The Empty Pages Interview
Q: Can you talk to us about some of your inspiration for the album The Empty Pages? The Grateful Dead and traditional bluegrass came to mind
A: Lots of folk, both British and American, country, bluegrass, blues, all that. Mark Knopfler has always been a huge inspiration, not just Dire Straits but also his recent folk records which made a big impression on me. There's a British bluegrass group called The Jaywalkers that recorded a version of the traditional country song Big Sciota on their latest album. I had a go at recording my own version of that, and I guess that was what kickstarted the whole Empty Pages recording project and I knew very quickly I wanted Stuart, Andy & Sean involved. (We've been playing music together for over ten years). We decided not to include our version of Big Sciota on the record in the end although it is on our SoundCloud page.
Another British band that influenced the record is The Rails. Then there are all the usual suspects like the Eagles, CSN&Y, The Byrds, The Beatles, etc. for the vocal harmonies, and people like Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch and Gram Parsons for the American country sounds.
Stuart, who sang lead vocals on eight of the ten tracks on the record likes Randy Travis, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton. We also recorded a cover of “Send My Body” by Randy Travis during the sessions which didn't end up on the album but came out sounding great.
Q: How about the creative process? Can you give us some insight into how your songs are created?
A: The songwriting happens in different ways. Sometimes the lyric comes first and other times it's the music, maybe a guitar melody or a chord progression. When it's that way round I try to write lyrics to suit the feel of the music. Often I get an idea for a lyric and it's just one line so I make a note of it on my phone and end up with long lists of single lines which can then be put together and added to when I know what I want. The music can happen the same way; I end up with lots of little ideas floating around which I work on later. Because it's a home studio project there are no time limits and no budget issues and it's definitely helped shape the way I write and record songs.
Often one word or line is all you need to create a story. For example, I went to see the American group Applewood Road at the Union Chapel in London last November, the week after the US election. One of the singers commented about it and said the words "welcome to the new world,” which immediately gave me the idea for that song.
Q: To be honest I was surprised your album was a DIY project. It sounds great with a lot of clarity. Do you have any tips for our audience on how to achieve such a professional sound?
A: Thanks! Yes the whole thing is completely DIY on my PC in my teaching studio at home. I record as I write, and rarely have a song completely written before I start recording it. I lay down a basic backing track before adding vocals. Then everything else is overdubbed and arrangements can be chopped and changed as necessary. Again because it's a home project this is great because there's no deadline other than what we impose ourselves, and no studio costs to worry about. All the drums were recorded in one day in Sean's home studio and then everything else was done over time with Andy, Stuart and Sean arranging to come over for an evening at a time after work to record their other parts.
During time with other bands I’ve been lucky enough to record with some very accomplished and well respected producers and I've learned a lot about recording from them so I wasn't coming at it completely blind. I don't have any expensive studio equipment; everything is done in Cubase including mixing and mastering. It's an experimental process and I learn new tricks and techniques as I go. The Internet is great for this. If I need help I look on YouTube or forums.
My advice would be to take as much time as possible, listen to mixes/masters on different devices, and don't do everything in one listen. Come back to things several times and be prepared to make changes. Also read up as much as possible online to get tips from others.
Q: What are some of the themes that connect your album. Are there over arching themes?
A: There's not one overall theme, and there was a never a plan to make an album with one theme or message. It's just a collection of songs that seemed to sit well together as a record. Musically, more than lyrically, I spent a long time making sure I got the track listing right so there was a good balance. There are songs about love and loss, naturally, and even a political song which I suppose is difficult to avoid at the moment. But there are upbeat moments, a couple of songs that focus more on hope and happiness, and a couple of songs that were just for fun!
Q: Are you currently playing these songs live and if you are how do they feel to you now that the record is done. Sometimes bands switch it up live - Do you guys interpret the songs different ways?
A: Actually no, not at the moment. This record was first and foremost a studio project, and none of the songs had ever been performed prior to being recorded. Myself and the rest of the guys who played on the record are all in a busy functions band together and that takes up a lot of our time. Stuart and I have had some sessions where we've started looking at how to arrange these songs for live performance, and managed to produce a live run-through for a YouTube video of the song “Welcome to the New World,” which worked nicely for two guitars and vocals. I'm certainly not ruling out the possibility of getting out to play live as The Empty Pages at some point though.
Q: This is your debut. Can we expect another album or EP anytime soon? What else should people know about the band?
A: Yes hopefully! Soon after this debut was released, work started on the follow-up record. I've got several new songs demoed and once the collection is big enough I'll send them across to the others to listen to and the process can start again for what will hopefully become The Empty Pages Vol.2.
If people want to keep in touch with us they can in all the usual ways. We are on twitter and Facebook, and our record is available on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, Deezer, Amazon Music, plus there are videos on YouTube. All the links to these are on our website which is www.theemptypages.co.uk.
Q: Can you talk to us about some of your inspiration for the album The Empty Pages? The Grateful Dead and traditional bluegrass came to mind
A: Lots of folk, both British and American, country, bluegrass, blues, all that. Mark Knopfler has always been a huge inspiration, not just Dire Straits but also his recent folk records which made a big impression on me. There's a British bluegrass group called The Jaywalkers that recorded a version of the traditional country song Big Sciota on their latest album. I had a go at recording my own version of that, and I guess that was what kickstarted the whole Empty Pages recording project and I knew very quickly I wanted Stuart, Andy & Sean involved. (We've been playing music together for over ten years). We decided not to include our version of Big Sciota on the record in the end although it is on our SoundCloud page.
Another British band that influenced the record is The Rails. Then there are all the usual suspects like the Eagles, CSN&Y, The Byrds, The Beatles, etc. for the vocal harmonies, and people like Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch and Gram Parsons for the American country sounds.
Stuart, who sang lead vocals on eight of the ten tracks on the record likes Randy Travis, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton. We also recorded a cover of “Send My Body” by Randy Travis during the sessions which didn't end up on the album but came out sounding great.
Q: How about the creative process? Can you give us some insight into how your songs are created?
A: The songwriting happens in different ways. Sometimes the lyric comes first and other times it's the music, maybe a guitar melody or a chord progression. When it's that way round I try to write lyrics to suit the feel of the music. Often I get an idea for a lyric and it's just one line so I make a note of it on my phone and end up with long lists of single lines which can then be put together and added to when I know what I want. The music can happen the same way; I end up with lots of little ideas floating around which I work on later. Because it's a home studio project there are no time limits and no budget issues and it's definitely helped shape the way I write and record songs.
Often one word or line is all you need to create a story. For example, I went to see the American group Applewood Road at the Union Chapel in London last November, the week after the US election. One of the singers commented about it and said the words "welcome to the new world,” which immediately gave me the idea for that song.
Q: To be honest I was surprised your album was a DIY project. It sounds great with a lot of clarity. Do you have any tips for our audience on how to achieve such a professional sound?
A: Thanks! Yes the whole thing is completely DIY on my PC in my teaching studio at home. I record as I write, and rarely have a song completely written before I start recording it. I lay down a basic backing track before adding vocals. Then everything else is overdubbed and arrangements can be chopped and changed as necessary. Again because it's a home project this is great because there's no deadline other than what we impose ourselves, and no studio costs to worry about. All the drums were recorded in one day in Sean's home studio and then everything else was done over time with Andy, Stuart and Sean arranging to come over for an evening at a time after work to record their other parts.
During time with other bands I’ve been lucky enough to record with some very accomplished and well respected producers and I've learned a lot about recording from them so I wasn't coming at it completely blind. I don't have any expensive studio equipment; everything is done in Cubase including mixing and mastering. It's an experimental process and I learn new tricks and techniques as I go. The Internet is great for this. If I need help I look on YouTube or forums.
My advice would be to take as much time as possible, listen to mixes/masters on different devices, and don't do everything in one listen. Come back to things several times and be prepared to make changes. Also read up as much as possible online to get tips from others.
Q: What are some of the themes that connect your album. Are there over arching themes?
A: There's not one overall theme, and there was a never a plan to make an album with one theme or message. It's just a collection of songs that seemed to sit well together as a record. Musically, more than lyrically, I spent a long time making sure I got the track listing right so there was a good balance. There are songs about love and loss, naturally, and even a political song which I suppose is difficult to avoid at the moment. But there are upbeat moments, a couple of songs that focus more on hope and happiness, and a couple of songs that were just for fun!
Q: Are you currently playing these songs live and if you are how do they feel to you now that the record is done. Sometimes bands switch it up live - Do you guys interpret the songs different ways?
A: Actually no, not at the moment. This record was first and foremost a studio project, and none of the songs had ever been performed prior to being recorded. Myself and the rest of the guys who played on the record are all in a busy functions band together and that takes up a lot of our time. Stuart and I have had some sessions where we've started looking at how to arrange these songs for live performance, and managed to produce a live run-through for a YouTube video of the song “Welcome to the New World,” which worked nicely for two guitars and vocals. I'm certainly not ruling out the possibility of getting out to play live as The Empty Pages at some point though.
Q: This is your debut. Can we expect another album or EP anytime soon? What else should people know about the band?
A: Yes hopefully! Soon after this debut was released, work started on the follow-up record. I've got several new songs demoed and once the collection is big enough I'll send them across to the others to listen to and the process can start again for what will hopefully become The Empty Pages Vol.2.
If people want to keep in touch with us they can in all the usual ways. We are on twitter and Facebook, and our record is available on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, Deezer, Amazon Music, plus there are videos on YouTube. All the links to these are on our website which is www.theemptypages.co.uk.