WHENYOUNG
Hi and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology. Firstly congratulations on your upcoming debut album Reasons To Dream. In terms of the writing and lyrical content, was there an overarching narrative tying the album together or an assortment of topics and inspirations that zig zag throughout the record?
Thank you! You could say that Reasons To Dream is a diary entry of our experiences and feelings over the past few years. There are themes of self-doubt, self-affirmation, a desire to belong and human similarity.
The lead single from the album Future is a powerful track. Serene, evocative and delicately refrained in its instrumentation. Can you elaborate a little on the subject matter you are addressing on this track?
This song was written after we lost our friend to suicide. The lyrics describe us dealing with this. We wanted to let ourselves and other people know that there is always a light on somewhere, a reason to be hopeful.
The accompanying video clip that was directed by Michael Baldwin is an equally powerful piece. Can you elaborate on the storyboard process for the clip and how much of it was something that you had already largely conceptualised and what did Michael bring to the table that really shines through?
The video relates directly to the song lyrics so we had a strong idea of the narrative but Michael helped us to portray this in a gentle, thoughtful way.
Were there times during your song writing that you already have some music semi fleshed out but what it is missing was the scenario to occur for it to then meld perfectly with music?
We usually write the music first and the lyrics last. Our songs generally come from a melody I’ve been humming and we sketch it out from there. Humming a melody is quite meditative and I think due to this a word, line or thought usually comes from my subconscious while I’m humming the melody and I create the lyrics from there. It’s sounds airy, fairy but song writing is a strange and maybe mystic craft
What were some of the challenges in putting this LP together and conversely what were some of the greatest surprises you experienced through the writing / recording process for Reasons To Dream?
The whole thing was a challenge because we got so engrossed in the project that sometimes it was hard to see the wood for the trees. We found ourselves obsessing over the tiniest things. But then there would be these wonderful eureka moments which made it all worthwhile! Once we had actually recorded everything, the hardest part was arguably cutting out some tracks for the final selection and not even that but a tracklist!
Throughout Whenyoung's time there has been a lot of hard graft, not just as a band grinding away to make it through the industry challenges but also in taking the everyday struggles and transforming those into a driving force. In what ways has this shaped the band and culminated in what hear as ReasonsTo Dream?
We feel like we have worked hard and it did take us a while to get here but we always continued to dream and hope and believe in what we were doing. It has strengthened our bond as friends and as a band. All of this affected our songwriting in a positive way I think.
Having performed alongside some industry heavy weights including The Vaccines, Nick Cave and Patti Smith can you share any tales of the time spent with these artists and in what ways they contributed to the story of Whenyoung?
Well they all contributed to our story way before we got to play with them. They all played a part in our musical education. But getting to meet and play alongside them made it all seem real, you realise that these are people who have worked hard to get to where they are. We had a few great nights with The Vaccines on tour. Nick Cave throws a great after party, we stayed up til the small hours in a pub in Dublin with Lenny Kaye.
Coming off the back of your recent American tour, did you find the time on the road inspirational that has begun to lay down some foundations for further writing and recording or were you so focused on the task at hand that any writing and jamming was something that took a back seat?
Getting to head over there was so inspiring for us, just being in and experiencing such a vast and varied country like that. We're always making voice-notes, writing lyrics and working on little ditties. But to translate that into a song we need to get into our studio and thrash it out, which we will definitely be doing again very soon.
What does the rest of 2019 have install for Whenyoung?
Well obviously the album comes 24th May and then we are going to tour it as far and wide as we can! We have plenty of new music in the bag and look forward to continuing the writing and recording process.
