1) Who are you, who is in the band, who does what in the studio and on stage?
Wozniak are James on bass, John on drums, Sarah on guitars and some singing and Simon on guitars. We pretty much stick to that formation live, although Sarah plays some iPad keyboards on a couple of tracks. In the studio James is our go-to man for all things fancy – a little bit of piano on our EP, and some 80s synths on our new track, which we’re preparing to record. John also did some extra percussion, but in a Tom Waits style, rather than in a bloke-in-a-Kangol-hat-hitting-
2) How long have you been writing and performing in this way?
We got together in late 2012.
3) How exactly do you work / write / record?
Songs usually start with a riff which everyone then adds their own part to. I know that sounds a bit dull, but it’s a proper collaborative effort – even though we each tend to write our own parts, we all contribute to structure and feel. We’ve just started recording our first album – we go in with the songs pretty much sorted out so that we can record them as a live band, and then we go overdub crazy. Having spent far too long reading books about bands in the studio, I like to add various bits and pieces so that it feels like a proper recording, rather than how we sound live. The basic elements are all the same, but there are likely to be lots of different guitar parts, and various other things – we used a Roland Juno 6 on our latest single, which we ran through a fuzz pedal and a Watkins Copicat, and we’ve used some old Moogs in the past, too. We also like to add lots of ambience, which really means sticking loads of reverb on and then running everything through a tape delay. Job’s a good ‘un!
4) How do you feel your studio/recording style informs the way you perform your music live? Does it make it easier or harder, better etc…?
The live versions of songs are the essence of Wozniak – tense and loud with plenty of feedback – and the studio versions are extensions of that. When you’re in the studio you might as well experiment and try stuff out, although I don’t think we’ve got ourselves in the situation where we just can’t replicate something live. The additional stuff in the studio is more about expanding a song, rather than altering it’s fundamental character. Having said that, I’m determined to get a flute on one song…
5) What’s been happening lately and what’s new with you?
Well, as I mentioned we’re just starting to record our first album, which will hopefully be out sometime in early-mid 2015. We’ve got a couple of tracks planned for release between then and now, and we’ll definitely be playing at least one of them on Saturday. We’ve also been writing new stuff for the album, and trying to remember how to play some of our older stuff that we’ve not done for a while. We’re gearing up for a little run of gigs before the end of the year, we’re planning our first gig in London for February and we’re getting ready to release the single. Lots on! Oh, we also got hooked up with some free Dr Martens as well, which was interesting. I think the band had a little bit of a debate about whether or not we should do it, but I was already in the shop trying stuff on. Imagine my surprise when I was the only one of the band to feature on Dr Martens which were put up around town – I can imagine the creative process: ‘let’s use the old fat guy’. Brilliant!
6) When was the last time you played Edinburgh (and where)?
We played Sneaky Pete’s as part of Oxjam at the start of November with Black International and Spook School, which was a great lineup. That was an excellent gig, even if I did pretty much fall off the stage – I made it look like a spontaneous act of artistic destruction (I think)…
7) If you’ve played Limbo before, what did you like/rate about the experience? If you’ve not played Limbo before, what have you heard about it?
We’ve not played Limbo before, and we’re really looking forward. Taking a look at the YouTube channel and the website shows what a good quality night it is, with great bands and I’m really pleased that we’ve been asked to play.
8) What’s next, coming up after this gig, for you and what are you generally looking forward to right now…?
Lots of work to get the single out – we’ll be filming a video soon (which Sarah, James and John generally take care of in terms of ideas and technical ability – I just help carry stuff) and doing a couple of other gigs in Dundee and Glasgow before we do our Christmas show at Opium on 12 December along with Book Group and Gigantic Leaves, two excellent bands. Ahead of the next single, our Pikes Peak EP is still available at Bandcamp (or iTunes) and you can still get a copy of our first single for free on our Bandcamp. If you want to check out our videos, we have our own YouTube channel. Oh, and you can get our new t-shirt from Bandcamp, too – or buy it at the gig!
9) If you have any other passions/opinions you’d like to share, if there’s anything else you feel strongly about, pls feel free to tell us about it here…?
Speaking personally, I have been absolutely delighted by the return of Slowdive.
10) There isn’t a tenth question any more but feel free to make one up, if you like…. 😉
How many guitar effects pedals do Wozniak use live? Thirty-six, currently.
