Ahead of their latest release 'Boys' we caught up with Keli Thomson (K) and Stephen Christie (S) from Edinburgh-based rockers Painting Rockets to discuss their diverse influences, singing with Lady Gaga's mic and the importance of role models within the music industry...
Q. Welcome back! As you’ve been tucked away writing and recording, how excited are you to get this first track of 2019 out there?
K - Hey! It’s great to be back. Oh my word, we are very excited. We’ve been working on new music for a long time - some of the tracks we’ve worked on have been in hiding for 2 and half (almost 3!) years now. We can’t wait to show everyone this new direction the band has taken and show everyone a much poppier sound.
Q. Could you discuss the origins of this track and how it came to be?
K - This track began a lot darker than it turned out. Stephen initially wrote this as a dark pop piece which focused very heavily on synths. It even had a mental dubstep breakdown part. We have written a lot of darker sounding songs in the past, so when we took this to Luke Bovill (guitarist of Woes and our producer), our main focus was to transform this into a bouncier song.
This song was born out of frustration of the industry and its view of women. It was created during a time period where the ‘Me Too’ movement was ripe, and the news of Harvey Weinstein came out which brought up a lot of frustrated feelings about how I’ve been treated at certain points in this industry as a woman. I remember once a review came out about our first headline show and the only thing they talked about was me and how I was out of shape. Nothing about the music, just my body. I constantly get dubbed just a “Hayley Williams wannabe” for writing rock music, despite having written soul EPs and pop music in my past. The aim of this was to say screw you to all those assumptions and show these people as a woman I am very capable of doing this as well as a man can.
Q. What was it like recording part of the track at the iconic Abbey Road Studios?
K - Ahh, it was crazy. I remember walking down the halls, seeing signed pictures of movie posters of the soundtracks that were recorded there - like Harry Potter and Star Wars - and just being like “whoa, this place is serious, how on earth am I here?”. I did not feel worthy of being there! Jerry Barnes of Chic dropped in on our session and called the song “a jam” and asked us to play bass on it. Not sure if he was serious or not but I wish we had just bit the bullet and said yes! What a gent.
To top it off, the microphone I used to record this track was the microphone that Lady Gaga used to record Born This Way and also one that David Bowie had used previously. I genuinely felt like a fucking star using that mic, but also simultaneously felt like I was totally out of my depth. It was an unreal experience and I had the most fun week. The producers we worked with (Zak Baker, Matias Di Stefano, Ramera Abraham) were absolute champions - so good at their craft and lovely people to work with. It was also sick having another woman in the room. It was just such a special week.
S - It was quite a formidable experience in all honesty. I remember feeling buzzing when we got the email asking us to record there but it's not until you get to the gates where it's like 'holy crap, this place is real'. It's crazy and inspiring when you walk through the hallways and see all the movie posters that were scored there and records on the wall.
When you see microphones and pianos that David Bowie and Lady Gaga recorded with, it's just mental.
Q. What is the writing process within Painting Rockets? Is it very much a collaborative effort with you both?
S - We kinda changed it up over the years. Musically its more collaborative than it was for the last EP. We used to have it set out that I would do all the instrumental parts at home, then send them to Keli and have her write and record the vocals at her home. This time around we have a new writing partner in Luke Bovill from Woes and he's really helped us glue together our ideas and evolve the music into something way bigger.
Q. How important is it to ensure bands get the right producer onboard to get the best out of them?
S - I think having the right producer is nine times out of ten the key component to a successful record. We could have self-produced these new releases but I don't think the tracks would have evolved the same way they have. Take a track like ‘boys' for instance: our old demo heading into Abbey Road was an ‘Empathy' like synth-rock track, but it wasn't until we took it to Luke and he stripped back all the elements that made it this dark, sombre mid-album tune and turned into a bouncing lead single. As a producer and writer, he's become an integral part
of Painting Rockets.
Q. How buzzed are you to play with the highly tipped VUKOVI in May?
K - Very much. I have loved VUKOVI for a long time, had their debut album on repeat in 2017. Think it’s gonna be a really wild show - cannot wait to play to a new crowd! It’s always an exciting time playing with a new band but even more so when it’s a band you really love. We are so excited we may even debut another new track.
Q. You often cite Paramore as a massive influence (and no doubt still is), however “Boys” sees you take a new direction - how have your musical influences evolved over the years?
K - I studied music at university, so I was exposed to such a wide variety of music. Those four years at uni completely changed how I saw music and, although my taste was very diverse growing up, I discovered so many new sub genres that changed the way I looked at, analysed and wrote music. Although people assume I’m a one trick pony when it comes to my music taste, I actually listen to more neo soul, RnB, and pop more than anything. I’m someone who is never satisfied with the level of musicianship I’m at, so constantly opening myself up to new types of performers and genres helps me grow and develop not only as a vocalist but as a writer.
It’s actually quite sad, but because of the stereotypes of women who play pop punk or alt rock, I’ve deliberately stopped myself listening to Paramore as much as I used to. I’ve done it as a way to make sure my influences stem from elsewhere so I don’t get accused of being a copycat, really. It’s pretty gutting that that is the way society views girls in rock bands, but I guess that is how ‘boys’ has gone in a direction that puts distance between the Paramore comparisons. It’s not a problem that is exclusive to me either - I see it happening ALL the time to my friends who are in female fronted rock bands, even from major press sites.
One of the lyrics in ‘boys’ is a nod to a tweet by the old Kerrang editor, where he stated that females in rock bands are just ‘gloss’. I’m hoping that ‘boys’ can help eradicate the negative connotations of women playing rock music.
Q. How important are role models like Hayley Williams or Theresa Jarvis (Yonaka) to inspire young woman like yourself?
K Hayley Williams will always be a huge role model for me as a musician. She broke boundaries in a scene that was a complete and utter boys club which is something that, very obviously, still resonates with a lot of female musicians to date. She is a powerhouse and writes such genuine lyrics - it’s an honour to have been able to grow up being influenced by such a rad band. I think without her, the scene would still be pretty much exclusive to men. She changed the game. It’s also so awesome to see women like Theresa Jarvis continuing to break down those barriers - Yonaka are one of my favourite new bands because of how badass she is. And what a great bunch of songwriters! It’s just a great thing as a woman to see that it’s possible to get to that stage as a female musician. Having people breaking these barriers creates a path for people like me to progress. We need to start doing the same for people of colour, and LGBT folks.
Q. Do you feel Edinburgh is a city which supports local music scene?
S - I absolutely believe there is a strong Edinburgh music scene emerging. The last show we played with Dream State and Banshee was reassuring. The fact that the crowd came out not just to see one band, but to see all is rare and just goes to show there's a good future for music in Edinburgh. Between acts like Woes, Fatherson, Lewis Capaldi, Lunir, Donnie Willow, Banshee, Ikari and Vukovi, I think the Scottish music scene is in safe hands.
Q.We hear rumours of an EP, if true, when should we expect this?
S - Ha, I can't confirm any dates just yet but yeah it's totally happening very, very soon. It's like 95% done in terms of recording, I think.
Q. Plans for 2019?
K- Big plans! EP, tours, shows, videos. The lot. Keep your eye out for what’s next!