Start Listening To: Eades
From farmhouse to raw punk, their ‘Delusion Spree’ feels rather sweet.
Riding-hard on the post-punk wave, The Clash and Britpop spiced up by some real-life event, Eades cooked up a debut album, rooted in the old alternative, heading for heads of the new generation. Rewriting battles of drug abuse, escapism from society into anxiety and love and loss of it, Eades made sure that there’s a brighter side to it all to, a little light of hope.
A coming of age, out of university and into the cruel, paradoxical world of ‘proper’ adults is not an easy task but with Eades’ new record as a company, it’s a lot more bearable. Even enjoyable.
Can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?
Hello! We are Eades from Leeds. We are a DIY band who write, perform, produce, engineer and mix all our own music. Mostly inspired Punk and Alternative Rock.
How did it all start?
It started out as my solo DIY recording project which I was doing in my old bedroom, with the goal of improving my production knowledge and to get better at sound engineering and producing. I have always wanted to be a producer and this has been a pretty good way of getting my foot in the door. After releasing a couple demos on Soundcloud and YouTube it quickly turned it into a full band. Making music is a lot more enjoyable as a band especially when you're really close with your bandmates.
If you were to describe your sound to someone who’d never heard you before, what would you say?
It’s raw, energetic, visceral and fun.
Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming debut album 'Delusion Spree’?
Harry: It’s OUT NOW! We wrote a bunch of songs and rehearsed them to the ground so we could record the drums, bass and guitars all live together. Then we booked an old farmhouse we found on air bnb for 15 days to record it all. It took a lot of graft to get it right but it was worth it in the end. We wrote, performed, engineered and mixed it all ourselves. The only thing we didn't do was mastering. We wanted our debut to be as raw and authentic a representation of the band as possible and we are incredibly proud to say the end result is just that.
Dan Clifford-Smith (Drums / Production): This was a special one for us, as we went away and stayed in a cottage in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales for just over 2 weeks and recorded the whole album live ourselves. We took all our instruments/mics, set up in the dining room/hall and played a lot of music live together. It’s nice as we can all reflect back on such an amazing experience when listening back to the album.
Can you tell us more about the themes behind it?
The majority of the themes are based around real-life experiences and emotions we felt in our early/mid-twenties coming out of university and into the real world. It's very honest and raw lyrically. I struggle with the idea of friends and family reading or listening to the lyrics, although I am really proud of the fact we were able to be so honest on the final record.
Some examples of these topics would be: A close friend's drug addictions, escaping from societal norms, bad habits, health anxiety, social anxieties, love and loss as well as the pettier sides of life.
What’s your favourite track from it?
Harry: It's a tough one… Reno gets me the most pumped… Parachute Games is like the guilty pleasure, classic rock moment on the album and I love that we kept it that way in the end. It’s a bit over the top but that's why I love it. We definitely indulged ourselves in that one.
What inspires your music?
Harry: The Clash are probably the biggest influence on myself. But also a lot of the New York punk, no-wave, post-punk, art-rock scenes. That's probably quite obvious though. I’ve been relieving a lot of my childhood favourites that my mum etc was into recently like Blur and Oasis as well. I know you're supposed to pick a side but I love them both for different reasons. I only got properly into Blur once someone told me they thought Former Warnings Cluster reminded them of a Blur tune. Up until then I just knew the big ones from my childhood but after that I really sunk my teeth into them over the last year. I like their ability at writing pop songs with a real creative and artistic side to them. Anything with Kim Deal in is a massive influence on me too. I love her.
What advice would you give for anyone trying to achieve a similar sound to your band?
Record your music live
Sack off the metronome. If it feels right to speed up or slow down just do it. Hendrix never used a metronome; the tempo was part of the emotion.
Learn to record yourself - even if you have a limited supply of gear. We all start somewhere.
Rehearse your song inside out and don’t be afraid to re-write and take criticism from people you respect.
Don’t over-produce.
Imperfections can be a good thing.
If your music were a film or TV show which would it be?
Harry: A Lot of people tell me that ‘Saying Forever’ would be great on a 70s cop show. I like the sound of that. ‘End Of The F***ing World’ also has a great soundtrack.
Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why is it important to you?
Harry: My grandad always had great music in his car when he’d pick me up from school which was most days. Most Pink Floyd albums have a very close place to my heart. Dark Side Of The Moon is one of them.
What do you hate right now?
Dan: Putin
Harry: Same
What do you love right now?
Harry: My Dog, Terry
What comes next in the Eades’ story?
Harry: We’ve pretty much finished writing our second album now but we’re going to keep writing until we decide to pencil in the recording sessions. With all the kind words we have had on the album it's really motivated us to get cracking with the second. We recorded ‘Delusion Spree’ in 2021 and Tom and I have been writing a bunch since so feeling ready to do it all again. The recording is one of our favourite parts of the process, and I think we are going to turn our process on its head for the second one which will be fun.
Apart from that, we are going to be touring a lot. We are joining Langkamer for a handful of their tour dates at the end of the month followed by our own UK tour in April and May - tickets are on sale now. We have also just confirmed a support slot for The Drums which is pretty mind-blowing.
What upcoming 2022 music releases are you most excited about?
Honey Guide's debut album... but more on that to come. Dan and I are co-producing that one and it's coming out on my label Bam Bam Records which is very exciting. I am also helping Joel with some stuff for the second Far Caspian album that's going to be a fun change up from the first, going back to his more guitary roots.
Hopefully a bunch of new music from Laundromat, Willie J Healy, Langkamer, Lewsberg and a of other great acts.
Our pal's Van Houten and Niall Summerton are also sitting on some good tunes that I think people will really like.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
The physical version of the album comes out on the 6th May! You can pre-order it now. We are also going to be on tour a lot this year so make sure you get down to a show if you like what you hear. Head over to eadesmusic.com for more info.
Also, check out our studio Bam Bam Studios and our record label Bam Bam Records.
