It’s days out from Geordie Greep’s twenty fifth birthday and the Walthamstow born-and-raised, ex-Black Midi frontman and guitarist is anticipating a brand new life chapter, personally and professionally. The ‘ex’ half nonetheless feels stunning – it was solely again in August, that Greep took to Instagram to disclose: “Black Midi was an attention-grabbing band that’s indefinitely over.”

Whereas the mic drop second shocked the music world – and it appeared even the remainder of the band, who had not anticipated a public announcement – the band’s administration quickly confirmed Greep’s information, saying that the band members had been every pursuing solo tasks. In Greep’s case, that solo pathway has led to debut album The New Sound.

However whereas the shock of their finish might need appeared sudden outdoors, for Greep tells us that the tip of Black Midi, “wasn’t actually emotional as a result of it was a very long time coming. So many issues modified, and so many issues didn’t pan out how I anticipated, so it was like, ‘properly, it was by no means gonna final ceaselessly.’”

“It’s not a tragic factor,” he insist. “It’s comfortable, and it’s all good. Bands don’t all the time go on indefinitely. Among the biggest bands solely put out just a few albums earlier than ending, so it’s bizarre that we count on bands to go on ceaselessly.”

With My Pals

It was again in 2017 that Greep joined fellow artwork college mates Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin, Cameron Picton, and Morgan Simpson to kind the improv-driven, dramatic funk-punk band that grew to become Black Midi. They had been simply youngsters on the time, and Greep is barely into his mid 20s as we converse. With three critically lauded albums and a Mercury Prize nomination beneath his belt already, it’s truthful to marvel: what comes subsequent?

Eclecticism, unsurprisingly, is the order of the day. As properly you’d count on from a musician and songwriter equally as enamoured with Black Sabbath as he’s with Igor Stravinsky, church gospel music, Miles Davis and Argentine tango.

However regardless of this being a solo report, he was removed from alone, having recruited over thirty session musicians to report in Brazil, the place native musicians laid down their work over two days, and later in London, overdubs and manufacturing introduced the album to fruition.

“I wished to do music beneath my very own identify, or discover a strategy to diversify how I used to be doing music,” he explains. “I don’t like this concept that the one manner you are able to do music is beneath these particular circumstances or with these specific individuals. I wished to be a bit extra free with how I method music when it comes to working with totally different individuals and doing music beneath my very own identify, or in numerous bands, or for fee, no matter it’s. So, I all the time had half a watch on doing my very own album principally, as quickly as doable. Within the final 12 months, it was only a good little window. It was like, the band is type of not at its most fruitful, or it’s not going so properly, so let’s begin recording, and let’s get issues going.”

Radio Dada

There’s a melancholy nostalgia that hangs over The New Sound, and Greep’s deep croon delivers wonky narratives and witty one-liners with the trace of a suppressed snigger. As ever, he’s having fun with the absurdity in human existence whereas by no means skewering anybody or something with violent intent.

“I actually beloved the expertise of creating this album,” Greep says. “Each determination you make, if it’s horrible or if it’s good, it’s my fault. Every monitor had a unique flavour because of the totally different musicians with totally different contributions. Making The New Sound took about 9 months from final September to March or April this 12 months, but it surely wasn’t . There have been two classes right here or there each few months with a complete of about 11 days whole within the recording studio.”

The primary monitor he laid down was Blues, and slightly than setting the tone for a single theme or sound, Greep gave his collaborators area to point out off their expertise, including Latin rhythms, post-punk grizzly, distorted guitar, and tight, melodic percussion.

“What actually set the tone was after we recorded in Brazil in December. It was the place and the native session guys there that modified every thing,” he says.

As for assembling such a talented assortment of musicians for a whirlwind session, Greep explains that it was the results of fortuitous timing and a well-connected good friend in Brazil.

“It was fortunate,” confirms Greep. “Initially, the plan was to do a session in London with a giant, slick method. We wished a hi-fi, Michael Jackson-style sound with skilled session musicians. Then I remembered Black Midi had been touring Brazil in December and I knew we’d have days off, so I referred to as up Fernando Dotta who runs a report label [Balaclava Records in São Paulo] in Brazil and he sorted out the musicians and booked the studio. I introduced in chord charts and sheet music, however they’d had just a few days with the music they usually didn’t want. It. They acquired all of the tracks in a single take.”

Market Of Concepts

The album was produced by long-time good friend and Black Midi touring musician Seth ‘Shank’ Evans. The 2 had initially deliberate to make an album collectively, however Greep got here in with a wealth of songs that justified two respective solo albums.

“We had been initially speaking about it being like a duo, however the best way it panned out was that I had extra songs collectively, and the report of 10 songs was shaping as much as be 8 songs of mine. So, we determined to start out with my album, produced by him, then we’d do his album.”

He provides, “We’re actually good mates, we’d hang around the entire time when Black Midi had been touring. Neither of us are the most effective musicians on this planet, however we each have the identical concepts about music and the identical method to music. We’ve got this reverence for environment and temper, when music sounds as whether it is infinite. That sounds a bit hippie, however in case you love music, you understand what I imply. It was a pure match. He understands sound too, and he can talk with the engineers on that technical degree.”

On the grizzled, hard-driving Motorcycle, Evans delivers the sardonic, bleakly humorous lyrics.

“Seth had the preliminary concept for the chords, the intro and the texture of that track, however as soon as we performed it, I felt prefer it was a Mad Max, ‘driving a bike in a desert’ really feel, so we went backwards and forwards with the lyrics, and after just a few iterations it’s a combination and match of all of our concepts. The final part, the instrumental, was a loopy King Crimson factor.”

Direct Line

The guitars on Motorcycle had been recorded direct in, as many of the tracks had been.

“There was a variety of that on this album, to get the distortion in a manner that was cleaner and extra impactful. I used to be utilizing a Gibson SG [a Custom Shop model from 2000, he later clarifies] largely, and I used to be utilizing that guitar probably the most for dwell exhibits.”

Elsewhere, Greep launched an eclectic forged of bizarre stuff – a Fret King Elise, a 70s Gibson Les Paul Recording mannequin, a white Anniversary Fender Strat with a bridge humbucker, and an Eastman orchestra-sized acoustic – the latter of which Greep is actually taken with.

“Eastman is a guitar firm from China… so that they’re cheaper than they need to be for a world class guitar,” he enthuses. “It’s fairly tight, brilliant, and there’s none of that boomy sound like you may get from huge guitars.”

One other distinguished flavour on the album is Greep’s Okay Yairi nylon-string – an instrument that’s been a relentless companion for years.

“It’s nice for getting these Latin sounds,” he says. “I used to be arising with a variety of the songs on that. If one thing sounds good on that guitar, then it sounds actually good on one other guitar. It’s important to work for it to sound good.”

On The Magician, Greep provides a customized made pedal metal guitar that proved to be trickier to grasp than he’d assumed.

“I solely acquired it from a good friend this 12 months when he realised it was going to be epic. He didn’t grasp it, as a result of it’s actually tough, so I purchased it off him and realised it’s so difficult – I used to be naïve to assume I might grasp it very quickly!”

Greep’s method to guitar has all the time been fairly distinctive, and a Tough Commerce staffer thinks that it’s his prestigious use of a really bizarre pedal – a Boss Bass EQ from the Nineteen Eighties – that provides it that uncommon flavour.

“For some purpose, the pedals that they had from again then have a very totally different sound to those you get now,” he agrees. “You may principally use them as a distortion pedal as a result of the best way they increase the frequency simply isn’t clear. You will get one thing fairly excessive. I’ve been utilizing it for years.”

As for translating an album full of Brazilian session musicians to worldwide touring phases, Greep sounds relaxed concerning the prospect.

“It’s a bit like jazz music. It’s all about taking part in with totally different individuals and studying new issues, so I wish to maintain that going past the studio by having totally different bands in numerous territories, from the UK to the US, from Asia to Europe. You may play these songs in a variety of alternative ways.”

The New Sound is out 4 October 2024 on Tough Commerce.