Interview: Dusk Brothers EP Launch

One of the great things about the Bristol scene is the sheer range of genres represented across the city, and the fact that most of our home-grown talent doesn’t just pick a genre (or two), they like to mess around and invent their own sounds.

Not content with doing just that (swamp country blues with a twang and attitude) brothers Graeme and Iain (E) Moncrieff (aka Dusk Brothers) build, or rather, create their own instruments too. After building a fine reputation live they’ve recorded their first LP, which they’re launching with a free gig at The Oxford, Totterdown on Saturday 16th February at 8.30pm. Graeme took time out to give the backstory.

In these days of streaming and downloading why release a physical product?
At our shows we are always asked if we have CDs for sale, so some demand is definitely still there. Also, we like a bit of retro, we build our own instruments – guitars, valve amplifiers, percussion etc. – often using old items we find in junk shops or car boot sales. We like the feeling of history behind it. It’s a similar thing with physical CDs, they exist, and as soon as they come into being they start building their own little history. Digital music is great in so many ways but it doesn’t have quite the same feeling of value. Actually it would be nice to get some vinyl copies done, we’ll do that when we get the funds together.

Where did you record the EP?
Most of the recording was done in Crossleaze Studios. It’s a big converted barn in a countryside setting near Bath. It’s a beautiful place to be, the gear there is fantastic, and Charles (the guy who owns the studio) engineered for us. He’s a lovely guy too. He had this old pale blue guitar amp there, we didn’t know what it was and neither did Charles, but we tried the harmonica through it and it instantly sounded incredible, exactly what we were looking for. It couldn’t have been more perfect for the EP.

How long did recording take – straight in and straight out or a bit of an epic?
The actual recording time was minimal. We put down the tracks in a day and a half, which was about 12 tracks in total. We then let them lie for a long time, during which my vocal style developed and we improved our sound and built some more instruments. By the time we came back to those recordings we decided that the four tracks we’ve included on the EP were the ones that had stood the test of time. The rest we felt we could do a much better job of now, so we’ll go back to them when it comes to recording our album.
The producer was (Massive Attack collaborator) Stew Jackson, and we re-recorded the vocals and added some extra bits of percussion and layered some more textured instrument tracks over the recordings at Stew’s studio in Bristol. That was when the music really came alive.
We wanted the recordings to sound raw and full of life, an antidote to the auto-tune and squeaky-clean production that’s so popular these days, and we certainly achieved that organic and authentic sound on these recordings. It’s not often you hear an old Shell oil can used as a ‘snare drum’, and it really does sound incredibly cool.

What comes first, lyrics or music?
Music, usually. Or both at the same time. I play riffs and chords on the four string guitar I built from an old 1960s metal fire extinguisher box and sing melodies over the top until I find a cool hook. It’s usually at that point the first little chunks of lyrics appear and I build on those and create a song around it. It’s a sub-conscious process to begin with, and once I’ve found something I think is probably cool enough I refine it and turn it into a cohesive story and structure.

The world is full of bullshit lately, do chaotic times make for better lyrics?
Hell yeah. Hard times are when the lyrics come easy. It gives focus and a real drive to get those feelings out. I’m an introverted person, so it’s a cathartic process for me. Three of the four songs on the EP were written during a difficult time, and the lyrics were inspired by what was going on back then.
I tend to write in metaphors, rather than straight-up talking about real life, I prefer a bit of mystery in lyrics. Rum River is the odd one out, inspiration-wise. It’s a song about recklessness and being unable to afford to buy rum in a bar.

What’s your favourite part of the recording process…?
Vocals are my favourite part. For a singer it’s the most involved and expressive thing you can do.

…and what’s your least favourite part?
Hearing the finished tracks and being hyper-tuned to every flaw. When recordings are new, all you hear are the flaws, particularly in your own vocals. It wears off after they are out in the world, they seem to solidify somehow and you start to see them in a different light. Flaws add character, it’s all part of the beauty in music and art and it creates something with more far more personality and charm, in my opinion, than the results achieved by systematically ironing out every flaw until everything is “perfect”.

Do you take in fully formed tunes, or go in with sketches and demos and work them up in to fully fledged songs in the studio?
The songs are all finished before we go into the studio. But we add bits of instrumentation in the studio, or take parts out, whatever works best.

Who’s in charge in the studio?
It’s a democratic process, the same as when we’re working out new songs in rehearsal. We will always try out an idea, regardless of who comes up with it. If it’s no good, it doesn’t get used. At least we’ve given it a go. E and I are both very laid back, and we trust each other’s judgement. If one of us thinks something doesn’t sound cool enough, we’ll change it.

If you want someone to get in to the EP, which cut would you single out to get them hooked?
Hold On is first on the track order for that reason. And of the four on the EP, radio DJs seem to be favouring that track, although The Damage Done was chosen to play by a country music DJ called Alex Krupa. He even made a little Instagram vid in the studio of himself rocking out to that track, which was a very nice touch!
We never really knew what genre our music best fitted. An old sound engineer in Bristol, known as Clem, described our sound as swamp blues, and we’ve rolled with that ever since, but we’ve been unexpectedly welcomed into the country music scene too, which has been amazing for us.
We played at Buckle & Boots Country Music Festival last year, and we’ve had a lot of good stuff come our way just from that one starting point in the country scene. We stick out like a sore thumb, but somehow we still seem to fit and they love us for it. The cowboy hats we wear probably help!

Are there any songs that you think are really gonna be a blast to play live?
We’ve played these four songs live many times already. Hold On was actually the first Dusk Brothers song we had a go at back in 2015 on our newly-built box guitars. That was before we’d built and learned to play the rest of our gear.
We started out with just two guitars and a cajon we’d built, which I played with a bass drum pedal. Nowadays we both play the drum parts, the cymbals and tambourine with our feet, we still both play guitar and mine simultaneously functions as our bass guitar. I’ve learned to play harmonica, and we sing harmonies.
Iain also built a beautiful violin from this old piece of wood we had lying in the workshop for years. It’s the most incredible thing. And that adds another dimension to the music. You can hear it on the EP at the end of Hold On, and he also played it like a guitar on The Damage Done. Every song we do live is a blast – when you’re playing that many instruments at once you can’t help but have fun. Of the tracks on the EP, The Damage Done is the most demanding. It’s frenetic and always a challenge to play, which is what we’re all about, we relish the challenge.

What plans do you have for getting the EP out there…? Any out of town dates on the schedule?
We have a few out of town dates lined up over the next few months. There’ll be Boldre Club in Hampshire on 23rd February, a bikers’ rally in Minehead in July, and we’ll be back at the very cool Dark Holler Festival in September, amongst others. We have a good number of gigs lined up over the year, and we’ll keep adding dates as they roll in.
We don’t usually need to ask to play gigs these days, we advertise our shows using live videos on social media and bookers contact us and ask us to play. It’s a real luxury for me after having to chase after solo acoustic gigs in the past, sending hundreds of emails out and getting very little back. With Dusk Brothers it’s much easier. We have a very distinctive look and sound, so our live videos are eye-catching and what we do is so different it grabs attention.

The Dusk Brothers play The Oxford, Totterdown on Saturday 16th February at 8.30pm. For more info, visit www.facebook.com/events/1830785673697236