Leeds Living’s Beya met up with Ben Randm, Silver Tongued Rascals at Northlight Arts Centre this week. Make yourself comfortable – it’s a long read, but an eye-opening one.
First off, congratulations on your first EP.
Ah thank you! So, the EP is out on January the 12th ’24, but it is finished, so will take that congratulations. Thank you very much! But the world’s yet to hear a couple more tunes.
What sort of tunes are we expecting?
Exciting, forward-thinking music with substance and soul.
I’ll definitely be listening to that. Definitely! So, tell me more about your background in music before Cill.
So, my sort of background with music tends to be as somebody who has been at the other side of it. So I’ve been somebody that has been to gigs for the best part of 20-30 years, and really I’ve lived a life as a music fan and connoisseur – absorbed what I enjoy from gigs, from different genres, from different styles, and I really think music is almost like a teleporter or time travelling device, like you could think of a song right now and it’ll take you back to a time and a place. You might remember what you were wearing and the people that you’re with and it can really match a certain emotion to a time where you’ve been or if you feel a certain way, and you can go to a certain song to take you back to that feeling, to boost your mood or to almost acclimatise to a certain feeling. It’s very emotive……
…..and that how music’s always been for me, it’s always been someone that is a relationship I can go to. It’s special. Music for me, first and foremost, before anything, it’s special and I think it should be treated as such. I know people have a go at different genres or musicians, but I think for me it’s like, there’s good music and there’s sh*t music and it’s like it doesn’t matter what genre it is if you’re making it, because it’s true to you and your values and it’s honest. I have been blessed, I believe in my musical taste to see a lot of good music and great musicians and be at festivals and see how it responds.
I feel like my sort of subtle avenue into making music has come from DJ’ing because that’s helped me see what works with a crowd. As I say, I love all genres, so I don’t play a particular style; I have styles I play but I don’t stick to one, I just jump from various ones and it has really allowed me to assimilate, subconsciously and then start to later focus in on what works at certain times. So I know, when I’m creating music, what feeling I’m after; I’m seeing that that might work at that time so what’s my spin on that? Or when I think to myself how to re-enact or recreate that, how can I go within myself to do that? Because I’ve seen how things alert people to it. So, it’s quite an unorthodox way really.
I’ve not really been in bands before, I’ve not really made music before, I’ve DJ’d before and done stand-up comedy, so I’ve got my stage presence from that and I’ve got my connection with audiences through those different veils, but with the music now, I’ve always been a creative writer, honing from the comedy actually, weirdly. Learning how to write a set has helped me with the discipline of songwriting because it’s like a comedy set can be however long I want it to be, but it’s about the similar material topics I’m speaking about in the song and it’s become a real nice formula or process of ‘Okay, how can I take that?’ and write it into something that’s deep and witty. So, it’s a different sort of background but it’s still, I believe as sacred as maybe… being in bands for years and years and playing and playing all the time. Like music’s very special and personal to me and I’m glad I’ve arrived at this juncture by how I have.
Would you, with your answer, would you say there’s a massive difference between DJ’ing and creating music?
I feel like (I don’t know if all people feel this, but I certainly do) I feel like for me, I’m creative and the key for me in creation is connection and if you’re playing other people’s stuff, you’re connecting but it’s still not as pure as it can be if it’s something that has come from your soul. Your idea. Your memory tank, whatever it may be. I think I’ve got post-it notes on my brain and I can just peel it off and create an idea from my brain and then to see it from there in your mind to then all of a sudden on the 7th of December seeing people sing it back to you is just a crazy conveyor belt step to get to that. So, there’s definitely that. I love DJ’ing. I really will continue to do that and comedy as well because it’s a different release because this is the purest it can be.
It’s a freeing feeling I would say.
Yeah! Because it’s weird, I think again as a creative, it’s selfish and self-full; it’s like I can’t create what people like because I don’t know what people like and if I assume what people like, I’m going down the wrong path. Because I could assume people like something and if they don’t, then I’ve f**ked it really. If I follow my heart and people like that, then that’s the reward for following my taste and my faith in what I’m making. If I do that and people don’t like it, at least I’m rewarded by the result of the process and that’s all it is for me. Everything else is a bonus, but I believe that the bonus will come rather than chasing the bonus and falling. And I think again, through my love of music, I’ve seen the bands that I love become culprit and a victim to that and I’m very tentative of that and I think that what my Bradford stubbornness will make me do is always stick to my vision. 100%.
Staying authentic. Where did your inspiration come from? Do you have any role models?
Yeah! I mean, it’s cliché but I don’t care. When you’re in a field at Glastonbury and you see the greatest performers or the best up and comers or even something quirky and you just fill that moment with that experience and you’re around people so freeing, you want to be that person on stage to add to that and I believe I am a Vibe Architect and I believe I can spark the soul of a generation in a way that I can buzz people up from my performances and yeah, that’s the biggest inspiration to get to play, to be able to create something that is worthy of playing at Worthy Farm.
Our band is a mix between The Streets, OutKast and LCD Soundsystem, so we’ve gone for a cross-genre that is called Indie-hop-electro and yeah, it’s exciting, it’s got energy and it’s got substance and it’s made for dance floors, but it can also be played while you’re cooking in the kitchen, you know what I mean? Or definitely at the afters like It’s definitely made for that but it’s also not just the like bug out and be like “Yeah, we do that because we do that”. I think there’s, again, more moments that are tender within those moments, when you’re on someone’s couch or in the kitchen or whatever and you’re having these chats, these debates, you’re very open to discussing more things and there’s closer connections that can come from that. And I think again that music can play as a soundtrack and knit people again, going back to when you think of certain tunes and it’s like time travel, transporter, you can go back to an after party and think “Oh! That tune reminds me of them, when we were there”. Then you go see that act and then like “Wow!”. It offers them previous moments nostalgia. And it’s just never ending.
It’s just never ending, binding but there’s so many. I mean when I DJ, it can be Minnie Ripperton. I mean ‘Inside My Love’ by Minnie Ripperton is my favourite tune of all time at the moment, but that changes, but that’s definitely up there. Editor’s note: You might want to share the love with Ben. You can do that here.
But then you’ve got Tame Impala. I mean, yeah, Kevin Parker’s a genius. Then you’ve got someone like Ren who’s just got their number one album and the way that he’s done it independently and I think he’s a generational talent in the way he’s marketed himself in. I don’t even want to use the word marketing – the way he’s presented himself, the way that he’s shown who he is, gone about it, he’s got a clear eye for attention to detail. His videos are striking, his vocals are immense, his lyricism, everything about him and he backed himself, not to be with a label and I have so much love for that guy. I think that’s a massive thing to do in 2023, to get a number one album, with no backing, just off yourself.
That’s very very impressive!
I mean I could go on. That! That is an unwavering, that’s like…yeah. Anderson.Paak, he’s a G. Kasabian, Foals. Kasabian is special. Like, all these bands are at different times. I remember seeing Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian and Bloc Party and Chemical Brothers in 2007 at Glastonbury and just being like, blown away. And, then seeing Kasabian from 2007 and I feel like I grew with them, to then seeing them headline Glastonbury in 2014. It was a real moment. I feel like that’s what I mean, as a music fan of a particular band, that’s all our reward. You know what I mean? You back that band, and you see them grow and grow and grow and then they get that moment and it’s like you’ve earned that moment, you’ve deserved it, you’ve risen, you’ve risen with that band and yeah man, I pray that I can get people in the tribe with me for stuff like that.
Oh definitely! I also really like what you said, with kind of growing with a band and singers who have started off small in their rooms and then they just blossom.
I can feel it now. I felt that from you, and I respect that, I respect that. It’s true it’s like when you find an artist, you want to stand at the top of a hilltop and scream about them, you’ll send people this artist. I’ve just got back from Amsterdam as a shared and there’s a DJ called Mochakk. M-O-C-H-A-K-K, he’s a Brazilian kid, he’s like 22 and he’s just tearing it up. One of my best mates got married to another one of my best mates and they live in Dubai, and I met up with Darren – Shout out to Darren and Hailey! I met up with Darren and I haven’t seen him in years, and we talk just not as consistently as we used to because obviously, time zones and this and that, but we rekindled a proper good conversation through this DJ to the point where we were like “Right let’s go see this DJ” and we met in a middle ground in Amsterdam and we just had the sickest 4 days. That’s music! That’s the power of music! You know what I’m saying? Like the only other time I’ve been able to see him like abroad, was his wedding, do you know what I mean? That’s mad to break it down like that; I’ve not thought about it like that. Music is as important as marriage, if not more because it’s the first dance, isn’t it?
Are there any significant challenges in terms of creating music so far?
Yeah. Like financial, is quite a… you get what you pay for so like, the stages of music making, which I think weirdly, because of my inexperience of being in a band, I got into this quite naively and that was quite good, and then once I started making music and then it’s at a point and people are like ‘No there’s another stage’ and then it’s like there’s another stage and it’s ‘Oh right’. So, the stages are, you’ve got obviously making the music and then you’ve got to get the stems mix, so that’s each instrument and vocal and all the sound waves you’ll see on a screen, and someone will go through them and balance them. Then, you’ve got to get it stereo-mastered, where that will be somebody who can enhance the sound and enrich it and give it its soul and substance. Which, I don’t know if you’ve seen the Supersonic Documentary of Oasis?
No, I can’t say that I have.
It’s really good. I think it’s on Netflix; get it on! Liam Gallagher is my hero! I’m like a black Liam Gallagher in my head. There’s a moment in that where they were making the sounds and playing it live and it sounded amazing and then they got this opportunity to make “Definitely Maybe” and the first tunes of it were too nice and clean and it wasn’t the band, and they were like “How can you play it live like that…”. They ended up getting their sound engineer who was doing it live to mix the album and it just shows how important somebody like that with that astute ear is. And because of that we went to my mixer. My stem mixer is Tim and he’s unbelievable and he’s a young lad. He’s going to be big! He has a cool ear and a cool way about him.
Then I went to, there’s a cool place called Metropolis (Mastering) and that’s in London and they’ve done everyone from Dua Lipa, to Foals, to the XX, to Gorillaz. And I got put on to these by a friend and I was like “They’re not going to take me, I’m like nobody to them really. They’re doing all these big names”. There was a guy, they were all on it, but one guy in particular, John Davis, he put out something for new bands, could go in and be with him in the studio at a discounted rate, because obviously you’re still paying the fees the big acts would; it’s not a matter of your level, it’s a matter of their time and their expertise so you’ve still got to pay, but it’s worth it for the end result. But, out of his kind heart, he realised he wanted to support new bands as well and did us a discounted rate for new bands which was amazing. I got to go down to London and be with this guy, who turns out to have mixed for The Libertines, Foals, Gorillaz, did something with Liam Gallagher. All my heroes and he’s just casually telling me stories like as were getting on and getting on a level and like he knew I was from Leeds and was like ‘Oh do you know so-and-so?’. And I’m like yeah we had a good kinship and just made stuff like that. And to see him after his astute musical knowledge like vibing away to my tunes, it was like you know what man, we are on to something like that doesn’t lie. Like seeing somebody, he doesn’t need to vibe, he’s genuinely vibing and he said some very nice words. And I think that, well I brought him up because unfortunately he passed away unexpectedly a month back.
But I think that was the first moment, in all the difficulties, not just in a musical creative process, but it’s also like the industry’s very closed off I find, I think it’s very like… trying to be very diplomatic about this, but I think it’s up its a*se, I do, I think there’s a way where they see it as ‘Well, we can give you this’. I think they think they’re wasting their time with a lot of stuff, until everyone jumps on it, and they all of a sudden wanna be on it. I don’t agree with that. I think you should see something for its talent and its ability, its skill and then look to raise with it, rather than the artists having to do all the things and then decide to jump on and say that you’ve claimed and made them. I don’t believe that. That was the first time I felt that somebody truly respected me and was knowledgeable within the industry, give us their time and also from that gave us our… gave me, not the belief because I always believe, but the assurance that what we were making is actually like ace. Do you know what I mean? So that was a good moment to experience with John and I’m forever grateful to him and his memory for that as that was a good moment to experience..
But there’s been a lot of difficulties really, but again, I sort of go back to it, it’s like these hurdles aren’t going to prevent me from doing anything because they… that’s why it annoys me a bit, because they could easily ease these burdens but then I suppose that’s not the journey and it’s not going to put the fire out. If anything, it adds more to it. It just makes me more, more willing to go like, as I say like how Ren, if I have to go the route how Ren did, I will, like it shows it can be done. There’s a lot of difficulties and a lot of what it comes from I think it comes from the hardship, I think it comes from, I have these ideas, the ideas of these music videos. One of the songs for example ‘Asking for What’, which I’m sure we’ll cover a bit, it was written because I saw a couple of incidents of harassment and I feel like sexual harassment should be a male issue and it should be men, challenging men, not to, rather than put it on women’s toes too. Change that, because it predominantly… its men doing the assaults and attacks.
So, I wanted to write something about that, and not only just write a song about that, but I also wanted to build a legacy, I wanted to have something that could be like there for awareness of people to tap into. So, I reached out to Leeds Women’s Aid and SARSVL, who are Leeds-based women’s organisations that deal within that area. Obviously, it is a sensitive area. I reached out them and I’ve been doing videos with them, and not just like. What should we do? I know when it was the Black Lives Matter, peak of that movement, because it’s always ongoing, but people are like ‘What should I do?’ And I’m not here to answer that, do you know what I mean? It’s for us all to have these engaging conversations and that’s what I’ve done with the women from SAVSVL and Leeds Women’s Aid. I’ve created… we’re going to be releasing them in November, so not that far off actually. There’s going to be a range of conversations with them one-on-one and then around the table. So, like me in the middle and almost like question time seating and then just chatting and how we can change this in a society that is too prevalent and how we can move forward.
So, to make those videos, obviously, there’s a cost. At the moment because I haven’t got an abundance of… like if I had a label, for example, and I had a revenue and know what I’ll be able to spend it on. But right now, it’s choosing what I’m spending it on. Do I do those interviews? Or do I do a music video? And it’s like well those interviews are more important, and those music videos can come, you know what I mean? It’s just balancing that, and that’s where I think the difficulty and a subtle frustration can come in, just because I want to run, but it’s not there. But that is where practising peace comes in.
Thank you so much for being aware of sexual harassment and the existence of it, because not many people, they kind of just turn a blind eye and they always just say ‘Ugh another one?’. But it’s a growing issue and I do realise we need to do something, anything at all. It’s just taking that first step. So, thank you!
No, No. Firstly, thank you as well, but I think the truth of the matter is, it shouldn’t be something to be thanked about. I think we all should pay our part. I think it’s just the decency of equality and respect to one and all. The song’s got an attitude to it, because the first verse is like… it should be found quite offensive, but it’s based on the lads’ generic phrasing: ‘She’s asking for it’. That’s where the hook came from because I saw two incidents and I had split them up or intervened both times. But because I intervened at a time where nothing happened, nothing was done because, quote-on-quote: ‘They didn’t do anything’. Even though, if no one was there, something could have escalated. I was just frustrated to the point where I was like that just doesn’t make any sense. Does that mean they are not now going to do anything about it? It just doesn’t bear thinking about, but it stayed with me and stayed with me, and it was eating away. It was to the point where I was like: ‘Should I have let something happen, not happen, but start happening, so then for something to happen so then you can take place. Then what do you do at that moment? But you know that’s not the right answer. How then do you do it so there’s a case to be built up against them? That’s what I’m thinking and then obviously, I’m thinking, if I’m thinking this much, what are the people that have been affected by it, thinking, do you know what I mean? What if that changes the way they go about their day?
These conversations with Leeds Women’s Aid, it opened my mind to the way that women have to consider every action that they do, so that if anything happens, they can’t be accused of going a certain way or wearing that. Those shouldn’t be the phrasing of questions because it’s my life, it’s every day. They should be allowed to go wherever and do whatever or see whoever. Why has that been brought into disrepute about why this has happened? Why is that not the first thing? Why has this happened? Why has it not? It’s crazy. It was ringing round in my head and this hook, it just kept coming to me and when I go through things in my head, I think of things from both sides. So, I almost like to pre-empt what a debate could be, or a conversation could be, I consider it from all parties, looking at stuff and researching stuff, so that I know that if somebody does question where I’m coming from, I can answer, what I believe their pre-empt might be, like reverse engineering almost. At this point I was thinking that quote the one where they’re like ‘Oh they’re asking for it’. I was just like asking for what? Asking for what? And then that’s where the hook came in: asking for what, asking for what? Exactly. And I knew the chorus was there and I was like well that’s the chorus.
And that was the first song I wrote, and it was chucking it down. I remember it was chucking it down and I was meant to get the train to Manchester, and I just stood under a tree outside the Marriott hotel. You know where Mission nightclub used to be? I just stood under a tree and wrote the first phrasing of it and as I say the first verse as I felt like I was in the mindset of the lads’ rhetoric so I was just writing all these things that a lad would say, very cliché, but it’s quite given as a defence for whatever reason, and then the second/third verse is the comeback of the last character. Originally, it was the lad and then it was the lass’s character and really if I would have had the contacts, I would have loved Little Simz to like to do the second or third verse. The female perspective. But I was going to try and give that, but it just didn’t work and then I was like change it as in the narrator as you’ve seen something that’s happened. Rather than, ‘I’m not asking for it’ it’s they’re not asking for it. You know what I mean? And going at it like that. That’s how that sunk in. I don’t even know if that was a question…
To bring it back, that the point being that there is a limited resource. I have to be selective of the hierarchy of what I get to do first, and that’s what I find the difficulty of the music creative process.
Thank you! but I do like what you said about how you created that song. Are we hoping to get more songs within the same topics?
It’s funny what can inspire you. Do you know what I mean? I think again, going back to the after-party analogy, you can talk deep stuff, but you don’t want to be around somebody that’s always talking deep stuff because then it just gets too heavy. You want to talk deep stuff and then bring it back to light and bring it back to some commonality and I feel like that’s the beauty of our band. It’s like, we want to show you all these ranges of emotions and we want people to come to a gig and realise that we’ve got depth and connect to that song, but also to have the freedom to dance to some of the more care-free, like fun pop songs. That’s still a fun song, with fun lyrics but the angst behind it just isn’t, do you know what I mean? I think it would be demeaning the cause if the song was. So, it still needs to be given that energy because of what the song is raising, I’ll say. Some of the others are like let’s just have it.
I think again that’s just the power of music and I pray that this world…there’s a lot of good people in the world, and I pray that if we can shift it from it being put on lasses’ toes, on women’s to a man on man conversation, then more…and I think this song, and I am going to back myself, and I feel like because I’m me and I carry myself. I don’t think Chris Martin would get the same sort of nod, from the sort of group of people he’s trying to reach, if he wrote a song like that. Whereas I think I can because I’m proudly working class, and I’m not saying it’s just working class, but I’m just real, I’m just me…………….. and I think people will get that and people will see that I’m not like a square. Not that Chris Martin is a square but you know what I’m getting at.
So, I think that’s what I pray that the ripple effects the power of music, is people will feel comfortable to have that conversation as there’s somebody that they see on stage that they get on with. You’re like ‘He spoke about it, fair play. Maybe I should change my attitude or maybe I should have this chat or is this how I conduct myself, do I want to be seen like that or how can I enjoy this song by acting in that way. I think this song has a massive legacy that will outlive… it will live on forever. I really do. I think it will find its audience in the right way and I think it will be used… well it’s already being used by Leeds Women’s Aid, getting used for this thing called “White Ribbon” and with it being International Women’s Day in March, I think it’s the 8th of March next year, if we can align with that as well, then I feel…….. that’s more powerful. Then off the back of that we can do merch around that and all the profits for the merch to go to Leeds Women’s Aid. But then it’s about where do you prioritise the merch. With getting it made. Again, that’s where the frustration comes in certain parts.
I’m sure you will find your bearings and find the right balance as well as where to get said funding.
With the resources yeah. But the thing is because those organisations… I pray this turns more people’s attention to these organisations because, again, when you get speaking to them, I couldn’t put myself in that position but again to begin that mindset, could you imagine? Leeds Women’s Aid for example, like they rehouse families. Can you imagine being in a situation where your home life is at such a point, you have to leave for your own safety or your kids’ own safety? But yet you have to shut your life off. You might not even be able to get in touch with friends or families again because your partner, or whoever it may be, might know you might get in contact with them. So, you’re starting again and the bravery of these people… that’s what I want to try and put across. The word victim can sometimes get misunderstood, meaning they’re powerless or weak, but it’s not. I think vulnerability is a courage. A real power. And I think if we encourage that then more people will feel more comfortable speaking up because they’ll embrace themselves for their vulnerability and no one will have a hold of them or beating them into silence. I think that’s the key. Yeah, I honestly think this song has legs to proper empower a lot of sh*t.
Do you have a plan in mind for how your passion and your work will develop?
I’d say like… as you can tell I’m very passionate and I think like… it’s like an ocean: it’s endless, honestly. It might go into other areas. At its core of everything that I do, it’s about equality and engaging people into enjoying this moment, this life, however long it may be – and that’s my mission. That’s why when I say we need to spark a soul of a generation, that is, that’s my ethos and everything about it and that’s my passion. And if that’s through music or anything else, but that will always be at the blueprint of any creation that I do. So, that’s my passion as I say. I’m not feasting on my passion or reward or anything like that; those are the bonuses. For me, it’s more about can I refine my delivery in capturing more people’s attention and imagination into converting their views into equality or helping bring them towards a view of equality?
I’ve got one last question, if that’s ok. How do you see yourself within the next five years?
Weirdly, I do have a plan up to 2025, but I just think success is determined by figuring out what you believe your calling is. I believe I’m successful in that respect. But I’d like to be at a point where there’s no restraint, like if I want to fly somewhere and film something I can. If I want to reach out to somebody, if I want to reach out to Simz I can. I’d love it to be. That would be, that’s when you’ve got that collaboration and that’s when real mountains can move because you’ve got these creative forces that are merging together and I think as collaborators and true creatives, I think that’s where the real buzz can come, because that’s where ideas are flying about and… what excited me for the next five years is like, that I don’t think I’ve even skimmed the top of the iceberg of where I’m about to go and I feel like I’m really grateful for having a definitive voice. By voice I mean identity of who I am and what I’m representing and appreciation of what I’m here to give and understanding and just seeing how deep that goes and how far that goes and what that can bring, and believing in the universe… Believing that equality will win because it will, because even in the shades of darkness that are always… I think it’s Lao Tzo that said, “A cave can be dark for eternity, but it just takes one strike of a match to illuminate or at least give it a flicker”. That’s it – you don’t know. I just feel like the next five years I’d like to be in a stronger position to play in my role and play my part, at the top of my capabilities because I think I’ve got a lot to offer this planet.
I can tell! I really do. You’re a people’s person. You do have a genuine heart, even though I only met you today, like half an hour ago, you do, you really do. I appreciate your values a lot because recently, I’ve been delving into what’s happening in the news, but there are a lot of things that need to be dealt with and need to be looked into and they haven’t. With equality, it is a growing issue that isn’t really focused on. I think we can all sometimes be consumed within our little bubbles, that we forget there are things happening.
100%. I think then… this is the balance because there’s so much heaped on people’s lives. I can understand why people just want to protect their own bubble because it is hard out there, but I also think that if we can see that by remaining selective and holding that community and that collective community, then that’s where we are more susceptible to be what we are now, which is just shovelled lots of sh*te on. Whereas if we can all come together and understand that we are all going through different stuff, but that perception of society isn’t the reason why or those people are the reason why and we can see that actually those people are after the same thing as me which is just a roof over our head or food or to look after our family. Some people are just looking at their own bubble but when you strip it back, they just want to take care of their family, but they don’t know the best way of doing that and their view would just be to take care of their family rather than taking care of everybody else. I can get that. Some people might think that’s more down to resources and things like that, but it’s not.
I think cuisine is a beautiful example of how it can… by taking in different cultures everything can grow and be taken in by society. I think the high streets even more… there’s a lot of to let signs but you see the different cultures through a high street I believe, and I think we can base that, how can we delve into someone’s cuisine but not speak to that person? My goal would be, if I was able to speak to the powers that be, why can’t we celebrate every nation like national day and anybody that is from that region or country or that race, what they get to celebrate that national day, they get to do a national day, they get to do a festival. And on the back of that festival everybody gets invited. It’s not just them who do set up their day, they bring workshops that people come in and design different flags or something or food. And you’re learning about that culture because once you learn about that culture you’re not as fearful of that culture. If you’re not fearful of that culture, then you’re less susceptible to that propaganda that has told you that about that culture. If you are armed with the facts, you are able to tackle it. That’s what I think it is and I understand why certain people are fearful….. but I feel if we can change the victim aspect of why they are, not because of what they are but what they are doing. If we can change the how and we can understand that and we can really build from the ground up, then that’s where you get your proper solid communities and that’s when you start to get proper movement.
I also suppose that’s why, with music it’s such a good form that is not too full on but also very… it really does welcome different communities. I think of music as like a glue in a way.
It is! Because if you look around a concert or a venue, or wherever you may be, you don’t know anybody in there but you’re all there for the same reason and my favourite moment of a gig, is just when the artist is about to come on and the lights are going down, and you just get this cheer. That cheer is down to nothing but anticipation; that’s it! You’ve got the excitement of the band about to walk out and the anticipation of the crowd and that excitement. That for me is like suspended happiness because it’s like this creation that is about to be and this like, the crowds got to be on it and the band’s got to be on it and this mutual thing. I think going back to the community element, if you’re able to have one community open up and the other people coming through, do it for all communities, it wouldn’t be long until all communities are sound with one another. I don’t think it’s a long process. I think it’s a process that needs the domino knocking first.
And we can have a boogie!
Always music! Culture, food and music.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I appreciate it!
It was proper good. I liked it!
Also to wrap this up, can you tell me about any upcoming plans and dates of performance?
Yes! We’ve got Thursday the 7th of December. We are going to be at Wardrobe in Leeds for our home show! It’s going to be good. Tickets come on sale on Friday the 3rd of November and it’s nice to coincide with our next single release which is ‘Working Class Kids’ which is a song about defiance against the struggles, not from pity, but from empowerment, so yes – big things! All details can be found on our socials @silvertonguedrascales @benrandm
All photography by Maddie Armstrong.
You can find out more about Northlight Arts Centre here.
