Mapanare.us Constantly.Consuming.Culture.
  • Art
  • Interviews

Women's Hour's William Burgess Talks About The Band's Debut LP, New Single And Playing In The USA

3/14/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture

Woman's Hour (Fiona Burgess, William Burgess,

Josh Hunnisett & Nicolas Graves)
William Burgess of London-based Women’s Hour took some time to chat about the haunting new band’s upcoming LP on Secretly Canadian. A 7 inch, Her Ghost, comes out March 24, 2014. A debut LP from the synth-heavy pop act is coming soon.

“We are currently putting the final touches to our first LP so hopefully it should be with you in the summer all being well. It's been a long process for us, and one we haven't been keen to rush. A couple of the songs on the record have been in the works for over two years,” says Burgess. “These older songs have informed who we are as a band and given us a musical identity, so they sound cohesive to us with the newer songs. They've all been recorded from the last week of November 2013 up until just about now.”

Woman’s Hour is set to play for the first time in the USA shortly. What do they expect from a USA tour?

“We're expecting to have a lot of fun; it's going to be a new experience for us though. We've never played in America before so we're not going over there thinking anyone cares about us, it's just down to us to work hard and play the best we can and just hope it connects with some people.” he says.

And when Burgess says “people” he means you. Get out to one of these shows if you are lucky enough to have the band playing in your town (current dates are below).


Picture
March 11th - 16th  South By South West Festival, Austin, Texas
March 17th  Bardot, Los Angeles
March 19th  Mercury Lounge, New York
March 21st  Glasslands, New York
April 3rd  The Purcell Rooms, London
April 25th  Gulliver's, Manchester
April 26th  Cathedral, Sheffield
April 27th  Bodega Social Club, Nottingham
May 7th  Louisiana, Bristol
May 8th  The Great Escape Festival, Brighto
n
When asked how the band creates “the average” song Burgess is equivocal.

“It's a tough question; we haven't actually tried too hard to analyze how we write because we don't want to formalize the process. We've got a couple of techniques that allow everyone to feel like they've expressed themselves though,” he says. “The main one is that we let everyone push a song as far as they can with their own ideas and then we rein it back in together and sort of trim the fat off it.”

Great now they will be thinking about formulizing and they can BLAME Mapanare for it.

When it comes to recording Woman’s Hour has one piece of gear they consider essential to the recording process—the venerable Roland Juno 60, a synth that first appeared on the market over 30 years ago.

“The arpeggios on that thing are insane and the pads are used in just about everything we do. The inbuilt chorus sounds are a thing of great beauty.” says Burgess.

Making good music isn’t just about the latest gear. There is a great deal to love about middle-aged synths (that are a bit less costly than some of the elderly synths out there).

When it comes to bands that are inspirational to Burgess it is as much about their philosophy, their feel, as their sound.

“Personally any band that is honest and doesn't seem contrived. I know it is a job and everyone wants to make a career out of it,” he says. “But it's also art and if you're bold enough to try and create something new that isn't obviously 'commercial' sounding then I take inspiration from that. Bands and artists like Animal Collective, Wild Beasts, Oneohtrix Point Never and The War On Drugs spring to mind.”

The band, as mentioned, is getting down to finishing their LP. There will also be more touring and stops at festivals. There will also be a great deal of writing in the future.

Keep an eye open for music and shows by Woman’s Hour.
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Interviews
    This section is interviews with artists, musicians, writers and anyone else we think is interesting.

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Art Basel 2012 Previews
    Art Basel 2015 Previews
    Art Basel 2016 Previews
    Art Miami
    Art Week Miami 2013
    Art Week Miami 2014 Previews
    Books
    Design
    Films
    Graphic Novels
    Interviews
    Miami Art Week 2017
    Miami Art Week 2018
    Miami Art Week 2021
    Music
    PFAF 2019
    Photography
    Previews
    Superfine!

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    November 2021
    November 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    March 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    April 2010