We got the opportunity to chat to drums and guitar player Andrew Plain of duo Right Hand Left Hand all about the group, upcoming album and more - read on to find out what he had to say...
Right Hand Left Hand
For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?
We always find this a tricky one to answer! We tend to sum it up as 'experimental rock' - equal parts noise, melody and rhythm. We use a lot of loops in our music, so it gets loud and sprawling, but never without focus... We hope!
What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?
Well, there are no shortages of sharks and vultures in the music industry! We've been doing it long enough to have an idea of who to trust and who to avoid. So, like so many things in life, the biggest challenge is 'other people'!
How difficult would you say this career path is in terms of making a name for yourself?
Very. We've long given up on the idea of doing this as a career, it happens around day jobs - which we enjoy, fortunately. As long as we can continue recording and gigging then we're happy.
How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?
Completely necessary. We're at a small enough level for us to do exactly what we want anyway, so we can't see ourselves getting into a situation where we'd have to compromise what we do.
Right Hand Left Hand is a product of the collaboration between the two of us - and Charlie Francis, our producer, when we record - so what comes out is a completely natural end result. Trying to meddle with that will ruin everything!
Where do you draw influence and inspiration from for your work?
From wherever we can - we're always trying new things. We're inspired by great music, so we try to do great music ourselves! We're also into our history and weird real life stories. Most of the songs are named after people or historical episodes we think are interesting.
If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?
Well, this could be a huge list. We'd love to collaborate with some of our heroes - Scott Walker or Trans Am in particular. But there are plenty of very talented people in and around Cardiff we need to work with first!
Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.
We spent a summer working as lumberjacks in Canada when we were 19. It wasn't for us.
Do you have definitive aims or goals for your career?
Just to be able to keep doing it, without losing too much money, and to carry on enjoying it! And to out do ourselves with each new song we write. We're always trying to do something different and to approach our music from another angle!
Where do you hope to be by this time next year?
Who knows where this will take us? If things go well with this record we'd like to be in a similar place working on/releasing another album. And, seeing as Rhodri has two young children, he'd like to be less tired, too.
What should we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?
The album is out on February 12 and we'll be playing plenty of gigs in support of it, with an album launch show in Cardiff at Clwb Ifor Bach on February 20.