Though, since Gengahr put their first demos up online, the process quickened considerably. “That’s been a really exciting thing for us,” Bushe says. “Having interest from putting stuff up on Soundcloud gives you real confidence, because you get the sense that real people are listening to it. We’ve played in other bands before where we’ve had record labels or management get involved and they’ve been really excited about it. But we’ve never really seen that connection with the public.”
Gengahr’s woozy, dreamlike alt-rock has also garnered worldwide acclaim, leading to significant radio play for singles She’s A Witch and Heroine, tours with the likes of alt-J and The Maccabees, and a bunch of shows at this year’sSouth by Southwest. And all of this before the release of their first album, A Dream Outside. Due this weekend, Bushe describes it as a modern guitar album.
“There’s elements of psych in it, elements of pop, elements of grunge,” he says. “So it kind of straddles the line between pop and rock but does it in a way that’s gentle and trippy at times. Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Deerhunter, Tame Impala, they were a few of the bands we were listening to as we were writing music for the album. And the production on those sorts of records, the lo-fi DIY sound, makes them sound rich and inviting. That’s what we were going for with our record.”
Lyrically, Bushe takes a lot of inspiration from films, which is reflected by the band’s cinematic and often disturbing music videos. “Growing up I was pretty severely dyslexic,” he says. “I didn’t read that much until more recently, but I watched a lot of films. So most of my inspiration for writing probably came more from film. When I’m constructing a song and writing it out I always think about it visually as much as I do on the page.
“When it comes to making the videos,” he continues, “I spend a lot of time storyboarding them and writing them down. I’ve always wanted to make a film so to be able to do it with music and combine it with the artwork we do as well. It’s a real privilege to be able to do all those things.”
Gengahr will head down to Australia for the first time to play at this year’s Splendour In The Grass. Despite the ethereal and delicate aspect of the band’s recorded work, Bushe promises an energetic live experience. “With drums and bass especially it’s much bigger, whereas on record we’d have those quiet,” he says. “We didn’t even think too much about trying to replicate the record, because I don’t think they necessarily need to be the same. If people want to go see something live I think it should be slightly different because you’ve already heard the record.”
Those who missed out on tickets to the sold-out festival can breathe easy, as the band are also plotting some sideshows. “We’re looking to do about five or six,” Bushe says. “I can’t wait. I’ve always wanted to go to Australia. We started working with an Australian label pretty early on, which was great, and that’s how we managed to get over there and get stuff on triple j. It’s really exciting to hear that there’s interest. For us it’s a whole other world from little old England. I mean my mate, I think he got his Australian girlfriend out there and now she’s living with him in London. All magical things seem to happen in Australia.”
BY LUCY RUTHERFORD
