Isabel McDermott
Hello! I’m Isabel, an aspiring music writer and full-time Philosophy student from Bradford.
With their debut album coming out on 7th March, we chatted with Speedy Wunderground’s Moreish Idols
How long have you been preparing and recording for your debut album?
MI: I mean, you could argue that we’ve been preparing it from the very beginning of the band, which started about 7 or 8 years ago. I’ve always liked the idea that each project is a work in progress, leading to a more grounded and complete LP. Otherwise, I’d say we’ve been working on these songs specifically for about 2 years, playing them in the studio and recording each iteration until we feel the song is written. Obviously, some are newer than others, ‘Pale Blue Dot‘ for example has been in our set for about 4 years and ‘ACID‘ was written only weeks before we recorded the album.
Has your creative process developed/changed in recording your debut album in comparison to EPs and singles?
MI: We certainly learned a lot recording both of our EPs and managed to draw out the best aspects of the two when recording the album. ‘Float‘ taught us the basics of what it’s like to record with Dan (Carey) in his studio, as well as the sky being the limit when it came to production choices, whereas ‘Lock Eyes and Collide‘ motivated us to experiment more with our songwriting as opposed to solely relying on the production to frame the narrative.
With our album, I think we managed to combine the two, honing in on our songwriting and storytelling chops and framing it within an immersive and engaging soundscape, hoping to transport the listener into the ethereal world we’ve built.
What music/albums were you listening to when recording the album and did these artists have any influence on your work?
MI: Firstly, the band Wilco had a huge influence on Tom’s writing and guitar playing, which I think indirectly influenced me through him. But an album that is really worth mentioning is ‘You Forgot It In People’ by Broken Social Scene. We were listening to this during the very early stages of demoing and selecting songs for the album. The way they combine all of these very eclectic-sounding tracks and manage to bring them together in a seamless flowing journey was just so inspiring, and showed us that we were able to combine all of our very different influences into one world.
Where did the decision to both sing and use layered vocals come from?
MI: Up until recently, we felt that our shows lacked a focal point for the music to channel through. This is usually solved by having one lead singer, but because of our songwriting process, it never really felt like an option. So, after much discussion over a few pints, Tom pitched the idea to Dan that we sing in unison. This was to glue the slightly fragmented feel of our last two EPs and allow the audience to focus on a more unified aspect when we’re playing live.
I think it represents the band so well, because it breaks this singular lead singer and backing band tradition, allowing Moreish Idols to be this collective sonic sound of 5 mates writing and playing everything together, whilst maintaining some form of unity. Sonically, it has this Beatles ‘Revolver’ feel where you can’t quite tell who’s singing what, which is really interesting, it’s almost like having a 6th band member, we call him Toad.
Your newest single “Dream Pixel” has just been released, what was the inspiration behind the song?
MI: ‘Dream Pixel‘ is mainly about when you wake up after having the most epic dream and try to understand how your mind can conjure up such a magnificent and complex story, whilst being ‘grateful for its flaws’ allowing you to perceive it as a viewer instead of playing a protagonist.
The song then leads into a description of when I went swimming in phosphorescence in Cornwall after a hot summer where a collection of algae baked in a cove for weeks. It genuinely was like swimming through space, I don’t think I will have an experience as magical as that ever again and it proved to me that your reality has absolute potential to trump your dreams.
The music video for ‘Dream Pixel‘ is quite psychedelic and eccentric. How did the concept for the video come about and did you enjoy creating it?
MI: We knew we wanted to represent Tom and I coming together into this smushed character, Toad, and after much discussion with Lurch and Kaleb this idea of self-portraits formed. This then led to us looking at Jan Švankmajer’s ‘Food’ as a starting reference and we just built the idea from there. It was so much fun to film, especially when you’re making it with such good friends.
It was a hugely collaborative effort, with Casp, Dyl, Sol and Kaleb filming all of the data mosh nonsense whilst Tom and I were completely losing our minds on the other side of the wall with Lurch and Kharn (DOP). It also turns out that Tom is a great sculptor: the bust he kept making of me was so expressive but it didn’t make much of the final cut which is a shame!
Is there any significance in your music to locations, for example your experiences in Cornwall versus London?
MI: Absolutely! In Cornwall, we were living such a carefree lifestyle in blissful ignorance and I think you can hear that in our much earlier releases; there’s a slightly melancholic, naive feel in the lyrics which comes from my limited lyricism at the time. I was a very new songwriter so we were choosing to go with the flow rather than perfecting anything.
Once we were settled in London, the songwriting progressed drastically, we looked around us and saw that we had so much catching up to do. People were singing about such deep stuff over really complex and exciting music and we knew we needed to up our game. This was aided by the ever-inspiring experience of living in such a mad place during an even madder time.
Your tour is starting in March, what excites you most about the upcoming journey?
MI: Quite a boring answer, but I think it’s playing the album to an audience, especially the singles that people know. There’s something really satisfying when you clock someone mouthing the words to a song we’ve made, it’s still so surreal when it happens. Another thing I’m so excited about is returning to the legendary V11 in Rotterdam; we nearly sunk that boat last time we played there, one of my favourite shows ever, can’t wait to do it again.
Debut album ‘All In The Game’ is out on 7th March via Speedy Wunderground.
Listen to ‘Dream Pixel’ here: