After releasing 2 singles as a teaser last year, you've just announced that your new record "Peace Jazz" is due to be released via Sellout! Music on May 3rd! Having been lucky enough to hear it already we couldn't be more excited for other people to be able to lose themselves in it too. What do you hope people will take away from the record?
That’s a good question, I really don’t know. I think for the first time we’ve made a record where we haven’t really thought about what other people will think or feel about it. It sounds like a cliche, but it’s true. The records before the hiatus we were still on some path—trying to get bigger or whatever. After the hiatus we felt a pressure to prove ourselves. We are in some ways on overtime, in a positive way; this band is more like family now than anything else; we just love doing it, being together. I hope that's what they take away from it.
The 2 singles released last year, Closer and Rainbows, have now been extensively tested live; so which one do you prefer playing and which one goes down best with the audience?
I think Closer. That one became kinda special to us. We played it with Sophia (Nightflowers) who guest sings on it in Oxford not too long ago and that was 4 minutes I’ll remember for a long time.
I read that "Peace Jazz" is supposed to capture a sound more authentic to how your live shows go? Can you tell us how you went about achieving this in the recording process?
Yeah, we rented this huge room that had great acoustics and just recorded a lot of what is on the album, live. Loud and with mics all over the place, looking at each other, drinking rum and coke—everything just became a little louder, vibier, and more in the moment and imperfect this way.
Is there anything else that you did differently for the writing and recording process of this album compared to previous ones?
Well, for the writing I had a lot of personal stuff happen that just ended up in the lyrics. I don’t think I’ve been that direct before.
With such an extensive discography, do you find yourselves changing your live set regularly to keep older songs in rotation?
Yeah, I mean if anything we can at least weed out the ones that don’t work that well, and just have 12 or so for each tour that we do. It is pretty great to start rehearsals for a tour asking each other what we want to play and trying out stuff you haven’t played in years but your body remembers what to do.
What are your goals going into this new record era?
We just had such a great time after the last album, and that was put together in the studio layer by layer. This time it was a more collective thing, so it will just be great to get out and play the songs live. I guess that’s the goal, just get out there and enjoy ourselves with the music we’ve made.
Prior to your hiatus in 2007 you were releasing music pretty regularly, and as "Peace Jazz" will only be your second record since ending the hiatus I'm curious to know if there's a reason behind this change. Are you finding it a healthier way to be in a band by taking more time in between records? Or is it just due to growing older and having other commitments?
Well prior to the hiatus the band was everything, and the reason for us actually breaking up was that we needed to find other things to rely on, to do—whether it was getting an education, making other music, starting a family. The band became a negative, even though things were going well. We became jaded, you know. But after a while, a few years where we really didn’t speak—which was strange as we grew up together—we did a one-off reunion show that just felt great, and we just fell in love with it again. So now we just have to make sure it’s good for us to do the band.
Can you tell us a little about the Norwegian indie scene? Any bands or artists we should be checking out that are as good as you guys?
It’s amazing, there’s so much going on and it’s hard to keep track of it all. There is this band I really like called Modern Love that are a bunch of great people from the punk scene. Girl in Red is awesome and she is really inspiring, Tuvaband that I got to work with on their new album that they are finishing—they came and recorded basic tracks live at my studio and it sounded huge, and the songs were so heavy and great. I like a lot of the more experimental stuff happening too.
Having been a band for over 20 years this might be a hard question to answer, but when you think of the best moment of your career, what comes to mind?
I don’t have one specific moment, or there might be just a bunch of moments, but long flashes of euphoria playing in front of people singing along and just getting big smiles from the other band members, there have been a few of those moments that have just been unreal, and suddenly something you wrote is not just yours anymore—it belongs to other people too, the music has a purpose.
And lastly, what does Beezewax have in the works for the future?
We will release one more song from the forthcoming album out May 3rd, then tour in the UK, Spain, Scandinavia, Japan. We haven’t really planned much more then that.
Quick Fire
The one song I wish I wrote is...
God Only Knows by The Beach Boys.
Three things I can’t live without are...
My little Japanese frying pan, my ADR compex compressor, fairfield four eyes fuzz pedal.
Phones out, or phones away if you're watching a band live...
Phones away.
Three adjectives that describe my life are...
Turquoise, distorted, skaterat.
If I held a world record it would be for...
Telling stories without proper endings or points.
My first memory of loving music is...
Watching an Elvis TV concert when I was 3.
The song of mine that I am the most proud of is…
That song Closer, I would listen to that if someone else had that song.
My favourite venue I've ever played is…
Paradiso, Amsterdam.
The ideal environment for me to create music in is…
In my studio before 10:00.
If I could have any two bands open for me they would be…
American Analog Set and dEUS.
Album Review: Dogs And Cats / Living Together by The Stayawakes
Album Review: Dogs And Cats / Living Together by @thestayawakes
Southsea punk rock band The Stayawakes release their debut album Dogs And Cats / Living Together on 11th June via Surefire Discs, BadHORROR and ShoveItUpYourCult Records. Named as an homage to the 1980’s slasher movie genre, south coast UK power-pop quintet The Stayawakes deliver big-hearted jams and sweet harmonies.
Underpinned by friendships going back decades, schoolyard rivals Andrew Ricks…
We're back from our Norwegian adventure, full of love and warmth for the people and places we've encountered along the way. Thanks so much to Kenneth, Chris, Mattias, Jan Eric, Thomas and their families for taking such good care of us and for showing us a humbling amount of kindness and generosity. Yeah, yeah... Take it easy. X
