Well, it's been a long time since I
provided any kind of update or communication on the micro-rock world
of Hi Fiction Science so THIS IS THE NEWS......
Last year saw us sign to
Esoteric/Cherry Red and the release of our album 'Curious Yellow'
which was well received across the sprawling mass of online music
blogs. In addition we picked up some national airplay on BBC6 Music
and it even bizarrely saw us nominated in the 'Limelight' new artists
category in 'Prog' magazine - resulting in a surreal night of myself
(plus label mate and all-round top chap Duncan from Schnauser)
getting suited and booted and mingling with some of the genuine
Prog-Rock Aristocracy – Peter's Gabriel/Hammill, Steve's Hackett
and Davis and even Fish who I accosted on a London
street (Sorry Duncan !) whilst feeling a little 'tired and emotional'
from too much wine and 'encouragement' from Cardiac/Knifeworld/Gong
guitarist Kavus Torabi.....
This was made all the more strange by
virtue of the fact that we really don't consider ourselves as a 'Prog' band –
we're just doing our own thing and maybe we are 'progressing' the
format of rock – but so has everyone from The Beatles to Joy
Division, who cares, labels, schmables.
2014 ended with us being included in
the 'Louder Than War' blog top 200 albums of the year at No. 57
http://louderthanwar.com/albums-of-the-year-2014-part-two-100-51/
let's not forget: “almost like modernist poetry turned into sound –
it would make an amazing soundtrack for an avant-garde ballet. And if
that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is…”
We didn't play anywhere near enough
live shows last year which we hope to rectify in 2015 (on a personal
note, I played a few solo slots supporting the likes of Bella Union's
Zun Zun Egui and even a small Psych Festival in Wales to keep my hand
in).
Whilst it was amazing to see Curious
Yellow released 'properly' and to some small acclaim the story from
our side is one of a long journey – the songs had been recorded
piecemeal in the studio and overdubbed at my home studio and then
studio mixed, all this over a duration of two years. In some ways a
strange paradox, we loved it and were sick of it at the same time.
2015 and we find ourselves in a new
home – an actual studio base that we can use to create, rehearse and record
in, right in the heart of the city. This has made a massive
difference to our creative freedom and we are rapidly seeing the
fruits of our new environment. We have around an hour of new material.
I can only speak from my own
perspective but I feel the rapid gestation is resulting in some pure
'English Voodoo' .....I'm being less polite with the guitar this time
and it's got a bit of an upfront, swagger and presence. We've got
several 'pure songs' that we've deconstructed and developed into
'grooves' but always staying true to our solid ethos of minimalism
('where can we strip it back', 'is it too obvious', make it more
European, Kosmiche but not Kosmiche-Cliché).
We're going to build on the percussion
we started using to greater effect on CY and listening to our
rehearsal recordings (which always find me grinning from ear to ear
of my headphones) I know we are on to something. Without wishing to
notch up the melodrama, as I write I am in a personal state of mental
and emotional turmoil and this is coming through me and being
channelled into the music. It's quite 'dark' to use a somewhat
hackneyed expression, but with enough hooks and strong beats to make
you want to jump down the rabbit hole after us.
We've booked the stu-stu-studio from
mid March and I hope we will have a finished album completed by the
second half of this year. Stick with us and please spread the
word...in a world of 'everything, always, now', butterfly minds that
flit between social media flowers spreading the mundane,
bullshit-reality TV, fame-hungry-mass-produced-so-called-music.....we
are not the only light at the end of the tunnel, but we do have a torch
and, if you like, we'll take you deeper into our Bristol
underground.........
Love is the law 93/93
James
x
