We had a chat with South Wales-based The Echo And The Always about their upcoming debut album ‘…And After That The Dark’, their plans for the future and their experiences with recording so far. Make sure you also check out our premiere of their new track ‘History Of Trees’ here.
Hey guys! Firstly, tell us about how the band formed. When, where and how did the band start?
We’ve all been a part of the music scene in South Wales playing in different bands over the years, so we’ve known each other in various capacities for a long time. Laura, Angela and John had been in a different band for a couple of years, and when that band split they brought Dean and Edd in to start The Echo and The Always. The process of starting again as a collective with a shared passion for music, song writing, recording and live performance was refreshing and it drove us to give people a reason to invest in us and the music we create.
You’re just about to release your debut album. What can we expect from it?
Hopefully you can expect to hear some of the singles on a radio near you! We really think it’s the sort of album that has something for everyone, whether you like a happy pop song, a sad love song, or brooding, emotive baroque pop. We cover a lot of ground with ‘…And After That The Dark’ so we hope you find yourselves pleasantly surprised.
You recorded with Todd Campbell. How was the recording process?
We have a great relationship with Todd. He understands our sound and helps translate that to our recordings. He knows how much to push us and in which direction, which really helps us achieve our best. We have complete confidence in his ability to produce us the way we envision. Just look at his track record – he’s brilliant at making bands sound nuanced and huge at the same time. Plus he has some pretty cool turtles in his studio that we like to visit and feed. #ToddsTurtles
How would you describe your sound? Would you say your single ‘Go Easy’ is a good example of what to expect, or are all the tracks quite eclectic?
When you have five people who all have an equal part in writing music it’s hard to define the sounds you end up creating. We’ve been described as sombre, widescreen, indie pop, but others see our stuff as being on the heavier side of indie pop. We’d agree with all of that, but maybe not all at the same time. ‘Go Easy’ shows the brighter, poppier side to our music, but don’t expect anything else on the album to sound just like it. I don’t think we could be described as ‘samey’. The one thing ‘Go Easy’ does share with the rest of our songs are the multi-instrumental layers of melodies and hooks, and the heartfelt and thoughtful lyrics Laura writes.
Who or what are your main influences as a band?
This is always a difficult one for us because we all bring completely different things to the table. The Cure, Daughter, Brand New, Gaslight Anthem, Warpaint, Maybeshewill, and pretty much anything any of us are listening to when we work on new material.
You’ll be playing a show at the legendary Clwb Ifor Bach on your album release day. What can people expect from your live show?
This will be our debut album launch party in one of our two hometowns, so it will be packed! We’re really looking forward to playing our album in its entirety for friends, family and both old and new fans, as well as playing alongside some of our mates from the local music scene. It’ll be a great party.
Do you have any more live dates planned?
We’ll be playing Wrexham and Exeter the week prior to our Cardiff launch, and then we’ll be working with our manager to line up some dates for the New Year.
What have been some of your highlights in the band so far?
Other than finally releasing an album, which is really an anthology of our life as a band so far, playing Green Man and Swn festivals have both been fantastic experiences, and we hope to do both again. Every trip to the studio to work with Todd has been absolutely memorable, and would definitely feature on a highlight reel. We also head to a cottage in a remote part of mid Wales once a year for an intensive song writing session, and that’s always brilliant.
How has 2015 been for you so far? And what can we expect from you in 2016?
2015 has been fantastic for us so far, and that’s mainly due to the release of the album and the support we’ve received from Arts Council Wales to promote it. We’re hoping to keep up this momentum into 2016 and book a UK and/or Canadian tour, play some festivals and start working on our next album.
What are your main goals as a band? Where do you see yourselves in five years?
Five years from now we’d like to think we’d still be going strong. By then I’d imagine we’d be working on album number three, with some international dates under our belts. We’d also expect our sound to have evolved by then too, and if we could we’d like to stick our ears into recording sessions five years in the future to have a peek at what future us is doing.
LAIS MW