Questions for Shortwave Fade

Q1, Who are Shortwave Fade & where are you from?

Ben Allen (Guitar / Synths) Richard Herrington (Drums) Chris Holloway (Vocals / Guitar) and Robb Shepard (Bass / Vocals). We’re all from Leicester (the centre of the universe!)

Q2, The debut album ‘Deletia’ is out on March 9th, what’s it like and where does it get it’s title?

(chris) The title comes from a Douglas Coupland novel called ‘Generation X’. The word ‘Deletia’ is a computer term meaning to delete everything. (Ben) In terms of what it’s like, I think it takes you to unexpected places, it’s structured together very well, not just 10 songs thrown together (chris) I think it’s like a good film, you need to draw peoples attention at the start, tell an interesting story and end it in a way that leaves people feeling like they’ve been entertained, that’s what the album’s like (Ben) it’s a showcase of what we can do as a band, there’s a mix of dark and poppy stuff plus a few epic moments too

Q3, You’ve released it via Slice the pie. Can you explain why and how slice the pie works as we’re lead to believe it’s a new concept in the music industry and an alternative to the traditional labels.          

(Robb) it’s about the power of the music buying public, and not as controlling as a label might be. Artists have complete control over what they release. (Chris) Scouts get paid to review tracks and buy contracts in artists up for financing, if you can raise £15,000 from your fans you get the cash and off you go to record your album. It’s been called the stock market for songwriters, I think that sums it up quite well!

Q4, If you had to pick a musical genre in which to pigeon hole yourself which one would you go for?

(Robb) Tron-Rock, part 80’s , part futuristic, part rock!

Q5, In fact your press releases contain a quote from Time Out stating your sound as ‘Widescreen dream rock’ do you like / agree with this?

(chris) I think that’s pretty cool, we are very big in the widescreen dream rock crowd! But there’s a definite cinematic quality to the music so I think that’s pretty true.(Robb) we are hi-def widescreen dream rock.

Q6, Gavin Monaghan who has worked with Editors, Jesus and the mary chain plus The Smiths produced your album. Was it easy to attract such a big name and what has he added to the album?

(Ben) he saw what we were after straight away, we met with a few producers and he liked what we were doing instantly, we played him some demos and he just clicked. It made it so easy to work with him

Q7, What is you favourite song you’ve written & why? Is there any song you would have loved to have written?

(Robb) Now We Are Weapons, it’s real fun to play and it’s got a lot of aggression to it. (Ben) The instrumental ending to Deletia, it was re-written and sounded much better that what we had initially. I think it turned out much better than I was expecting (Rich) Too Late To Tell, it came together really quickly and naturally, we’d finished the album and started working on new stuff straight away and we all felt that this was too good not to go on the album so we went back and recorded it. (chris) Now We Are Weapons, I’d say more for the way it was recorded. Usually the drums are recorded first and everything is built on top of that but with this one the synths went down first and then the bass – it was a very really new song and Rich hadn’t heard it all the way from start to finish so I had to ‘conduct’ his drumming through the window into the live room while all he had for reference was the synth part. He had to improvise a lot of the song but he got it in about two takes and the result was really powerful and I think that comes through on the recording. (Ben) I wish I’d written ‘No I in Threesome’ by Interpol. (chris) I wish I’d written ‘Tears of a clown’ by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, that one song has as many hooks in it as some bands entire careers.

Q8, Who would you say are the biggest influences musical or otherwise on Shortwave Fade?

(Chris) Mew, New Order, early Mansun and the Smashing Pumpkins (Ben) I was influenced by a lot of ‘pop’ stuff, I never listen to that type of music but the album has a quite a ‘poppy’ direction and it was useful to hear stuff on the radio in terms of arrangements and sounds.

Q9, Can you list your five favourite songs of all time and if so what are they?

Chris – Do You Realise? The Flaming Lips

Robb - It’s So Easy Guns N Roses

Ben – Perfect Day Lou Reed

Rich – The Ceder Room Doves / If U Don’t Want me to destroy you Super Furry Animals

Q10, How would you describe a Shortwave Fade gig? Any favourites and any you’d like to forget? Who is your favourite band you’ve played with so far?

(Chris) Madam Jo Jo’s in Soho, Robb got arrested on the way and it went downhill from there, we supported this weird act which went from comical to just plain surreal. (Robb) same gig, we supported a drag act and played on a tiny stage, all that was missing were three poles to dance on.

(Ben) we use a lot of projected images when we play live which adds to the cinematic quality of the music, it can get quite intense as the images match the music…

Q11, You’ve been interviewed by Steve Lamacq for 6music, what was that like? Also what’s it like to hear your music on the radio? How much interest do you take in reviews of your music?

(chris) Lamacq was great, he really liked the single and was a nice guy to talk to aswell. (Robb) it’s great to hear our music on the radio, I want to hear it sandwiched between Rihanna and Sash! (rich) we do take notice of reviews, sometimes you get too involved in the making of the music so its nice to hear what an outsider makes of it.

Q12, What is the most embarrassing song in your collection and why did you buy / download it … please be very honest!

Rich – The Seahorses, insanity made me buy it

Ben – James Blunt, I had to get it for my mum and had to queue for ages in HMV with it in my hand

Q13, Where’s you favourite place in the world and what does it say about you?

Robb – Threshers, at least I get an excellent ad campaign in the twilight of my career

Chris – New York, I never sleep either

Q14, What song gets you dancing every time, why and can you dance?

Ben – Interpol, I’ll dance to anything and can dance to anything… 2 years of latin, three of jazz

Q15, In ten words write your own press release (swearing is definitely allowed!)…

Fucking Hell Yeah! 

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March 2008