Interview: Landslide Purist

Landslide Purist’s wonderful debut album Get Your Hopes Down is unlike anything we’ve heard in Bristol or beyond. Adam Burrows talks to the three men behind it.

It’s tempting to call Landslide Purist a Bristol supergroup – tempting, but wrong. Supergroups are all about inflated egos and endless solos. They’re mostly a bad idea.

Landslide Purist’s music isn’t anything like that. The brainchild of Sean Talbot – previously known for his explosive drumming in Geisha and Vena Cava – the band’s wintry, piano-led debut is unlike anything we’ve heard before, even if it has taken a while to get here.

“I coined the name Landslide Purist when I was twelve,” says Sean, “and I started writing silly, noisy dance songs on my Amiga. I like the name because it’s violent and ridiculous.” Although he had piano lessons “from age five to seventeen,” Sean didn’t start writing for the instrument until five years ago “when I got a digital piano and a loop pedal. That allowed me to overlay tracks on the fly, which is how I wrote most of the album.”

While its associated with everyone from Elton John to Kate Bush and Tom Waits, the piano remains a refreshing sound in modern pop. That’s particularly true in Sean’s music, which avoids typical rock chord progressions in favour of minimal, melodic themes closer to jazz or contemporary classical music:  “I grew up learning classical piano sonatas, so that’s where that comes from,” he says, “although I rarely listen to piano based music. I dislike a lot of rock piano – it sounds awfully cheesy – and I dislike a lot of piano-based classical music for the same reason. I think I just dislike most music. I just like really good songs.”

Sean’s bandmates are both familiar faces on the live music scene. Sam Wisternoff (otherwise known as SJ Esau) writes and sings most of the lyrics and also produced the album: “He’s such a good lyricist,” says Sean, “and has such a keen ear for vocal melodies.” Guitarist Robin Allender, meanwhile, plays with Yann Tiersen and Azalea City as well as performing regularly in his own name. Robin joined later, but his musicianship is crucial to the album’s sound: “Robin brought in really great guitar melodies and textures to complement the piano. Live, we all sing, with me on piano, Robin on guitar, and Sam on drums and sampler.”

The songs begin as piano instrumentals. Sean comes up with song names, which then serve as inspiration for Sam’s witty, downbeat lyrics. “It’s a fun way to write,” says Sam, “to be given a beautiful instrumental with a deranged title. I often end up writing Landslide words in character. Usually the character is a bit of a prick…the only song with a positive sentiment is Nearly Beloved and even that one says “if there were more like you, society would crumble.  I wish there were more like you and society would crumble.”  The brilliant I Want You To Step Down features the line “the morons are standing proud”. What’s that about? “Ukippers, essentially,” says Sam. 

Another album highlight is Endless Pub, which was penned by Robin: “It’s about the idea that pubs are somehow better in your imagination that in real life”, he explains. “It was written after I went into a pub called The Velindra in Bristol (it’s now called The Nook). I thought I’d have a wonderful evening on my own reading by an open fire, but instead it was this horribly distressing evening with karaoke and watery pints of Stella. The guy doing karaoke tried to get me to join in. He shouted ‘What’s your favourite kind of music?’ and I replied ‘shoegaze.’ It was not at all how I hoped things would turn out.” 

The three are incredibly close friends, which might explain the lack of musical egos. Sean has played drums for both SJ Esau and Robin’s solo project, while Robin was in Gravenhurst with Sean’s brother Nick. “Sean and I have a side project called Bollock Academic that we sometimes dip into at Landslide Purist practices,” says Robin. “It’s badly played jazz improv and we’re hoping to do a gig one day.” 

They’re all deservedly proud of the Landslide Purist album. “I’m very pleased with it,” says Sean, “I just hope people will like it and we get to play some cool gigs.” Robin is more emphatic: “I’ve always thought Sean was a total genius, and it’s great that Sam has managed to focus his music into these weird and wonderful pop songs. It’s just nice to be a part of it all.”

Get Your Hopes Down is released on December 10. Landslide Purist play a launch show at Cafe Kino the same day.