Bella Platt
Full time student and live music enthusiast, actively involved in Manchester and Newcastle’s music scene, interviewing and reviewing grassroots bands and larger indie acts.
After their appearance at Manchester Psych Fest, we had a chat with Honeyglaze about new single and future sound
Last week, Honeyglaze released new single ‘Turn Out Right,’ a demo from the sessions of their second album ‘Real Deal’. The track is part of Opus Kink’s ‘A Hideous Collective,’ a compilation raising funds for Music Venue Trust and UK Artist Touring Fund. The compilation is out today and you can buy it here.
We had the pleasure to interview Honeyglaze after their Manchester Psych Fest show at O2 Ritz in Manchester, deep diving into moody Devon, signature sounds and their future as a collective.
Honeyglaze are: Anouska Sokolow (vocals, guitar), Tim Curtis (bass) and Yuri Shibuichi (drums).
Starting with your second album ‘Real Deal’. You recorded it away from the bustle in the countryside. If you could carve out a creative recording environment, where would it be – and how do you think the environment can change the album’s energy?
Y: Probably that exact place- Middle Farm Studios in Devon. It had everything we needed- it was secluded.
A: I think weather as well- it was so cold when we went in February, we were in the studio in every layer we owned.
Y: To be fair, we had already arranged most of the album, and with its sound it would have been weird recording it in a nice, sunny place.
A: It was quite moody when we were there, so we were in this strange state of isolation, we tried to go for walks but it was freezing.
Your new single that came out on Wednesday is ‘Turn Out Right’. Very different from the last album. Is this a solid change in the bands direction or is it an outlier?
A: That was actually a really old song that we demoed for ‘Real Deal.‘
Y: It’s nothing correlating to whatever we’re doing next – more like a prequel.
A: Or bonus track.
T: We recorded it way before the second album, so its like bridging the gap in a way to the next big release.
Do you think Honeyglaze is moving toward a ‘signature sound’ – probably not with the new single. But overall, now that you’re more established, are you settling into it?
A: I think we’re still progressing. We’re always getting bored and trying to do something different.
T: The progression will never stop. We’re not trying to find ‘us’ and then stick with that – more what excites us every couple of years, then releasing a package of songs that encapsulates that.
Tim, you described ‘Real Deal’ as a ‘Michelangelo process’, already knowing what was in the stone.
T: *immediate confusion* Oh carving it out….
A: Sometimes with arrangements we’ll fall onto something super fast, and then other ones will be ‘I like this song but it isn’t right’. It can take a really long time but it depends.
Y: It really depends on the mood we’re in that day, and what happened before we started trying to write.
T: I think I kind of remember now. The songs typically do have a mood pre-set; how do you make it sound like what is in your head – in a more abstract way. If you know what it’s meant to feel like but not hear it, then it takes a while.
How do you think each of your musical backgrounds has influenced the band? And looking back, what’s the biggest way you’ve grown as collaborators?
A: We have quite similar musical backgrounds. None of us are ‘classically trained’ musicians, we’re all a bit self-taught.
Y: We were all in bands before, playing shows around London.
T: ‘How has it changed’ I have an answer for. I’d never played bass before.
A: I’d never played guitar in a band before. I always wanted to be in a band. I knew them both separately just as friends from music stuff. I had a solo show booked in and I got scared the week before. I messaged them both separately and said do you want to come- and they agreed.
Y: We were a buffer.
A: And that was it.
‘A Hideous Collective’ is out today. Buy it here.
Listen to ‘Turns Out Right’ here: