Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I grew up in Lincolnshire, moved to London when I was 18, stayed there for 20 years, before moving recently to rural Oxfordshire. I’ve been making music for a long time, playing in bands at school etc. My previous band put out four records and Green Rays is a new project. So it’s hard for me to really think about a time when I wasn’t making music at this point. But I think what made me want to start is the same thing that keeps me wanting to do it now: an ongoing love and fascination, hearing great songs, wanting to try and make my own.
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: Two of my favourite artists of recent years have great new records out – Cass McCombs and Bitchin Bajas. They are probably a good guide to the twin poles of Green Rays: melodic songwriting and more ambient, kosmiche sounds.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Green Rays’?
A: The Beatles “White Album”, 90s indie rock like Yo La Tengo, and Krautrock have always been a fairly consistent mix of influences for the music I’ve been making over the years. I’ve been describing Green Rays as imagining Eno collaborating with the Feelies or the Clean.
The name comes from an optical solar phenomenon. The artist Tacita Dean describes it really well: “When the sun sets into a clear crisp horizon and when there is no land in front of you for a few hundred miles … you stand a very good chance of seeing the green ray. The last ray of the dying sun to refract and bend beneath the horizon is the green ray, which is just slower than the red or the yellow ray. Sailors see them more than the rest of us and they have come to signify – for some – a harbinger of great change or fortune in their lives.”
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Beginner’s Mind’. Is there a story behind it?
A: The concept of beginner’s mind is about approaching something anew, as a beginner. It’s the first single from the debut album of a new project for me, it captures something about where I’m at, something of a clean slate situation.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: Yes! The album is going to be out early next year, on February 10th.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: I think it’s about bringing together drifting sounds, motorik rhythms, and melodic songwriting.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: Creatively, yes. I’m really proud of the record and looking forward to people hearing it. Anything outside of that is beyond my control and so not something I think about too much.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: I’ve got two main modes of writing songs. The first is the typical singer-songwriter type approach – sitting around with an acoustic guitar. I did a fair amount of that with this record. The songs were written just after our first son was born, so I spent a lot of time playing guitar while keeping the baby bouncer going with my foot.
The second is more computer based, layering up ideas, digging in late at night with headphones on, experimenting with sounds.
Sometimes these two modes remain separate, sometimes they meld, and that’s what you hear on the record.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your music career so far?
A: I suppose deciding to call time on my last band, My Sad Captains, and start again. I’m really proud of the music we made and still feel strong attachment to the songs. But we’d gone through lots of line up changes, and were about to have more, and I decided it was time to try something new.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your music career so far?
A: Well flowing on from that, it would be the Green Rays record. I’m really happy with the songs and how it sounds. I’ve been able to make it with brilliant musicians and trusted collaborators. I’m looking forward to sharing it with the world next year.
