Debut proper from Neverest Songs

A while ago I interviewed Neverest Songs’ Luke Twyman for God Is in the TV, but the exposure was unfortunately lost during the site’s server move. Well no more! You can read the results below, in all of their Joseph Pulitzer referencing glory.

Now the Margate native is due to release his debut single proper “Paper Trumpets”. Originally intended for late March, the single was pushed back to July 25^th for reasons unknown. That doesn’t stop it from being a delirious slice of folktronica goodness – drawing comparison to the likes of Jeremy Warmsley and Bjork, Anthony Hegarty and Regina Spektor. Take a listen to the bizarre concoction underneath this here blurb.

Paper Trumpets by Neverest Songs

You’re from Margate. All I know about Margate, I know because of Philip Larkin’s miserable sea side ode. What should Margate be known for?

It definitely has a dark side. It’s also mentioned in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. It was known in the heyday of British seaside tourism for its theme park “Dreamland”, which there’s an excellent and slightly freakish 1953 short film about called O Dreamland – check it out online.

It’s also known for [its] beaches, which are still great. I recently learned that the beach here never used to exist; it appeared as a happy accident when they built the pier (since gone) 200 years ago. Now there are some nice things happening to the town again, there are some great little boutique shops, and there’s a focus on local art. Although controversial locally, a massive brand new contemporary gallery is about to open and now they’re restoring the theme park.

The design of your website is very nifty. Who did it?

Thanks! I did it. I freelance in design and creative work for a living, and do other non-music-based art projects when I get time. The two go together well and it’s nice when I can combine them occasionally. [Go here - www.neverestsongs.com – to see it for yourself!]

Can you play a tune with the flying piano or is it there to trick me?

I reckon I can get away with playing a slow tune on it. I wouldn’t recommend it for a recital.

Your debut single Paper Trumpets is available as a download and on 7” this March. Do you think it’s important to embrace the old and the new, in terms of a musical release?

Well, I had two tracks that I felt belonged together and that I wanted to release separate of an album, so a 7” was an instant decision really. But it makes sense to release digitally alongside, and while there’s nothing loveable about MP3s, they’re certainly easy and accessible. From a financial point of view, the 7” alone won’t pay for itself so it also gives me a chance to recoup some costs.

Which format do you prefer and why?

I always feel a bit torn really, I love physical formats, I love nice tactile packaging and obviously vinyl is really great for [that]. However putting out any physical release generates waste and uses a load of resources and that’s starting to play on my conscience a bit lately. So far I’ve been fairly responsible, the album packaging was all paper and had recycled elements, but I feel that I want to be a bit more on it with future releases.

What or who influenced you to write the song?

The A-side is influenced by childhood imagination, and snippets of memories. The B-side is influenced by Joseph Pulitzer – the title is a translation of his alleged last words.

I imagine playing a paper trumpet would be impractical. What’s the most impractical instrument you’ve ever played?

Not sure what the most impractical would be, I guess the Theremin, despite being a real instrument, it sometimes picks up radio, and if anything metal/electrical, or a person/cat/etc comes nearby it instantly bends out of tune. My piano (non-flying) has recently become pretty impractical after having a lot of wear. It’s got to a point where I’m really having to write songs around dodgy notes, and doing constant makeshift repairs on others. [It] might be time to find a replacement.

Compared to your debut album Small Voyages your new material is sparse. Do you think that’s fair, and did you make a conscious decision to experiment with sound (or the lack of it)?

Hmm I don’t know really, I mean there are some fairly sparse tracks on the album as well. Also, away from the 7” the rest of the new material I’ve been working on is turning out a mix of both sparse and full arrangements. But yeah I think the single tracks share a certain feel and spaciousness, despite being created in different ways, one being more textural, the other a scored brass ensemble.

Your press release says you’re meticulous, but in what respect?

I think it mainly refers to recording, but I guess it could also be true of other parts of the music. I try and do as much myself as possible, I can’t help but have a strong image of how I’d like artwork, packaging, or other presentation to be. Same with the live set-up and arrangements really, it’s always changing, partly just to suit different shows/venues but also because I like it to change. I have a very basic recording set-up, but I do spend a lot of time trying to make things sound how I want.

Do you think art can ever really be ‘finished’? Do you find your songs evolve with time?

I think things certainly evolve. I did worry while I was recording the first album that maybe the end of that would be a conclusion, that I’d feel finished and not need to write more songs past that point. But I found that as I got toward the end, as excited as I was about the thing I was working on right at that moment, I couldn’t help but start thinking about the next thing, and then even the next thing after that. Recently I’ve worked on a couple of fairly radical re-arrangements of songs from Small Voyages that I might try out live soon.

Last month I got told off for wrongly assuming the meaning behind someone’s stage name. Is Neverest Songs your real name and if as I suspect it isn’t, what does it mean?

Hah yes, your suspicion is correct. I never saw it as a stage name [though] – it was just something to call the music. Over time though that gets harder to stick to as people ask who you are, or ask if you’re in a band etc. It was originally taken from an early lyric, however that song and its meaning has long since been lost. Probably for the better to be honest…

Do you have any plans to release another full length in 2011? (This is where you get to promote yourself unashamedly. Go!)

Ah! Well, I am working on another full length. I think it’s unlikely it will be complete this year though, more likely early next year. I’m recording and writing a lot, I’ll probably stick largely with the process I had with the last album and just keep recording until I feel done, then decide what I want to do with the tracks. But I do have a basic plan of how I want the album to turn out.