In Conversation with
Northern Kind
December 2008
A little background:
Growing up in the 1980’s myself was
Always a mixed experience – in hindsight
Mostly probably because of the hair cuts
And the naff music (which explains why
From about 8 or 9 I went into Country
And Western music as a sheer reaction).
When I got older of course, I got into
Stuff which isn’t regarded as naff as
Some of the stuff was back then (If
You read ‘Setting Sun’ you’ll soon
Work out for yourself what I am talking
About there).
Nowadays I tend to be flexible when
I listen to my music more in particular
When listening to new acts, and judge
Them for what they are not what they
Listen to as their influences.
Take Leciester’s ‘Northern Kind’.
When I first read their influence list
As their tunes were buffering before
Starting to stream on their myspace.com,
Some of their influences like Abba,
Altered Images, Duran Duran, Kajagoogoo
And Madonna for example I’ll be
Honest nearly made move pages straight
Away.
However as their music kicked in,
I was really impressed and their use
Of technology certainly for me was
Closer to Massive Attack, Goldfrapp
And very early The Human League
(Pre ‘Don’t you want me baby’)
Representing 80’s synth pop music
In a modern way which would certainly
Appeal to both camps.
Impressed by the quality in their
Tunes, I dropped them a email
And I heard back from them in due
Course and then the interview followed
Shortly after.
Thanks to Matt and Sarah for the interview.
For more info on them please go to their
Myspace page which is
http://www.myspace.com/northernkinduk
OR email them direct on
Cheers
Andy N
Setting Sun:
How are things and what’s going on at the moment?
Northern Kind:
We are currently finishing
our 2nd album, we were hoping
for it to be finished by September so we are a few months
behind but it's sounding great. Still a few things to finish
and
perhaps another song to write but we are really pleased with
how it's sounding. It
should be released early February 2009.
Setting Sun:
Next can you tell us a little bit about the history of
northernkind – what started you off etc, etc?
Matt:
We first met in 2001 and
worked together on a few songs when Sarah
was in another band
called Minithin. I produced a couple of their
songs but nothing really happened with them. It was then
2006
before I got back in touch with Sarah, I had started to buy
some
music gear and really wanted to find a female singer. The
template I had in
mind was
of ideas and we met up soon after to record them, I was
pleasantly surprised
with how they were working out so
we just carried on working in this way.
Setting Sun:
What are your influences (music wise) and what have you being listening to recently?
Matt - I have quite an
eclectic taste in music now but my first interest came from bands like Depeche Mode and Yazoo. My record collecting in the 80's
was pretty much dominated with electronic music and I was pretty blinkered
about listening to anything else. Now I buy music that I like whether it be electronic, rock or even folk. Currently
listening to the new Kings of
Sarah - My influences were
anything from the Wonderstuff, PWEI and The Smiths to Aretha Franklin and Tom Jones! Anything
that’s good – I also sang in the school choir and I know that influenced my
appreciation of melody and harmony. We used to sing Beatles and Simon
& Garfunkel songs. Right now I’m listening
to MGMT, the National, Kings of
Setting Sun:
I have being really enjoying your songs on your myspace page, I think my favourite is ‘The Other Side’ – can you tell us a little bit about this?
Northern Kind:
Matt:
It was the last track we wrote for that album, I tend to
create lots of ideas that I give to Sarah in batches for her to write vocal
for. This really started out as nice sound I created playing a few simple
chords, they can still be heard through most of the
track. Sarah txt me one night
and said I have written something that's like Ghostbusters, when we recorded
the vocals I got Sarah to sing some "arrhs"
which I sampled and played around with them to create a sound that I think is
quite ghostly. You can hear this throughout the track. The whispered vocals I
also really like. I also used an old
Sarah:
Well, most of the songs had been quite
personal up to this point. Then, I decided I wanted to write a song that
was more of a story. When I was telling Matt about the song for the first
time, I mentioned that it was a bit like Ghostbusters. It’s a bit about
being ‘guided’ and also about being stalked.
Setting Sun:
What’s the inspiration behind your name out of interest also?
Northern Kind:
It's actually a mis-heard song lyric from an IAMX track, I was singing
along to their song "Kiss And Swallow" and thought I had remembered
the words but I actually they were wrong, I had replaced a line with the words
"Northern Kind" but quite liked it so it stuck and became the name of
our project.
Setting Sun:
Do you play concerts / gigs? If so, how do they compare to your recordings?
If not, do you have any idea how you’d approach it?
Matt:
Yes we have played lots of
gigs, around 30 in the last two years. Highlights have been supporting Gary Numan and playing at the Retrofest
festival in
Sarah:
Performing live is an important part of what
we do, and I know that we’ve gained new fans directly through seeing us
live. It’s probably more exciting for me (Sarah) as I’m up front and
connecting with the audience. The experience is different for Matt, who
stands quietly twiddling his switches. He has been known to send me a
text message during a performance; it said ‘hi, I’m on stage’.
Setting Sun:
What’s next for yourself? Do you have any more recordings / gigs planned etc?
Northern Kind:
Must get the
second album finished – then more gigs / festivals in 2009.
Setting Sun:
A few slightly more light hearted questions to finish off with, firstly where
Are you all from? What’s the music scene like where you are from? Have you
Being to any good concerts recently?
Matt:
We both originate from Leicester however Sarah
has lived in many places, when we met up again Sarah was in
Sarah:
I saw Prince recently, and he blew me away!
Setting Sun:
What would you like to be doing when you are 60?
Matt - I spend most of my time in front of a computer and attached to the
internet in some way. I'd like to think I could unplug from the electronic
world, retire somewhere reasonably warm, perhaps France or the
Sarah:
Living near the sea with my toy-boy, painting,
writing, having fun!
10. Lastly, what will you be doing when you are 60?
Northernkind:
Hopefully the answer to Q.9