Music / Alt-pop
Interview: Emily Breeze
After the success of the leadoff single (find out more here), Emily Breeze is launching the parent LP Rituals with a rather enticing night of music. Cracking support bands, killer DJ and her latest music at Klub Loko, read all about it then buy a ticket (after you order the splendid record, natch).
Give us the low down on the LP launch – who, what, where, why, when?
The Bristol launch is taking place 6th Sept upstairs at Klub Loko which is right next to Temple Meads. For the uninitiated, it looks like the Addams Family Mansion directed by David Lynch. It is the perfect setting to launch our album Rituals.
First up we have War Against Sleep. A vision in PVC or pinstripe, Duncan’s set is sleazy, unsettling, beautiful and profound. He is one of my all-time favourite songwriters and it is an honour that we also have him as master of organ, synths and keys in our own band. War Against Sleep should be a household name and Bristol is very lucky to have him as our best kept secret.
Next up, the gorgeous Thought Forms will change your molecular structure with sheets of celestial fuzz. Expect deep dream state drones and interstellar space jams. I was thrilled when they said yes to this gig as they are a headline band in their own right. They have been described as “Sonic Youth colliding head on with Sunn O”.
is needed now More than ever
Then we will hit the stage to inject the room with glitter and dirt. The album is a love letter to all the slackers, deviants and die-hard romantics out there although everyone is welcome to walk in our weird world with us and celebrate the launch of our album Rituals.
We also have legendary D.J. Heidi Heelz to ensure that the audience is not stuck passively watching bands all night. Heidi knows exactly how to set the tone with an obscure Bowie B side between bands and when to drop a Madonna megahit to entice everyone onto the dancefloor at the end of the night. Wear the weirdest thing in your wardrobe or come in your tracksuit and trainers. Just come, and join us for a night of decadence, dancing and depravity.
Will it be the same band on stage as at the single launch?
Yes, although we go under my name it is very much a band not a backing band. Rob Norbury (lead guitar, Duncan Fleming (keys), Andy Sutor (drums) and Graham Dalzell (bass) have all been there from the inception and we developed the songs and the live act together. I am fiercely devoted to them.
You’ve been playing the songs since recording the record, have any of the tunes grown and changed though live performance?
Yes, we had not played any of the songs live and they were freshly written when we recorded so inevitably we have become more robust and the set has taken on a greasy swagger although the album version benefits from Stew Jackson’s impeccable productions skills and layers of sonic detail so there are advantages to both.
Are there any you’d consider re-recording as they’ve taken on a new shape through performance and audience reactions?
When you play live you are recreating a song in real time and as such your opinion of the piece is influenced by the sound in the room, your mood on the day, technical issues and most of all the exchange of energy and appreciation between you and the audience. Listening back to recordings gives you a chance to have a more clinical analysis. I do not want to rerecord any of the songs. They exist in the past now, but the benefit of hindsight is what gives me the information and impetus I need to carry through to the next album. We are getting better all the time and I am ready for the next phase.
How have the songs been received, what tunes get the best reaction?
I have been really touched and gratified by the reception to the singles and live set. The songs that seem to go down best are our second single Ego Death and as yet unreleased album track Heaven’s Gate which starts as a doo wop bar blues number and ends in a psychedelic maelstrom.
Like any band, we do gigs where we feel like golden gods and others where we feel like delusional idiots. This is the nature of the game, the bad shows test your metal and give you grit and steel which ironically is part of what the audience at one of the good shows are responding to, although we have largely had a very positive reaction which galvanises me to keep going. I am looking forward to the album being out so people can listen to the songs at home and have a more intimate relationship with them which will enhance the live experience.
What would success look like for the record – piles of cash, critical acclaim, both, neither or something more?
I want Faberge eggs for breakfast every day, eleven pet lions with sapphire encrusted collars and a hoard of attentive minions to administer injections of botox and Belugar caviar at five minute intervals until I overdose in my Malibu beach mansion upon which the global heads of state will declare the anniversary of my death an annual holiday.
If for some inconceivable reason this does not transpire then I am happy to continue learning how to write increasingly better songs and seeking out the tribe who will enjoy them.
Where next, is the follow up album already there in your head or do you need time to recharge, take in the world a bit and find new inspiration?
We are fully locked and loaded and working on new material and if the song writing gods continue smile down upon me I hope to record the next album early 2020.
Any other projects or collaborations on the go?
Not for me, I am tied to the mast of this ship, but the other members of the band are in various excellent acts such as War Against Sleep, Mike Crawford and the Various Sorrows, John E Vistic, Age Decay and National Treasure.
Order the album here.
Emily Breeze launches Rituals at Klub Loco on Friday 6th September 2019.
Pix by John Morgan and Jesse Wild
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