Interview by Stuart Peach
We recently caught up with rock band Chicanes to discuss their brand new album Something Beautiful, the inspiration behind the release and what they want listeners to take away from the album.
1. Who are 3 big influences on you musically?
There’s so many but if we’re just picking 3 we’d have to say Deftones, Thornhill and Muse.
2. What bands helped inspire the sound of this album?
We’re huge Dead Poet Society fans and when their album Fission came out, we loved it so much. The production on the guitars was phenomenal and it sounds so full, we really wanted our songs to have a similar dynamic. We must mention a band called Thornhill as well, they worked with Adrian Bushby (our producer) on a song called ‘Obsession’ and we were completely floored by it when we heard it. That song was really what started this relationship we have with Adrian, so it’s a really special song to us.
3. How was it to work with Adrian Bushby?
Working with Adrian was the best experience ever. After hearing ‘Obsession’ by Thornhill, we looked straight away for who produced it, followed him on all the socials, so when he messaged us saying he’d enjoyed what we already had out at the time and if we had any projects coming up, it was a crazy feeling. He’s a master at what he does and we learnt so much from him, he’s also an incredibly funny guy as well and we lost count of how many times we re-watched the original Star Wars trilogy in the studio because the TV remote didn’t work! Genuinely one of the nicest guys you could ever meet and he means a lot to us. The band all rented an apartment in Chelmsford for two weeks while we were recording and it’s the first time we’d ever done anything like that. It definitely brought us all closer together. I think we all thought it was important to do that and get outside of our comfort zone and just be a band and be in that creative mindset for a sustained period of time.
4. How do you go about writing music? Is it a collaborative approach or more of an individual task for you?
It’s a bit of a mixed bag really. More times than not, someone will bring an initial idea into the studio, and we’ll spend some time figuring out all the parts/structure together and do it that way. We all trust each other completely, though and if someone sees a really clear vision for a song/idea, we’re quite happy for them to go away and work on itand bring it to the rest of us when it’s been fleshed out. Like the track ‘Stone,’ Andy saw a really clear vision for where he wanted the song to go, so we trusted him to go away and work on it. Same with the title track ‘Something Beautiful,’ Trav had a clear vision for that, so when he brought it to us, it was nearly done by that point. Everyone has an input, but the trust is there in each other when someone wants to pick up the ball and run with it.
5. What songs from the album do you think will resonate with people most?
Hopefully they all do! There are a lot of different topics/things going on in the album, but if I had to pick one it would probably be ‘Fray.’ Just purely because it’s not like anything we’ve ever done before, it was a really emotional song to write and learning to live with loss is something we all have to do, unfortunately. It’s a very honest song and we hope people appreciate that.
6. Dream bands to play with on a 3 band bill?
Don Broco, hands down! They actually follow us on Instagram, so fingers crossed we can make that happen one day! Thornhill, because they’ve had such a huge influence on us musically and we’ll throw Dead Poet Society into the mix as well.
7. If you could collaborate on a song with another artist who would it be and why?
We’ve actually had some conversations about doing a song with a Rapper called $ebbuku! He’s such a lovely guy and we love his music. Now that the album is here, I think those conversations will pick up again. We just love the idea of doing a full-on foot-to-the-floor 2000s Nu metal style track with him.
8. What would be your dream venue to play?
Brixton Academy would be a dream venue. It’s just so historical and the architecture/layout is great. Everyone can see the stage no matter how far back you are because of the incline and its bowl shape. The dream festival would be Download. Trav’s also always dreamed of playing the Royal Albert Hall with an orchestra as well.
9. Describe the album in 3 words to someone who hasn’t heard your music before?
Emotional, raw & heavy.
10. Was there a song on this album that originally wasn’t going to be?
All the songs on the album were written for the album. Although ‘Livid,’ the opener, was written a while before we realised we were doing an album, but we just felt it had to go on there. It just felt like the perfect opener! We had a handful of songs that we’d written before then as well, but they didn’t feel right for the album, so we’ve shelved them for now.
11. What film or TV show would be perfect for one of your new songs?
For ‘Fray,’ it would need to be something emotional, the outro would suit the bit in The Lion King where Mufasa is dropped from the cliff by Scar. ‘Slow Death’ would be great for something really cool, like Batman gearing up and training before a big fight or a racing scene in Deathrace.
12. Finally, how do you hope this release changes how people see Chicanes?
I feel like we’ve come such a long way stylistically, creatively and technically from when we released our EP and even the singles we’d done before then, so I suppose ultimately we would want people listening to the album to see that as well. It feels surreal that we’re finally at this point after starting the writing process a good 18 months ago, and we just hope people enjoy it because we honestly had the best time creating this. If people can hear that when they listen to the record, then we’re more than happy with that.
