![\"TRiPS\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ambientlightblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TRiPs-FEATURE.jpg?w=2048&ssl=1)
ANDREW CHRISTIANSEN of TRiPS: Clipping The Ticket
<\/strong><\/h5>\nAn interview by Tim Gruar<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nTRiPS is a new collaboration project from Andrew Christiansen and Barnaby Weir, featuring contributions from a host of co-conspirators including from Black Seeds\u2019 Daniel Weetman, Paslode\u2019s Elan Van-Mills, Iris Little (Deva Mahal, Bret McKenzie, ONONO) and longtime-Seeds producer (Dr) Lee Prebble and his magical Surgery Studios.<\/p>\n
In a moment of life imitating art imitating life, I headed just around the corner to my daughter\u2019s music school to find myself in the \u2018Principal\u2019s\u2019 office having a chat to Christiansen about running a music school, life after stage and creating a new set of memorable audio journeys.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s 12 O\u2019clock. Lunchtime. And I\u2019m sitting in former Black Seeds-turned-music educator Andrew Christiansen\u2019s office at the Goodtime Music Academy in Alicetown, just a stone\u2019s throw from the mighty Awa Kairangi that flows into Te Whanganui-a-Tara and out into Cook Strait. Goodtime Music is a staple now in most of the schools around the Hutt Valley and up the Kapiti Coast. With a fleet of small buses kitted out as portable music rooms, they arrive during class time ready to go. Our tamariki love it, Christian says. \u201cThe bus arrives and they are onboard and raring to go. It meets a real need. We originally wanted to come to schools, set up in a hall or classroom. But so many schools are so full, all the rooms, even the libraries, are being used for teaching. There was no room. So, we thought we\u2019d just take the classrooms to them, with the instruments, seating, everything.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nRunning a music school is a far cry from touring on the road with one of Aotearoa\u2019s most popular festival acts. But, as Christiansen explains, life has moved on for most of the band and many members have scattered to the four winds. \u201c(Drummer) Jarney is up the Coast\u2026 Barnaby\u2019s in New Plymouth. The bass player\u2019s in the BOP. Trumpet player\u2019s in Christchurch. They\u2019re all spread out now. Oh, and Ryan Prebble <\/em>(The Nudge) has joined the band.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nA truly \u2018cross-motu\u2019 band.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. Yeah. Well, with technology, you can just catch up anytime. Trade tracks and record remotely, everything. But, it\u2019s not like we really every played in one play. It\u2019s like we did one or two gigs in P\u014dneke and the rest, well, just go to the airport and we\u2019re off overseas to carry on touring. Doesn\u2019t really matter where we are, we are the band in the place at the time.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\nChristiansen and Barnaby Weir first met each other over 20 years ago. It was while playing in the Cuba Dupa Batacada percussion group that he came to the attention of the band\u2019s leader Daryn Sigley, who had just worked with Barnaby Weir on the original Fly My Pretties project (and the album \u2018Live at Bats\u2019 2005). Sigley went on to recommend Christiansen as a stand-in player for Seed\u2019s trumpet player, Mike Taylor, who was unavailable for and upcoming Aussie tour. \u201cAt the time, I\u2019d just turned 18. So this was massive! It was a bit of a baptism of fire. A couple of Gigs at San Fran and then off to Aussie for ten dates. Then two years later, Mike went to America and the Seeds called me back and I was asked to go on a European tour for two months. The whole time they were asking me to join officially\u2026. And the rest is history.<\/em>\u201d Or \u2018their-story\u2019. Ta dah!<\/p>\nChristiansen left in 2012 and went of to take on all sorts of \u2018odds and ends\u2019 \u2013 \u201cStudy, painting houses, mowing lawns, you name it!<\/em>\u201d It was while He finished a business degree that Elan Van-Mills called him up (He\u2019d \u201cbought the \u2018bones\u2019 of a music school<\/em>\u201d) and invited him to collaborate in a Kapiti-based venture (re-branded as \u2018House Of Sound Music Academy\u2019) which became an early proto-type for Goodtime. \u201cI was involved until about 2020. At the time I was doing a lot of teaching and I felt I wanted to do something else. Around then, I got a call from Johnny, who owned this school<\/em> and was I interested in buying it?<\/em>\u201d Christiansen agreed, starting from the 1st of January 2020, only a few months before Covid and the National Lockdowns began.<\/p>\n\u201cGreat timing! Bet you\u2019ve heard this story a million times? I know a travel agency of 30 years, sold only weeks before, with the best of intentions. Then \u2018bang!\u2019, Covid! And on and on!<\/em>\u201d This must have been a blow to a music school that has such a community reach, into schools with ready to go classrooms. It was hard, he says. But is thankful of his client support and considers himself lucky that even during the current economic turndown there\u2019s still enough discretionary spend to support his business.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a reaction. We told the schools about our amazing programme. We just needed a teaching space. But they\u2019d say \u201cWe haven\u2019t got any. We\u2019re using the hall as a classroom at the moment. There\u2019s nowhere.\u201d Space is a premium. But it\u2019s evolved. The kids are excited to see them \u2013 the buses \u2013 they\u2019ve become like a character in the story of Goodtime. They are cool, neat features.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nAnd there\u2019s a connection here, too. The \u2018magic music bus for the kids\u2019 connects with Christiansen\u2019s own history with touring buses. \u201cIt takes it full circle with the travelling idea. Like a \u2018Thomas the Tank Engine thing\u2019. It has a kind of wonder about it. But for us, being in a band, touring around, is just part of being in a band, it\u2019s old hat \u2013 over time we lose the wonder. Lose the novelty. But for them, they get to come in the Good Time Bus, make them cool, it has neat features. So, it\u2019s great to bring that back again through the music school. It\u2019s as big a part of the story as the lessons. And the tour bus wonder has come full circle,<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n![\"TRiPS\"](\"https:\/\/www.ambientlightblog.com\/clipping-the-ticket-a-trips-interview\/trips-bw-press-shot\/\")
<\/p>\n
But, Christensen is not just a teacher. He\u2019s an artist, too. \u201cI had a band called About The Deadlines, with Jarney, Dan <\/em>(Weetman), and Dale <\/em>(Jellyman), which I formed after leaving the Seeds. We did an e.p., which was a lot of fun. But through different circumstances it was hard to keep going<\/em> (Dayle went to NYC for a year, Dan moved to Auckland, I did a business degree). But we were still writing, trading ideas.<\/em>\u201d The band reformed with a slight lineup change to support a couple of big overseas acts \u2013 Eagles of Death Metal and Killing Joke and a number of gigs at Wellington\u2019s Mighty Mighty bar. \u201cAnd I had these songs I\u2019d written, but they weren\u2019t really suitable for that band. My partner at the time was pregnant with out first child, parenthood was calling, and I was itching to get this material down on tape before I lost momentum. But I didn\u2019t have a \u2018home\u2019 for them or anything.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nSo, he went in to Surgery Studios with Lee Prebble and with the help of a couple of musicians, along with some vocals from Dan Weetman, to put the foundations down for a few songs \u2013 including the jazzy \u2018Beforehand\u2019 (recorded with a \u201c\u2018bunch of mates\u2019. We were going all enthusiastically with them. And then, nothing. They just sat in this Drop Box for ages, unmixed, unfinished, untouched.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nThen in 2021 Barnaby Weir moved to the Kapiti Coast, where Christensen lives, and the two of them started hanging out again. Both their partners were expecting and became good friends. \u201cAnd I hired a house for my birthday in Greytown and we invited them over for a night to hang out, kids free. And\u2026 a few libations later we were sitting their talking about Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and rock radio. And it was this thing were he was keen to do some music and I was keen. But you almost don\u2019t want to say, in case it\u2019s not the case. \u201cYou go \u2013 no you go!\u201d That sort of thing. But I picked up the guitar and, honestly in about an hour we had about six foundations for songs<\/em> (including Way of My Flow and \u2018Let\u2019s Go Out\u2019)\u201d<\/p>\nThat led to more studio time and very soon they had an album of new material and reworked material from the long-neglected Dropbox (\u2018Wishes\u2019, \u2018Beat The Horse\u2019, \u2018Afterwards\u2019, \u2018Modern Thinking\u2019, \u2018That Is Wai\u2019 and \u2018Beforehand\u2019) \u2013 \u201cThey were all part of the original batch. But there\u2019s a who bunch more to be released for a new album later<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\nWeir played a strong part in the production of the album, its concepts and overall vision as well as lead vocals on the first three tracks.<\/p>\n
The lyrics for \u2018Wishes\u2019 came very quickly in the studio, triggered by random phrases cut out of a magazine. Lyrically, it\u2019s a story of a person wanting to go down the road of love but unable to handle the ride.<\/p>\n
\u2018Afterwards\u2019 features the vocals of Iris Little who used to work at Goodtime. \u201cI wanted a sort of lullaby for my kids. She obliged and came back with a really awesome vocal. I thought \u2018sheesh, we\u2019d better record this.<\/em>\u201d It started as a lullaby but ends in a conversation with the inner child, offering a sense of peace in an ever-changing world.<\/p>\n\u2018Beat The Horse\u2019 is an early piece written with Elan Van Mills about trying to give up destructive behaviors and holding onto addictions as if they are true friends.<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\nBilled as a crash up of The Cars, The Beach boys and 7\u2019s FM radio \u2018Way Of My Flow\u2019 is a \u2018musical potluck fondue at Queen\u2019s hose\u2019. It comes rushing out of the stable, especially with its heavy \u2018Jerry Lewis\u2019 style piano current. And then the switch to Brian May guitar twinges and Springsteen exuberance. Was this a deliberate attempt at an overstuffed influence sandwich, I ask. \u201cDefinitely. I am a music teacher. So, why not? I really like truth in music. So, whatever\u2019s on the album is what came out on that day. So, that was what I was listening to. And that\u2019s what you get.<\/em>\u201d As their blurb claims: \u2019No rules, no shoes and no blues. This trip has departed.\u2019<\/p>\nHe talks about how genre-bending this collection is. \u201cTo me, its my favourite part of the project. A kind of a tip of the hat to everything been through musically in my career from big band trumpet playing to jazz ensemble to Cuban music to Black Seeds\u2019 reggae and funk to Rock heavy. Everything, you know what I mean? It\u2019s all in there.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nSpeaking of Springsteen, \u2018I\u2019m On Fire\u2019 appears, but in a very different rockier arrangement, with all guitar work, bass and drums by Christensen. That song, I\u2019d just done a covers gig, and I was drumming. It was five minutes of that tick-tock tempo. \u201cI was like, my arms going to fall off!. So, Barnaby and I were chatting and we thought about how we could get some inspiration from that song. And Barnaby said \u201cWhy don\u2019t we just do it as a cover?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nAs the publicity blurb promises: \u201cthe rules are set aside without boundaries of a usual band existence and the fresh air is impossible to ignore. Hats are tipped \u2013 or tripped \u2013 towards the roots of rock\u2019n\u2019roll with hand shakes from the 70\u2019s tape heavy quality in sound and hi-fives with toes from the future.\u201d Listening through the album you\u2019ll hear Santana and Mogadishu Orchestra and many other musician favourites. \u201cI didn\u2019t hold back on anything. The inspiration for \u2018Beforehand\u2019 was Billy Coben and Miles Davis with their Electric Band era stylings. And \u2018Cobb And Co.\u2019 was me coming to the studio thinking that the album wasn\u2019t heavy enough. And I was having breakfast and me and Lee just wrote it on the spot, and that\u2019s me playing everything again.\u201d
<\/em>
\u201cWe\u2019re both parents. So, \u2018Let\u2019s Go Out\u2019 was a pretty obvious one. It\u2019s about rekindling relationships after the kids have finally gone to bed. How to read the smoke signals rising from the din of domestic days.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\nThe MO on \u2018That is wai\u2019 was from Matt Benton and Ria Simmons was sparked from the conversation that fades out the previous track \u2018Modern Thinking\u2019 <\/em>(a song about always wanting better faster, bigger \u2013 but at what cost?). That\u2019s this pregnant person wanting all these ridiculous things. So, they are arguing about this. I just found it funny all the jokes around people\u2019s crazy cravings \u2013 like ice cream with a whole jar of gherkins. So, I asked them to create an argument wanting all these irrational things. I\u2019d got the idea from something similar from Jack White\u2019s \u2018Boarding House Reach\u2019 album which has what sounds like Woody Harrelson doing some spoken word thing.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cAnd for \u2018Wai\u2019, I\u2019d said create this conversation with big, complicated words that sounds legitimate and important but all wraps up to something pointless and we\u2019ll put some improvised music under it. We did it all live. Helps set the scene for the last song, too.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cThere\u2019s so much of Lee in this album. He helped us produce it and written it \u2013 so shout out to him! The studio is his instrument. All of his toys, everything. He essential. And it goes right back. Especially him and Barnaby, to the Dojo days and before.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cHis attention to the tracking and mixing process played out like a sculptor of tone.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nSo, the \u2018TRiPS\u2019 moniker for this project is because of the different directions you are taking?<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess it\u2019s the never-ending journey we have been on and continue to go on. I guess it\u2019s to give it openness and also we like \u2018trippy\u2019 tones and production techniques, delays and all that. But It\u2019s a journey that will continue as we explore sounds in all their forms. We want everyone to listen and love it. And to look out for more music soon!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\nTRiPS\u2019 self-titled debut album is out today via all good streaming services.
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If you enjoyed this content, please consider donating towards the running of Ambient Light, covering expenses and allowing us to expand the coverage you love by visiting our PressPatron page<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nRelated Posts<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
TRiPS is a new collaboration project from Andrew Christiansen and Barnaby Weir, featuring contributions from a host of co-conspirators including from Black Seeds\u2019 Daniel Weetman, Paslode\u2019s Elan Van-Mills, Iris Little (Deva Mahal, Bret McKenzie, ONONO) and longtime-Seeds producer (Dr) Lee Prebble and his magical Surgery Studios.<\/p>\n
In a moment of life imitating art imitating life, I headed just around the corner to my daughter\u2019s music school to find myself in the \u2018Principal\u2019s\u2019 office having a chat to Christiansen about running a music school, life after stage and creating a new set of memorable audio journeys.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 12 O\u2019clock. Lunchtime. And I\u2019m sitting in former Black Seeds-turned-music educator Andrew Christiansen\u2019s office at the Goodtime Music Academy in Alicetown, just a stone\u2019s throw from the mighty Awa Kairangi that flows into Te Whanganui-a-Tara and out into Cook Strait. Goodtime Music is a staple now in most of the schools around the Hutt Valley and up the Kapiti Coast. With a fleet of small buses kitted out as portable music rooms, they arrive during class time ready to go. Our tamariki love it, Christian says. \u201cThe bus arrives and they are onboard and raring to go. It meets a real need. We originally wanted to come to schools, set up in a hall or classroom. But so many schools are so full, all the rooms, even the libraries, are being used for teaching. There was no room. So, we thought we\u2019d just take the classrooms to them, with the instruments, seating, everything.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Running a music school is a far cry from touring on the road with one of Aotearoa\u2019s most popular festival acts. But, as Christiansen explains, life has moved on for most of the band and many members have scattered to the four winds. \u201c(Drummer) Jarney is up the Coast\u2026 Barnaby\u2019s in New Plymouth. The bass player\u2019s in the BOP. Trumpet player\u2019s in Christchurch. They\u2019re all spread out now. Oh, and Ryan Prebble <\/em>(The Nudge) has joined the band.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n A truly \u2018cross-motu\u2019 band.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. Yeah. Well, with technology, you can just catch up anytime. Trade tracks and record remotely, everything. But, it\u2019s not like we really every played in one play. It\u2019s like we did one or two gigs in P\u014dneke and the rest, well, just go to the airport and we\u2019re off overseas to carry on touring. Doesn\u2019t really matter where we are, we are the band in the place at the time.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Christiansen and Barnaby Weir first met each other over 20 years ago. It was while playing in the Cuba Dupa Batacada percussion group that he came to the attention of the band\u2019s leader Daryn Sigley, who had just worked with Barnaby Weir on the original Fly My Pretties project (and the album \u2018Live at Bats\u2019 2005). Sigley went on to recommend Christiansen as a stand-in player for Seed\u2019s trumpet player, Mike Taylor, who was unavailable for and upcoming Aussie tour. \u201cAt the time, I\u2019d just turned 18. So this was massive! It was a bit of a baptism of fire. A couple of Gigs at San Fran and then off to Aussie for ten dates. Then two years later, Mike went to America and the Seeds called me back and I was asked to go on a European tour for two months. The whole time they were asking me to join officially\u2026. And the rest is history.<\/em>\u201d Or \u2018their-story\u2019. Ta dah!<\/p>\n Christiansen left in 2012 and went of to take on all sorts of \u2018odds and ends\u2019 \u2013 \u201cStudy, painting houses, mowing lawns, you name it!<\/em>\u201d It was while He finished a business degree that Elan Van-Mills called him up (He\u2019d \u201cbought the \u2018bones\u2019 of a music school<\/em>\u201d) and invited him to collaborate in a Kapiti-based venture (re-branded as \u2018House Of Sound Music Academy\u2019) which became an early proto-type for Goodtime. \u201cI was involved until about 2020. At the time I was doing a lot of teaching and I felt I wanted to do something else. Around then, I got a call from Johnny, who owned this school<\/em> and was I interested in buying it?<\/em>\u201d Christiansen agreed, starting from the 1st of January 2020, only a few months before Covid and the National Lockdowns began.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat timing! Bet you\u2019ve heard this story a million times? I know a travel agency of 30 years, sold only weeks before, with the best of intentions. Then \u2018bang!\u2019, Covid! And on and on!<\/em>\u201d This must have been a blow to a music school that has such a community reach, into schools with ready to go classrooms. It was hard, he says. But is thankful of his client support and considers himself lucky that even during the current economic turndown there\u2019s still enough discretionary spend to support his business.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a reaction. We told the schools about our amazing programme. We just needed a teaching space. But they\u2019d say \u201cWe haven\u2019t got any. We\u2019re using the hall as a classroom at the moment. There\u2019s nowhere.\u201d Space is a premium. But it\u2019s evolved. The kids are excited to see them \u2013 the buses \u2013 they\u2019ve become like a character in the story of Goodtime. They are cool, neat features.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n And there\u2019s a connection here, too. The \u2018magic music bus for the kids\u2019 connects with Christiansen\u2019s own history with touring buses. \u201cIt takes it full circle with the travelling idea. Like a \u2018Thomas the Tank Engine thing\u2019. It has a kind of wonder about it. But for us, being in a band, touring around, is just part of being in a band, it\u2019s old hat \u2013 over time we lose the wonder. Lose the novelty. But for them, they get to come in the Good Time Bus, make them cool, it has neat features. So, it\u2019s great to bring that back again through the music school. It\u2019s as big a part of the story as the lessons. And the tour bus wonder has come full circle,<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n But, Christensen is not just a teacher. He\u2019s an artist, too. \u201cI had a band called About The Deadlines, with Jarney, Dan <\/em>(Weetman), and Dale <\/em>(Jellyman), which I formed after leaving the Seeds. We did an e.p., which was a lot of fun. But through different circumstances it was hard to keep going<\/em> (Dayle went to NYC for a year, Dan moved to Auckland, I did a business degree). But we were still writing, trading ideas.<\/em>\u201d The band reformed with a slight lineup change to support a couple of big overseas acts \u2013 Eagles of Death Metal and Killing Joke and a number of gigs at Wellington\u2019s Mighty Mighty bar. \u201cAnd I had these songs I\u2019d written, but they weren\u2019t really suitable for that band. My partner at the time was pregnant with out first child, parenthood was calling, and I was itching to get this material down on tape before I lost momentum. But I didn\u2019t have a \u2018home\u2019 for them or anything.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n So, he went in to Surgery Studios with Lee Prebble and with the help of a couple of musicians, along with some vocals from Dan Weetman, to put the foundations down for a few songs \u2013 including the jazzy \u2018Beforehand\u2019 (recorded with a \u201c\u2018bunch of mates\u2019. We were going all enthusiastically with them. And then, nothing. They just sat in this Drop Box for ages, unmixed, unfinished, untouched.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Then in 2021 Barnaby Weir moved to the Kapiti Coast, where Christensen lives, and the two of them started hanging out again. Both their partners were expecting and became good friends. \u201cAnd I hired a house for my birthday in Greytown and we invited them over for a night to hang out, kids free. And\u2026 a few libations later we were sitting their talking about Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and rock radio. And it was this thing were he was keen to do some music and I was keen. But you almost don\u2019t want to say, in case it\u2019s not the case. \u201cYou go \u2013 no you go!\u201d That sort of thing. But I picked up the guitar and, honestly in about an hour we had about six foundations for songs<\/em> (including Way of My Flow and \u2018Let\u2019s Go Out\u2019)\u201d<\/p>\n That led to more studio time and very soon they had an album of new material and reworked material from the long-neglected Dropbox (\u2018Wishes\u2019, \u2018Beat The Horse\u2019, \u2018Afterwards\u2019, \u2018Modern Thinking\u2019, \u2018That Is Wai\u2019 and \u2018Beforehand\u2019) \u2013 \u201cThey were all part of the original batch. But there\u2019s a who bunch more to be released for a new album later<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n Weir played a strong part in the production of the album, its concepts and overall vision as well as lead vocals on the first three tracks.<\/p>\n The lyrics for \u2018Wishes\u2019 came very quickly in the studio, triggered by random phrases cut out of a magazine. Lyrically, it\u2019s a story of a person wanting to go down the road of love but unable to handle the ride.<\/p>\n \u2018Afterwards\u2019 features the vocals of Iris Little who used to work at Goodtime. \u201cI wanted a sort of lullaby for my kids. She obliged and came back with a really awesome vocal. I thought \u2018sheesh, we\u2019d better record this.<\/em>\u201d It started as a lullaby but ends in a conversation with the inner child, offering a sense of peace in an ever-changing world.<\/p>\n \u2018Beat The Horse\u2019 is an early piece written with Elan Van Mills about trying to give up destructive behaviors and holding onto addictions as if they are true friends.<\/p>\n Billed as a crash up of The Cars, The Beach boys and 7\u2019s FM radio \u2018Way Of My Flow\u2019 is a \u2018musical potluck fondue at Queen\u2019s hose\u2019. It comes rushing out of the stable, especially with its heavy \u2018Jerry Lewis\u2019 style piano current. And then the switch to Brian May guitar twinges and Springsteen exuberance. Was this a deliberate attempt at an overstuffed influence sandwich, I ask. \u201cDefinitely. I am a music teacher. So, why not? I really like truth in music. So, whatever\u2019s on the album is what came out on that day. So, that was what I was listening to. And that\u2019s what you get.<\/em>\u201d As their blurb claims: \u2019No rules, no shoes and no blues. This trip has departed.\u2019<\/p>\n He talks about how genre-bending this collection is. \u201cTo me, its my favourite part of the project. A kind of a tip of the hat to everything been through musically in my career from big band trumpet playing to jazz ensemble to Cuban music to Black Seeds\u2019 reggae and funk to Rock heavy. Everything, you know what I mean? It\u2019s all in there.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of Springsteen, \u2018I\u2019m On Fire\u2019 appears, but in a very different rockier arrangement, with all guitar work, bass and drums by Christensen. That song, I\u2019d just done a covers gig, and I was drumming. It was five minutes of that tick-tock tempo. \u201cI was like, my arms going to fall off!. So, Barnaby and I were chatting and we thought about how we could get some inspiration from that song. And Barnaby said \u201cWhy don\u2019t we just do it as a cover?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n As the publicity blurb promises: \u201cthe rules are set aside without boundaries of a usual band existence and the fresh air is impossible to ignore. Hats are tipped \u2013 or tripped \u2013 towards the roots of rock\u2019n\u2019roll with hand shakes from the 70\u2019s tape heavy quality in sound and hi-fives with toes from the future.\u201d Listening through the album you\u2019ll hear Santana and Mogadishu Orchestra and many other musician favourites. \u201cI didn\u2019t hold back on anything. The inspiration for \u2018Beforehand\u2019 was Billy Coben and Miles Davis with their Electric Band era stylings. And \u2018Cobb And Co.\u2019 was me coming to the studio thinking that the album wasn\u2019t heavy enough. And I was having breakfast and me and Lee just wrote it on the spot, and that\u2019s me playing everything again.\u201d The MO on \u2018That is wai\u2019 was from Matt Benton and Ria Simmons was sparked from the conversation that fades out the previous track \u2018Modern Thinking\u2019 <\/em>(a song about always wanting better faster, bigger \u2013 but at what cost?). That\u2019s this pregnant person wanting all these ridiculous things. So, they are arguing about this. I just found it funny all the jokes around people\u2019s crazy cravings \u2013 like ice cream with a whole jar of gherkins. So, I asked them to create an argument wanting all these irrational things. I\u2019d got the idea from something similar from Jack White\u2019s \u2018Boarding House Reach\u2019 album which has what sounds like Woody Harrelson doing some spoken word thing.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd for \u2018Wai\u2019, I\u2019d said create this conversation with big, complicated words that sounds legitimate and important but all wraps up to something pointless and we\u2019ll put some improvised music under it. We did it all live. Helps set the scene for the last song, too.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much of Lee in this album. He helped us produce it and written it \u2013 so shout out to him! The studio is his instrument. All of his toys, everything. He essential. And it goes right back. Especially him and Barnaby, to the Dojo days and before.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis attention to the tracking and mixing process played out like a sculptor of tone.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n So, the \u2018TRiPS\u2019 moniker for this project is because of the different directions you are taking?<\/p>\n \u201cI guess it\u2019s the never-ending journey we have been on and continue to go on. I guess it\u2019s to give it openness and also we like \u2018trippy\u2019 tones and production techniques, delays and all that. But It\u2019s a journey that will continue as we explore sounds in all their forms. We want everyone to listen and love it. And to look out for more music soon!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n TRiPS\u2019 self-titled debut album is out today via all good streaming services. If you enjoyed this content, please consider donating towards the running of Ambient Light, covering expenses and allowing us to expand the coverage you love by visiting our PressPatron page<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re both parents. So, \u2018Let\u2019s Go Out\u2019 was a pretty obvious one. It\u2019s about rekindling relationships after the kids have finally gone to bed. How to read the smoke signals rising from the din of domestic days.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n
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