Brighton three-piece, Projector have just dropped a rather sweet debut single via the ever burgeoning Roadkill Records . ‘Break Your Own Heart’ dances somewhere between shoegaze and the sweeter end of grunge, to bring a rather delightful, very easy, very catchy, very, very lovely tune that has you frantically searching for more food from the Projector table…
Needing to know more we tracked them down and gave them the usual grilling…
Who’s who and where you from?
We are Edward on guitar and vocals, Lucy on bass and vocals and Demelza on drums.
We are from (Cornwall via Surrey via Watford and eventually all residing in Brighton.
…and how did you end up as Projector?
Demelza : Projector (pre me) practiced at the studio I work at. I always thought they sounded sick through the walls so I killed off their old drummers until only I remained. (just kidding but I think they did get through a fair amount of drummers).
Edward: Yeah, our drummer turnover was at Spinal Tap levels and really hampered our progress. Instead of learning new songs we were just constantly trying to teach our current drummer enough songs to get through the next gig. We also used to have our pal Peter as an extra guitarist, but he fucked off to pursue more intellectually fulfilling music with his new band Grapefruit Moon, who to be fair are pretty sick. This was about eighteen months ago, around the same time as we acquired Dem. This when I consider Projector to have started properly. The sound was honed and the songs became a lot more direct. A lot better really. Lucy and I met 4 years previously and decided that we wanted to make something post-rock. We failed.
So, when did it all come together?
Demelza : Late 2016, and our first rehearsal was fun. I’d just had my baby a few months previously so the timing wasn’t ideal but I knew I had to make it work somehow.
Edward: After our first practice with Dem there wasn’t any doubt in our minds that she was the right choice. If we had a more conventional drummer I think we would be prone to being a bit too rock
‘Projector’. Pretty straightforward name – how did you decide on it?
Lucy : An inability to think of a name that speaks anything about us. But you can project whatever you want onto Projector….
Ed: None of us loved the name, but none of us hated it either. It’s the best you can hope for.
I can hear a variety of possible influences in the track – how would you describe the Projector ‘sound’?
Lucy : Anything. Whoever we’re listening to at the moment. Realistically we sound like Projector.
Ed: I say heavy Joy Division. That’s probably not right though.
What about the bands that have influenced you?
Lucy/Demelza : Pixies, Sonic Youth, Joy Division, Abba, Neutral Milk Hotel The Beatles (just Dem)
Ed: Hate the bloody Beatles. Naturally Radiohead are important also
Dem : I don’t know how anyone could possibly hate The Beatles! Ringo is one of my favourite drummers… Controversial I know.
Did you have a musical influence growing up? Are your families musical?
Lucy: My parents aren’t but they introduced me to a lot of 60s music. My older brothers looked pretty cool playing in bands though so that probably encouraged me. My oldest brother introduced me to a lot of jazz like Coltrane and Davis.
Demelza : My Dad played the guitar (fairly badly) but was a huge lover of music. He got me into everything from The Beatles to Nick Cave to Joni Mitchell to Fleetwood Mac and for that I am forever grateful. My sister is amazing at guitar and she played the flute very well as a kid but she’s not one for sticking with anything for too long.
Ed: My Dad guitared and saxed to a low standard, but was responsible for my love of music. There was a lot of blues and punk in the house.
If you had to take one record from your parents collection, which would it be?
Lucy: Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones was a big one for me from my dad.
Demelza : Revolver – The Beatles. Also in my Dads collection.
Ed: We had a version of Mannish Boy by Muddy Waters that started with a big big old “WOOOO!!”. It really grabs your attention
Tell us about your first and worst gig?
Demelza : Our first gig wasLewes Psychedelic Festival @ The Con Club. If I’m honest I was expecting it to be pretty terrible considering it was at a conservative club. In reality it was bloody ace.
What has been your favourite gig to date? And why?
Lucy: I really loved our first single launch at GDS, Sick Joy, Loa Loa and Murmur are my favourite Brighton bands and we had a mad one afterwards which was lovely.
Ed: That was the first time I felt like people cared
Your worst gig to date? And why?
Lucy : Our second one. Late Night Lingerie with no soundcheck and some aggressive drunken louts in the audience didn’t do it for me.
Which songs do you like performing live the best?
Lucy: Love
Demelza : Love, Death March & Ed’s Bangerz. (working title).
Ed: Generally whatever the newest addition to the set is. Actually Love is very fun. The guitar solo is a bit stressful though.
How would you describe a live encounter with Projector?
Lucy : As energetic as possible…we do get pretty livid if everything isn’t perfect but that just spurs us on. We like to dress the stage too to look like a kitsch sex club in a living room and crack out the strobes.
Ed: I’ve always wanted us to be austere. We’ve never managed it though
You’ve just had the single launch at The Lock Tavern. What other dates you got coming up?
Dem : All over rural Italy when we go on our first European tour at the end of April.
Ed: And there is some tasty festival things coming also
Do you have a preference? Playing live/being on the road or kicking back, recording and writing in the studio?
Demelza : Both equally as important. One can’t exist without the other and both exciting in completely different ways.
Tell us about “Break Your Own Heart”…
Demelza : “Break Your Own Heart” is about not recognising yourself, and then regeneration.
Ed : It’s taken from our upcoming E.P which will be released at some point in the future presumably.
Lucy : We recorded it with Ben Hampson @ Agricultural Audio (a small barn in the middle of the Sussex countryside – we love Ben, he gets the best out of us.
Ed : He’s very important to our sound. He stops us sounding too polished
Do you have a routine to formulating the songs?
Demelza : It changes track by track but I believe the bare bones for this were written by Lucy and then we worked on individual parts at practice.
How important is the artwork for your releases to you?
Demelza : Very important and sometimes we can spend a fair bit of time deliberating on which to go for.
I genuinely love the artwork for “Break Your Own Heart”
Demelza :This time it was fairly easy. It was a picture that Lucy had taken for a friends art project and we all agreed that it worked pretty much straight away.
What are the bands plans for the rest of the year?
Demelza : More recording as part of some PRS funding that we received. A European tour at the end of April, a few festivals in the summer and then our debut EP will be hitting the Earth…
Ed: And there is some tasty festival things coming also..
We are always on the look out for new bands to get into – do you have anyone you’d like to mention?
Demelza : Our pals in Gaygirl. They rule. Oh and Sick Joy but they are already killing it.
Upcoming Live Dates:
April 1st @ Hedon Swolle, Holland These Go To Eleven Festival
May 5th Roadkill All Dayer
Recording Credits:
Ben Hampson @ Agricultural Audio
Writing Credits:
Lucy Sheehan, Edward Ensbury, Demelza Mather
Media:
-stAn x
No Comment