Stewart Allan (vocals, guitar and keyboards) and Craig Peebles (drums and percussion) make up Black International - a duo from Scotland gearing up for the release of their second album 'A Lesson In Repression' at the end of the month.
We got the chance to put some questions to the band about their music, the future and more.
For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?
Our music is pretty intense, with heavy, propulsive rhythms and jagged guitars. We try to offset that with accessible melodies and lighter passages; we worked hard to give our new record a good balance of light and shade, so listening to it doesn't feel like being assaulted by a screaming box of cutlery, at least not all the way through.
What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?
Getting people just to listen to music is pretty difficult at times, because the market is so over-saturated with however many million bands out there. It's easy to get gigs, easy to make records, easy to distribute them. Engaging with casual listeners isn't.
How difficult would you say this career path is then in terms of making a name for yourself?
It's extremely difficult, because of the sheer volume of bands in competition with each other, the increasing pressure on writers and the strain being placed on small venues. Also, being in a band could easily be a full time job, these days you have to book gigs, manage websites and social media, produce artwork, organise rehearsals and recordings, promote yourself, get out and about to shows and speak to people, all before the actual songwriting, the fun part, can take place. Factor in holding down a full time job and conducting meaningful relationships, and it can be a bit of a grind. I think the feeling of playing a really good gig or that rush when you come up with a new song and you feel completely immersed in what you're doing... it's quite addictive. That dopamine hit makes it worth it.
How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?
It's important but to be honest, usually at our level working with micro indie labels the music tends to be 100% the domain of the band. Even bigger indies probably won't stick their oar in that much. It's only when bands get picked up by major labels that interference tends to become more obvious, when larger amounts of money are involved. The most we've had to contend with is people suggesting (insisting) on artwork that has the band name on it, that kind of thing. Sometimes you have to compromise in minor details, but it's rarely the end of the world.
Where do you draw influence and inspiration from for your work?
Musically, it's hard to pinpoint particular influences, because we're into such a broad range of stuff. The two of us approach the band from completely different directions. Whereas I'm generally more interested in textures, noise and repitition, Craig is much happier engaging with melodic hooks and pop devices. That area where we meet in the middle is where the finished songs exist, although we rarely discuss or rationalise it. When it comes to lyrics, I usually just pick stuff out of my notebooks and assemble it into vaguely thematic pieces, filling in the blanks as I go, chopping and rearranging.
I think in terms of influence I like writers who combine the mundane with elements of weirdness and wit. People like Mark E Smith, Morrissey (although a lot of his recent work is very patchy), Beefheart, Malcolm Eden from McCarthy, even Brett Anderson on the first two Suede albums, maybe. Song lyrics are such a personal thing, though. It's difficult to quantify the influence of other writers.
If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?
Funny you should ask that, because the launch show for the album will feature collaborations with a group of musicians hand-picked for both their ability and their finely-tuned social skills. We'll have an expanded lineup featuring Paul McArthur of noise rock luminaries Salò and Thin Privilege, Niall Sinclair of Urvanovic and Billy Ray Osiris, and Robbie Smith of toilet-grind specialists BRITNEY. We're very excited at the prospect of performing with these guys, and initial rehearsals have been really cool.
In terms of why, it's partly because we've been playing as a two-piece for about four years now and a change is as good as a rest, in that respect. Also, the album was recorded in a kind of idealised way, without much regard to how pure a representation of our live sound it was. Playing it with extra musicians means we can replicate all the little extras and overdubs and present the songs exactly as they are on the record.
Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.
Three years ago we played a gig in Gateshead where we went on before a band doing covers of, amongst other things, Bon Jovi's 'Living On A Prayer'. The guitarist's dad came to pick him up after the show and load his unnecessarily huge Marshall stack into the car. It was like 'Puppet Show + Spinal Tap'. Things like that keep your feet on the ground. Just as well we have a sense of humour.
Do you have definitive aims or goals for your career?
We don't really plan beyond the next batch of writing and recording, and seeing how we can push ourselves to do interesting things musically. If we really had to, it would be nice to think that we would end up with a respectable body of work by the time we jack it all in. The next album is already beginning to coalesce, and hopefully we can continue to refine our ideas for a few years yet.
Where do you hope to be by this time next year?
We'd aim to have our next album more or less recorded, and to have a few more festival slots under our belts. I think getting to the stage where we're gigging less in favour of better, bigger shows is quite high on our list of priorities at the moment.
What should we expect from you in the coming weeks and month?
I guess in a few weeks we'll know if the slightly more experimental (for us) approach we took with writing this album has paid off, because it'll be out and in the world! I think the launch gig for the album will be the beginning of something bigger.
'A Lesson In Repression' is released on October 30 via Good Grief Records.