When I was a kid, growing up in a house with Cat Stevens,
Neil Diamond, and Simon and Garfunkel, the first time I ever heard Kiss's
"Detroit Rock City,"
it was a moment of musical epiphany. It was just so vicious, aggressive and
mean. It changed the way I listened to music. I've had a few minor epiphany's
since then, when you come across a band that just brings something new and
revolutionary to your ears.
What have been your musical epiphany moments?
When I was 5 years old the surviving Beatles released Free as a Bird and I remember my dad bringing that home on CD and playing it. That was magical. I’m sure I heard The Beatles before then (I grew up in Liverpool) but this was something else. I don’t think I even realised it was new. It still gets every time when listening to it. I think it’s really beautiful that George, Paul and Ringo could work with their friend again and set his spirit free in a way.
Next was Led Zeppelin IV when I was 13. I never heard anything like it. The variety, the textures, the pure force of it! Next was The Mars Volta’s Deloused in the Comatorium a year later when I was 14. I thought music ended in ‘77 with the Punks (I’m a hippie). I wasn’t a fan of new wave, punk, dance music, pop. The Mars Volta showed me that wavy, colourful, psychedelic music could be made in this century. Various artists have opened me up to new horizons since then.
Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet opened me to Hip Hop. John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme to Jazz. Tool’s Hooker with a Penis opened me to Metal. What a song. I always loved disco and Motown. That’s inside me, but I couldn’t stand pop music. That was the last bastion of my negativity in music and that levee was broken when I went on tour supporting Charlie Puth. That guy has the most incredible voice and ability in songwriting, piano, and production. Everything, and he uses it all to write love songs for teenage girls and they love it. Really positive music. The whole tour had a great vibe. Every show was about the audience. Parents brought their kids and stood at the back holding each other. I got it, finally. Pop isn’t about money and manipulation; it’s about finding the experiences that connect all of us. Love and heartbreak. Finally, we have Jacob Collier. When I heard his cover of “Don’t you Worry Bout a Thing” I saw everything I love about music coming from one kid. He’s Everest. He’s incredible and everything I would want to be as a musician. Giving, kind, honest, open, colourful, vibrant, knowledgeable and he’s only getting better. He’s re-writing the book of what’s possible.
Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?
It varies. I try to write out my feelings honestly, without any attention to form or rhyme and then I try to find metaphors and imagery to build from this. I struggle expressing my feelings. It’s something I’m working on, and I’ve been seeing a Gestalt Therapist to help. Once I’ve got an idea of what I want to write about I’ll find a simple chord sequence. The dims and augs can be found later. Then this will swirl around in my head while I search for lines and images. I’ve usually written the song three times before I’ve edited it down to effective and powerful lines and hooks. Sometimes they just appear in my head and I realize there’s a new song that no-one has heard before that’s wormed its way into my ear. Sometimes I just sit with a microphone and sing what I want to say to someone I love and I have to find the chords afterwards. They’re usually the best ones. I wrote a song for my girlfriend that way and I think it’s my favorite. It might be on not this coming album but the one after. Dan wrote all the songs on this upcoming album. We’ll either jam out riffs together and he’ll find the words and refine afterwards or he’ll come to me with the melody and lyrics all fleshed out and I just help arrange and produce and play drums.
Who has influenced you the most?
My Dad. He taught me how to play music in a very unconventional way. Purely listening, purely self-discovery and avoiding all technical teaching except reading. It led me to have a great groove and absolutely zero ability to solo and noodle. My focus has always been the song. I’ve worked on my technique a fair bit since but that foundation created me as a musician. I studied music at University but that was very disappointing. That almost destroyed my passion for music. I learnt a lot from my fellow students but I always felt like the program was more interested in my money than my education. I felt like the lecturers didn’t believe in the students. There were some great teachers there, but I personally felt no guidance. Maybe I wasn’t in the right place emotionally and mentally at the time.
My next great mentor was James Earp who wrote Bruises with
Lewis Capaldi last year. I was his assistant for a couple of years. He taught
me to have a clear vision, to stick to it and how to carve out sounds and
really make a professional sounding record. I owe a huge amount to him.
Finally, there’s Dan, the other Plastic Barricade. He showed me my potential when I’d lost faith in music and in myself after many years of being underpaid and under-appreciated being a session drummer for others. He reminded me what it was like to create with openness and love and how to give to the world through my art.
Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?
Lately it’s been internal. Giving thanks to all the opportunities and love I’ve been given and focusing on the personal connections with the people most important to me. It can be really hard to write a song about how much you love someone and show it to others. It’s not ‘cool’. I used to judge this stuff as cheesy and saccharine but I think that was just fear talking. I wanted to be cool and fashionable and aloof. That’s just pushing. I want to pull now.
We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?
Dan’s from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. A Nordic country that was invaded by the Soviet Union with the current population of just over 1 million. I’m from Liverpool. The capital of the Socialist Republic of Scouserland. An English city that was invaded by Irish famine refugees (we’re all Irish Catholics) with a population of 1 million. Rather different population densities but Dan and I both ended up with a love of Nirvana, Oasis, Coldplay, Foo Fighters. I don’t know how much a place informs a musical identity. For me my roots are obvious. I grew up in guitar music from the North West of England. Dan’s a unicorn. I don’t know how he happened. I lived in London for 11 years and they reshaped me in many ways. A lot more jazz funk and disco found its way inside of me and now I’m living in Paris so… probably even more disco will find its way to my heart, but I think we’re still just making the music we would have wanted to when we were teenagers.
Where'd the band name come from?
Plastic Barricades are kind of useless. They give the impression of a barrier, but they can be very easily moved or pushed over. They’re kind of fake but they also don’t rot. Our mental barriers are pretty much the same. They’ll always be there but we have moments of clarity where they can be pushed over, moved or just ignored. You can be anything you want to be and you can make anything you want to make - it all just takes time, effort, belief and Love.
You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the soundtrack for?
Star Wars.
You now write for a music publication (The Ripple Effect?). You're going to write a 1,000 word essay on one song. Which would it be and why?
“Ultralight Beam” by Kanye West. So much to say about that song from it’s construction, its subject matter media and public perception of Kanye vs his actual talent and ability, the choice of samples, lyrics, the performers and voices used and the use of such a simple loop. The dynamics, his honesty, the juxtaposition of his public life with his spiritual life. The way he reworked and re-released the song multiple times after its release. People like to drag him down because he has a big mouth, and he does do some pretty reprehensible stuff now and again, but he really is on the avant-garde. It took me a long time to give him a chance as an artist because of the MTV persona but this track turned me round. That or “Tomorrow Never Knows”. Beatles straight up invented drum and bass 30 years early.
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?
Two strippers, whipped cream and a broken elbow in Cologne. I can’t say more.
Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you
and for your fans?
I love moving a big crowd with my drums. The power and connection I feel when a whole crowd is moving in waves all together is just beautiful. I love looking people right in the eye and giving them a big smile. I want people to know that I’m there for them as much as they’re there for me. 5-minute call terrifies me every time. Drum solos make hands shake uncontrollably. I’m still afraid of singing on a stage.
What makes a great song?
Honesty, hard work and writing 1000 songs before you get to the good one.
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
Oh god it was terrible! It was full of maj7 bar chords and that dumdumtahdupadupadumtah drum beat everyone does when they’re 15. If I remember correctly the lyric for the chorus was:
Stop leaving me you left me for last year Stop leaving me I’m getting older Stop leaving me I think I lost myself.
I’m not sure my lyrics are any better now, but the music certainly is!
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?
Honestly this latest single ‘Optimist’ is my favorite thing I’ve produced and played on. It’s got a good message, the riffs are cool, it’s musically interesting and the video is awesome! I’ve made too many things I don’t believe in or have cleverly constructed to hide myself. I’m glad I’m growing out of that and I’m working with someone I really believe in and just have a good time being with! Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?
Julia Michaels is the most underappreciated and unrecognised songwriter today. She’s constantly interesting and connective and her songs really move! Taylor Swift gets too much shit for being amazing. Jacob Collier is a musical genius and plays everything better than everyone. Thundercat is really good at the big guitar and indulges in being weird which gives me more confidence with being weird. Vulfpeck sold out Madison Square Garden with no manager, no label, no publisher - nothing. All on their own. Madness. Ed Sheeran. I saw him in Shoreditch House just before he took off and he is just so solid. His voice and guitar just punches out. Not many people can play Wembley solo with just an acoustic and a loop pedal and kill it. I think the number is approximately 1. Sløtface is my favorite rock band right now. They kick ass, stand for something and stay fun.
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?
Digital. Infinite playlist, best possible sound quality, zero house move hassle, no cleaning heads, no skipping lasers, no scratches, no dust on the record, not turntable turning too fast or slow, no interference from your washing machine. I will fight people over this. The transfer from the ear to the brain is digital so the whole “analogue sounds better cause magic” thing is errr meh. Our hearing is digital and a 16bit 44.1khz 320kbps mp3 is indistinguishable from a .wav or .ogg or any other ‘lossless’ codec, at least to my ears and I checked on £50,000 speakers.
Whiskey or beer? And defend your choice
I don’t drink. It doesn’t make a good time better, it just makes the day after worse.
We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?
If you’re in Liverpool you need to go to Probe Records. I spent so many of my teenage years there. It used to be on the corner of Slater Street and Seel Street, but it’s moved now. I gave away all my records 6 years ago and haven’t bought one since, so I haven’t checked out Paris’ record shops. I haven’t missed them.
What's next for the band?
More releases. I’m trying to finish the mixes for this album and we’re both writing for the next one! Hopefully there’ll be some of my songs on there too. We’re planning a tour for the end of the year.
Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?
These were really thoughtful questions. It’s great when people care! Thank you so sososo much. We owe a lot to people like yourself who help get our music out to the world. You’re the glue of the music industry.
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“Optimist”, the second single from the upcoming LP “Self-Theories” IS OUT NOW!
“Optimist” video: https://youtu.be/IHOLEtYj7oM
"Optimist " facts:
• The song was written, recorded and mixed in a backyard Shed Studio in North-West London and mastered by legendary Andy “Hippy” Baldwin at Metropolis Studios. • Music video for the single, created by PB art-director ElinaPasok, was filmed in a bedroom. None of the 300 cast members were harmed during the shoot, although one house and one car were destroyed in the end. • Can you hear Paul saying “Again!” in the very beginning of the song? To us this IS optimism! • Single release date – 2nd of February 2020 • “Self-Theories” LP due in summer 2020
Romantic and honest, gloomy and curious, melodic and melancholic, Plastic Barricades chronicle life in the troubled yet fascinating XXI century, asking questions and trying to find answers. Inspired and influenced by almighty Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Coldplay, Muse, Death Cab for Cutie, Placebo, Snow Patrol, The Shins, Nirvana and many others, the band loves to experiment with styles, sound and approach.
Based between London and Paris, Plastic Barricades are Dan Kert on guitars and vocals and Paul Love on drums. …. http://www.plasticbarricades.eu/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7D7bbXxMiGtIDtfX2nC46U?si=pRvIfZHWSayfC8ymMOlh2g Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plasticbarricades/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plasticbarricades Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/plasticbarricades
