PBY - Interview / Eades

Upon the release of the video of latest single ‘Same Guy’, Eades’ lead singer Harry Jordan speaks to Post Brexit Youth Lorenzo Ottone about finding inspiration in individual differences, experimenting with Bollywood soundtrack riffs, and facing the drama of growing older and inevitably becoming uncool.

Channeling Talking Heads, The Velvet Underground and The Strokes garage energy on a Bollywood excursion, Eades’ ‘Same Guy’ is a breath of fresh air in the post-punk dominated British independent music scene. The song, whose infectious riffs and chorus have a tremendous dancefloor potential, is a liberating hymn to accepting ageing after the 20s.

Lorenzo Ottone: In your latest single you bring together a plethora of influences, ranging from 70s proto-punk to Bollywood riffs. Where did all these inspirations come from and how influential on the sound has it been to play together in other bands before Eades were born? 

HJ: When starting the band I think there was always a mutual understanding that we wanted to try different things, and explore different avenues for our own creative needs, as well as believing that if we were going to do something worthwhile we had to develop our own sound rather than mimic one or two artists. 

Coming from different bands, together and individually, has definitely made a huge impact on our willingness to embrace different inspirations. We’ve got members from punk, psychedelic, soul, funk and of course LO-Fi backgrounds. Instead of trying to pinpoint one avenue we’ve just embraced all of them in some way or another. As a band we are all pretty happy to enable each member's strengths to get the most out of what each of us has to offer. It keeps the writing process fun and interesting from an artistic point of view.

For example, Dave [Lancaster, bass] has come from a much more experimental background than me. Working with him has helped liberating me creatively, running towards strange ideas rather than shy away from them. That's why a lot of our songs have started out as experiments in a way. 'Same Guy' just started out as a bit of fun messing around with some Bollywood rhythms, and by the time you filter that through your playing style it soon becomes your own. 

LO: In 'Same Guy' you face the challenging theme of life cycles. Do you ever feel the pressure to evolve and adapt, or do you accept the fact you're growing older and inevitably become uncool? 

HJ: We definitely don’t feel a pressure to evolve or adapt to remain cool and relevant, but I think rooted in the nature of the band is a desire to try new things that will inevitably result in our sound evolving as we explore new ideas. No one wants to listen to a band produce the same album three times. It would get boring pretty quickly. 

I spent a long time in my youth trying to make music that other people think is ‘cool’ and now I just want to be doing something I enjoy. That's why we started the band in the first place.

Eades - Sam Potter

LO: Judging from your latest video, your graphics and pictures, you have quite of a DIY approach which mirrors your music influences. How would you describe Eades' aesthetics and artistic vision? 

HJ: I’ve always loved film photos. I used to get given a lot of musicians' autobiographies growing up and the dyslexic in me would always jump straight to the picture pages. I always felt they had a certain intimacy and magic to them that you don't get from a HD picture. Most of the pictures of our childhood were captured on film as well, so I think there's probably a sense of nostalgia in there too. We don't have loads of expensive equipment and editing software. What we do have is a £15 point and shoot camera, so why not make the most out of it? I take my point and shoot most places I go. 

We are very much a DIY band producing and mixing all our music as well as designing most of our artwork. We just felt we were better off making the most out of our limitations rather than paying other people to do it for us. It feels good knowing you’ve been able to do it yourself. I love producing and mixing music. Do you mutilate a sound or keep it real? Up to you. It's fun!

I’ve always been quite skeptical of music that’s too over produced. I guess it has subconsciously crossed over into my love of rougher aesthetics, which we wanted to mirror our sound. It has so be genuine.

LO: Has Leeds been pivotal in shaping the band's identity? Do you feel part of a broader community or should we say 'scene' - if there's still place for any?

I can’t speak on behalf of the rest of the guys but I can imagine, like me, it has been massively pivotal. Moving to Leeds has opened my mind to so much different music. From studying and living with Jazz freaks to going to drum and bass nights around the city. There's been musical influences all over the place and my brain’s been a bit of a sponge to it all.

I know it sounds cheesy but there's definitely a sense of ‘everyone's in it together’. For instance Joel [Johnston] from Far Caspian, who Jof [Cabedo, drums] and I play in the live band for, helped make our music video for 'Same Guy'. I’ve been lucky enough to work with loads of different musicians whilst being in Leeds producing, writing, and sessioning with various projects which in turn has helped me develop my own way of approaching things.

There's a big DIY scene in Leeds with bands all over the place, doing it themselves. You only need to spend time looking at groups like Far Caspian, Van Houten, Yard Act, or The Golden Age Of TV to see this is true. 

Eades ‘Same Guy’ is out now, self-released by the band, on all streaming platforms.