Music / Psych
Interview: Captain Suun
July will see the return of the excellent Bristol Psych Festival, now renamed Astral Festival. We have a soon come, in-depth preview in a holding pattern but meanwhile there’s a launch party at The Old England on Friday 5th July. Headlining the event are Bristol’s very own Captain Suun. The band have just let a new single loose (Sound of the Sky on Bad Luck records) and drummer Nathan McLaren-Stewart is here to tell us all about it….
Alas not all our readers, er, viewers, will be familiar with the band, so give them a quick potted history?
Luci and I met when Luci was playing guitar for another band. Originally, he joined as the bassist, but with a line-up change he became the vocalist and guitarist, and Tom we met in the early hours of the morning in a dingy bar. I walked up to him and said, “You look like you dig Deep Purple.” Here we are, and we’ve just dropped a new single.
Who and what are your influences?
It’s pretty varied between us, but we’ve got a big love for the 70s. I’m into Led Zeppelin and various hard rock from the 70s a lot, but for the band there’s more of an influence from Del Shannon, 13th Floor Elevators, Ennio Morricone, and more contemporary I’ve been listening to a lot of Connan Mockasin, Drugdealer, The Growlers and Allah-Las. Luci has been digging his French music at the moment, like Juniore and Serge Gainsbourg, and he’s been getting into Stereolab.
And who do you regard as you peers?
We feel blessed to know some really wonderful bands. In Bristol we adore our brothers in Yo No Se and Cegvera, and really digging the latest release from Radiators. There are some good vibrations coming out from this city. Further afield, we love Creatures from London and our cheeky boys Guru from Brighton. Go dig ‘em.
The new single is out now, so let’s dig into the background…where did you record the single?
We recorded at Hermitage Works in London with Margo Broom.
How long did recording take – straight in and straight out or a bit of an epic?
We were in the studio for three days, so it wasn’t too gruelling. We recorded three songs, and Sound of the Sky is the first of the three. As mentioned, we worked with Margo Broom who has done some incredible work with the likes of Fat White Family and Phobophobes. Honestly, the single would not be where it is without her work. She totally understood us, kicked our arses into place, and was an absolute delight to work with. Special shout out to Nathan Ridley for his great input too. You should come see his band Phobophobes play at The Old England on 5th July…
What comes first, lyrics or music?
Music. We tend to work on lyrics afterwards.
The world is full of bullshit lately, do chaotic times make for better lyrics?
I think music for us is quite an escape. Yes, there’s a lot of bullshit, but we aren’t too focused on that. I have no issues with politics coming into music at all, but for us we just use it as an escape. Our lyrics go from being quite lovey-dovey to quite dark. Luci wrote a lot whilst watching the Ted Bundy Tapes and wanted to bring in a theme of corrupt angels, specifically in the new single. Guess you just need to listen.
What’s your favourite part of the recording process…?
I really enjoy towards the end when you can really hear it all taking shapes. With these recordings Margo had a big input into various sounds that we experimented with towards the end of the process. That’s when it gets really exciting. Also, the comfy sofa at Hermitage Works.
…and what’s your least favourite part?
It can be a little bit long and tedious at times, but there’s not really any bad parts. Oh, apart from feeling like I was being judged for falling asleep thanks to my hangover on that comfy sofa…
Do you take in fully formed tunes, or go in with sketches and demos and work them up into fully fledged songs in the studio?We tend to know the song structure when we go in. There might be some tweaks, but ultimately, it’s pretty ready to go.
is needed now More than ever
Who’s in charge in the studio?
These singles have definitely been a group effort. No one is in charge.
What plans do you have for getting the single out there…? Any out of town dates on the schedule?
We have a series of dates this summer, and more UK and EU dates for after summer when the two new singles will be out. You can catch us at the Lanes on 14th June when we celebrate the release of Sound of the Sky, and with Levitation Room in Nottingham and London on the 2nd and 3rd July.
Astral Festival VI Launch Party – The Old England Friday 5th July 2019.
Pix by Greg Jackson
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