Class of 86, twee, jangle, chame como quiser, o fato é que, aqui no TBTCI, sabe-se que tudo que é basicamente originário dessas vertentes tem alto poder de ser adorado.
E, foi assim que aconteceu quando escutei pela primeira Sunshine Kiss do Radium Dials, uma peça absolutamente viciante. Um perfect noise pop da melhor qualidade, daqueles de se apaixonar antes do 1 minuto da música chegar. Dúvida? Dê play imediatamente e tente, caso consiga, acho que o TBTCI certamente não é o seu lugar....
A única coisa triste sobre o Radium Dials, é que infelizmente desde o dia 31 de Maio do ano passado nada mais foi lançado.
Então aqui fica o pedido formal do TBTCI, precisamos de mais!!
***** Interview with Radium Dials *****
Q. When did Radium Dials begin? Tell us about the history...
I play the drums in my other band called The Old Firm Casuals, I started writing songs in 2012 or 2013 in between Casuals tours. I recorded demos at home for about 6 or 7 songs and tried to pull people together for a band. I got busy with my day job and with the Casuals so the Radium Dials stuff got shelved for a bit. In 2014, I broke my arm while on was on tour in Europe and I was unable to play drums or work for almost a year. After about 6 months of being off, I decided to finish the songs and get in the studio to record them. I played all of the instruments myself and completed most of the song "Sunshine Kiss". My arm healed in 2015 and I had to go back to work so it got shelved again. I got back in the studio in 2016 and finished Sunshine Kiss and recorded everything for "Failure" and got the artwork together and was finally able to release it in 2017.
Q: Who are your influences?
I have so many bands that I love, but my main influences for Radium Dials are Ride, Chapterhouse, Adorable, Nirvana and Oasis. I tend to lean to the catchier/poppier side of shoegaze bands, you just can't get catchier songs than some of Ride's stuff. I love bands like My Bloody Valentine and Ringo Deathstarr, but I'm just not talented enough with gear and pedals to make music like they do - I really appreciate their ability to manipulate sounds like that. Maybe someday I can do that too!
Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
I love most types of music but for the Shoegaze/Britpop type genres, here's what I would have to go with:
1 )Ride - Going Blank Again
Top songwriting mixed with catchy melodies and noise, it doesn't get better than this. They're even better live.
2) Ringo Deathstarr - God's Dream
Fuzzed out dreamy songs that can also be so heavy, I love it.
3) Lush - Lovelife
My favorite of their albums, they left shoegaze behind but the songwriting can't be beat. My favorite song on this record is Tralala, so good!
4) My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Come on, I don't see anyone ever topping this. Never gets old. Again, these songs have to be experienced live to be believed.
5) Nirvana - Nevermind
I know this is an obvious one and not shoegaze but this record showed me that something so simple can be so powerful. Taught me a lot about songwriting.
Q. How do you feel playing live?
Right now I'm the only member of Radium Dials so I haven't been able to play these songs live. I'd love to see a live version of Radium Dials someday. What I can say from my experience playing live with my other bands is that there is nothing better than the feeling of when you're playing music live with other people and it all comes together how it should and the audience is enjoying it. Being creative and seeing your hard work come to fruition is what it's all about.
Q. How do you describe Radium Dials sounds?
I would say alternative rock? In the late 80's in the US we called it modern rock or college rock. The song Sunshine Kiss is a really bright, jangly, poppy song while Failure is heavy and noisy. I tend to write both kinds of songs so I'm sure we'll see more of both variety. Even though they sound a little different from each other, they should both be played LOUD.
Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Recording all of the instruments yourself is pretty complicated. You have to know how the song will go in your mind before you start and basically create it from nothing. I started with drums, then rhythm guitar, bass guitar, guitar leads and then vocals. Even my engineer wasn't sure what I was going for until the songs were almost finished! The worst part of recording alone is carrying all of the gear yourself! For guitars I used a combination of a G&L ASAT Classic (telecaster style guitar) and a Gibson L6-S from the 70's (which belonged to my engineer that I've been trying to buy from him for years). I used a Fender Chorus amp and a Marshall tube head and various effects pedals. I like to make sure that the effects don't overpower the guitar sound or the song itself, I like to just tweak the guitar sound a little bit to get the vibe I'm looking for.
Q. Which new bands do you recommend?
My favorite artists of the last few years would be The Orielles (first album coming out in January 2018 I believe), The Courtneys (first album had me hooked), and even though she's been making music a long time - Grimes. Her latest album "Art Angels" blew my mind - such a talented person and really inspired me to push myself with my songwriting and musicianship. Definitely someone I look up to as an artist. (By the way, if Grimes is reading this, I will quit my job at a moment's notice to play drums in your touring band. Just saying haha.)
Q: Which band would you love to made a cover version of?
I have an idea for a cover that I'd like to do live but I'm not going to say who it is just in case I'm able to do it in the future. I would love to cover Radiohead's song "Polyethylene" but I don't see Radium Dials having 3 guitarists at any point!
Q: What are your plans for the future?
My friend Sam has been helping me with this project recently by playing the drums in rehearsal so I'd like to record more songs and put a band together to start playing shows. And, keep writing more music!
Q: Any parting words?
Thank you for listening to my music and I hope you and your readers enjoy it. The Sunshine Kiss single is available on all the digital stores and streaming sites but you can download it for free at radiumdials.bandcamp.com. Thanks again for the interview!
*
*
*
Thanks
https://radiumdials.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/radiumdials/
