Creative Thursday with Honey

This week we are interviewing a young Southside band called Honey who blend audio experimentation with pop music. For a chance to win a copy of Honey's debut E.P. titled "Taste i and See" then see the bottom of this post.

Whereabouts in the Southside do you guys come from?

With exception of our drummer Alan, the rest of us are spread out over the Southside. Dave lives in Battlefield, and before that Craigton. Gary lives in South Nitshill and me (Nick) I live in Pollok. Alan stays way out in Linlithgow but just for the purposes of this interview we'll say it's the Southside of Linlithgow.

We’ve all known each other for years, Dave and Alan were in a band together and Gary and I were also in a band. Those bands ended and we formed Honey. It’s a pretty generic tale, not exactly the stuff of Rock ‘n’ Roll legend. We do have a mutual love of obscure and rare records though. I've always been interested in strange records, and with Honey I've found a platform to pass on and discover new music. Individually we’ve got quite a mixed taste, but common artists we all like are The Velvet Underground, Scott Walker and CAN.

What do you do?
We took a long time to get ourselves moving as a band. It took the best part of a year before we even considered a gig, we wanted to perfect the sound we had in mind.

We like to blend audio experimentation with pop music. It makes for some interesting sounds.Generally speaking we don't have a set creative practice, however every piece of music we write is usually born from a single idea. That could mean a guitar part, a single chord, a lyric or even just a thought. When we have our basis we throw it around in the rehearsal studio through free-form playing. We'll mix around different instruments and sounds until we're happy with an outcome. Many of our songs can become unrecognisable or twisted from their original form but that is what we hope to achieve from a rehearsal session. New concepts blossom from a single idea. And our music is all about developing these ideas through collective thought.

What's your favourite piece of work?I think I'd have to say its the film Gary made for our song 'Counting Seasons'. He used a collection of old propaganda footage and stunning psychedelic imagery that gives a strange, wobbly experience that resemble a nightmare or some sort of Aldous Huxley novel. It pairs well with the artistic vision of the song which was to create the feeling of unknown fear. That odd sensation of melancholy and nostalgia for no apparent reason. You can watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTxHTL0GLvk

What's next?

We've got a run of shows in Glasgow to look forward to at the moment. We've spent most of our time as a group locked away in rehearsal spaces so it's been a great release to get out and gigging. Other than that we have a recording session coming up. One of the greatest parts of being in a band is the recording process. It allows us to be as artistically free as our minds can gauge.

The Captains Rest - September 3rd

The Bay - September 10th

G2 - September 30th

The Captain's Rest - October 9th

Stairway - November 4th

What is your favourite creative blog/ website or other source of inspiration?

We've found loads of new music from blogspots. There are hundreds of sites which specialize in specific genres of music, and I've personally discovered many artists I would never have before. I like to trawl the psychedelic blogspots. Ongakubaka is a good one (http://ongakubaka.blogspot.com/). It focuses on more modern, underground music.

What key piece of advice do you wish you'd known? We've been lucky with regards to good advice. I went to Reid Kerr College with Gary to study Music and we got great advice from the lecturers there. The only thing I would say to other bands would be to join the PRS (Performing Right Society) as soon as possible. We've only recently joined but it is so important that you become a member as soon as possible.

Tell us your favourite place/ space in the Southside?Pollok Park is quite incredible, it's a great place to lose yourself in. Also the Barrhead Dams. I'm always amazed at the great scenery right on our doorstep in the Southside.

Name another Southside creative whose work you admire?

Matt Harvey, the owner and sound engineer of Maybank Studios at Eglinton Toll. We recorded our E.P. with Matt, and are also working with him again on our upcoming recording session. It can be quite hard to convey a bands vision for a recording across to a 3rd party but with Matt we have found someone who understands our objectives and also has his own ideas. It's always a productive outcome when we work together and it's great to collaborate with him when we are looking to achieve a certain sound.

If money was no option what would you change about the Southside?

It would be good to build a creative arts hub somewhere. Somewhere where people from different artistic styles can come and work together. Starting up more music venues would be a priority though. We find there aren't enough local places for us to perform in the Southside so it would certainly be a benefit to musicians if there were more venues around.

Tell us one other interesting fact about you?Our song 'Summertone' hit number 5 on an online Czech chart. It looked like it was run by one person with no logic as to how the chart was decided. I think we were ahead of the Arctic Monkeys at one point. I bet they're gutted.

LINKShttp://lifetastesbetter.bandcamp.com/album/taste-it-and-see (free download of tracks from here)

www.soundcloud.com/honeyband
www.facebook.com/honeyscotland

WIN AN E.P.(To win a copy of Honey's debut EP titled "Taste it and See" just answer the following question. Which "Southside" recording band connects with the second largest American state? Drop your answer in the comments below and the winner will be chosen at random on 30 August.)