A Sunday Conversation With Paul Love, drummer, producer and one half of London alt rock duo Plastic Barricades
When I was a kid, growing up in a house with Cat Stevens,
Neil Diamond, and Simon and Garfunkel, the first time I ever heard Kiss's
"Detroit Rock City,"
it was a moment of musical epiphany. It was just so vicious, aggressive and
mean. It changed the way I listened to music. I've had a few minor epiphany's
since then, when you come across a band that just brings something new and
revolutionary to your ears.
What have been your musical epiphany moments?
When I was 5 years old the surviving Beatles released Free
as a Bird and I remember my dad bringing that home on CD and playing it. That
was magical. I’m sure I heard The Beatles before then (I grew up in Liverpool) but this was something else. I don’t think I
even realised it was new. It still gets every time when listening to it. I
think it’s really beautiful that George, Paul and Ringo could work with their
friend again and set his spirit free in a way.
Next was Led Zeppelin IV when I was 13. I never heard
anything like it. The variety, the textures, the pure force of it! Next was The
Mars Volta’s Deloused in the Comatorium a year later when I was 14. I thought
music ended in ‘77 with the Punks (I’m a hippie). I wasn’t a fan of new wave,
punk, dance music, pop. The Mars Volta showed me that wavy, colourful,
psychedelic music could be made in this century. Various artists have opened me
up to new horizons since then.
Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet opened me to Hip Hop.
John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme to Jazz. Tool’s Hooker with a Penis opened me to
Metal. What a song. I always loved disco and Motown. That’s inside me, but I
couldn’t stand pop music. That was the last bastion of my negativity in music and
that levee was broken when I went on tour supporting Charlie Puth. That guy has
the most incredible voice and ability in songwriting, piano, and production.
Everything, and he uses it all to write love songs for teenage girls and they
love it. Really positive music. The whole tour had a great vibe. Every show was
about the audience. Parents brought their kids and stood at the back holding
each other. I got it, finally. Pop isn’t about money and manipulation; it’s
about finding the experiences that connect all of us. Love and heartbreak.
Finally, we have Jacob Collier. When I heard his cover of “Don’t you Worry Bout
a Thing” I saw everything I love about music coming from one kid. He’s Everest.
He’s incredible and everything I would want to be as a musician. Giving, kind,
honest, open, colourful, vibrant, knowledgeable and he’s only getting better.
He’s re-writing the book of what’s possible.
Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What
comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?
It varies. I try to write out my feelings honestly, without
any attention to form or rhyme and then I try to find metaphors and imagery to
build from this. I struggle expressing my feelings. It’s something I’m working
on, and I’ve been seeing a Gestalt Therapist to help. Once I’ve got an idea of
what I want to write about I’ll find a simple chord sequence. The dims and augs
can be found later. Then this will swirl around in my head while I search for
lines and images. I’ve usually written the song three times before I’ve edited
it down to effective and powerful lines and hooks. Sometimes they just appear
in my head and I realise there’s a new song that no-one has heard before that’s
wormed its way into my ear. Sometimes I just sit with a microphone and sing
what I want to say to someone I love and I have to find the chords afterwards.
They’re usually the best ones. I wrote a song for my girlfriend that way and I
think it’s my favourite. It might be on not this coming album but the one after.
Dan wrote all the songs on this upcoming album. We’ll either jam out riffs
together and he’ll find the words and refine afterwards or he’ll come to me
with the melody and lyrics all fleshed out and I just help arrange and produce
and play drums.
Who has influenced you the most?
My Dad. He taught me how to play music in a very
unconventional way. Purely listening, purely self-discovery and avoiding all
technical teaching except reading. It led me to have a great groove and
absolutely zero ability to solo and noodle.
My focus has always been the song. I’ve worked on my technique a fair
bit since but that foundation created me as a musician. I studied music at
University but that was very disappointing. That almost destroyed my passion
for music. I learnt a lot from my fellow students but I always felt like the
program was more interested in my money than my education. I felt like the
lecturers didn’t believe in the students. There were some great teachers there,
but I personally felt no guidance. Maybe I wasn’t in the right place
emotionally and mentally at the time.
My next great mentor was James Earp who wrote Bruises with
Lewis Capaldi last year. I was his assistant for a couple of years. He taught
me to have a clear vision, to stick to it and how to carve out sounds and
really make a professional sounding record. I owe a huge amount to him.
Finally, there’s Dan, the other Plastic Barricade. He showed
me my potential when I’d lost faith in music and in myself after many years of
being underpaid and under-appreciated being a session drummer for others. He
reminded me what it was like to create with openness and love and how to give
to the world through my art.
Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new
motivation?
Lately it’s been internal. Giving thanks to all the
opportunities and love I’ve been given and focusing on the personal connections
with the people most important to me. It can be really hard to write a song
about how much you love someone and show it to others. It’s not ‘cool’. I used
to judge this stuff as cheesy and saccharine but I think that was just fear
talking. I wanted to be cool and
fashionable and aloof. That’s just pushing. I want to pull now.
We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the
band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?
Dan’s from Tallinn, the
capital of Estonia.
A Nordic country that was invaded by the Soviet Union
with the current population of just over 1 million. I’m from Liverpool.
The capital of the Socialist Republic of Scouserland. An English city that was
invaded by Irish famine refugees (we’re all Irish Catholics) with a population
of 1 million. Rather different population densities but Dan and I both ended up
with a love of Nirvana, Oasis, Coldplay, Foo Fighters. I don’t know how much a
place informs a musical identity. For me my roots are obvious. I grew up in
guitar music from the North West of England. Dan’s a unicorn. I don’t know how
he happened. I lived in London
for 11 years and they reshaped me in many ways. A lot more jazz funk and disco
found its way inside of me and now I’m living in Paris so… probably even more disco will find
its way to my heart, but I think we’re still just making the music we would
have wanted to when we were teenagers.
Where'd the band name come from?
Plastic Barricades are kind of useless. They give the
impression of a barrier, but they can be very easily moved or pushed over.
They’re kind of fake but they also don’t rot. Our mental barriers are pretty
much the same. They’ll always be there but we have moments of clarity where
they can be pushed over, moved or just ignored. You can be anything you want to
be and you can make anything you want to make - it all just takes time, effort,
belief and Love.
You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the
soundtrack for?
Star Wars.
You now write for a music publication (The Ripple Effect?).
You're going to write a 1,000 word essay on one song. Which would it be and
why?
“Ultralight Beam” by Kanye West. So much to say about that
song from it’s construction, its subject matter media and public perception of
Kanye vs his actual talent and ability, the choice of samples, lyrics, the
performers and voices used and the use of such a simple loop. The dynamics, his
honesty, the juxtaposition of his public life with his spiritual life. The way
he reworked and re-released the song multiple times after its release. People
like to drag him down because he has a big mouth, and he does do some pretty
reprehensible stuff now and again, but he really is on the avant-garde. It took
me a long time to give him a chance as an artist because of the MTV persona but
this track turned me round. That or “Tomorrow Never Knows”. Beatles straight up
invented drum and bass 30 years early.
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap,
rock and roll moments?
Two strippers, whipped cream and a broken elbow in Cologne. I can’t say
more.
Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you
and for your fans?
I love moving a big crowd with my drums. The power and
connection I feel when a whole crowd is moving in waves all together is just
beautiful. I love looking people right in the eye and giving them a big smile.
I want people to know that I’m there for them as much as they’re there for me.
5-minute call terrifies me every time. Drum solos make hands shake
uncontrollably. I’m still afraid of singing on a stage.
What makes a great song?
Honesty, hard work and writing 1000 songs before you get to
the good one.
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
Oh god it was terrible! It was full of maj7 bar chords and
that dumdumtahdupadupadumtah drum beat everyone does when they’re 15. If I
remember correctly the lyric for the chorus was:
Stop leaving me you left me for last year
Stop leaving me I’m getting older
Stop leaving me I think I lost myself.
I’m not sure my lyrics are any better now, but the music
certainly is!
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?
Honestly this latest single ‘Optimist’ is my favourite thing
I’ve produced and played on. It’s got a good message, the riffs are cool, it’s
musically interesting and the video is awesome!
I’ve made too many things I don’t believe in or have
cleverly constructed to hide myself. I’m glad I’m growing out of that and I’m
working with someone I really believe in and just have a good time being with!
Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?
Julia Michaels is the most underappreciated and unrecognised
songwriter today. She’s constantly interesting and connective and her songs
really move! Taylor Swift gets too much shit for being amazing. Jacob Collier
is a musical genius and plays everything better than everyone. Thundercat is
really good at the big guitar and indulges in being weird which gives me more
confidence with being weird. Vulfpeck sold out Madison Square
Garden with no manager,
no label, no publisher - nothing. All on their own. Madness. Ed Sheeran. I saw
him in Shoreditch House just before he took off and he is just so solid. His
voice and guitar just punches out. Not many people can play Wembley solo with
just an acoustic and a loop pedal and kill it. I think the number is
approximately 1. Sløtface is my favourite rock band right now. They kick ass,
stand for something and stay fun.
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?
Digital. Infinite playlist, best possible sound quality,
zero house move hassle, no cleaning heads, no skipping lasers, no scratches, no
dust on the record, not turntable turning too fast or slow, no interference
from your washing machine. I will fight people over this. The transfer from the
ear to the brain is digital so the whole “analogue sounds better cause magic”
thing is errr meh. Our hearing is digital and a 16bit 44.1khz 320kbps mp3 is
indistinguishable from a .wav or .ogg or any other ‘lossless’ codec, at least
to my ears and I checked on £50,000 speakers.
Whiskey or beer? And defend your choice
I don’t drink. It doesn’t make a good time better, it just
makes the day after worse.
We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new
music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record
store to lose ourselves in?
If you’re in Liverpool you
need to go to Probe Records. I spent so many of my teenage years there. It used
to be on the corner of Slater
Street and Seel Street, but it’s moved now. I gave
away all my records 6 years ago and haven’t bought one since, so I haven’t
checked out Paris’
record shops. I haven’t missed them.
What's next for the band?
More releases. I’m trying to finish the mixes for this album
and we’re both writing for the next one! Hopefully there’ll be some of my songs
on there too. We’re planning a tour for the end of the year.
Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our
readers, the waveriders?
These were really thoughtful questions. It’s great when
people care! Thank you so sososo much. We owe a lot to people like yourself who
help get our music out to the world.
You’re the glue of the music industry.
____________________
“Optimist”, the
second single from the upcoming LP “Self-Theories” IS OUT NOW!
“Optimist” video: https://youtu.be/IHOLEtYj7oM
"Optimist " facts:
• The song
was written, recorded and mixed in a backyard Shed Studio in North-West London
and mastered by legendary Andy “Hippy” Baldwin
at Metropolis Studios.
• Music video
for the single, created by PB art-director ElinaPasok, was filmed in a bedroom.
None of the 300 cast members were harmed during the shoot, although one house
and one car were destroyed in the end.
• Can you
hear Paul saying “Again!” in the very beginning of the song? To us this IS
optimism!
• Single
release date – 2nd of February 2020
• “Self-Theories”
LP due in summer 2020
Romantic and honest, gloomy and curious, melodic and
melancholic, Plastic Barricades chronicle life in the troubled yet fascinating
XXI century, asking questions and trying to find answers. Inspired and
influenced by almighty Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Coldplay, Muse, Death
Cab for Cutie, Placebo, Snow Patrol, The Shins, Nirvana and many others, the
band loves to experiment with styles, sound and approach.
Based between London and Paris, Plastic Barricades
are Dan Kert on guitars and vocals and Paul Love on drums.
….
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plasticbarricades/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/plasticbarricades
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