BAND INTERVIEW WITH DESERT CLOUDS
Ahead of their second headline show with Civil War tonight at the Hope & Anchor, I asked David from Desert Clouds to answer some questions about their band. Here’s how it went down:
So, first of all, how and when did you all meet? We met years ago at the high school where me (David) and Val were classmates. Andrea and Julius joined the band here in London.
What are your three main musical influences as a band, and are they obvious in your music? Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and the grunge scene in general. We hope you can hear all of them in our music if not, well, what can we do? Maybe it means that we have done a good job.
Which band / artist have you been listening to a lot lately? Dirty three!!!
What was the first song you wrote together as a band? Do you still play it? Wow, we don't but actually we will think about it.
How do you tend to approach the songwriting process? We improvise a lot, usually one of us brings an idea in and the rest of the band improvise on that. Sometimes songs can be finalized after many live performances where we keep improvising until something sounds good to us.
What was your favourite gig of 2019? There are many...maybe the best was when we won a battle of the bands last February in London. That was completely unexpected.
What is your favourite aspect of playing live shows? Live shows are still the only sense can be given to music from an artist's perspective.
What would be your one dream gig to play in the future? Where both bands and public will be able to deeply connect. It happened to us in the past but very rarely.
Do you have any core message or ethos in your music? What I have just said might be one of the most important things in any type of art, sharing your own feelings and finding connection with an active receiver can create a lot more of any appreciation.
What are your hopes for the band over the next couple of years, and are you planning any new releases in 2020? The biggest hope is to keep our inspiration and to keep finding pleasure in playing our music and, yes, this year we will release a new single, which we will announce on the 15th at the fourth civil war show. An album will follow in Autumn.
Give us one weird, random fact about the band... We hate to be days and days in a recording studio but really appreciate the time between recording sessions in which we share ideas and expectations with the producer.
Who is your favourite underground artist in scene at the moment who you think deserves a bit more exposure? There are more than one...I will mention Circa Never and Elbrano and I hope to see the on stage soon again.
What's you number one tip for people starting up a new band?
Don't waste your time playing covers.Quickfire round:
Creative control, or flashy record deal? Who knows?
Beer or Wine? Wine
Led Zep or Sabbath? Led Zeppelin
Ketchup or Mayo? Mayo
Streaming or Vinyl? Vinyl
Fender or Marshall? Fender
Pizza or Kebab? Pizza