We recently caught up with synths/guitarist Alex Perry from Chapel Club to chat about the band’s anticipated sophomore full length Good Together. It’s no secret that music critics and fans alike have always had much to say about this London quintet. In a sense, Chapel Club’s Good Together LP is a musical proliferation of boundaries. Our contention is the psychelic, time-warped and synth pop medley of Good Together is as honest a rock record we’ve heard in years. It’s a collection of songs that play distinctly as Chapel Club, while sonically swapping the band’s traditional instrumentation for mostly synths and electronics alongside the melodic register exploration of frontman Lewis Boman’s voice. You can sample the album below and have a look at our brief conversation together here:
B3SCI: What makes for a great pop melody?
Perry: Woah, cool question, but there really isn’t any answer I don’t think, its just about finding the right combination of parts. A melody isn’t really a melody to me unless it has the right chords and rhythm and stuff to sit under it.
B3SCI: Are there trends in music right now that you find boring or tired? Has nu-garage begun to wear on you as much as it has on us?
Perry: I’m sure there are some whole groups of music that I wouldn’t like, if I sat and listened to a bunch, but I mainly just judge songs on their individual merit. It seems to me that music is mostly around 80% terrible, but a good song is just that for me, regardless of the frame its in.
B3SCI: How do you find the reporting in the press about the band’s stylistic evolution on Good Together? Do you find it hackneyed or annoying?
Perry: Yeah, a little, but that’s just journalism for the most part, so it doesn’t bother me too much. I’ve read that we’ve changed our direction and become a synth pop group, and I definitely don’t think that’s true, but they’ve got to write something!
B3SCI: Is there any about synth pop that appeals to Chapel Club and is there a certain era that’s most inspiring?
Perry: Synth music is really versatile and dynamic, and what we were trying to do with guitars, we eventually had to admit would be easier and more effective using synthesizers. I wouldn’t say the synth element of the record is limited to pop though, even though its a sort of pop album. Stuff from the late 70’s, songs like Walker Brothers’ “Nite Flights” and David Bowie’s “Art Decade” were some of the main influences musically.
B3SCI: Is there anything specific about Good Together that you guys find most cleansing as a band?
Perry: It feels great playing live now. There’s a lot more dynamic variation in our set than there was before, and it feels like all the shifts and changes add to the performance. Like when a new instrument or sound is introduced, its another lift, in addition to the structured parts of the song. Its exciting for us to do and I think (hope) audiences get it too.
B3SCI: Would yourselves consider Good Together a concept album?
Perry: Not really, we didn’t have anything in mind, and the songs don’t sound to us like they’re all clearly connected by anything. I’d be interested to know if anyone did hear some obvious linearity though! Having said that, I think recording in LA, and the artwork of the album, does tie in to the music inextricably, so I guess its conceptual in that sense.
B3SCI: Looking back at your lives during your debut album Palace, and all of the hype that surrounds such a release, what if any advice would you give to young bands and artists submersed in similar whirlwinds of ‘buzz’?
Perry: Consider your options, do as much as you possibly can on your own terms, and don’t rush anything (and don’t take too long over anything).
B3SCI: Chapel Club more than most bands strike us as having a bottomless catalog of influences. But still, we have to ask, do you guys have a go-to track for the Jukebox at the local pub?
Perry: Haha! I’m pretty much always in the mood for Roxy Music “Avalon” or Janet Jackson “Let’s Wait a While”, stuff like that, but I guess it depends what kind of night it is…I have my reasons for never making Jukebox selections.
B3SCI: Is there anything that makes for a classic song, in your opinion?
Perry: I would say a classic song should be pretty simple, so that its memorable and accessible. Having a message is usually quite important for me too. I don’t mean a political one or anything necessarily, it just helps when a song is about something, you know?
B3SCI: What music is inspiring you right now?
Perry: A lot of American rap at the moment, like Azealia Banks and Kendrick Lemar I’m digging a lot. Also this DJ/producer Morri$ has definitely sparked my interest, I’ve found out about a lot of music through him.
B3SCI: Can you feel a pull into any specific direction in the band’s current writing?
Perry: Currently we’re not writing anything as a band, but our listening is definitely headed in a similar direction. I think we just get into whatever’s most progressive, and that has some impact on what we do as a band. I imagine our next output would be an expansion on this album. More American soul, more samples and beats with a splash of psychadelia.
B3SCI: What forthcoming with the album release can fans look forward to, and will you be touring the states anytime soon?
Perry: I would really hope so, our manager is desperate to get us out there, and so are we, so we’ll see. Hopefully! They can look forward to hearing an album that hopefully means something to them, and will hopefully take a while to really get into and will them last forever. Its out now, go get it!
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Reviewed by b3
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