Bedroom: Band emerging from under the covers
The Crow’s Nest, a music column by Russ Litten
Featuring new musician profile section, Portrait of the Artist
Bedroom are a four-piece band with roots in Hull and Leeds who make a headswimmingly gorgeous noise and spell their name with no vowels (bdrmm). I was intrigued.
Further cyber searching revealed a quartet of fresh-faced stripy-shirted Fender manglers making an ethereal racket reminiscent of late 80s shoe-gazers, such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Pale Saints.
Their debut album Bedroom, released last year, has been rapturously received by both industry bods and music lovers, and their live shows are already the stuff of local legend.
I had an email chat with band members Ryan and Joe:
Current line-up: Ryan Smith, Conor Murray, Joe Vickers and Jordan Smith
Releases to date: If Not, When? - EP – 2019 / Bedroom – Album – 2020
bdrmm: From left to right, Ryan, lead vocals / guitar; Conor, drums; Jordan, bass / synths / vocals; Joe, guitar
How did the band form?
Ryan: “I started writing music in my bedroom (hence the name), then after releasing an EP on my phone that got picked up by Radio 1, I decided to form a band.
“I’d played with Joe before in bands and Jordan is my brother so, after a shared musical upbringing, it would have been daft not to have him on board.
“I’ve known Conor for years and after seeing drummers come and go, it’s a pleasure to have him alongside us. Joe - this was about five years ago I think, which is a bit crazy, and everything has just developed from there.”
Who or what influences you, musical and otherwise?
Ryan: “Brought up on a cocktail of Radiohead and aerobics compilation CDs; my taste varies.
“I’m really into ambience at the moment, anything 4AD or Warp touch is usually very inspiring to me. Shoegaze and krautrock will always have a special place in my heart. There’s a lot going on.”
Joe: “I think half the band are definitely cinemaphiles and this has been an influence on various parts of the process, in terms of song inspiration, names for songs, artwork themes.
“Musically, it’s a pretty wide spectrum from ambient stuff like Aphex Twin, to krautrock like neu.”
Describe the songwriting process
Ryan: “Usually I’d write the demo and then we’d expand it in the practise room, or in the studio. At least for the first record, now it’s all a bit free for all. We all have our individual tastes that sink into the end product.”
Joe: “For the first album, the songs generally started off as a demo and Ryan would write a lot of the parts and then we would all add our bits to it.
“I think the second album will probably be more of a group effort. We are just working out how to do that. Obviously, like everyone else in the world, the pandemic changed how we did things for a bit.”
What are your songs about? Is there a theme running through?
Ryan: “Anything that’s happened to me usually. Honesty is what seems to come naturally.”
Joe: “The first album is generally a group of songs about being young, bad relationships, nights out and making mistakes.”
Where and how did you record the album?
Ryan: “We recorded it at the Nave studios in Leeds with Alex Greaves. It’s a wonderful, converted church. We did it over the course of a few months, although it felt like a lot longer than that, and it’s all a bit of a blur now.”
How did the songs change and evolve in the studio?
Ryan: “We usually bring demos and then they get developed while we’re in the studio. The bones are there, it just needs some skin attaching.”
Joe: “We worked a lot with Alex. He was great in helping us develop our sound, adding extra layers to it. Using the Nave gave us access to lots of new instruments and ways of capturing what we wanted.”
How do you approach playing live?
Ryan: “We just practise a lot. Our favourite time is when we’re on the road, so we try and give it our all each show.
“To be fair, the shows we play when we haven’t practised for weeks are usually the best - something about spontaneity maybe?”
Joe: “We love playing live and have missed it a lot. I don’t think there is a specific approach or anything, but we enjoy to be loud.
“We recently played for the first time in about a year and it really blew us away. The crowds were amazing and I think we had forgotten how that felt. I can’t really put into words how special that was.”
Is it important for you to remain independent?
Ryan: “I think we’d all struggle if we lost creative control, so yeah.
“I think maintaining doing things our own way has definitely worked for us. To lose that would be heart-breaking.”
Joe: “Well, every band wants to keep the control over their music and sound and artistic direction.
“Releasing music with Sonic Cathedral has definitely given us that from day one. Nat is the most supportive guy you could ever imagine. He just gets ‘it’.”
What would mainstream success mean to you?
Ryan: “Sometimes I think it’d be nice to have loads of money! We’ve spoken to some major labels, they don’t really do it for us.
Joe: “In some ways, it’s about balance - between the joy of being in a band and then when you do relatively well, the dynamics change a little.
“The idea you can leave your nine-to-five job and work solely on the music would be the absolute dream. Equally, sometimes the music and being in a band being the escape from ‘normal’ life is also quite cool.”
Is there anything yoou would change about the music industry?
Ryan: “Inclusivity. More job opportunities. Better streaming income for artists.”
Joe: “Hmm well, most of it I’m sure. But, the world’s pretty knackered generally, so I guess it’s just part of that same system.
“Nicer government, nicer music industry. It’s all part of the same erosion of people’s rights that happens every day.
“I think events in this country recently demonstrate how little people at the top give a toss about people making art.”
Who would you most like to collaborate with - producer, musician etc?
Joe: “Erm, personally, no one. I’m sure other people have deeper thoughts about this but I’m just real happy making music with the fellas.”
Ryan: “Bradford Cox of Deerhunter would be a wonderful person to have produce. Also, Cate La Bon, I think she’s very interesting as an artist and a producer. Also, Eno.”
What are your hopes and dreams for the future of the band?
Ryan: “Just keep releasing and recording and touring. I’d be more than happy to just keep the momentum we have.”
Joe: “Just to keep making music we love, and to keep doing it for the right reasons. We are genuinely so close as mates. We would continue doing it regardless of who is listening.”
Why no vowels in the name?
Ryan: “I just saved it in my phone as that, it was a long time ago. I never thought I’d ever have to explain it haha. I wish there was some grandiose reasoning, but unfortunately not.”
Joe: “Jst bcs!”
bdrmm links:
Portrait of the Artist
Joshua D. Ingham
Who are you?
“My name is Joshua D. Ingham, lead singer and guitarist of Hull-based punk outfit Stuka. This is my solo project in which all instruments, vocals and production duties have been taken on by me alone.”
What do you do?
“I'm an award winning poet, musician, artist and an undergraduate of philosophy and politics.
“The study of philosophy and politics is something which usually permeates my work and I try to weave it into some form of storytelling to ground the concepts I'm exploring.
“For example, one of the newest Stuka song's I've been writing is based on Jean-Paul Satre's existentialist play No Exit or Huis Clos.
“With my solo project, I wanted to keep some of that artistic philosophy alive but craft songs which are more personal and emotionally driven and with a more fluid use of genres than Stuka.
“This is because in February I fell extremely ill with a rare liver condition called vanishing bile duct syndrome and songwriting in hospital become a necessary outlet for expression, because the rules under the pandemic wouldn't allow proper visitation from anybody.
“I very much draw influence from David Bowie, Lou Reed, New Wave and British Sea Power as I think many of these artists have merged deep artistic expression with interesting instrumentals without losing that spark of pop craftsmanship.
“So, my aspirations lay in making music which hopefully channels that energy, although I guess it's not down to me to make that claim, it's down to those listening.”
Current or forthcoming release?
“The forthcoming release is the debut single from my solo project and it's called Bring the Bunker. It will be independently released and will be available in all digital stores (Spotify/ Apple Music etc.) on the 5th of August, 2021.”
Forthcoming gigs?
“The date is unannounced as of writing this, but you can catch Stuka in September supporting Bedsit at The New Adelphi Club.”
Plans for the future?
“There's lots of exciting things planned for the future; there's an upcoming solo EP with Paul Sarel's (Bunkerpop) label Fast & Bulbous, and Stuka are going to be heading into the studio soon to lay our tracks down.
“I will also be continuing to work at The New Adelphi Club and helping to run The Blowdown band nights at Off the Road in Hull, so if anyone ever fancies supporting the amazing bands in the Hull scene, pop down and say hi.”
Joshua D. Ingham links: