Palm Reader [Interview]
As one of the most hotly-tipped hardcore acts out there at the moment, Palm Reader are a band worth watching. Their new album Beside The Ones We Love (reviewed on TMMP here) consists of ten tracks crammed with sick riffs, annihilative vocals, and cinematic atmospheres – and it is, to say the least, stunning. With this in mind, TMMP caught up with Palm Reader to discuss Beside The Ones We Love, how songs that intense come to be, and the importance of commitment…
Hey guys – thanks for taking the time to do this! How do you feel about the response to Beside The Ones We Love so far?
The response so far has been great. Some very nice words have been said! It’s good to feel like your hard work has paid off.
To say your songs can be complex at times would be something of an understatement. What’s your creative process like? How does a Palm Reader song go from idea to reality?
When it comes to writing, I guess it depends on the type of song we’re writing. So if it’s pretty complex, long, or just a pain in the arse, it might take a bit longer!
We tend to gather parts of songs, riffs mainly, then we build a song from there. Andy and Dan wrote a few songs for BTOWL in a an unoccupied ‘airing cupboard’. Vocally, the songs are written later. Although sometimes it’s simultaneous.
Describe each of the tracks from Beside The Ones We Love in one sentence each.
I Watch The Fire Chase My Tongue: It’s the first song we wrote on the album. It’s also one of our favourites.
Pendant: It’s a homage to everything we did on Bad Weather.
By The Ground, We’re Defined: This one is a lot of fun to play live.
Sing Out, Survivor: We saw Cult Of Luna live in 2013, and we wanted to pretend to be them for a brief moment.
Stacks: It’s a homage to all the bands we have taken influence from over the years.
Travelled Paths: We wanted a song that was stripped back, to contrast the rest of of the album.
Stones Blood: We threw everything into this one. It’s fast and rad to play!
Resolution: Another short and relatively stripped back one that we threw some thrashy doom at.
Blackhand: It took a lot to write this one. We tried to challenge ourselves.
Unabridged: This song is longer than the others. It was a test of our songwriting capabilities in a style that wasn’t necessarily our own. But we’re very proud of it.
How did the band come to be?
The band emerged from Woking and drinking in Woking, mainly. Me, Josh, and Sam had been shouting about music and playing in a band for long enough and I suppose that’s where it all started. We were fully-formed and touring by 2011/12.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about building/sustaining a career in music?
I’ll be honest I’ve never really been given that much advice on it. Other than the odd drunk bloke in a pub somewhere that always tells me to “…stick at it,” and that we “…just need to wait for that big break,” I’d say the only thing that sticks with me is when I was told to treat your band or project like a marriage. The level of commitment (on so many levels) is what makes it work.
What are your plans for the rest of 2015?
We’re looking to play some shows! We thrive off it. We’re playing some shows in the UK and Europe, hopefully near someone reading this!
What’s on your bucket list?
Get a new bucket.
Links
Palm Reader are set to play five shows in one day this Monday (4th May). Click here for more details.
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