Formed in Liverpool, The Mysterines – frontwoman Lia Metcalfe, drummer Paul Crilly, bassist George Favager and guitarist Callum Thompson – have undergone a radical transformation over the past few years. Fresh with new purpose and reinvigorated from songwriting sessions while secluded away in the countryside (in between playing to 60,000-strong crowds while on tour with the Arctic Monkeys), the band have released the best music of their career in the form of latest album ‘Afraid of Tomorrows’, which was released on 21st June via Fiction Records.
We spoke with drummer Paul to find out how the album process worked to produce such a strong body of music. We also found out Paul’s music influences as well at which song he wished he’d written?
Sean: Hey, Paul. How are you doing?
Paul: I’m very well, yeah. Very well, nice to meet you Sean.
Sean: Yeah, and you. Unfortunately, Australia’s not all sunshine and rainbows. I’ve got a stinking cold and flu because Perth in the winter is quite unbearable.
Paul: Yeah, it’s not particularly sunny here either. I hope you’re feeling better soon.
Sean: That’s all good, that’s all good. It’s great to talk to you. First of all, congratulations on the new album. It’s always fantastic when new music comes into my inbox and I’ve loved the tracks I’ve heard so far. So congratulations. I bet it’s exciting to finally get the second album out.
Paul: Yeah, definitely, yeah. I think we’ve had quite a few of the songs for a while. I think we were, I think like every other band wanted to record that it’s ready to go. You kind of just want to get it out. You don’t want to sit on it for six months, which you’ve unfortunately got to. And I think we’ve just been, feels like we’ve been talking a lot. We’ve been talking about the new songs for about three years already. So it’s nice that people are finally getting to hear them like.
Sean: Yeah. Well, the great thing is it’s not been that long really since the first album. So obviously it’s been a creative time for you guys to get a second album out so soon.
Paul: Yeah, I just think the way music is at the moment, unfortunately, you’ve not really got time to mess around for too long. You kind of need something to follow up very quickly. And I think even if that wouldn’t have been the case, we were just desperate to play new music and kind of expand the band’s like sound as a whole. So from like the end of ‘Reeling’ and the switch up from that into like going into writing was very quick anyway. We were all like ready to go with the writing of the second album.
Sean: How does the creative process work for you guys? Is it a simple “everyone chucks things into the hat” kind of process or is it more studio based writing or even just sending ideas around the group with WhatsApp?
Paul: We were in lockdown so it was it was primarily Lia and then Calum helped out with a few tunes on ‘Reeling’ but as for ‘Afraid of Tomorrows’, it was just mainly me and Lia, it was like it was me and her against the world in some ways. We didn’t really have like one way of doing things. We would just kind of send each other ideas or there was our practice rooms in the city centre so we just kind of meet up there but we realized the way we worked best was we would kind of like go on these like writing trips. It sounds very cliché but we just kind of find like these little cabins in the middle of nowhere and we take the laptop and all the recording gear and we just just kind of record these shitty demos but I think it worked well for us because i think we just to kind of get away from the all the madness that a big city can bring. I think it was just nice to get away from that just so you can concentrate more really.
Sean: Of course there must be a little bit of pressure with Liverpool being one of the musical capitals of the world especially with the history of the city.
Paul: Yeah, I think it’s a good pressure though isn’t it. I think there’s just been so many great bands over the years that you kind of want to get in that list as well so maybe maybe it’s a good thing.
Sean: I absolutely love ‘The Last Dance’. I thought it was great and reminded me of bands like Garbage in their early days with that wonderful female-led indie rock sound it’s it’s great but what were your influences in the early days?
Paul: I think for me I’ve been into stuff like Nirvana which was like my biggest introduction to a whole new world of music. I think just growing up I just did just have The Beatles like shoved down my throat, which is fine by me. But I think like Nirvana was the first band that I kind of discovered myself. So I kind of felt it was my band, weirdly. But I think as a drummer that influenced me massively. And then from that was kind of getting everything that’s from a similar world around that. I think one of the best things about The Mysterines is that with everyone’s kind of musical tastes, you can listen to any kind of shit really and it just kind of somehow kind of works when we’re all piloting together.
Sean: So, the new album out and about and has been very well received. And of course now it’s the perfect time of the year for you guys to get out. And the festival scene is right on the money now.
Paul: Yeah, it’s been a bit chaotic because we’ve been doing like album in stores as well as festival season so it’s been a crazy few months. But yeah, we’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with festivals over the years. But as this summer, I don’t know whether we’ve just got better at playing [laughs] but it’s just the festivals this year have been really great. And the response to the new songs and stuff like that has been really good. So yeah, we’re enjoying festival season this year, which is good.
Sean: So are there plans to take it outside of the UK? Because it’s certainly a sound that will resonate across the globe. Australia would love to hear this kind of music.
Paul: Yeah, you know what? I’d love to go to Australia. I love Australia so much. I think that’s all on everyone’s bucket list. We’re going to the States in September. And then we come back to the UK. And then there’s a few dates in Europe, like bleeding into November. But maybe next year. You know, I’d love to do Australia. Yeah, I’d love to. I’ve never been, so I wouldn’t really know what to expect. But yeah, hopefully.
Sean: So taking you back to being a kid, where was your love for music from? And when did it start becoming something you could end up thinking of making a career from?
Paul: I’m the youngest of four and I’ve got three older sisters who are quite a bit older than me. So when I was a kid, they were all listening to like RK Fire, you know, like PJ and LCD Sound System and the AAS and Hot Chip and all stuff like this. There was, at the time I didn’t really realise what I was doing. But I remember years and years later, I was on the bus to college and I remember putting Funeral on and I remembered everything from it, just from like when I was a kid and like it being on in the car and stuff like that. So I think from a dead early age, I was kind of, I was going to gigs and I was listening to really great music through my sisters and my dad to be fair. My dad can play guitar and stuff like that. So it was always just kind of surrounding me. And my sister’s boyfriend at the time, were in bands and were playing in gigs. And I remember they were playing a gig in the small O2 Academy in Liverpool and I remember, I thought that was it. You know what I mean? I thought it was like…Yeah, man. So yeah, I was just, I was just surrounded by it. When I was a kid, I tried guitar first. That didn’t really go as planned. And then I think I was quite an excitable lad, like full of energy. And so I think the drums appealed to me. So I just tried it and I picked it up. I mean, I used to go to the Cavern every weekend. And I just used to just sit and just watch. Because again, one of my sister’s mates was in one of the covers bands. So just, me and my dad would just go because my dad wants to have a pint and I wanted to watch the bands. So, so… We’d just go and I would, it just, I don’t know, I think it really like… It’s like… Some things just click with people, don’t they? I think live music in general… Yeah, it just clicked with me.
Sean: What’s the local live music scene like in Liverpool now? Is there many, many smaller venues to accommodate local bands?
Paul: There is venues and stuff like that. But I think considering the history of the city, I think what we offer as a music scene, locally, I think it’s quite poor. I think a lot of the good venues seem to shut down fairly quickly. And I think even if they don’t, even if they don’t shut down quickly, then it just kind of fades away a little bit, which is a shame, you know. There’s been so many great venues over the years that have just been thrown away. And, yeah, probably compared to other cities, we’ve probably got a good music scene. But I always think that given the history and how much we’re kind of big up being a music city and stuff like that, I think there should be more, personally. Yeah, yeah. But, well, maybe that’s me being spoiled.
Sean: I think it’s possibly a global issue. Here in Australia we’ve had a lot of those sort of little iconic smaller venues starting to shut down, which makes it really hard for bands trying to get up that ladder to get to the festival scene. You know, they need to try and cut their teeth playing some local venues and it’s very difficult.
Paul: Yeah, and I think you need that for bands to get better, do you know what I mean? Otherwise what they’ll do is, they’ll go down the road and they’ll play Manchester instead. And do, you know what I mean? Manchester is a good example. Manchester is a music city and there’s so many venues. And they look after the venues properly. Whereas, I think Liverpool… They’ve probably got a better history musically, but it doesn’t have the same support. It’s like, they don’t take as much pride in the actual reason why there’s been so many Liverpool bands, if you know what I mean.
Sean: Well, we’re really excited to share the album with our readers over here in Australia, because I think it’s one they need to sink their teeth into. But I just wanted to finish with some general questions, Paul, if I can. And we kick off with my restaurant question. If you could invite three musicians, past or present, dead or alive, to join you for a bit of dinner, who would you have sit at the table with you?
Paul: That is a very good question. That is very good. I’d go… I’m going to go purely for selfish. I’m going to go with Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead. I’m going to go Kurt Cobain and Bob Marley [laughs].
Sean: Well, that’s a very… That’s a very eclectic table. Where the conversations would go, who would know?
Paul: I think that would be a good combination.
Sean: Another quick one. What was the last album you listened to? I know we get sucked into playlists a lot nowadays.
Paul: The last album I listened to was ‘Demon Days’ by Gorillaz. Yeah, ‘Demon Days’. Really, I don’t know why that came around, but I’ve just been listening to them again so much recently, and it’s just so good.
Sean: Very last question, Paul. If you could be credited with writing any song ever written, what song would you choose?
Paul: That is a very, very good question. And the only thing is, there’s so many songs that I listen to and I always go, I wish I’d have written that. But now it’s like, now it’s been thrown on me like that. The one that springs to mind is… ‘The Killer Moon’ by Echo and the Bunnymen. And I think it’s one of the best songs ever written. But actually, I’m going to change. Can I have two?
Sean: You can have two.
Paul: I was watching the Glastonbury coverage recently. And I watched LCD play ‘All My Friends’. And I think that, again, is one of the best songs ever written. I’d probably say that. ‘All My Friends’, by LCD.
Sean: Paul, I really, really appreciate your time and we wish you all the best for the album. Please send our regards to the rest of the band. Enjoy festival season and hopefully we get to see you down here in Australia one day.
Paul: Yeah, hopefully. I look forward to it.
Sean: That’s awesome. Thank you so much for your time, mate.
Paul: Thank you very much, Sean. Have a good day.
