Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I’m Harry and I play lead guitar for cedar. I’ve been playing the guitar for about eleven years now and have a load of inspirations and influences. First one’s my dad, as he always introduced me to cool music growing up even though he doesn’t play any instrument. I think I owe much of my music taste to the old man. I’ve got three uncles that play jazz music professionally, and I always looked up to them as a kid growing up. Last one’s my mate Chris who introduced me to Rage Against The Machine and Drop D tuning. You’re a legend Chris.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “cedar”?
A: I think we as a band are really trying to focus on playing in new territories. Originating in Gibraltar, we’re constantly aware that Spain is right on our doorstep and that theres an exciting scene for alternative music. Playing more gigs in Spain is definitely something we’re excited to pursue further. We’ve also cut our teeth playing gigs in the Uk on some self-funded tours, and we’re really wanting to grow our audience there as well. Beyond that, growing our platform on socials and writing/recording as much as we can. To anyone about to discover us, I guess I’d advise you wear ear defenders.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: There’s so much cool music coming from amazing artists right now it’s hard to choose without second-guessing yourself. I’ve been really getting into Irish band The Scratch recently – they’re fucking awesome. Huge riffs and really cool music. I’ve always loved Soundgarden and they always continue to inspire me. Brighton band Tigercub don’t have a band song to them and write amazing music. Ulrika Spacek and Working Mena Club are also near and dear to my heart right now.
I think I’m normally drawn to a really cool melody or a guitar riff in an odd time signature – I always find it pushes me down some interesting territories.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “If I Knew.”?
A: ‘If I knew’ is all about navigating a new relationship while having to deal with your own problems, insecurities, or just general immaturity. It’s a reminder not to redirect anger or frustration that you feel from isolated scenarios onto the person that you’re with / are in love with.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: Grungegaze
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “If I Knew”?
A: The great thing about this band is that the writing process is quite organic and collaborative. Someone will come up with a riff – in this case our frontman Patrick – and we’ll just expand on it from there. I think we had the whole track fleshed out in about a week or two. It was really a joy to write it because I think we all believed in the tracks vibe and the sound we were going for from the beginning. We record our music in-house in our rehearsal space, which challenging in its own way, but it’s great to take ownership of the sound like that. Pieter Riedkerk of Chapel Studios also smashed it out the park with mixing, mastering and post-production. Overall it’s been about as smooth as it could ever be with this one.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: I think our music broadly speaks about lost love, melancholy moments and those bittersweet trials of life. We try to draw from our own experiences as much as we can, and we all take that process really seriously when crafting a track. Right now, I think our message behind the music is perhaps just about pondering over those formative and groundbreaking moments you have growing up and still continue to have now. As a band I think we all dream about being professional musicians. Being in this band and having enough from it that we could all quit our jobs and make a living off making music. I think we all grew up with that fantasy in our heads, never gave up on it, and now we’re trying to make that a reality.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: I’d love to collaborate with Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre. He’s absolutely mad, but he’s a genius at what he does.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: I think if you wanted to seriously pursue music as a career, get as obsessed with it as you can. Don’t be in it for the money because it’s not there when you’re starting out and won’t be there for a long while. Do it because you truly love it. Write and experiment and fuck up and figure out your sound. In terms of entering the industry as a band, only way you’re going to get noticed is by putting yourself out there – write and record and gig as much as possible in the hope someone’s listening.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: “Don’t worry about the onstage sound mate – it’s shit for everyone”
