Like You Did Before: Circa Waves Interviewed | Features | Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews
It’s a New Year with new music from Circa Waves. The band has always been a constant factor in many listeners' lives, and for this latest release, it’s no
It’s a New Year with new music from Circa Waves. The band has always been a constant factor in many listeners’ lives, and for this latest release, it’s no different. Being a fan since 2015 and now interviewing lead singer, Kieran Shudall, meant it was an interesting disposition coming into this piece. On the one hand, there are tracks that hold memories in this writer’s heart, but on another hand, there was curiosity about mental health and how it is spoken about in a successful band.
Once the Zoom call began, it was a cold morning and a coffee had been brewed. Even though he was in a cycle of sleep deprivation and had some anxiety about the up-coming record, Kieran spoke about how his most recent health scare had inspired him.
“I think the more I talk about it now, especially after a few interviews, the more it becomes like someone else’s story or like I’m just repeating the same thing. I start to disconnect with it as there’s an emotional thing that resonates through my body,” explains the lead-singer of the indie-rockers.
He carried on by saying: “So I’m like ‘that was terrifying’, but also thinking that it’s good to talk about mental health as I think a lot of people are quite open about it now, which is good. For a while there, it felt like that was all that people spoke about in interviews, and I was a bit like ‘let’s just talk about what guitar I use’. But honestly I think it’s good, and I’m happy to talk about it really.”
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What makes any tough time slightly more enjoyable are the small things in life. Regardless of whether it is a coffee in the morning or if it is meeting up with a friend, these are the things that helped heal the singer in a way he didn’t expect. These aren’t just things to help with healing from a traumatic moment in one’s life, but it is also a way to escape.
As Kieran began to explain those small comforts in life that keep him happy, it was clear to see that no matter what happens, he also has the perfect advice for anyone struggling – it’s a beautiful thing.
“My wife is an amazing comfort, you know, ordering a curry and sitting on the couch whilst we watch friends with her is amazing. I couldn’t be happier doing that and going trampolining with my five year old makes me super happy. So there’s all sorts of things that are natural remedies, I suppose. I feel exceptionally lucky really. I’m close to all my family, not just emotionally close, but also I live five minutes away from them.”
He further explains: “So we have an amazing support network, and we’re all really close in the band where we can openly talk about everything. When we’re on the road, if anyone’s having a shit day, it’s not hidden. We’re helping each other out when we need it. I think it’s just about being open with people and not hiding any worries away, because that just sort of burrows into your soul and makes you depressed.”
That quote of not hiding any worries away so that the band helps each other out is something any lover of the band will love to see. When it comes to the new body of work coming out – it has a theme of the light versus the dark, a euphoric record about death, that also shines the power of the good times.
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The wonders of music mean that for many listeners around the world of Circa Waves – it can be a form of therapy. No matter where you are from, different tracks from different albums hold a memory of a place or time in a listener’s life.
When talking about how mental health and music have become a therapy over the years, Kieran explained that for him “the initial songwriting is the best therapy, there’s a track called ‘Blue Damselfly’ on the record, which I wrote in the hospital, in the toilet specifically, and I just signed a paper which said I had a one in a hundred chance of dying when I go in for my operation. I started thinking about my wife and my kids. I kind of thought, ‘you know what, I think she’d be fine without me, she’s super strong and amazing’. This concept of the Blue Damselfly, which is, instead of just saying, I love my wife, I thought it was more poetic to write something like that. And the melody came to me. So I ran to the toilet with all my heart stuff strapped to me. I was singing into my phone, and it was getting it off my chest, a catharsis moment, I guess.”
Continuing on the theme of music being a form of therapy, Kieran turned to the new album, ‘Death & Love Pt.1’, and how it can be a turning point in anyone’s life. “Hopefully the record can do that for people who are going through anything, but also just people who are getting ready to go out. I’d love them to just listen to the tunes and get pumped up. A 16-year-old who goes to a gig for the first time and is in a mosh pit and losing their mind, the album is for that as well. It hopefully spans across all of us different people with feelings, and I ultimately would love it to make people pick up the guitar and want to start the band.”
At this point, Kieran’s cup of tea and this writer’s coffee had been drunk, and it was time for some nostalgia. Discussing those moments that make you take a step back and appreciate what you are creating is something only a band like Circa Waves can do. Regardless of whether a listener goes back to their previous bangers or cling onto the new music, there is always an important part of any young music lover’s gig experience.
Kieran explains: “I remember the first time I saw someone singing our song back and we played in Chester to about 15 people, and I think our song ‘Get Away’ had just come out. There was a young kid at the back, he must have been 15 and he was standing next to his dad. I could see him holding onto his dad and being a bit scared of being in a gig, but he was mouthing the words really well and he was loving it. I was like ‘fuck this is amazing, I’ve actually like affected somebody.’”
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Even when talking about being on tour and how those experiences change, you could feel the love and passion for music that the lead-singer had, which is difficult to see at times. In the current climate, it can be hard to tackle through those hard times, but continuing on this theme allowed this lovely quote: “The feeling of 5,000 people singing it back at Brixton was the same feeling I got when it was the first person singing it back. It’s the spark of connection that music has, isn’t it?”
Circa Waves have and always will create that spark of connection. It can be in the new album, ‘Death & Love Pt. 1’, or it could be at a gig or festival playing a track that floods memories of the past, either way, they are indie-legends.
If anything sums up this interview, it was finishing up the Zoom call and understanding that Kieran would have a busy schedule, to which he explained that after this: “ I’m just going to go and make another cup of tea and do some washing, so no rush”, and that is a wonderful way to consider the simplicity of life and Circa Waves in one sentence.
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‘Death & Love Pt. 1’ will be released on February 7th.
Catch Circa Waves at the following shows:
February14 Birmingham O2 Academy15 Nottingham Rock City16 Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom18 Cambridge Junction19 Norwich UEA21 Newcastle NX22 Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse23 Bristol Beacon25 Leeds O2 Academy26 London O2 Academy Brixton27 Southampton The 1865
Words: Josh AbrahamPhoto Credit: Polocho
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