios at their disposal has helped the group dynamic. “Before, you’d be in like a pressure cooker of a three-hour studio that you’re renting for £15 an hour. And everybody wants their part at the end of the day, and you’re trying to argue for it but also trying to think about it fitting into the song. We’re much better at it now, but in the past there have been times where you had to either stand your ground and stake your claim, or just think, ‘This isn’t worth it’ and accept the change.”

“There’s a lot of slaying of darlings isn’t there?” posits Nolan.

“There’s a lot of slaying of dreadful songs as well,” replies Charles, much to the others’ amusement. Even watching them interact over Zoom, it’s obvious how well and how easily they get along.

“I wanted to basically come out of it a new band,” says Nolan. “Lots more things recorded, nearly a completely different setlist – to feel like we’re taking it up a notch. And I think that’s kind of what we’re achieving, I think we are much tighter, I think we’re better musically than we were before. We’ve never felt more cohesive. I certainly haven’t felt as happy with everything as a whole as I do now”.

I like Blue Bendy a lot. They released the E.P., Motorbike, on 11th February. I am sure that we will get even new music this year from them. If you have not followed them, then make sure that you keep abreast of all their happenings. Fred Perry fired some questions their way. I have selected a few that caught the eye:

“Name, where are you from?

JN: We’re Blue Bendy (Arthur Nolan (Vocals), Joe Nash (Guitar), Harrison Charles (Guitar), Olivia Morgan (Keys & Vocals), Sam Wilson (Bass) and Oscar Tebbutt (Drums)), based around New Cross in London, as individual members we’re far-flung. Scunthorpe, Warrington, Guildford, Devon and Woodbridge.

Describe your style in three words?

AN: Do not crease.

OM: Still The Same.

Of all the venues you’ve been to or played, which is your favourite?

JN: We played the Crescent Community venue in York not so long ago, the whole set up was great, really friendly staff and punters and it sounded great.

A song you wished you had written?

AN: 'Happy Hour' by The House Martins.

Best song to turn up loud?

JN: 'Something For Joey' by Mercury Rev.

A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?

OM: Probably something like 'Into Dust' by Bladee. Maybe people would expect that? I don’t know.

Best song to end an all-nighter on?

AN: 'Clock' by Plaid.

OM: 'Best Days' by Blur.

Any new music you are listening to right now?

AN: No one you don’t know already. Everyone we know in London is making uncompromising music; not least Jean Penne and Legss.

JN: I really love the new Vanishing Twin album, I’d say we share a big crossover of influences with them. GLOWS keeps bringing out consistently great singles too.

OM: My friend showed me Helena Celle recently and I’m really loving it – again just loads of obscure synth sounds. Also, Keg are really great live and really excited to hear more from them”.

Prior to concluding, there is one more interview that I want to highlight. This one is from DIY. They asked some more general and non-music-specific questions of one of the most promising bands of 2022:

“Describe your music to us in the form of a Tinder bio.

Sextuple looking to experiment.

What’s your earliest musical memory?

Probably listening to something in my dad’s car when he’d pick me up on a friday. Enon’s knock that door comes to mind.

Who were some artists that inspired you when you were just starting out (and why)?

Just anything dark or weird or poppy. Iceage, Broadcast, Orange Juice.

You’re from South London! What do you think of the music scenes there at the moment?

I’m not sure we personally feel connected to any London scenes, but we have lots of friends in London making great music.

Are there any other artists breaking through at the same time that you take inspiration from?

Seeing bands you know personally, playing to arenas and being nominated for Mercury Prizes has without doubt pushed us to work a lot harder and expand our musical capabilities. We’d be less good if it wasn’t for that without doubt. Ned Green and the Legsss boys are very old friends so there’s a touch of healthy competition there too.

Who would be your dream collaborator?

Lord knows. A post session becks blue with JPEG might be wild.

Musically or otherwise, what are you most looking forward to this year?

Just more recording and lots of shows. We play in Europe for the first time in a couple of weeks and we’re excited.

If people could take away one thing from your music, what would it be?

I suppose just thinking it’s cool. Everyone we speak to seems to take something different from it”.

Go and follow Blue Bendy and show them some love. With a great and possibly busy year ahead of them, it is a good time to be a fan. I am hoping to see them live if they have any London gigs coming up soon. A fantastic group with a compelling sound, there is no doubt that Blue Bendy…

ARE going to go far.

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