Scarlet Rascal has released their much anticipated debut album; an ambitious, rough and ready achievement which marries driving guitars with dark, hazy sonic textures and a strikingly deep vocal sound. Scarlet Rascal unite a distinct concoction of alternative ideas that tap into Joy Division, The Birthday Party and ‘Love’–era The Cult whilst also neatly neighbouring the likes of The Velvet Underground and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Mixed by Geoff Barrow of Portishead and Craig Silvey (New Order, Baxter Dury, The Horrors), Scarlet Rascal’s debut is a ringing, tense and unique proposition… We talk to Luke Brookes about spontaneity, the pleasures of touring and stand-up comedy…
TSH: For the band, how valuable can it be to embrace spontaneity whilst forming new music?
Luke: I think it's very valuable. In terms of the recording, I think the closer the recording is to the conception of the song the better. With some songs the best time you'll ever play them is the second or third time. With the second record I'd like to record that very quickly, perhaps a week or less. In terms of the live show it's unavoidable, songs on a record are never finished and never should be, they're just documentations of what the song sounded like on that day.
TSH: In terms of themes, what were you primarily drawn to?
Luke: With this album, I didn't really write with any particular themes in mind. Then afterwards things you weren't aware of at the time just sort of jump out at you, things that are in your subconscious find their way into the songs.
TSH: Is it beneficial that the band as a whole is able to inform the varied taste that you guys conjure up?
Luke: I think too much of that can be a bad thing. You can hear it sometimes in bands where the individual members are pulling in too many different directions and the music becomes undefined. I think if there's less of that the music becomes more defined. I think with the next record that's something I'm going to be stricter with, strip everything back to make an album that just does one thing, maybe two things at a push.
TSH: What’s pleased you most about your way of working for this debut release?
Luke: I think that the album was predominantly recorded in a live room with all the amps and the drums in the same room, which was really important. You hear so many bizarre arguments as to why that's a bad way to record and why you should track it instead, like we should do it that way or we won't get on the radio or just simply because it's what everyone does now as opposed to whether it's actually just better or worse.
TSH: Was ‘Pearl’ identified early on as album opener?
Luke: ‘Pearl’ was always going to be the opener. It's almost impossible to imagine it anywhere else. The same when we play it live; it has to go at the beginning or nowhere at all.
TSH: What does a track like ‘Blood Orange’ signify to you?
Luke: Nothing at all and that’s kind of its point. I read an interview with somewhere around that time where someone was saying writing should never be intellectual, you shouldn't know what you're writing about, you should just write it. So that song was kind of an experiment in that. It's funny though because even trying to write from that viewpoint the song still has a kind of story to it.
TSH: Was there anything that you read, watched or heard that crept its way into production for this release?
Luke: Thinking back now there are things I can remember having listened to that I might maybe have just heard once ever that somehow found their way in. I know The Shangri-las were a definite influence on Here I Am.
TSH: Which attributes of touring do you mostly appreciate?
Luke: At this point it's the pleasure of being unknown. On this tour that we're on right now a very small percentage of the audience has ever even heard of us. I think it's good for a band to go up on stage without any anticipation or fanfare from the audience. Sometimes when you see a band go up on stage and the audience goes wild before they've even started - you just think well the band has already won, where do they go from here?
TSH: What is it about tension in a room that you find intriguing with live performances?
Luke: I think if the room is divided the shows are much better for us. I think less people are going to like it that way but the people who do like it, will like it that much more. It's never been about numbers with us, we'd rather have a small fanbase of people who were really into it than have a large one of people who were lukewarm on it.
TSH: Has there been specific major learning curves that’s allowed you to incorporate key elements into your musical progression?
Luke: I think we've learnt a kind of brutality with our songs. We often won't use a song even if we really like it, if we don't feel that it fits with what we're doing right now. It seems counter intuitive to do so but if you don't it ends up being a problem further down the line when the songs don't sound like they come from one band. I've learnt that if you write a song well enough then it can have a hundred different lives; you can pull it apart and put it back together again to fit with what you want. A good song is a good song whatever way you choose to play it.
TSH: Is it a key aspect to be very theoretical about what you do?
Luke: I think it's just a part of my nature that I can't and don't try to shut off. I think it's better as a writer to try and follow your true nature as much as possible although that does often fly in the face of trying to maintain any discipline - although I do believe not writing can be just as important as writing. I often think and think and think about what I'm trying to do until I can't think about it anymore and just have to start trying to do it. Then you find because you've been weighing with all these aspects that it all just naturally just comes into play because it's all lodged somewhere in the back of your mind as you work, keeping you in check. Truthfully however, all this is irrelevant as really you’re always just making it up as you go.
TSH: How does the band like to unwind, outside of music?
Luke: I think we all have pretty standard interests outside of music. One thing we do all seem to like is comedy, particularly stand-up comedy.
TSH: What one album were you most attached to growing up?
Luke: The Velvet Underground and Nico. It's funny, I don't have many significant memories of growing up, I'm not particularly sentimental in that way but I can remember the day a relative gave me a copy of that album and the way it made me feel when I first heard it. It completely changed the way I thought about music.
TSH: If you could go back in time to see one performance, who would it be?
Luke: I would have liked to have seen Ivor Cutler, particularly Ivor Cutlers Last Stand.
TSH: Finally, what is the band philosophy as you venture ahead?
Luke: At the moment we're very much in the mindset of just doing the shows. Now that the record is out we'll be playing a lot of gigs so we're pretty focused on that right now.
Bristol post punk four-piece Scarlet Rascal have shared an offbeat video for their new single, “Strange”. “Strange” is directed by James Hankins (Trust Fund, Micachu & The Shapes), a Bristol film director known for his uniquely twisted take on the pop video format. In the band’s own words, “The video is a kind of stream…
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Video: Scarlet Rascal share the offbeat “Strange” was originally published on DrunkenWerewolf
