White Swan Black Swan have just released their second EP ‘Castles of Useless Junk,’ a rich offering which evokes an Alt-country sentiment that is more Te Awamutu than Tennessee and makes for a rich and compelling listen. The musicianship is wonderful and both Sonia Waters and Ben Howe’s vocals create a beautiful mood on this EP, which is classic, dark and enthralling. WSBS are creating something that is truly unique for a New Zealand band at the moment. They have an upcoming tour with the Spoils, a chance to see their extraordinary tunes in the flesh. Tim ***** interviews Sonia Waters from WSBS about the new EP and the upcoming tour.
tks: The new EP has such a rich sound, how did you develop the sound for this record so that it sounds so rich?
sw: It started at the beginning of the recording process by choosing instruments that have a warm, rounded sound; acoustic piano, classic style guitars, Fender Rhodes, vintage synths, vintage Rogers drum kit. If we didn’t own it we borrowed it.
tks: You used a lot of analogue equipment to record the EP and recorded at home, why did you choose to record it at home?
sw: We could spend more time experimenting and getting a better performance. It probably took longer than it would have if we were paying by the hour but we weren’t in any hurry to get something out, we just wanted to make a good record. A few songs fell by the wayside too – it can be disappointing when you’ve spent hours developing a song to wake up one morning and think ‘that songs a lemon.’ Unfortunately the Red Light Syndrome still exists even when recording at home – it’s a state of mind to be overcome.
tks: It must be exciting to live on the side of a volcano. Does that aid the song-writing process?
sw: It’s good to have somewhere that seems private and tucked away and a bit unique. There’s something slightly secretive but ominous too, about living on the side of a sleeping volcano. Our house is very private and a bit elevated; when we look out the windows of the music room we just see tree tops and birds. I don’t want the sound of cars zooming past on our recording or people calling the noise control because they can hear guitars echoing around the neighbourhood.
tks: How do the White and the Black swan co-exist? Is there a battle for who is top bird in the duck pond or do they live harmoniously together?
sw: There’s always a few fights but we have a fairly diplomatic way of working.
tks: How did you enlist the legendary Mark Nevers for the E.P’s production?
sw: We had been fantasising about who we would like to mix our album and thought we would ask Mark Nevers, because he seemed to have worked with a lot of artists we liked i.e. Lambchop, Calexico, Andrew Bird and David Kilgour. I guess if he had said that he hated the tunes we would have been gutted.
tks: You seem to be resurrecting the art of a real New Zealand tour stopping in small villages, are you excited about how the likes of West Coasters and Pictonites will react to having you in their towns?
sw: There are quite a few different types of people who come to the gigs, sometimes pockets of musically hip people in small towns that have moved back to nature to escape the rat race, open minded people just come because it’s something happening in town and some towns don’t get much, also it’s a folk-club experience where you don’t have to wear earplugs. Occasionally a local farmer or two has been known to enjoy the show. Last time on our tour with David Kilgour some locals were wanting to take us down to the river to go white baiting because Ben had never eaten white bait (his parents were vegetarians so he missed that experience). They were keen to have a big river-side cook up but we couldn’t go because we had the ferry booked for our next gig in Wellington.
tks: What is your vehicle of choice for the tiki-tour?
sw: We have a “people mover” that has overly tinted windows, so you can take a cat nap if you’re in the back.
tks: Why did you hand-pick the Spoils for this tour?
sw: We had played with them here and in Melbourne and really like their music, and they are lovely gentle folk despite their dark, haunting songs.
White Swan Black Swan play Mighty Mighty, May 1. Support from The Spoils.
