Thread by @oldsamuelband

With the County in lockdown and knowing he'd be home, I took the chance to catch a few moments with @Recluseuk/@oldsamuelband lead singer/guitarist, @BrittRecluseuk learning that it maybe it wasn't Lisa Simpson that peaked his interest in music...

#lockdown #StayHome #interview

Do you remember when you were first aware of music?

BR: One of the earliest memories involving music that I have is travelling in my dad’s car to a holiday somewhere in England listening to Freddie Mercury’s I Was Born to Love You, I was pretty much raised on #Queen & #Elvis

BR: I must have been around 4-5 years old.

Are you a still fan?

BR: They are indelibly linked to so memories that I’m definitely fond of them. There are specific songs by each that make my trousers fly away, I look at you, ‘It’s Late’ and Innuendo..

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What was the first record you bought using your own money?

BR: The first record I bought was the CD of @Nirvana Unplugged, that was a good day. The first record I ever remember owning - which I still have - was #TheSimpsons Sing the Blues, on vinyl, natch.

Obvs, the two do go hand in hand...! Was it The Simpsons that made you want to pick up an instrument in a kind of, “if they can do it...” moment?

BR: No.

BR: #Nirvana were purely responsible for me thinking, ‘I like music, I do’

Ha! So it was Nirvana that made you want to play the guitar?

BR: Absolutely! From the ages of fourteen to sixteen, I listened to pretty much nothing but Nirvana and that’s when I picked up the guitar, a Hohner Rockwood with feet buzz on the 4th fret, G-string

If only the house from #Poltergeist was built on a similar foundation! What happened to that guitar?

BR: I sold it when I moved to #Cornwall, gutted! 😢

Heartbreaking

What song would you play to someone who has never heard Nirvana due to a lengthy coma?

BR: Serve the Servants, it’s always been of my favourite songs and has all the golden ingredients or Verse Chorus Verse, just so I could hear the solo, basically

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At what point did you also realise you could shout?

BR: I started singing purely because out of the three of us in the band, I was least bad. I had awful confidence issues in the early years and it was only really around 2015 I completely relaxed into it.

What was the name of your first band?

BR: @Recluseuk - still going strong. Technically I was in a school band for one gig that was called, ‘Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Click, Click, Sunday’

In the battle of band names, I think Recluse won! Were Recluse good right from the start?

BR: At the start we were completely green, for a couple of years we just played covers and eventually ‘went on hiatus’ I moved away to the Isles of Scilly where I learned...

BR: ...to write songs and play guitar more competently, upon returning two years later, Recluse formed with different members and a focus on original music.... then I met Chris...(@showmemagic)

Meeting Chris sounds like it may have been a pivotal point in your musical career? 😉

BR: It was! We clicked straight away and immediately formed a band, it was cool for me because Recluse were moving in a harder, darker and more progressive direction and...

BR: ...Old Samuel (named after the first bottle of bourbon we shared) was an outlet for the more mellow side of things. So I was covered from all aspects of a song writing perspective.

BR: I don’t want to speak for him but I think he had felt a big restricted up until that point and we had an ‘anything goes’ approach which meant we could be more loose and fun in our writing.

What song is a good representation of Recluse in the early years?

BR: I think Come on Over serves us well, it was a cool, driving rock song that stayed in the set for a long time and was quite ‘riffy’. It was a cool way to kick of our first album and was the first song learnt.

Come on Over by @Recluseuk

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It must be difficult being the main songwriter in two bands?

BR: Not at all, it’s some easy to separate the songs and both bands have their own way of putting tracks and pieces together so there is never a challenge is separating them.

What song is a good representation of Old Samuel?

BR: When our original drummer, Polts, was in the band it was a song called Boy, as it captured the indie vibe and accentuated Polts’ Laos-back style with ghost rolls and hi-hat trills etc. with a pretty solid beat and groove

BR: Ever since Alex (@TNTracklists) joined the band last year, I’d say that Easier is a song that captures our spirit now as it shows off more muscular drums and rightly off-beat rhythms.

📺oldsamuelband.bandcamp.com/track/easier

How are keeping your mind occupied during this lockdown madness? #StayHome

BR: I’m carrying on as I used to, playing guitar and writing parts of songs. The one thing that has changed is that I’m doing regular acoustic video uploads to social media of originals and covers,

BR: ..this helps not only as a creative outlet but it’s fun to work out acoustic versions of electric, full band songs and also to document some stuff that may have slipped through the cracks.

Can I request @JeffBuckley's, Last Goodbye and how is the future looking for OS and Recluse?

BR: Yes, you can!

BR: Nice, easy one to sing....

BR: I think the future looks good, both bands have albums either ready to release or ready to record and I am KEEN to get back. On the gigging circuit and get into a studio!

Exciting times. Finally, what song shall we end with, any song by anyone?

BR: It has to be Black Liquorice by @peachpitmusic as I’ve been loving their 1st LP, summery, breezy with great guitar and melodies. The 2nd album didn't grab me quite as much , I adore the chorus and it’s been stuck in my head for days. Listen to those close harmonies!!

Black Liquorice by @peachpitmusic

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The End.

The End...by Ryan Adams off Jacksonville City Nights

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Fino

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