Interview: The Brackish

With serious musical chops and the energy of a teenage garage band, The Brackish seem determined to blur the once sacred line between prog and punk. Elements of jazz, krautrock, new wave, metal and blues feed into their music – their duelling guitars and tricky beats making for an unusually delicious instrumental sound.

With stints in much loved Bristol bands like Zun Zun Egui, The Liftmen, This Is The Kit and CCQ behind you, your combined CV is seriously impressive. What’s special about The Brackish?

Neil: We get to stretch out musically more in this band, and personally it’s great to work within a two-guitar format. Also everyone’s very into jamming ideas out and expanding on them.

How did you get together? Had you all known each other for a while?

Neil: I had a drunken rant at Luke after a Phantom Limb gig, saying we had to play together. We’d both played with Matt loads over the years, and Jay we’ve known since playing gigs with his band Port Erin. When our last bass player Jon Short had to leave, Jay stepped straight in. There was no need for an audition ’cause we already knew he was shit hot.

Let’s sort this out once and for all. Are you punk or prog?

Luke: I think we’re both, but we’re much more psychedelic than a lot of the prog or math bands around, mainly because we have a fair bit of improvising going on.

Neil: A thick prog filling with one slice of punk and another of Sabbath. Pronk sandwich?

Your sound is unique. What kind of nights or festivals do you fit in best at?

Neil: We’ve had some great nights at the Stag & Hounds and Exchange alongside great bands like Repo Man, Chiyoda Ku and The Evil Usses, but haven’t played many festivals yet. We just played ArcTanGent and though we really enjoyed playing and the crowd there, we got severe math fatigue. I think Supernormal would be good for us, and a definite one would have been ATP (RIP).

One reviewer described your first album as “the Sistine Chapel of musical works,” before adding, “undoubtedly they will find no commercial success”. How does it feel when even your most passionate supporters can’t imagine you doing well?

Neil: Well, there’s levels of commercial success. If we get to do some gigs out of town and come home with a bit of money then that’s great and also achievable.

What does being an instrumental band mean for the way you write? How much of your music is composed or improvised?

Neil: There is more freedom than working with a song, but we still try and get the music to tell a strong narrative. Some tunes come almost fully formed but more often ideas get jammed out and expanded on. There’s always some improvised parts – you’ve got to have the chance to fuck up!

The new album is coming out on Bad Elephant Records. What can you tell us about the label?

Luke: I came across them through my uncle Mark Cawthra, who played drums with the Cardiacs and has since worked as a producer. He knows David Elliott, the label boss, who was a fan…I sent him some rough mixes and he said a definite yes.

You played some European dates over the summer. How did that go? 

Neil: We played at a great festival in Paris called La Ferme Electrique…bit of an early graveyard slot but we were treated amazingly well and we saw great gigs from Blurt and Massicot. Another highlight was a fantastic bar called Chaff in Brussels – psychedelic Belgian beer and then on to a Nigerian bar ’til dawn.

Liquid of Choice is out now. The Brackish play The Beaufort Arms, Clifton on October 28, and The Canteen on November 10. For more information visit thebrackish.bandcamp.com

Read more: Interview: Repo Man