Breaking the waves.. A talk with THE SINCLAIR SINCLAIR...

Οι THE SINCLAIR SINCLAIR μας είχαν απασχολήσει τον περασμένο Μάρτιο όταν ακούγαμε το πρώτο τους σινγκλ από το ντεμπούτο τους άλμπουμ που κυκλοφορεί την 1η Ιουνίου από την Βρετανική  Beautiful Strange  records.

Ο ονειρικός τους ήχος κυριαρχεί στο ντεμπούτο αυτό και εκπέμπει ηρεμία και οικειότητα.

Βαθιές γραμμές στο μπάσο, αργοί ρυθμοί, συνθεσάιζερ να δημιουργούν στρώσεις ήρεμων ηχοχρωμάτων και η πάντα αιθέρια φωνή της Keit Kukk να διηγείται ιστορίες.

Η ψυχρές θερμοκρασίες, τα απέραντα τοπία- πραγματικά και φανταστικά-αλλά και τα σκοτεινά δωμάτια είναι συνθήκες και τόποι όπου ευδοκιμεί η μουσική και τα τραγούδια των THE SINCLAIR SINCLAIR.  
Όμως πρόκειται για μουσική στην οποία δεν κυριαρχεί η στατικότητα. Ανεξαρτήτως τόπου χρόνου ή διάθεσης μπορεί να μεταφέρει τον ακροατή μακριά.

Με έντονες επιρροές από τη δεκαετία του'80 αλλά και του '90, το πρώτο άλμπουμ τωνTHE SINCLAIR SINCLAIR , είναι ένα κομψό, καλοφτιαγμένο έργο ονειρικής νεοκυματικής ποπ. Ο τρόπος με τον οποίο ηχογραφήθηκε αλλά και άλλα μικρά μυστικά του άλμπουμ και της μπάντας, μπορείτε να τα διαβάσετε παρακάτω σε αυτή τη διαδικτυακή συνέντευξη με το γκρουπ λίγα εικοσιτετράωρα πριν.

 Για λόγους πρακτικούς τα υπόλοιπα που θα διαβάσετε είναι γραμμένα στα Αγγλικά.  

 --Entering The Sinclair Sinclair World-----

In a recent post we had the chance to be captured by the dreamy music of a new Estonian band called THE SINCLAIR SINCLAIR. 

''Cosmos'' was a a very good example of the band's signature dreamwave music sound scapes, which are ''dressing up'' their whole debut album ''Breaking The Waves'' which is coming out on the first of June from Beautiful Strange records label.

Listening to the debut I was overwhelmed by the tranquillity and intimacy that is transmitted by all the eight songs of this lp. Deep basslines, steady, slow beats, ethereal and dark synth textures and the sweet, ethereal voice of Keit Kukk are creating dreamy and soothing sonic landscapes where the listener is welcomed and warmed.

I can trace some old new wave seeds, old 4AD blueprints and '90's electronic and dark elements but the songs are elegant and beautifully crafted in a way that those ''seeds''  are creatively influencial and not just a copy/paste.

You can be carried away as soon as you begin listening ''Breaking The Waves'' and keep the warm feelings for much longer after. No matter where you are, out in the country, parked in a cafe, inside your room/cocoon, I would bet that the album will be in your players for long and will keep you company the whole summer through. It can practically cool your hot summer nights and warm your winter ones as well...

I sent some questions away to Tallinn and the band's pigeons were fast enough to send me their replies. Read what they sent us below :

1. I enjoyed listening your debut lp. How was your mood during the recordings ?

Raido: Recording Breaking the Waves was a long process for us. We had some problems with getting the right sound for the drums. We weren't happy how they turned out in the first place. So in the end we just decided to record drums in our rehearsal room instead of studio. And it was a huge relief when everything sounded right eventually. Many thanks to Erki Jansen and Nicholas T. Petersen who helped us a lot with that. 

2. There is a strong ''fragrance'' of '80's new wave and '90's ethereal wave coming out of your sound. What are your favourite bands and how much did they influence your music?

Raido: I don't think about my favourite bands and how they sound when I write music. But I believe that I may me be unconsciously influenced by them. My favourites are Slowdive, White Lies, Placebo, Depeche Mode. 
But we were all born in 80's, so maybe that's why we have this 80's feeling in our music.

Keit: The band I have listened to most in my life is definitely Pink Floyd. But I also love the voice of Beth Gibbons. And now I like a lot Cocteau Twins too. Actually I didn't know about the Cocteau Twins before some blogs started to compare our music with them. So I'm glad that I discovered them thanks to our music.

Jan: I believe that the interesting thing about this band is, that we all like really different music. For me looking out of the train window and listen to hip hop, metal or pop punk music is very inspirational. 

3. Your sound is very dreamy and comforting. Feelings are coming all the way listening to it. What music generally means to you ? A way of living, a way of keeping busy, a way of expressing, a job ?

Raido: Firstly music for me is the possibility to express myself. Secondly it's my favourite hobby a really big part of my life. Fortunately or unfortunately I also have a daily job. 

Keit: I agree with Raido. For me music is also something I just have to do. And also the process of making music can be very comforting. I'm happy to hear that we can maintain this feeling in our music so also the listeners can feel it. For me it's really important to put some feelings and emotions inside the music, inside the voice. 

4. ''Recorded in intimate atmospheres'' the press release say about your lp. What intimate atmospheres you mean ?

Keit: We didn't record this album in studio. We tried but it just didn't give our music the right feeling. So on this album there are parts of music that were recorded in our living and bed rooms. The drums were recorded in our rehearsal room. The vocals were recorded actually in a summer cottage late in November on a small Estonian island called Prangli. Because we weren't happy with the first version of this album, we made a decision to start all over again. For me it felt really hard to record vocals again and find the same, right feeling. So I went to an island where nobody goes on November at the time when the nights are longest and darkest ever in Estonia to find the right mood for the recording.

5. It seems that you are fond of great landscapes. Tell me your favourite ones.

Raido: I believe that Estonian landscapes are the best. Nordic and always changing.

Keit: Firstly I'm into sound land-scales. I love how different musical layers can melt together. Secondly my passion are lonely islands, sea and fog. But our album covers are actually from the trip to Bulgarian mountains where we went together with our art director Johanna Pikver. We only had one old single-use camera with us. But when we developed the pictures we discovered that the pictures work perfectly together with our music.

 
6. The ''travelling'' and the ''dreamy'' element are strong. Have you attempt to soundtrack your dreams?

Raido: My dreams are always in dark, nightly shades. I agree that it can be heard in our songs too.

Keit: Our first EP was called " The Dreamers Of The Dreams". So yes the dreamy element is something very characteristic for us.

7. Is the invisible world of spirits, ghosts and other mystic things something scary for you or a level for exploration and soundtracking ?

Raido: I believe it's rather fascinating, not scary. Rather inspirational.

8. Is your music for inner journeys too ? Is the soul a greater and unexplored landscape to you ?

Raido: We definitely would like our music to be for inner journeys too. Music for me is like a therapy where I can express my different sides.

Keit: I think that the soul can be a great unexplored landscape and the first inspiration always comes from inside. But then the music starts to live it's own life. Different elements and sounds will start to play together, melt together and will create its own world. Separate from us.

9. What are your lyrics referring to?

Keit: I guess the most important thing for me while writing the lyrics is how they fit together with the instrumental music. Sometimes the sound of some words is perfectly matching with some instrumental sounds. So I just use those words and build the story around them. On this record there are lots of sea songs.


10. How the name of the band came from ?

Keit:  Band name comes from Raido. When he first started to write some new music then he had a list  with possible band names. The Sinclair Sinclair was one of them. Originally Inspired by Irvine Welsh books.Raido  made a dropbox folder  called ''The Sinclair Sinclair'' and shared his new music with Taago who now plays synths in the band. I didn't know Raido, but I was making some music together with Taago, so I had access to his dropbox. I found one song there that I liked and recorded vocals for the track and uploaded my version. The song was called ''Pessoa'' and you can listen to it on our first EP " The Dreamers Of The Dreams".

11. Other Tallinn bands/musicians that you suggest to us ?

Raido: I like Estonian band Id Rev.

Keit: My favourite is Estonian - Danish- Sweden band called Mainekk. And I would also recommend to listen Estonian composers ArvoPärt and Pärt Uusberg. 

Jan: As I said I like local hip hop and metal music. For example Two Wrongs, Weekends at Eden, Burn Still.

11. Thanks so much! I hope your album sell a million copies and I hope to see you here in Athens, some day!

Keit: Thank you for very interesting questions!  I checked your blog too and found really nice new music :)(thanks, Keit!)