Last Updated on 02/03/2021
We caught up with the up and coming guitarist Oliver Beardmore who talked about gigging under the influence of Noel Gallagher and Alex Turner, how going back to uni has helped him remold his sound, and what the release of his latest single “Fiesta” suggests about his future work.
Make sure you tune in at 8pm on Wednesday 3rd March to see Oliver performing live on https://hotvox.co.uk/
Noisefirst: Alright mate?
Oliver: Hi! How are you doing?
N: I’m good, you?
O: Not bad.
N: Unlucky about yesterday, I’ve seen on your Insta that you’re a Newcastle United fan.
O: Oh yeah, it’s terrible man. I hate the games, it’s just horrible haha.
N: Could be worst, you could support Nottingham Forest! So Oliver, the first thing I was going to ask you about is, now that you’re back, what are the reasons you’ve had for taking some time out?
O: Well I’ve been sitting on quite a few songs for a while, but recently I’ve found – not to sound like a wanker aha – a sonic palette that I felt best represented what I wanted to sound like. I sort of felt that I exhausted the indie road; the classic Libertines, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys and Kinks mishmash had run its course. I used to love straight Rock n’ Roll, but I just wasn’t able to squeeze anything else out of it and my interests changed. It was not until I released my third track “Jumpers for Goalposts” that I got into stuff like My Bloody Valentine. That music for me is now more sonically interesting.
N: “Fiesta”, your latest singe, is a great tune. Is that the sound you’re now going for?
O: The next two singles are both quite close to completion. Um, it’s definitely more that kind of direction. There’s one which is, in song-writing respect, still a bit more similar to the older ones, but at the same time the production is a lot more Cocteau Twins. The other will hopefully be some sort of weird mashup of Sonic Youth and The Cure. That said, I don’t think they will be as brazen as that, but rather a bit more original than the stuff I’d written previously.
N: Are they coming out soon?
O: We’ve had a slight problem with the tape machine which we still need to fix but should be yeah.
N: Tape machine? Old school.
O: It really does do wonders to a guitar, especially with saturation, so when you’re doing a wall of sound production, I’ve noticed the difference. With “Fiesta” we dived between tape and analogue but for the next one it’s entirely tape, which is fun. That said, the pressure to get the vocals right in one take is quite tough.
N: Haha, I can see that. Especially when you’re working to a budget. Is that in a studio, or is it more bedroom stuff?
O: Studio at the moment. I’m wanting to hopefully release a couple singles and then squeeze an EP out with about five tracks on it.
N: Nice one. I’m assuming that this is a solo project – what do you think are the positives and negatives of going down that route? Does artistic freedom make up for the insight you could get from collaborating with others?
O: I’ve actually just done a song-writing masters, and that involved a lot of co-writing and so I met a many great song-writers on the course and worked with a lot of them, but for stuff I write under my own name I tend to keep it to myself, unless it’s someone I know very well. The three tracks in the past were all co-written with my mate, and I’m sure stuff in the future might involve collaborating with others but at the moment I really struggle relinquishing control haha.
N: Well I’m sure it’s easy to treat projects like these as your baby. Do you feel similar about the instrumentation on your tracks too?
O: I don’t do the drums, but I’ll usually demo them on some software and that’s how they’ll tend to sound. I’d love to do more with the guy I played with at uni as we were always on the same page. It depends on who you’re playing with. Looking forward, I’d also love to have a band and that’ll be something I’ll have to look at if it’s ever possible to play live again!
N: Haha, one day mate.
O: I really hope so.
N: So you did a masters in song-writing. What got you into the process in the first place?
O: Well I got a guitar for my thirteenth birthday and had a violin since I could remember.
N: Did you have a musical family?
O: Yeah, my mum used to play, and I don’t know if my dad did anything, but he likes music haha. I’m sure so many people have this story and it’s Noel Gallagher’s lasting legacy on music, but it was Oasis who got me into writing too. Just thinking, I could have a go at doing that, which was also helped by people encouraging me early doors.
N: And so what was the main reason why you decided to go the extra mile to take that masters?
O: I’d just finished an undergrad in history and thought it would be good to sharpen up my skills and get other people’s perspectives to recalibrate what direction I was wanting to go in. And also the uni I was at was just so good at providing industry knowledge and had so much know-how and love for music to inspire you that it was hard not to turn down the opportunity.
N: Would it be something you’d recommend people?
O: Oh 100%.
N: Where was it?
O: A place called ICMP, the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. It’s a really great course, and a really good environment for you to experiment with what you’re good at, what you’re not and what you’d like to improve on, both theoretically and production-wise. For me, I very much knew how I wanted things to sound, but I didn’t have that production vocabulary, so working on that a bit has definitely helped me explain what I want to people.
N: A lot of people I’ve spoken to have said the same, that they knew how they wanted things to sound but that they needed that little bit of help to translate that to the production gurus.
O: Yeah, and they get some really great guest lectures there too. I should really remember his name but the guy from Snarky Puppy did a great talk.
N: What a band. Have you seen them live?
O: Yeah, I somehow managed to grab a ticket and it was one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen. They’ve just got some of the longest sleeves in music world.
N: Haha, I love that. I’m actually going through the playlist which is on your Spotify at the moment, with the likes of Nick Drake and The Cranberries. Are these names a clue to the sound you’re trying to create, or are they just songs you like?
O: I’d say they’re just great songs and whatever kind of genre they’re in, their greatness persists. I think there’s some Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Van Morrison on their too, which will stand the test of time and has grown on me quite recently. That being said, Spotify can be a bit of a bottomless pit. It’s so powerful, but at the same time it means that you don’t give artists that time of day you might give if you get the record instead.
N: I totally agree. Any albums you’d especially recommend to our listeners?
O: Um, Television’s Marquee Moon is a great listen. I think most people who are into post-punk will have heard of them, but if you like The Strokes, you’ll like Television.
N: To be fair, I’ve never actually seen that connection.
O: I’m sure Julian Casablancas has name-dropped them in interviews before. It’s definitely there.
N: As you say, in their sonic palette.
O: Haha, that’s right.
N: Cheers for that Oliver, I appreciate you taking the time out for an interview.
O: Been a pleasure, thanks.
Make sure to follow Oliver on instagram to find out more about what he’s all about!
Also check out a few of those great tunes on his Spotify’s playlist.
