Review Fix chats with Middle Space’s Jake Brickley, Ben Neat and Mark Tolley, a young Indie-Rock 5-piece based in the West Midlands. Detailing their creative process for their second EP, “Do Not Trust Robots,†the band lets us know what makes them special.
Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?
Mark Tolley: For me, I started playing the keyboard as a child and picked up a guitar for the first time when I was around 11, although it took quite a while before I started writing songs that were any good. The band came about through Ben knowing both me and Ryan, then Jake and Haydn joined the band later on. Obviously with the band members changing it meant different things were possible, so now that we are a 5 piece we have added a synth which has changed our sound quite a bit in this EP compared to our first EP which is a lot more raw.
Review Fix: What makes you unique?
Jake Brickley: The fact that we’re all away in different parts of the country for the majority of the year means that we’re all developing our musical ideas independently, so when we bring it all together, we end up with a blend of influences and musical ideas. The addition of synths and other electronic ideas has also allowed us to explore new avenues, particularly texturally to contrast the guitar-heavy sound that a lot of bands have these days.
Review Fix: What are your goals in music?
Ben Neat: It would be easy to say we have lofty ambitions of fame and fortune, but that’s not why we make music. We love creating music and getting the chance to perform it to people who are interested in it, so in that sense, our goals are just to keep making music that we enjoy and that we would want to listen to.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
Tolley: It’s hard to pin it down to just one genre because this EP draws on quite a wide range of influences. I’d say that if you like bands such as Pond, Tame Impala, Wolf Alice and The 1975, you’ll get some enjoyment out of our music.
Review Fix: Who will enjoy this EP the most?
Tolley: I think people who have enjoyed our music in the past but wondered about the next step in the progression will like it. People who are tired of this ‘modern’ lifestyle, addicted to our phones, scared to form real connections with people – I think they’ll like the message of the EP. That’s not to say we’re not guilty of it ourselves, we’re on our phones just as much as anyone, but we wanted to offer a different perspective on modern life.
Review Fix: What makes this EP special?
Brickley: I’d say, although we did the same for the three singles we released last year, it’s great that we have completed the entire process ourselves – including recording, mixing and mastering thanks to Jake (as well as putting on the release gig, making CDs and all that). It’s definitely the best production I’ve heard from Jake so far! Also, it’s the first work we’ve ever done with a running concept throughout so it’s a very exciting release for us.
Review Fix: What’s the standout track? How was it written?
Neat: IAll the songs are quite different from one another, so it’s hard to pick one song to be the best. But I would say the standout track is ‘Pretend To Be Present’ because it’s arguably our most poppy, catchy song we’ve written. It was written completely on an iPad with only drums, bass and synth so to go from that template to the final recording was quite a big difference, and writing the songs by starting with the drums and bass meant it ended up being a more groove-oriented song compared to our other tracks which are written on a guitar.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Neat: IWe’ve got an home-town EP Launch coming up on 29th June at the Elephant & Castle in Telford. After that, who knows? We’re always keen to expand and develop our sound so we’ll probably just keep writing music and see what comes of it.
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Tolley: Do Not Trust Robots is out on 28th June, it’d mean so much to us if you gave it a listen. Ee hope you enjoy it.
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