DWELL // SO SLOW
You’ve gone through several iterations of Dwell before landing on your current sound/lineup, and you’ve put out a few singles that feel like their own specific footnotes of growth on the project. What has inspired the evolution of the band and where can we expect the band to sonically go next?
Toby: I’d say the evolution of the band has been inspired by trying to make better sounding records each time and we'd hope to keep doing that.
Issy: It’s onwards and upwards! Hopefully we’re just going to keep sounding better!
Emma: I think we’re also starting to develop a new flavour to the sound, but still with the same backbone.
George: For sure, and I think we are also a band of backbones haha, in that every person in the band is totally essential for where the sound is right now. When working on your bands sound you have to find where the Venn diagram intersects for everybody without the resulting sound being a chaotic mishmash and at the moment that point of intersection feels quite special and natural. I also often think that my favourite bands are the ones that develop musically, experimenting with different genres and instruments, but manage to keep the same flavour and identity at their core. Radiohead are a perfect example. It’s very tricky to get that right though.
Louis: We’ve definitely landed on something at the moment that we want to keep working on and explore too. We’re interested in experimentation and will continue to be.
E: I think we also have a little bit of extra spice. It’s shoegaze and post-punk but done a bit differently with the violin and saxophone. It has come together so wonderfully and the vibe is so nice.
DWELL
MIX
Your music is very atmospheric and cavernous, and this new single has both an otherworldly and grounded lens to it. How important is overlaying a specific mood when you piece together a song, and how does this impact the live performance?
E: I think it essentially just reflects who we all are as people.
G: We tend to pursue a mood and an atmosphere when writing songs as well, rather than being like “oh let’s write a song that is in this key or has a section like this in it”.
T: And the mood is important but maybe only as far as being something worth feeling in the first place?
L: Right, a specific mood is really important.
I: I guess we always want to convey how we are feeling.
G: Emma and I also hold up the atmospheric side of the sound whereas Toby’s guitar contrasts quite a bit with that which we love. Issy and Louis in the rhythm section I suppose then just find a nice position to exaggerate either element.
L: I don’t know how that impacts the live performance though. I suppose it too is moody and atmospheric. It reflects the music, the live performance is the mood. We want our audience to die inside haha.
The Bristol music scene has inspired a variety of musical experimentation. The band’s new music seems more jazz-inspired for one, how does this genre fusion play a part in your music?
E: In a way I think it’s completely by accident! Although I have been playing jazz fusion in my own time every night on the saxophone haha.
I: Emma is just extremely talented and we love having her on-board! She probably provides most of the jazz inspiration.
T: I think in it's intention it's less of a genre fusion more trying to use different instruments to support the themes of the song.
G: Yeah, I don’t think we ever go out to make a specific genre of music. We have just ended up being more similar to the local post-punk and shoegaze bands when trying to capture a mood. That is interesting though as I have been going to more jazz gigs recently in Bristol. There is a thriving jazz scene but many of the bands are also so much more than just jazz.
E: If each of us made music with just one other member of the band as well, it would probably sound very different to how we sound because it is exaggerating each person’s characteristics more.
G: It’s the Venn diagram again. Dissonance plays a massive part in what we do as well, which can be used to build and release tension, which I guess might be attributed to jazz but in the same breath could also be post-punk and no wave.
I: The genre fusion adds so much as well. We have a song called Terrestrial Betty which the violin added so much to when it was included. It emphasises the rest of the song and it adds a whole new level of beauty.
L: Yeah, the violin and saxophone definitely allow us to explore new dimensions.
There’s core elements of more pop song structures embedded in all your songs. How do you balance the pure songwriting aspect and how important is it for that to tie everything together?
T: Each individual aspect of the song creates the complete song so, the pop song structure is almost like its own thing that's nice to mess around with and tying everything together within that is pretty satisfying.
I: I feel like playing a really complex song is enjoyable and has value, but sometimes you just want a good catchy banger. Not to say that Toby writes pop songs as such but it’s always there and some songs have more of it than others.
G: And I think we would never want to be experimental just for the sake of it.
L: Most of the songs start from quite a simple part that could just repeat over and over again. There’s always elements of traditional songwriting in what we do, but only when it’s needed.
Tell us more about the recording process/inspiration behind this new track!
E: It was amazing! I had so much fun, the sofas were so comfy, the coffee was great, the equipment was awesome. I was confined to the corridor though because apparently my saxophone sounded the best there. I felt cuddled by my surroundings though, it was my corridor.
I: Cornish Pasties definitely played a big role in fuelling the sessions.
L: Big shout out to the pasty emporium in St Phillips.
G: Yeah, we couldn’t have done it without pasties.
L: And Dom, thanks Dom for being amazing as a sound engineer and producer. We were also quite inspired by a band called Women going into the studio, who he showed us when we first worked with him.
G: Dom was instrumental in making us feel comfortable and helping us make the best work we possibly could. Lots of love to him and Humm Studios.
Any under the radar musical peers we need to know?
G: So many. Stanlaey, Quade, Faux Hex/Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii and Grove are all amazing local acts people should check out. We are also being supported by Lifter and Portrait Of at our show later this month, who are ace.
E: Marszemma, go listen to Marszemma! That’s my solo project haha.
L: Should definitely say Oliver Wilde and Mildred Maude.
G: Oh yeah, and Pet Shimmers
I: I really love Den Hag as well. And Foot Foot.
L: [Ironically] Actually, I don’t want anybody else to succeed.
(All laugh)
What’s special about the mix you’ve made?
G: So we’ve all picked out a few of our favourite tracks and I’ve then mixed it from my little home studio setup. It is pretty eclectic and shows a nice range of all of our influences, hopefully piecing the puzzle together that explains how we’ve landed on our sound. We hope everyone enjoys giving it a listen! It’s quite nice and chilled out for the most part, so maybe grab a cup of tea and a biscuit or whatever relaxing beverage and snack pairing is your preference.
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