We introduced you to the awesome ETCHES by way of a their brilliant new single Ice Cream Dream Machine. So good in fact that we made it our SINGLE OF THE WEEK upon its release. If that caught your attention, and I imagine it would’ve, we’ve only gone and got a hold of them for a quick round of Q&A.
So chuck Ice Cream Dream Machine on again, for the umpteenth time, and have a perusal of my subpar questioning and the hole in one answering of vocalist and keyboard player Ross.
Hello there, and how are you? Who are we speaking to from the band?
Hello, you’re speaking to Ross (vocals/keys). I’m well thanks.
For those readers aren’t familiar ETCHES, could you tell them what you’re all about?
We’re based in Liverpool and came together out of a shared affinity for a lot of very different music. The project is the result of trying to reconcile all those ideas into something which is both unique but vaguely recognisable.
Who are some of your biggest musical influences, or where you draw inspiration from musically?
We tend to find influence a passive process but we absorb ourselves in a lot of very different music:  jazz, hip-hop, pop, rock, post-punk, afrobeat, house & techno, krautrock. It’s difficult to pick even a few because the music is a product of all these very different ideas unintentionally coming together in our heads. We definitely share a love of genre-bending artists and progressives like Miles Davis, Radiohead, Bowie or Talking Heads.
You released your debut single, The Charm Offensive, back in February and have just released its follow up, and our recent Single of the Week, Ice Cream Dream Machine. How have you found things develop in between those, and since?
During that time we were able to go on tour, including some time in Europe which was really fun. Other than that we’ve been honing the writing process a lot. Some of the first songs we put out – like The Charm Offensive – were largely finished when we began the project. Ice Cream Dream Machine had a lot of individual input and we spent a lot more time experimenting with the initial ideas until we landed on something we liked.
Are there any immediate plans for a new EP or even full length album?
There’s an E.P. in the pipeline and we’re starting to bring the ideas together for that. We’d love to do an album when the time is right, there’s something special about the album as a format which I find is a really exciting prospect. In an age of constant buzz there’s something very refreshing and beautiful about switching off and listening to a well crafted album that listening singles, E.P.s and   playlists can’t match.
How are things looking on the live front? Where can our readers come get the ETCHES experience?
We had a couple of great shows in London and Liverpool to launch the new single and we’re excited to be supporting The Antlers in Liverpool on 28th October followed by a short tour supporting We Were Evergreen in November.
Liverpool, The Kazimier, 28th October w/ The Antlers
Manchester, Soup Kitchen, 14th Nov
Brighton, BLEACH, 15th Nov
London, Islington Assembly Hall 18th Nov
Do you have any recommendations for us and our readers, by way of contemporaries, people you’ve played with, musicians in your local scene?
We toured with a fantastic Belgian band called BRNS back in May, they’re definitely worth checking out.
I would also recommend Fun Adults and Adult Jazz (not to be confused) and Liverpool’s Natalie McCool who we remixed not too long ago.
Finally, if you had a particularly cultured pet vulture, what would you name it?
Vladimir Putin
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