1.Growing Up
As an only child in a reasonably non-musical family, my early years weren’t particularly musically fruitful. I did, however, play little else aside from Billy Ray Cyrus’ seminal classic ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ for the better part of the first two years of primary school. I’m not sure who or what planted that seed, but in a way I’m glad that my expectations of music were set relatively low in the beginning.
2.Inspirations
I’m just one part of the Why We Run whole, but my tastes come mostly from an alternative/post-rock/electronic/folk spectrum. I’ve spent years listening to the likes of Sigur RЧs, Grizzly Bear, Sufjan Stevens, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Nine Inch Nails and Thom Yorke’s various projects. Outside of music, films and soundtracks are a huge influence on me – and the whole band for that matter.
3.Your Band
Why We Run evolved from what used to be Cogel. We lost a member, our name was difficult to pronounce, and our sound began to change. Now a four-piece, our musical tastes are different enough that we bring different perspectives to the table, but cohesive enough that we’re usually on the same page. We recently worked with director Tim Gibbs for our video and were lucky enough to have our first two singles produced/mixed by Wayne Connolly. They’ve both brought the best out of us and we’re very grateful to them.
4.The Music You Make
We tend to err towards brooding and ethereal atmospheres, and live this often comes out in our stage presence and visual elements. We’re obsessed with texture and tend to work pretty slowly. We’ll often rewrite a song several times, and even then it could still go in the trash.
5.Music, Right Here,Right Now
For the most part, we’ve been enjoying adapting to the ever-changing music landscape. The challenge is working out how to make a buck, but right now we’re more interested in sharing our music with the world and enjoying ourselves. In terms of bands around us, we’ve loved watching the rise of our friends in Little May, and I’ve been enjoying going to Newtown Social Club of late, having seen Daniel Rossen and King Gizzard there recently. It’s a perfect size for a balance between intimacy and energy.
Why We Run play Brighton Up BaronThursday March 12 andThe VanguardonThursday April 9.
