Interview with Marseille
Marseille are a band from Derbyshire who create a fusion of 90's guitar music with experimental shoegaze. The band formed in 2021 and consist of singer Will Brown, guitarists Joe Labram and Lennon Hall and drummer Tom Spray.
I caught up with Will to chat about the release of their new single 'Monkey In The Middle' as well as their forthcoming EP 'GODIVA'.
Hi Will, how are you?
Good thanks!
How would you describe your sound to the readers?
I would probably describe it as a fusion of 90's Madchester Swagger mixed with the walls of sound and driving basslines of shoegaze. We also all like quite a bit of Merseybeat and 60's psychedelia jangles. You can probably hear it all in our music. But if you like Madchester and/or Shoegaze our new sound will be up your street.
Who would you say are your biggest musical influences?
For me personally, probably The Verve, The Doors, The Music etc. I know it's pretty different for us of us, our guitarist Joe likes stuff you can get your teeth stuck into in terms of actual playing like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Who whereas I'm more focused on song-craft as the main songwriter.
How did your music journey start?
I've always been surrounded by music from a young age, my dad is a big fan of 90's music and growing up in the late 2000's and stuff I would naturally listen to The Cribs and Embrace. However the CD that was on main rotation due to my request was Bob Marley, Legend. He was my first musical idol I think. But my dad just drove me around everywhere, mainly to play football. One day when he was taking me to training (which was a 45minute drive) he put on The Stone Roses debut album, and I think that was the turning point for me. I no longer wanted to be a professional footballer, I wanted to make music that made me feel like that!
Your new single ‘Monkey In The Middle’ is out now, congratulations! This song has been described as a “absolute stomper of a piece that will leave your mind blown” which I love, how was the process of creating this song for you?
It's a song that's been around for years, myself and Joe have been in bands together prior to this one and it's been around since we were both about 13-14. But when a song has been around for 5 years it has so many tweaks made to it that it's effectively just not even the same song anymore. All these "minor" changes we were making to it were stacking up, making it an absolute wall of sound, chaotic groover and we love that.
Can you explain more about the inspiration behind the lyrics for this song? Why was this a song you wanted to write?
I suppose the lyrics have a sense of "don't forget who you are regardless of what other people say to you" thing. I never really sit down and over analyse the lyrics I just sing from my heart and that's usually the best way to convey your feelings. Clearly at that point in time I felt creatively stifled and it was me basically singing about being made to feel like a performing "Monkey" and not being able to bring my own personality and outlook to the table.
Do you have a favourite lyric or line from the song?
In the extended outro where I sing "Come on Lucifer, I gotta hear the sounds that recognise the pain in me, I got a feeling in my soul, feeling in bones, and it's taking me down inside" Which is sort of an extreme way of referring to your controller. A sort of demon trying to silence you. Then just clapping back and saying you need to hear these sounds that inside of yourself for your own sanity.
What’s something you want listeners to take away from listening to ‘Monkey In The Middle’?
Don't forget who you are, be yourself and stand up for what you believe in. Don't let someone else control or dictate your life if you know what you wanna do or have a message to spread.
This song is the first single taken from your sophomore EP ‘GODIVA’! How was the process of making this EP for you?
Weirdly, I would say this is by far our strongest EP and it's not even close! It's been the easiest process of making it. I mean one of the songs were completed on a piano at a villa me and Joe were in when in Greece. It's all sort of been written naturally which does make you feel like these songs are the sounds that are deep inside of you that want to come out and be heard by the world. Recording it in the studio was also fairly simple and we had a lot of fun helping produce this EP.
What’s the song you are most excited for people to hear from ‘GODIVA EP’?
She Can Fly, I think that's encapsulates the euphoria of shoegaze whilst getting across the hurt and emotion of a ballad. It's an amazing track that's such a whirlwind of emotions.
Do you have a favourite memory from recording this EP?
I think it was just a funny few days, we just all make each other laugh because we're just all such contrasting characters but it just works so well. But it was just that moment when we had finished and we were listening to the songs after mixing that we had created something really special. Just 5 18 year old lads making music together that we all cared for. It's just a bit special really.
What’s next for you? Do you have any live shows lined up?
Yeah we're playing in:
Blackpool - Supporting Alright
Birmingham - Supporting Rosellas
Newcastle - Supporting Rosellas
Lancaster - Supporting The Bluestones
York - Supporting Tom Hingley (Inspiral Carpets)
London - Headline
Leeds - Headline
you can head over to our linktree to find out more!
And lastly, what music have you been listening to recently? Anything you can recommend to us?
I've been listening to a lot of a band called "deary" released their debut EP late last year. Really good Shoegaze band, I saw them support Flyying Colours in Nottingham last year.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions for us, it’s really appreciated!
No problem, thank you!
You can listen to 'Monkey In The Middle' here.
You can follow Marseille here.
You can find all things After Midnight here.
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