{"id":5152,"date":"2019-06-05T14:29:52","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T12:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/?p=5152"},"modified":"2023-09-13T21:52:27","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T19:52:27","slug":"entrevista-a-the-underground-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elgarajedefrank.es\/en\/entrevista-a-the-underground-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: The Underground Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the last 10 years, The Underground Youth have published 10 records where we can find high quality psychedelic rock, post-punk and shoegaze. We’ve spoken with Craig Dyer about his band’s career and last album, Montage Images of Lust and Fear<\/em>. They’ll be presenting it, supported by Second Still, this Friday in Sala Sol venue in Madrid, during a memorable night.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014How did you start The Underground Youth? At the beginning it was only you, right?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>It was just an outlet for the songs that I\u2019d started writing and recording. I had no intention of forming a band or releasing the tracks in the beginning, it all just grew from there.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014The influence of Bob Dylan was important at the very beginning, which of his periods do you like the most?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>It\u2019s impossible to narrow it down to a specific period. I couldn\u2019t even name a favourite record, there are too many that have had an effect on me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014How was the music scene in Manchester back at the time?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>We were never really a part of a scene in Manchester so I don\u2019t really know. I wasn\u2019t really interested in integrating into that when I started out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What were your influences when you recorded Morally Barren<\/em>,\u00a0your first album?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>Hah. I think it\u2019s fairly obvious. It\u2019s a very derivative collection of songs. It was me learning how to write and record by imitating what I loved. My own style was born from that.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Was your second album Voltage<\/em> released in 2009? It\u2019s the only one listed as only a reissue in Discogs. All your first three albums were self-released, how did you advertise them?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>Morally Barren<\/em> and Voltage<\/em> were both \u201creleased\u201d in early 2009. I just posted them online for people to download and listen for free. There was no advertising, I guess the right people just stumbled across them and a following developed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Having a track called \u201cFear and Loathing in my Own Private Memory,\u201d how autobiographical are your songs?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>Some are very personal and completely autobiographical. Others are works of fiction.\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014The cover of Mademoiselle<\/i>, your record from 2010, stars Anna Karina from Alphaville and you also have a song called \u201cA Band Apart.\u201d Are you a fan of Godard?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>Well, I think that\u2019s fairly obvious, no?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014In Mademoiselle<\/em>, you made a cover of Spaceman 3\u2019s \u201cLord Can You Hear Me?\u201d Why this song? Do you think that the rest of the album kind of shares the same mood of the song?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>I honestly can\u2019t remember why I chose to do a cover of that song. It\u2019s strange for me that Mademoiselle became so popular, for me it\u2019s a strange mix match of songs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014What do you mean with the title The Perfect Enemy For God<\/em> and what relation does it have with the content of the album?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>It\u2019s a lyric from the song \u201cVeil\u201d that features on that album. I guess the meaning lies somewhere in that song. I don\u2019t really discuss my lyrics in a literal sense, they\u2019re open to interpretation by the listener.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Sadovaya<\/em> from 2014, was written when you were living in Russia, how was the experience? The album was influenced by Russian post-punk, can you tell us something more about this scene?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>I never actually lived in Russia, I spent a lot of time there, though. St. Petersburg is a very artistically inspirational city. I wouldn\u2019t say Sadovaya<\/em> was inspired by Russian post-punk, though, I\u2019ve since become a huge fan of that scene, the band Kino<\/strong> specifically. But at that time it was an undiscovered treasure to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014A Lo-Fi Cinematic Landscape<\/em> is a collection of instrumental recordings for a short film that was never made.\u00a0What happened with the project? Have you thought about doing soundtrack?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>The film was never going to be made. I just imagined it. I\u2019d love to start working on soundtracks, it\u2019s something I\u2019ve talked about doing for years but I\u2019ve just been so busy writing and touring. One day though I\u2019ll do that\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Do you think that the psychedelic influences in your music\u00a0have disappeared little by little in your albums? For example, in Haunted<\/em> from 2015, the sound is darker, more eighties, and it\u2019s also the case of the album and the cover.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>I don\u2019t think about these things, the process of me writing and recording is a fluid one. I don\u2019t think about how the songs will sound before I start the process. If my influences have changed over the years that\u2019s only natural. I\u2019ve changed as a person over the ten years The Underground Youth<\/strong> has existed. I also think it\u2019s important for an artist to change and not stay in the same place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Do you think that What Kind of Dystopian Is This? From 2017 was your \u201ccomercial\u201d album?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>Hah, was it commercial? I wouldn\u2019t say so.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2014The band has just published their new album, Montage Images of Lust and Fear<\/em>. Do you think it\u2019s way darker and rawer than your previous albums? Was The Birthday Party an influence while recording it?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>Again, I didn\u2019t think about how the songs were going to sound before we started the process. How it sounds is the result of us writing and recording live as a band and creating a record that represents where we are now and how we sound live. I guess that produces the \u201craw\u201d quality. The Birthday Party<\/strong> have always been an influence, if that comes through more on this record it wasn\u2019t a purposeful decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014This album has been recorded in a studio, was it the first time? What can you tell us about this experience?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>It\u2019s not the first time, but anyway it\u2019s our guitarist Leo\u2019s studio in Berlin. We recorded the last two albums there. We lose this space soon so it will also be the last one recorded there. It\u2019s nice to change and record in different environments, though, where you definitely record affects what you produce.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Also, for the first time, the members of the band have been involved in the writing process. Was it difficult to write songs with other people after so long doing everything by yourself?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

– No, it was a very natural and enjoyable experience. We wrote and recorded the album really fast and had a lot of fun doing it. It\u2019s nice to share that experience rather than going through it alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014You recorded an EP under the name Noise Exposure with your wife, will you do something again with this name?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/b>I never say never but it\u2019s unlikely\u2026 I\u2019d forgotten about it to be honest hah. We\u2019re writing together in The Underground Youth<\/strong> so it\u2019s not really necessary to revive that project.<\/span><\/p>\n