The Cherry Wave are a four piece shoegaze bunch from Glasgow, who recently played one of our Scottish Fiction Presents: Aye Tunes vs, Peenko gigs. They are a busy bunch, as well as recording their debut album, they've also got their fingers in the DIY label pie. I caught up with lead singer Paul to find oot more.
Hello, how are you?
No' bad.
It's the question everyone hates, but could you tell us a little bit about your music and your influences?
We play loud, noisy, fuzzy shoegaze influenced by My Bloody Valentine, Black Flag, Ringo Deathstarr, Fugazi, No Joy, Sarcofago, Astrobrite, Jesus And Mary Chain, Sebadoh, Vomir, Dinosaur Jr, Shellac, Bardo Pond, Earth, Crass and about a million other bands. Glasgow Podcart once said their 'problem' with us was that they'd heard it 20 years ago, which I take huge umbrage with. Not only do I disagree with the statement, as I think what we're doing is different than the first wave of shoegaze that they're most likely referring to, but I find it particularly rich coming from a blog that loves bands such as PAWS. Don't get me wrong, we all love PAWS too, but you can't tell me they don't take their queue from bands from the '90s. The other problem I had with that statement was the insinuation that the only worthwhile art is art that's entirely innovative. I believe all worthwhile modern music is derivative of each band's collective influences. I'd rather listen to a guy playing say, awesome 1980s style hardcore songs than listen to a guy making bird noises at random intervals through a 10-foot long kazoo because it's not been done before.
What's your song-writing / creative process like?
We generally write separately and bring finished songs into rehearsal, then everyone will add their own bits if need be.
What could we expect to see from a live show?
Live we tend to play more aggressive than your average shoegaze band. We've mostly come from hardcore backgrounds to this, so we're probably approaching it in a different way than most shoegaze bands, who maybe come from indie/alternative backgrounds.
What would you say has been your greatest achievement?
Probably having our second EP put in the jukebox at The 13th Note, or being asked to support The Telescopes at King Tut's. We're also just really proud to have put out two EP's that we love and we've recently started our own label Lamppost Records and have put out a shoegaze compilation featuring some amazing bands from the UK and the USA that we're pretty chuffed with.
What have you got planned for the rest 2013?
We're working on our album right now. It'll hopefully be out this year, but might need to wait until the start of 2014. We plan on playing a lot less shows too.
What other artists (Scottish or not) would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?
Not Scottish: Shallow, Beach Volleyball, Fluorescent Tiger.
Scottish: Young Philadelphia, Dead Temple, The Yawns, Clocked Out, Skullwizard, Cosmic Dead, Cutty's Gym, Galoshins, His Name Is Codeine, Halfrican, Los Tentakills, Le Thug, No Island.
Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?
What do you do if you have a trumpet in your garden? Root it oot.
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