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| Sisteray - L-R Niall Rowan, Mick Hanrahan, Calum Landau and Dan Connolly © Albert Jagger |
Sisteray just completed a Pirate Studios Live Session midweek and they are still buzzing from the experience, they absolutely loved it.
The new year has kicked off in a big way. Following a hectic 2017 the London band only just announced news of their up and coming tour.
Sisteray
– Hit the North – will see the band play iconic music cities in the north of
England in January and February.
Mick: gigwise there is so much going on in
London in January, including all of the 'Big In 2018' gigs, we were asked about
these but thought it would be better to go and spread the Sisteray word in some
of our favourite northern cities where we are playing with some great bands,
Aerial Salad in Manchester, The Kavaliers in Sheffield and The Racket in
Liverpool. That is going to be our weekends sorted.
The band members have spent the majority of
last year keeping super-busy playing festivals and lots of touring. There
is little sign of them showing a need to chill or start the year quietly but why
should they when things are going well?
2017 was when band released 15 Minutes, the
title of their excellent and highly regarded concept art inspired EP.
Taking inspiration from Andy Warhol, 15
Minutes not only received rave reviews, it subsequently played a critical role
in taking the band to the next stage and continue to build their reputation in
the UK and parts of Europe.
Keen to
maintain a consistent level of creativity, lead guitarist and vocalist Dan Connelly, vocalist and guitarist Niall Rowan, bass player Mick Hanrahan and drummer Calum Landau are soon to go straight
back into the studio to record. Any fans attending the northern shows can
expect to get some intense exposure to some of the new songs.
There
is a theme to Sisteray’s recording, to date they have only recorded on boats
moored on the Thames. On Lightship 95 with producer Rory Attwell (The Vaccines,
Palma Violets) and to record the 15 Minutes EP and previous single 'A Wise Man
Said/Back To Yours' and now at the studio set up on Grand Cru, owned by The Who's Pete Townsend, with
Jonathan Hucks producing.
Jonathan has a strong track record of working with guitar bands and he recently recorded with the likes of alternative band False Heads. So far his work with Sisteray is going really well.
The
original plan was to record two tracks for a single but the work has been so
successful they are back in the studio to turn it into an EP. The
producer really knows how to achieve the sound the band members are looking for
in their recording. Taking the time necessary, he is thorough and makes sure a
job is done properly.
Niall:
having a top producer like Jonathan is great. He has so many ideas to bring to
the recording process. He is very conscientious and is showing great patience. A
good producer is able to make suggestions in order to make things better and it
is great when you can sense the producer is actively involved.
Enjoying the
support of a good producer is clearly beneficial but Sisteray also have the
ideological and creative freedom to focus on making the sort of music they actually
want to make, as opposed to, what might be expected from them.
The band
members are seeing clear benefits of being signed to an independent record
label. Founded in East London in 2016 by
label manager Elliott Hale, Vallance Records is one hundred percent independent
and totally behind its artists.
Dan:
Elliott gives us a lot of freedom to do more or less what we want to do. It is
a collaborative relationship. As a band you do not really want anything else
and it is an ideal situation for us. That is one of the main differences from
being signed to a major record label where there might be someone telling you what
sort of music you ought to be making.
Being
signed to a small independent label also means there are options to develop the
creative work in far more depth and not just take a short-term look at things
and focus purely on how many hits you can get on the radio. It is better to make
a long-term commitment, develop and build something.
Calum: there
seems to be a lack of willingness to invest in longevity within the industry.
In the world of pop people are there for a hit and radio plays a big part in
that.
Calum: I
think with guitar and rock music it is far more important to get into something
properly, get a body of work together, work, consider and listen to a full
record. Major labels only seem to commit to putting out singles for bands. Not
a lot of great guitar music is being released because there is a tendency to
commit to one song only.
Sisteray are on a great creative run just
now that is for sure. Rehearsals continue to be productive, the band members have
been writing material and they are constantly bringing in new ideas and have
even started to introduce different approaches to songwriting. Being able to
try out new things and feeling creative is definitely having an impact.
Calum: there is a big difference between
innovation and the need to try and fit the mould. It is where a lot of bands
tend to fall apart because they are trying to fit in rather than being
themselves and be who they actually want to be.
Dan: that is quite possibly why some guitar
bands fail and start to sound more or less the same. At least, if you try to
look and sound a bit different, it will make you stand out.
A strong artistic expression is key to Sisteray
but the band members also like to take a direct, straight-talking approach and
deliver lyrics with substance. They like to comment on social issues and doing
so comes with ease. Yet, despite being vocal and explicit on a wide range of
political issues, they are not comfortable being referred to as a political band.
Niall: being political comes natural I
guess. I do not think it is overly political in terms of us telling people to
do this and do that. But we do like to comment on what is happening in the
world. If you look at something like our song Fast Food for example, we take a
really basic idea but then there is still some politics involved. Approaching a
topic in that way can be quite effective.
Niall: it was not like we ever set out to
be a political band, announcing how we support this and that but are against
something else. It is more about providing a comment on what is happening out
there.
Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, there is
plenty of political complexity out there to comment on.
Calum: around the time of Brexit and the
general election we just had a lot to say. We talk more about what we are
seeing at a particular time. Record and comment on what is going on around us. As
a band we are quite ‘on the nose’ lyrically. At a time like this you are going
to be direct whatever you are writing about, you can’t and probably shouldn’t just
sidestep something because it appears to be unfortunate.
Either way, it is very effective, being
direct and politically ‘confrontational’, knowing how to make use of other art
disciplines and applying them to their music definitely makes Sisteray stand
out from their contemporaries. It makes them different to the vast majority of
guitar bands out there.
Niall: we offer originality. I have seen many
bands who are brilliant but then people will to talk about how good they are
and describe them by saying they sound like this band and that band, whereas ,
at least we offer differentiation
because of our songs.
Sisteray’s
songs are strong and that has to be at least partly attributable to how well
they work together, be it in the rehearsal room working on new material, in the
studio or when they play live.
They
recently discovered how shifting the songwriting process, and to start with a
different instrument, can completely transform the end result in unpredictable but
very positive ways.
Dan: we had been talking about doing the
drums first and sometimes it might just come with a grove or a certain feel.
Niall:
it is easy to get stuck and continue to write songs in a certain way. Changing
things take courage. To suddenly have the songwriting process start with a
single drum beat can seem a bit scary at first but at the end of the day, you
want to work with it to see where it takes you. We have become so much better
at writing songs now.
Sisteray - Hit The North:
Jan 20th - MANCHESTER - The Castle
Jan 27th - SHEFFIELD - The Hubs (Hallum Union)
Feb 2nd - BLACKBURN - The Lemon Tree
Feb 3rd - LIVERPOOL - The Magnet