Q&A: The Headspace
☆ By Carina Saward ☆
ALREADY SHOWCASING AN ARRAY IN SOUNDS WITH JUST SIX TRACKS OUTS - The Headspace is building a discography that reflects their growth with each track. The five-piece indie band from Nottingham have been branded as “an exciting prospect” by BBC Introducing DJ Dean Jackson as the band have already performed iconic festivals including Y Not, Dot to Dot and Hockley Hustle.
Six singles are tightly secured under the lads’ belts, each one exhibiting different sounds as they continue to explore new opportunities in regards to music and future tours. Despite quarantine following the outbreak of Covid-19, their recent release of “Evergreen” furthermore shows the talent that The Headspace possesses. Read below to discover what more the up and coming band have to offer.
LUNA: How are you doing lately? How has your quarantine been?
LATHAM: Of course it’s not ideal being locked up inside, especially for me and the guys, just because we’re always so eager to grab the next opportunity available to us. We were looking at a pretty good year for our progression as a band in terms of the gigs we were going to play and the music we were set to release.
However, we keep going, keep messaging each other about what we can do during these times and how to carry on giving our best possible content for everyone who’s watching. So I would say we’re all fairly spirited at the moment and very excited about what the future is going to be like for us. I hope anyone who discovers us — or has already discovered us — feels the same way because they’re why we do this and whilst we can’t release much music at the moment, we still want them to know how appreciative we are of them.
LUNA: Sonically, what are some of the key elements that make your sound yours?
REILLY: The root of our sound is based in vibrant and catchy guitar riffs, much inspired by the ‘80s new wave genre. We blend this with elements of modern indie music, from which we bring more energy to the sound. Whilst these elements are the building blocks to our music, we try to bring something different to each track and are always drawing inspiration from somewhere new.
LUNA: “Rain” gives me a bit of a Don Broco vibe — I’d love to know a little about your inspirations and who is shaping your sonically?
REILLY: As Don Broco fans, we’re chuffed with the comparison! Many of our inspirations stem from new wave and guitar pop-rock bands of the ‘80s with the likes of The Cure and The Smiths. More modern influences include Foals and The 1975.
LUNA: How has quarantine impacted your creative process? What role do each of you tend to play?
HARDY: Quarantine hasn’t really affected our writing process too much. I write all of the music other than the vocal parts, which are done by Elijah, and I think I need my own space when I start writing a song just to build a strong foundation before we start developing and throwing more experimental ideas at the song, so having to write on my own hasn't been too much of a struggle. However, it has been frustrating not being able to play our new songs as a band because that’s when a lot of our songs tend to get nailed down to a final version.
LUNA: This year you’ve released “Oxygen” and “Evergreen.” Both have a fun little groovy tone to them. Are these tracks any indication of the direction of upcoming music?
HARDY: Our music is always developing on what we’ve just done, so the groove will remain in places. However, I think we’re beginning to shift towards a sound that's less in your face than our last three singles have been. All of those singles are very energetic with a constant beat to them whereas now we’re trying to add more space into our sound to allow our listeners to relax a bit more. We’ve started adding a lot more ambient layers to new material by using synthesizers and reversed guitar audio, taking a lot of inspiration from The 1975’s first album.
LUNA: I know it’s a bit tricky to plan these days, but do you have any upcoming plans or goals you’d like to share?
HARDY: As a band we’re always improving. This is the first musical project any of us have ever been involved in so we’re constantly learning and taking inspiration in order to push the project further. During quarantine we’ve been thinking a lot about our live set. We want to make a really strong return when gigs are allowed again. I think a key point we realised was that a live show is about more than going out and playing your songs for 30 minutes, saying thank you and walking off stage. It’s the best opportunity to entertain and connect with your fans.
We’ve been re-writing a lot of our old material in order to keep it interesting for us and the people who have been hearing those tunes for two years now. We’ve also been working on things like walk on music to make our shows more of an experience.
LUNA: Lyrically, do you find yourselves drawn to a common theme or narrative these days?
ELIJAH: I think that maybe in the past, I’ve found it way too easy to go to the same classic, maybe even generic, song themes for lyrics — love, heartbreak, etc. Recently though, I’ve been putting in a lot of effort to write about things that are actually happening to me — my day to day, real experiences that I want to remember. I try to draw inspiration from all aspects of my life too. This helps me to provide a much more convincing vocal performance and I hope it helps listeners to connect with the experiences as well.
For example, “Oxygen” came when I was coming to the end of a relationship — fighting, arguing all the time, and just feeling a bit lost in it all (funny that that’s probably our happiest sounding track to date). “Evergreen” on the other hand… well I’ve always had a love of nature.
LUNA: What do you want your listeners to take away from your music?
ELIJAH: I guess more than anything I want to be understood. I like to think of our music as very uplifting sonically but lyrically, there are layers that maybe show something flawed underneath. It’s like being at a party, everyone’s having a great time, dancing, whatever, but suddenly you have a moment of self reflection, and you realise that eventually, sooner or later, all that movement is going to stop, and really, what are you left with? That prospect might seem a bit daunting, but it’s the place I go to when I write.
In that same way, I hope that people listen to our music for the bangers, but maybe later on can sit down in a quiet place and think about what the words actually mean to them. Maybe I’m just pretentious though, who knows?
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RT @i_D: Ian Kenneth Bird photographs young punks on Polaroid: https://t.co/MKT0tMUqO9 https://t.co/a0tTl12ML5
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RT @AnOtherMagazine: #DreamHome – this isolated idyll in the mountains of Lanzarote 🌵 📸 via Nowness, photography by Clemence Blr 🔁 https://t.co/GUusdxD0cg
