Belfast DIY, indie-pop enthusiast Drew Makes Noise has released his new song and video, Lemonade. We asked him the BIG questions . . .
Taken from the forthcoming album Let The Whole Tape Run, he says Lemonade is a funk-infused synth-pop, pre-summer anthem, adding, "Think Dinosaur Jr meets Enya."
Speaking about the track, Drew Makes Noise, who was previously been nominated for Music Video of the Year at the Northern Ireland Music Prize, says, "Lemonade is a song I've had in my head for a while now.
"I couldn’t figure out what the scattered lyrics were trying to tell me until I revisited my Syd Barret collection and coincidentally watched loads of footage of Trey Parker and Matt Stone doing acid at the Oscars. Then it all made sense, of course."
Drew Makes Noise started as guitarist with indie/dance crossover act Ed Zealous who released their NI Music Prize nominated debut album Wired via Fierce Panda subsidiary Club Fandango in 2014.
Two more singles will be released in advance of the album launch in May 2023.
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I have a noisy head. Chatter, chatter, chatter. When I'm alone, I talk to myself out loud and do weird things like conduct mock interviews. Or if I'm working on a track or video, I literally talk to it.
I eat too many eggs. So far this hasn't been a problem, but if my skin starts to turn yellow, that will be the cause.
The longest bath I’ve ever had was five hours. I was the first to move into our band-shared house when I was in Ed Zealous. I had a week on my own. I just spent most of it in the bath with red wine calling my friends.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Too many to cover. If I could make music with the pop genius of Talk Talk, the intensity of Sonic Youth, and the scattiness of the Flaming Lips - you’d all be my minions.
How would you describe your music?
Both sonically and lyrically my music is just a tour around the inside of my chattery mind. Like listening to a hyperactive person do therapy with no one else in the room. There are lots of elements. One moment, a guitar band - the next a synth-pop act - the next thing the orchestra appears. I think my initial output was a very kitchen-sink approach, and scatter-brained. While that's still somewhat the case the intention was to refine these elements in the album.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
The now almost mythical Therapy?/Ash double headliner in the Ulster Hall. December 1995. Everybody I know who was into music went to this. We went on a concert bus from Street Legal (an army surplus store with a record shop full of bootlegs) in Coleraine. My Dad and a few friends went to chaperone me and my friends. Considering they drank a bottle of Thunderbird each on the way up - I’m pretty sure they failed. I remember Ash throwing a cardboard cut-out of Princess Leia out for a crowd surf.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Hmmm this has gotta be something from before my Grunge baptism. I’m gonna guess one of either Technotronic - Pump Up the Jam, Bros - Push, or Michael Bolton - Soul Survivor. Not ashamed. Will whip these out at parties.
What’s your favourite song right now?
The song that's stopped me in my tracks most recently was Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - White Elephant. SHEEEEESSH!!! Just so arresting. Beautiful but ugly and brutal all at once. Not often you have the singer literally threaten to shoot your face off in a song.
Favourite lyric of all time?
"Show me a word that rhymes with Pavement/And I will kill your Parents and roast them on a spit" by Pavement. I was a massive Pavement and Sonic Youth fan. Both bands have almost impenetrable lyrics. Especially for a teenager. But that only increased my love of the songs as it gave them an air of mystery and intrigue. Great lyrics are something I relish but I usually don't want to know what they are about. If you don't know what they are about you can almost receive the song on a more subconscious level and let the words drift over you or choose to sit down and read the lyrics and go on your own little journey with them.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
The Magnetic Fields - The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side. I've been to New York once and insufferably sang this song non-stop when I was in the Lower East.
Where can people find your music/more information?
For daily stuff and updates - Instagram - Music Spotify, but please go to my YouTube and check out all the fun I’ve had making videos.
