Belfast-based trio Electric Octopus have released their new album, St. Patrick's Cough. We asked them the BIG questions . . .
The three-piece feature Dale Hughes, Tyrell Black and Guy Hetherington and talking about the recording of the new album, Hughes says, "The project originally came from a few days of jams in a Fermanagh Airbnb, near a Holy Well.
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"We brought a wide range of instruments, from sitars and didgeridoos to 90s synthesisers and big muff pedals. We also added material from other jams with more traditional instrumentation, including a bass VI and vintage Gibson Firebird."
He adds, "We tried every combination of instruments, each of us using whichever we liked at a given time. Some highlights of this included Tyrell playing didgeridoo and bass simultaneously, while Guy's girlfriend, Corah, played drums.
"The combination of the remote location and the wild countryside where our 'studio’ was made for some very relaxed and free jamming and led to some pretty interesting stuff."
Tell us three things about yourself?
Guy: My name is Guy, I’m 28, living in Belfast. Dale: I live on a diet of crushed computer motherboards, invented the hydro-electric dam, and played bass on all the original Motown recordings.
How would you describe your music?
Guy: We all had extensive backgrounds in playing before we met. The band has been a creative outlet for all of us to experiment and work on different aspects of our playing. Playing live adds another element when you consider the effect a crowd can have on driving the music one way or another. We have always maintained a deep focus on recording setting, strategy, and tone. I’m not sure what the end game is. Its pure fun though producing music with your mates, in some kind of direction towards a utopian aestheticism.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Guy: The earliest would be stuff from my parents record collection. Dr Alimantado, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, David Bowie, Miles Davis, to name a few. Although through my teens I listened to a lot of the Chili Peppers, Jamie T and Blink 182. Travis Barker is a real drummer hero of mine. I grew up in England, an hour and a half from London, capital of Grime and Skepta. But the real heartbeat of where I am from is Drum and Bass and Jungle music. Garage music. Oasis, The Enemy. big band and jazz music, Alice Coltrane, BB King. American gangster rap. 50 Cent, 2Pac, Kendrick Lamar. country music, Bob Dylan. Tinariwen, Boubacar Traoré.
What was the first gig you ever went to and the first record you bought/downloaded?
Guy: The first I remember is Jamie T in Birmingham. The first record I downloaded was a polyphonic ringtone of 50 Cent’s Candy Shop to one of those old flippy top Motorola phones when I was 12. Tyrell: First gig that I remember was Oasis in the Odyssey Belfast. My friend got me a ticket for my birthday, and it was great! First record is much harder to remember but one that sticks out in my mind is a Jurassic 5 album which I randomly selected in a Faith Mission bookshop.
Favourite Lyric of all time?
Guy: Oasis - Live Forever. "Maybe I just wanna fly/Wanna live, I don't wanna die/Maybe I just wanna breathe, Maybe I just don't believe/Maybe you're the same as me/We see things they'll never see/You and I are gonna live forever." Tyrell: "Castles made of sand, fall to the sea, eventually!" Dale: Anything Mark E. Smith came out with it good with me!
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Guy: Couldn’t make this call, I feel like I’d rather not listen to anything and just make my own rather than one song over and over again. Tyrell: Same as my favourite song right now I guess. It ticks all the boxes.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Guy: Any music we release is available for free or pay what you like on Bandcamp, along with merchandise, LPs etc. There are many videos on YouTube and the majority of the stuff can be found on Spotify. We lost a Facebook page with around 15000 followers after a hacking, but we started again and have social media, Facebook, and Instagram.
