New band on the scene, Divide The Sun, tell us about their lockdown as a band, their influences and why not many of have heard of them...yet!
Alright lads, firstly, who are Divide The Sun and can you tell us a little bit about the band as we here at SFTS take pride in knowing the local scene very well but weāll be honest and say that we know nothing about you guys! Why is that?
Phil: OK, so the initial introductions for Divide the Sun are...
Robin Bailey - Rhythm guitar & vocals
Gaz Moore - Lead guitar & vocals
Will Waddington - Bass Guitar
Phil Moore - Drums
Weāre a band who are a little ālate to the partyā in that we only met initially about 2 years ago, and only formed as the current line up about 12 months ago.
Robin and I met at TMP Music College, and when we decided to wanted to continue to make music, we recruited Gaz and then Will, who had previously played together (some years ago) in a number of bands. Weāve discussed recently how we want to start to take it to the next level, gigging and promoting etc. Sadly Coronavirus has made a dent in those plans.
Robin: I think we were clear from the start our goal was to write, produce and play original songs. We are still on that journey. Also, weāre probably guilty of being too perfectionist or maybe its a bit of impostor syndrome??
However we have released our first single, Green and Brown, (second single on its way, soon) and made a couple of surprise gigs at TMP, both of which were very well received! Like you guys the response so far has been āwhy have we never heard of you beforeā!!
Well itās great to have another Wigan band in this amazing scene we have.
What is the writing process in the band and how did the song āGreen and Brownā come to fruition?
Robin: The writing process usually starts with me or Gaz having the basis of a song and we take it to the band, who all add their bits. In fact some songs/ideas donāt get Divide the Sunās approval and are rejected. āGreen and Brownā was pretty much accepted from the outset and developed by all the band. Its a song that covers all the light and airy themes of war, terrorism, religion and death....set to a nice jangly indie groove!
Phil: Yeah, the structure of the song is definitely driven by the two main songwriters, but they do āallowā Will and I a certain degree of autonomy in how we add to the song!! Once the structure is there, weāve found that the process to a final format is pretty quick. We then just take time to tweak and perfect it.
Love the fact that such topics can be turned into a song, I remember back with the Bush era in th US brought out a lot of new material for bands like Greenday, System of a Down etc and probably other bands too. Have these dark times with COVID, protests, the government etc inspired the band and songwriting whilst not being able to gig?
Phil: In all honesty the band as a whole have been in somewhat of a hiatus through COVID. Weāve only managed to get together once, but weāve stayed in contact pretty consistently. In fact, probably more so than before lockdown!!! The two songwriters have been sending ideas across, and we definitely have things to get straight into once lockdown is lifted.
In the meantime, Robin is very prolific with his songwriting, and is definitely not afraid to progress any songs that he feels are worth it, but that are maybe not DtS material.
Robin: Its funny three songs I have written have been inspired by all those themes. One called āAlone togetherā deals with those whose lives have always involved self-isolation even before lockdown. The āLuckiest Man in Rock and Rollā is a jealous song aimed at those who have made it in the music industry. And āUs and Themā deals with lies, corruption and oppression. I may try and write a happy song one day!!
The way the world is at the moment thereās plenty for the band to write The way the world is at the moment thereās plenty for the band to write about and itās all very relevant and people can relate to it too.
Whatās the plan for the band once we get more normality back?
Gaz: What is normality, though? The World is always in chaos, just in different guises. Thereās always plenty to write about!
Will: Get back into practice, get a set together and play a gig!
Robin: Yes, thatās the answer!
Phil: Yeah, I think itās about catching up on the material we already have, and getting that back up to standard. But the guys have been working on some stuff that weāre going to begin developing as soon as we can!
Gaz, you make a very good point.! Thereās always bad things going on so spot on there but itās often ammunition for bands to write about I suppose.
When you get back gigging is there anywhere in particular you want to play or bands youād like to gig with? Or is it a case gig wherever and as much as possible?
Phil: Weāre still at the stage where weāre getting the material together, to a standard that weāre happy to take to a (potentially paying) audience. So I think itās fair to say we are only just beginning to think that far ahead. One particular venue is like to play is The Old Courts in Wigan but also The Boulevard. Having said that, we want to make sure that the material is good to go before we rush into anything. Willās lives in Preston and there are apparently a number of venues there that we hope to play at. In terms of supporting, youāve got to aspire to someone like The Lathums but that may be a stretch given their meteoric rise!! The Lilacs and Island Dam are also obvious local choices given their quality and current experience.
Will: Some of the Preston venues that is like to play at are, The Ferret, The Continental, 53 degrees. There were more but I heard they closed.
Good local bands we could support; Blues Harvest, Zvilnik, Doug Perkins and the Spectaculars, Fighting, dat brass, Ward 16 and Jackpot Golden Boys.
Yeah no rush and this is the perfect time to get it right whilst gigs arenāt really as we know them just yet and people are understandably not ready to go out to pubs/venues.
Weāre very lucky to have so many good bands not just in the northwest but in the UK.
What bands are you listening to at the moment and does that have an influence on the bands songwriting?
Robin: I think a lot of bands indirectly influence my songs however I never sit down with an artist orgenre in mind. I think itās probably more subconscious. I am often maybe more conscious of not sounding like anyone or copying anyone. Historically [I listened to] Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, The Smiths, Leonard Cohen ... currently Elliot Smith, Sufjan Stevens, King Krule, Aha, early Prefrab Sprout, Wu Tang Clan, Laura Nyro....
Gaz: [Iām] Currently listening to Future Islands a lot and although itās not the sound I would want from my own band......
I do find it is inspiring my own writing. I definitely have a connection with the vocal both melodically and lyrically.
Good to see quite a mixed bag of music there.
That was our last (serious) question. Weāve got some, more hypothetical fun questions now....
If you could open up for any band (Alive or dead) who would it be?
Robin: Super Furry Animals
Gaz: Well for me it would have to be the best live band Iāve ever seen..............the mighty...............pigeon detectives. Jokes. KASABIAN!!
Phil: Biffy Clyro. Definitely.
Will: Erm, queen at wembley.
Interestingly, the bloke who taught me guitar when i was 16 was previously in a band who did genuinely support queen in their early days.
Some great choices there! Streaming music or Vinyl?
Robin: Would love to say Vinyl, but I would never have listened to the range of music I have, if it wasnāt for streaming. So from a purely selfish and indulgent perspective, streaming.
Gaz: Streaming through the week. Vinyl on Sundays!!
Will: I'm not nearly hipster enough to be interested in vinyl nowadays, just for the sake of trying to be cool, so streaming all the way :)
Phil: I listen to a lot of music on the go, so Vinyl isnāt really practical!! Also, Iāve never owned a Vinyl record without scratching it to hell, so definitely streaming for me, too.
Also, you can choose an album, a book and one other item to take to a desert island with you. What do ya take?
Phil: Iāll go first then.....
Album - The Wall - Pink Floyd (without question)
Book - Difficult one this. Probably the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes (Iām sure itās available in one volume somewhere)
Item - can I take my phone?
Robin:
Album. Desire- Bob Dylan...
Book: Finnegans Wake-James Joyce...(never understood it, so might work it out on the Island).
Item: Mini-Brewery.
Will:
Album - 1977, ash.
Book - Lord of the Rings.
Item - survival knife / multitool. Or maybe a saltwater still, depends if the island has a fresh water source or not...
Gaz:
The Bends - Radiohead
Book of local wildlife
Guitar :)
Thanks very for taking the time to chat to us lads!
Please go and visit the band's social media pages and follow on the streaming services.
