Alabama duo Sister Ray Davies have released their new single, Big Ships. We asked them the BIG questions . . .
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It's the third cut from their debut album, Holy Island, which is out on 14 November via UK label Sonic Cathedral and New Orleans label Well Kept Secret.
Their band name is a mix of The Velvet Underground song and the name of The Kinks’ front man,
Speaking about the new track, frontman Adam Morrow says, "This one was a shot at the kind of drunk-on-light, ecstatic intoxication quality that a lot of my favourite art works with, from William Blake to a song like Ride’s Vapour Trail."
The duo of Adam and Jamie Sego may be based in the famed Muscle Shoals in Alabama, but Holy Island is a concept album about the ancient religious outpost off the coast of northeast England.
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
Jamie: I’m 6’6", I run a recording studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, I’m left-handed but play guitar right-handed.
How would you describe your music?
Adam: It’s atmospheric, impressionistic shoegaze with a tendency to have a subtle groove under all the delay and reverb. Ecstatic, haunted music. We think of the "tree" starting with Be My Baby, and the branches swinging out to include shoegaze heroes like Slowdive and Ride, but with a healthy dose of King Tubby and Augustus Pablo and Daniel Lanois and the Clientele, and our local Shoals elders like David Hood.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Jamie: Lennon and McCartney, Verlaine and Lloyd, Ray and Dave, Vega and Rev, Phil Spector, The Clean, The Velvet Underground, Nuggets/Pebbles, The Ramones.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Adam: I grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and the first big show I can remember going to was Lynyrd Skynyrd playing at the University of Alabama. I’m not even sure how many original members were left at that point, but it was on the Quad and we were able to walk around and get a backstage view. It was the first time I saw huge speakers and racks of guitars and techs and all of that. I remember the sound bouncing around the buildings. The scale of it made an impression. The southern rock, not so much…
What was the first record you ever bought?
Jamie: On vinyl, it was Back in Your Life by Jonathan Richman and Love’s self-titled album. On CD, it was Beatles 1.
What’s your favourite song right now?
Adam: Teenage Wasteland by Wussy. Autumn is starting in Alabama, and every year I reach for this absolute classic. Pure magic.
Favourite lyric of all time?
Jamie: I don’t know if it’s my favourite but I think about "your sunken face is like a galleon clawed with mysteries of the Spanish Main" by T Rex every few years.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Jamie: When The Sun Hits by Slowdive.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Adam: All of our music is streaming everywhere, and you can buy it on Bandcamp or at your local record store, thanks to Sonic Cathedral and Well Kept Secret. We’re also on Instagram and TikTok, God help us.
Alan Corr
