Music Monday - The John MacLeod Band

 

The John MacLeod Band

 

The John MacLeod Band
From Left to Right - Matt Tyrer, John MacLeod, Paul Hancock, Angela Lazenby

The John MacLeod Band formed in October 2012, after the eponymous John MacLeod (a solo acoustic of many years standing) felt the need to expand his musical family of one, to make more diverse and comprehensive sounds which enabled him to pick up electric guitars in addition to his acoustic (not to mention he was getting lonely).

Paul Hancock takes the bass guitar.  He is a solo artist in his own right, and also plays guitar in bands The Nanateas and The Penny Dreadfuls.  Many moons ago, he was also the lead guitarist in one of Stoke's busier bands, Nemo.

Angela Lazenby is TJMB's drummer.  She is Paul's bandmate in The Nanateas and The Penny Dreadfuls, and is also the one to cajole Paul into answering John's advert for potential band members.

Matt Tyrer is a multi-instrumentalist, bringing keyboards, accordion, synth and string arrangements to the band.  He plays guitar in Dead Radio Society (in which he shares frontman duties), and also is working on a solo project.  After playing onstage with John over the course of a couple of years, he made it clear to John that he would enjoy being part of whatever band he was putting together.

The four of them became fast friends, and within two months of rehearsals set to work on plotting their debut album, on which recording started in February 2013.  Finally, in 2014, it was completed, and released on 28th February, on physical and digital formats.

I managed to catch up with the lovely John MacLeod and he took the time to answer some questions for the blog.

Ten Questions with The John MacLeod Band

1 – What started your love affair with music?

Discovering Crowded House just as they broke up, and from then Neil Finn's Try Whistling This record. I saw him play in Manchester on the accompanying tour for that album, and walked out of the Apollo thinking "THAT'S what I want to be doing."

2 – You went from a solo artist to forming a band, what made you decide to do this and how did you set about recruiting the other band members?

I've been in & out of bands over the last 13-14 years, and they were promising affairs and lots of fun, but ultimately we weren't all pushing in the same direction, which is massively disheartening. After the bands folded, I went back to writing and solo gigging, which has always been good to do, but was becoming less fun the longer I did it. I was starting to write songs and have ideas that were going beyond my capability to realise them, and it was getting lonely. I wanted to make music with friends, and make a big noise. Matt had previously expressed interest in being part of whatever I was going to do, and so I set about posting on Facebook. Paul sent me a text asking if I was still looking, as he and Angela were interested. We had a try-out in October 2012, and it just clicked.  We all want the same thing from it, and we work to the same order, so it's turned out nicely.

3 – What’s the main difference for you between playing solo and now as a collective?

Playing with Ange, Matt & Paul is an absolute joy, and really rewarding. It's great to take those moments in a song to steal a glance at my bandmates & share a grin or a joke.

If you want the main difference though, when I played solo shows, they were always a battle, unless I got a good crowd - you're nearly always fighting against the noise. With the four of us, you're turning the tables immediately, and your chances of being heard increase significantly!

4 – Your songs are all beautifully crafted, is the songwriting process a solitary one or do you all have input?

The songwriting itself for this record has been kind of solitary, because they were all songs that existed prior to the band forming. That said, the arranging of the songs was an entire group effort - as soon as we hit the studio, we all put our heads together. When we focus on new songs, the writing should be more collaborative - Matt's already written a song that we debuted at our album launch gig - and we're starting to jam more, so it'll be interesting to see what comes next.

5 – There feels like there’s a theme that runs through your debut album ‘Unexpected Sunshine’, was there much material that you chose not to put on the album and how did you make those choices?

There is a theme of sorts, in that the songs' stories all lead to the point where we got together as a band to make the record (or for me they do). For a couple of years or so, I had the album's bookends written, quite specifically, and aside from that, it was a matter of picking the songs that fit alongside or within them, which for the most part, comprised our live repertoire for months, with one or two exceptions - there are a couple of songs that I've been playing for donkey's years, which did not fit tonally with the mood of 'Unexpected Sunshine' at all, so they'll see the light of day, studio-wise, in the very near future!

The only song that almost made it onto the record was Universe Colliding.  It was a bonus track for months & months as we couldn't fit it into another part of the album without disrupting the flow, but we eventually excised it, for reasons of time, and we wanted to use it to prologue the album, for those who pre-ordered, at least!

6 – What was the experience of recording the album like?

It was a really exciting experience, very positive, and I learned a lot through the process - for example mixing it, is so far removed from anything you're used to doing as a band. You have to distance yourself from being a performer or a writer, and instead you become an editor. It's a difficult hat to wear at first, but you settle into it after, say, the first mixing session.

There was never a point where I felt we were hitting a brick wall, we'd reach a natural stopping point on a song, then move on to the next. We recorded at Tremolo Studios in Silverdale, and Dan Rowley was a great producer to work with, full of advice & ideas but never intrusive with it - a friendly presence and really skilled at his job. The record is every bit his as well as ours.

The process itself was interesting, because Angela, Paul & I would record the bones of the song (drums, bass, guitars & lead vocals), and Matt would be listening to us, using those sessions to generate ideas, at which point, we'd sort of hand over the reins to him, and he would lay pianos and synths down, and we'd start generating harmonies between the four of us. Studio work would inform what we do onstage, and similarly, things we'd do while playing the songs live would trickle back into the studio.

Angela & Paul had been to Tremolo before, with their band The Nanateas, and Matt has done an extensive range of studio work before this, whereas this was my first time working on anything like this, so I relied on their expertise & skills. Matt's a great arranger, very attentive to dynamics & making sure we don't repeat ourselves from song to song.  Angela pays super attention to the vocals, and Paul & I sit back and listen to everything, saying "That sounds great!" every time, and then go away & troubleshoot when we listen to the rough mixes. Paul & I pore over rough mixes endlessly, I think.

A good chunk of the record was made during 2013's heat wave, which was really rather pleasant!

7 – You have a lot of support as a band, especially in your live shows, what was the reaction to your album like and did it surprise you?

We are really grateful for the people who have bought the album so far, and who have come to our shows. The feedback we've had so far has been really positive, but I'm a realist, and I am aware that we need to get our name out to more people. We're aiming to support as many bands as possible, and when we play to crowds who don't know we're going to be there, the reaction is always great, so I think we need to capitalise on that.

The good feedback has been a relief. I wouldn't say a surprise, because we believe in the work & we trust each other to do well, but yeah, the good feedback is a relief because it reassures you that you haven't stuffed it up!

8 – Which artist / artists have inspired you most and why?

For me, artists like Nerina Pallot really energise me - her 2014 12 EP project is exciting to watch unfold - the time constraint and limitations are making really interesting songs come through.  Her music is always powerful, witty and warm, and she always gives a lot back. She's aware of the lucky position she's in, and her music just sings with it. I think she's a really interesting performer as well as a skilled writer & musician.

I love Gemma Hayes' work too, she can be awash with noise one minute, and quietly fingerpicking on an acoustic the next, which is pretty much how I like to roll, and Liam Finn's music hits me for the same reasons - he's got this reckless energy, which he counterbalances with measured down tempo moments, and both are superbly arranged.

I also find Queens Of The Stone Age really inspiring, with offbeat lyrics and a complete playfulness when it comes to the music itself. Their last album has a new degree of emotional maturity in the mix, that I can't wait to see them build on and explore

One last band I've really enjoyed discovering is Shearwater, Matt played their album 'Animal Joy' to me on the way to one of our first rehearsals, and it really grabbed me.  We've started playing one of their songs in our set.

9 – Is there one song you wish you had written/recorded yourself, and why?

Only one?!  Hmm. Tricky choice, but I think either Shearwater's ‘You As You Were’ (which is the song we've started covering), or ‘Learning To Breathe’ by Nerina Pallot (we've been working on a cover of that, too). Both songs have drive, pace and there's a joie de vivre in songs that that race the way they do. They could be singing anything and the sound would make you feel positive & energised, but the content of those songs roots you into a great message, of rebirth, and not giving up on what you love. They're songs about steadying yourself, and finding the courage to keep going, and I really tune in to that.

10 – With your debut album out now, what’s next for the band?

We just want to play a lot of shows, little and often. We've spent a year making this, and playing shows to support the studio costs, and now we'd like to just support as many bands as possible, building good relationships with venues and bands alike. We're with a management company called NeonTiger Productions, who've been really supportive in making our album available, and setting up our website, and they're working on the gigging aspect of things now.

Other than that, we're working on a ton of material for another record, and maybe an EP. An EP would be nice between albums, I think.

Having seen the amount of work that went into creating ‘Unexpected Sunshine’ I was thrilled to hear the result and have a great album by a bunch of musicians I really respect. We all need a little bit of sunshine in our lives and you could do much worse than getting yours from The John MacLeod Band.



The John MacLeod Band live on 7th June at the Sugarmill, Stoke.

Upcoming Gigs

Sunday 4th May - The Situation's Birthday Bash, Foxlowe Arts Centre in Leek https://www.facebook.com/events/716513365039986/

Saturday July 12th - Alsager Music Festival, Milton Park, Alsager. https://www.facebook.com/events/666327883432167/

Links for The John MacLeod Band

Website - www.thejohnmacleodband.com

Facebook - www.facebook.com/thejohnmacleodband  

YouTube - www.youtube.com/thejohnmacleodband  

Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheJMBand

Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/thejohnmacleodband