Melodic, slow song openings break into complex rhythms and eratic, eclectic breakdowns that really shouldn’t work- but are indeed what make the songs and Fish Tank’s sound so unique and engaging. They are concordant, progressive, ballsy and playful in the same breath. We catch up with drummer Joe Jeffcoate to chat all things Fish Tank’s sound, degrees, oh and their ‘baby’- Henry!
Hi Joe! So, for people who haven’t
heard of Fish Tank can you tell us a bit about the band, your sound and
influences. You guys met at university, right?
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| "Henry" the EP |
Yup! Myself and Ed got lumbered together in our university halls, and I think one of the first things he said to me
was, " Wanna start a band?" This was probably before he even knew I was a
drummer, or a musician for that matter. We took a chance really, neither of us
knew if the other one was any good at our respective instruments, but the
gamble paid off. I think we initially planned on investing on a ridiculous
amount of equipment (like Battles) and work as a
two piece forever, but who can afford
that sort of thing at uni? So, we settled for the cheaper option of a bass player. Nash lived below us and I dragged
him into the band 'cos I'd heard him
slappa da bass. Influence wise we're all fairly unique; Ed introduced Nash and
myself to Experimental/Math rock, but
individually Ed's a band kinda guy, Nash
is into his Jazz/Funk etc and I take influence from computer based music and anything drum based. But together we're
always up for anything different,
progressive and new and I think that's why we get on so well when writing!
How easy/hard is it to balance
degree work alongside Fish Tank?
So, so difficult. It's a pain for sure. We've had to sacrifice some
shows to meet deadlines, and it’s frustrating. But it
makes us appreciate the shows and the band stuff more. It's always nice when
we get a break, because we can get back to pushing the band and doing what
we love. If the decision came along, however, to take the band to the
next level professionally…it's an easy
decision.
You recently released an EP, “Henry”,
and worked with Ben Giles who did some really cool artwork for your EP and
produced the video for “Ginny”- how did that come about?
Never underestimate the power of the internet and Social Networking. We posted a status asking for some artwork and Ben
replied with his Flickr page. If you take a look you can see how easy it
was for us to go with his work. The talent and individuality of his work
is incredible and we constantly refer back to Ben for new work and
ideas i.e shirts, posters, artwork etc. “Henry” was the result of at least
6 months hard work, and it's our baby. Ben helped birth the baby and bring it
into the world. If we're
Henry's dis-functional parents, Ben certainly is
the dashing young mid-wife!
From your EP your sound is quite
eclectic with rapid changes in tempo and very dynamic- “Art Math Prog Pop Rock” as you put it. When you first started
playing together how easy was it to form that distinctive sound?
It's something that just sort of happened really. I think mainly because
of all our different influences it was bound to
happen. We seem to have a pretty good formula for putting songs together, but we're always trying to mix things
up structurally and perhaps that's where
the "distinctive sound" originates from. Who knows, it all just kind
of happens and we run with what our brains tell us to do!
So for people who haven’t seen you
live yet, what can they expect from the live show?
Apparently we're super duper loud. I don't really know about that to be honest, but we try and have fun and get into the
gig as much as we can. We always enjoy a live show, and Ed and myself have
microphones (which is probably not a good thing) so we have a chat
with the audience and each other. It's always a colourful three piece on
stage as well ;) Also, we have a bear. He comes out on stage with us and
dances. His name is Terrance.
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| Fish Tank on stage at BBC Introducing (credit: Lee Thompson) |
You recently played at BBC Kent
Introducing 4th Birthday party- how was it being involved in that?
BBC Introducing has been the first step for a lot of big bands- is it nice
getting that recognition?
It's crazy nice. It was certainly a big night for us three; we were treated so well by everyone and we even got
cake! It was kind of surreal really, Introducing is such an awesome system
and it’s so good to have been/be a part of it. Kent
has such a good music scene and Jacob and the Kent
And finally, in terms of 2012 you’ve
already released “Henry”, are busy playing gigs and studying at uni- what else
have you guys got planned?
More of the same really! We're saving up the pennies for a van so that
we can travel around the country and we're writing
all the time. Hopefully another release by the end of the year and a
summer/winter UK
Kent/London. So we hope to spread the name of
Fish Tank and bring our show to other great venues around the country! And of
course get up north!
15th June 2012
Barfly -Camden - London
History of the Trade + Fish Tank
Barfly -
History of the Trade + Fish Tank
A limited edition (100) vinyl release of 'Henry'
by fish Tank. Printed on yellow vinyl, each copy is hand numbered and comes
with a download code to download the mp3 version of the EP for free.
Purchase HERE
