The Wave Pictures interview.

For around a decade now the charmingly emotive pop trio The Wave Pictures have worked their way through a selection of drummers whilst occasionally managing the odd burst of touring. Since changing their base to London the band have found themselves a home at moshi moshi records and have released the album ‘Instant Coffee Baby’, E.P. ‘Just Like A Drummer’ and numerous singles. Since this union the trio have also been almost constantly touring finding themselves as far a field as New York. So what do the band think about all of this? Singer and Guitarist David Tattersall kindly answers some of our questions.

You’ve played an impressive amount of shows this year. Are there any that stand out for you in particular?

We had a really sweet show in Dundee a few days ago. We went on in front of about ten indifferent looking heavy metal kids. We decided to play a set of slow really quiet ballads, that was just the mood we were in. And they really loved us. It was a show that was really special for the few people that caught it. It reminded me that every show is important and different and you never know what’s going to happen. That was a great show, everything a show should be.

 

Do you have any dream festivals/venues to play?

Not particularly. I’d love to go back to New York City.

 

I think you have a rather unique sound when compared to other British bands at the moment. Would you agree with this?

Yeah. The Wave Pictures sound like a band to me and most British bands at the moment do not sound like a band. We sound like musicians playing together; the sound of strings and drums. A lot of bands at the moment sound like a computer, like one synthesized sound as opposed to individuals playing together. Or more specifically they sound like U2. Epic computer flangy flingy echo sounds. Big strident big big big big big big big sounds. I like small and dry sounds, that’s just my taste. That’s probably the difference in sound you are referring to. We don’t use effects pedals or whatever. And we improvise constantly, which lends the music its naturalness and looseness. Most bands just play the same shit over and over and over again. It’s like work for them and their audience. 

 

In today’s music industry where bands seems to form, release and break-up in a matter of months you seem to have taken your time with the band. What benefits do you think you have seem from taking what is now a rather unconventional route? 

Oh, the benefits of The Wave Pictures approach are numerous. You get to develop as musicians and write a whole lot of songs and get serious about music and playing. The whole career side of it all is something that happens to you, its a bit out of your control, so we tend to try and think about the music much more. I know a lot of bands that don’t really have any songs and can’t play their instruments very well, but they are very good at getting their faces all over the internet and in the press and they spend all their time courting managers and sucking off record label executives. They seem to get very famous, but they’re dancing in their skinny jeans on a stage made of egg shells. They’re not built to last. They don’t know what they are doing because they are courting fame and fame is distributed at random. They are courting fame instead of trying to be good. Goodness isn’t random; you decide for yourself what is good, and then work always with a fixed position. So they end up insecure and don’t know who they are anymore. Much better to piss about like The Wave Pictures do. We have decided what we like and we try to do it, so we are always happy. Happy when we don’t get success and happy when we do, because we like the music that we make. There are also many downsides to The Wave Pictures approach, such as that you have no money and you have to play alot of shows to empty rooms. You know, you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth haven’t you? 

 

What do you think of the current indie scene in the UK? Do you make much of an effort to follow it? Are there any new artists you’d recommend? 

Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be any good bands around these days. Mostly, I’m listening to older things, lots of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen and old blues singers like Blind Willie McTell and Skip James. I thought the new Jonathan Richman album ‘Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild’ which came out this year, was really great. We have lots of good musical friends. Our friends are all amazing. I would recommend listening to Stanley Brinks! But aside from our friends I haven’t heard any new bands that I’ve enjoyed to tell you the truth. I don’t understand most of what I hear at the moment, its all style and no substance and it either confuses or bores me. 

 

You’re singed to Moshi Moshi. What do you think of the label? Did you know much about them before you singed? 

No, we hadn’t heard of the label before they approached us. They are really good guys, very kind to us and supportive. It’s a comfortable and trusting working relationship. I think we also have quite a unique dynamic with Moshi Moshi in that the label think we are oddballs and we think the label are oddballs. We find each other sort of amusing somehow. Its really been good for us, I’m very grateful to them. 

 

What bands and artists have influenced you as a band? 

I think in terms of playing together as a band we’re influenced by the playing of Credence Clearwater Revival, early Dire Straights, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, The Velvet Underground. Those bands all had clear sharp guitar sounds and groovy rhythms and all the musicians were distinct and easy to hear. They also played a good mix of different styles and they’re all pretty danceable and they all have guitar solos. AND they all have pretty good songwriters who sing interesting stuff. In terms of writing the songs, when I’m writing I always thinks about Bob Dylan, David Berman of The Silver Jews, Jonathan Richman, Lou Reed… I always think about country music like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark…stuff like that. Those kind of things are our major influences. And The Violent Femmes debut album had a pretty big effect on us too. 

 

Are there any non-musical influences on your music? 

Well, in terms of writing the lyrics I do often think about films and books as well. I like the idea of making records that are a bit like small independent films. John Cassavettes is a good model of an artist, an uncompromising artist and he has a lot of good things to say, if you hear his interviews. He influenced me. I often think about writing I’ve read when I’m shaping the words on the page. I never read poetry, but I read a lot of prose, mostly crime thrillers such as Ed McBain or Raymond Chandler, I know that stuff seeps into the songs occasionally. When I read William Faulkner’s ‘The Sound And The Fury’ I ended up writing a bunch of songs that had his type of sentences in, with all those adjectives and lots of primary colours. I mean, basically, anything and everything seeps into our songs if you are writing songs all the time. You become a kind of sponge for the things people say and the things you read and hear. 

 

What can we expect from the band in the winter and next year? 

More shows and more music! 

 

Details of The Wave Picture’s upcoming shows and releases can be found on their website.

The Wave Pictures-Leave The Scene Behind

The Wave Pictures-Strange Fruit Or David