“To be honest, I switch between them quite a lot. I love Paul McCartney’s writing in The Beatles and I think I prefer Lennon’s away from The Beatles,” Shudall ponders. “Lennon’s Imagine album is one of my favourite records of all time, whereas Paul McCartney’s solo albums [he pauses] – I’m not a massive fan.
“But for those two people to have found each other and started a band is such a fortunate thing. It must have been fate – it’s so bizarre to think that it actually happened. They’re both ridiculously great songwriters and it’s amazing that they grew up just down the road from me. For a band to write that much amazing material in such a short space of time, is still to me, absolutely phenomenal. I think anyone who doesn’t like The Beatles is a bit weird, really.”
Shudall admits that meeting Sam Rourke (bass), Colin Jones (drums) and Joe Falconer (lead guitar) at the Liverpool Sound City Festival in 2013 was either the start of something incredible or at least a lucky stroke of serendipity.
“We all needed to be in a band at that point in time. We all sort of felt like lost causes,” Shudall says candidly. “We were all in separate bands that weren’t going well and doing jobs that weren’t very good – in fact, we hated them. So I think Circa Waves came at the right time for everyone. It’s been a salvation for us, and has changed all of our lives drastically. From having zero money and working jobs that we hated, we’re now getting to travel the world and live our dreams. We’re all very fortunate to have found each other and to have started this band.”
It seems likely we would’ve known his name eventually, whether as the frontman of a band or as a solo artist. “I’ve always been massively into the production side of music. I built a little studio for myself at home – in fact, that’s where I wrote Young Chasers.”
Young Chasers is the second single (and title track) from Circa Waves’ debut album released late last month. Shudall reveals they wanted to maintain the lo-fi quality that his home recordings produced. “That’s something we admire about a lot of debut records, the fact that it sounds like a live band playing. If you listen to the Arcade Fire’s first record or the Artic Monkeys’ early stuff, it sounds like them.
“No bells and whistles – it’s straight down the line and that’s what we wanted to do with this record and I think we’ve achieved it. We recorded these songs simply by all playing together, just like we would at a live show, and that’s why it sounds the way it does. It was done in the most minimal way.”
As simplistic as that sounds, Shudall believes the raw power and authentic quality would have been almost impossible to recreate without the help of Dan Grech, the prolific engineer, mixer and producer, who’s worked with everyone, from Radiohead to Lana Del Ray. He’s even had a hand in a couple of home grown success stories such as Nothing To Do by Bleeding Knees Club and The Jezabels’ The Brink.
“In terms of a safe pair of hands, you don’t really get any safer than Dan Grech. He’s so collaborative. We both worked together on everything,” Shudall explains. “He loves taking on everyone’s ideas and trying to work out how to get the sounds that are in my head onto the record.”
While it may sound like everything was hunky dory during the recording process, Shudall hints at the fact that there may’ve been a few rows over choosing the final track list. “We recorded about 18 or 19 tracks – it was quite difficult to whittle it down to those 13. So we decided the best way to keep the peace was to include four or five songs that didn’t make the cut onto the deluxe record and that way everyone was happy.”
Young Chasers is brimming with English indie-rock anthems. Their singles Get Away, So Long and their latest, T-Shirt Weather,have become instant favourites among fans of early-sounding Artic Monkeys, The Libertines and The Strokes. “It’s horrible here in England, so I feel bad that I wrote a song about t-shirt weather when it’s freezing cold. Australia was definitely on my mind,” Shudall says.
It’s easy to believe him when he says that – in fact, it seems they can’t stay away. “We’ve been down to play for you guys twice in less than 12 months. We played at your Splendour in the Grass festival last year – that was a mad gig. I think we might be playing it again this year. I hope that we do.
“Our music seems to suit you guys really well. Every time we’ve come down there, our little fanbase has grown and grown. You’re fun-loving and our style seems to connect. We want to play music and be a little bit rock‘n’roll, so I think we’ll be back pretty soon.”
BY NATALIE ROGERS
