my grey horse have been holed up inside a log cabin near the Forest of Dean, letting their sound catch up with their minds as they finished their debut album, I Still Don't Understand, which was released on 9th June through CRC Music. my grey horse are a band of brothers. Singers and guitarists Paul, John & Oobah Butler are completed by close friends Joe Nicklin on drums and bassist Tom Mott.
We met up with the guys in their hometown and decided it would be rather rock n' roll if we hired a rowing boat and conducted the interview on the river by the Royal Shakespeare Company building (as you do). We waved to a few fans and chatted about singing dogs, Chris De Burgh and quad bike related accidents, here's how we got on....
Please introduce the band and your music in one sentence....
Tom: We’re a band of brothers and buddies often to be found in the countryside laying miles of extension leads from our house to the nearest barn to power guitar amplifiers and casiotones.
You’re called ‘my grey horse’ how did you come about choosing this name?
Pete: I used to own a horse, a beautiful black beast. I used to use her to transport salt back from the Droitwich Spa. Sadly, she got old, grey and finally threw a shoe. I had to shoot her by the side of the B4090. The band’s name is an ode to all the cheap salt we’ve missed out on since.
John: It was the only thing we considered.
What music are you grooving to at the moment?
Oobah: Grumbling Fur’s new record Preternaturals is great.
Tom: We've also been sweating out some summer time fever dreams to the sound of Liars' Mess On a Mission.
Pete: I am very much listening to Parquet Courts, Ought and John Vanderslice at the moment. I’ve also been listening to Band on the Run a lot. Some great basslines on that LP.
How did you come to record your new album ‘I Still Don’t Understand’ in an old cylindrical Hop Kiln in Hampshire?
Pete: Our label found it. Which is isn’t very interesting but it’s true. It looks amazing and the Kiln has an amazing sound to it. Once they said ‘Reel to Reel’ we were sold.
Tom: Plus it was snake proof, when there are no corners they just follow the wall all the way round until they get back to where they came in. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Give me three words that best describe you as a band?
Oobah: All the harmonies.
What’s your favourite ‘Saturday Night/Sunday Morning’ record?
Pete: Fever/Velvet Underground
Would you rather live with a dog that sings lullabies or a gorilla that can do sign language? Explain your answer
Oobah: There’s only one answer: the singing dog. I like my life at the moment and I have a dog, so I can only envisage that being an improvement. Gorillas are terrifying. I’d only feel comfortable with thick glass between us, but then the whole thing would make me sad. I’d pray for Stockholm Syndrome. Definitely the dog.
Pete: Yep, the Dog. You can’t trust a primate with book smarts.
Who designed/produced the artwork for the album cover? Does it have a meaning?
Pete: John did, the meaning would be the same as the record, which is ‘Do we ever really change or will we forever make old mistakes in different forms’
If push came to shove, what is the BEST album/record ever released and why?
John: Chris De Burgh, Spanish Train.
Oobah: Absolutely not. At this moment in time, I’d probably go with ‘Abbey Road’. It has a strong, innovative concept and has the familiarity a Beatles’ record, but with being absolutely nothing like any of the other records. These four different entities never try to escape the impending doom of what’s to come, and there’s such sadness in that.
Pete: It feels like a finale to that band too. Contextually and just as a piece of art it’s so amazing…yeah, Abbey Road. “The love you take is equal to the love you make”.
You recently supported ‘Tall Ships’ on 10th July in Cardiff, we saw this band a couple of years back, how was the experience?
Joe: Yeah, great. Probably one of my favourite shows actually. The way the stage was set up meant that we were horse-shoed by the crowd, I like it when that happens. Tall Ships were brilliant, and played a lot of new songs that I assume are currently part of the long list for their new album.
What was the last thing you ate?
Tom: A bag of broad beans with gravy.
Explain how you approach the songwriting process?
Oobah: Everybody is different, and we all bring ideas, malleable ideas.
Pete: It just varies. Musically, it can be from messing around recording things, or sat on an instrument. Then it’s brought to the band at some point and we all have our say.
I think lyric writing is the most consistent. We are really picky about that. It can be a struggle especially when we’ve written a lot of music and then have to write all the lyrics. You have to find a theme that means something to you and sometimes it doesn’t come as naturally. But it’s so important; I can’t listen to music with bad lyrics.
Is there something you would like to tell each of the band members that you haven’t told them before?
John: Sam flipped his dad’s quad bike, not Joe.
Pete: I watched Mel Gibson’s ‘What Women Want’ on my own and enjoyed it.
The band includes an illustrator, an animator, a writer, and a film-maker, have you considered writing, illustrating, animating and making your own videos?
The band includes an illustrator, an animator, a writer, and a film-maker, have you considered writing, illustrating, animating and making your own videos?
Pete: We’ve made all but one of our music videos.
Oobah: We have our own production company ‘Little Balloon’.
What classic song would you have liked to have recorded and why?
Oobah: Probably ‘Her Majesty’ by The Beatles, so I could go back in time, Quantum Leap-style, and stop McCartney from doing it.
Pete: The theme tune to ‘Only Fools and Horses’ so we could shoot it off into the vacuum of space.
There are many good bands and musicians out there, who would you ask the readers of musicmuso to look out for?
Oobah: Go and listen to The Wrens, they’re the eternal underdogs.
Pete: John Vanderslice
Tom: Bled White Boy
You signed to CRC Music in 2012, how did this come about and why this label?
Joe: Charlie – the label’s boss – heard us as a wild card on a radio show when we were barely a band, and we met him barely a fortnight later.
You state that ‘I Still Don’t Understand’ isn’t an obituary, but instead a bittersweet celebration, explain please….?
Oobah: I said that. What I meant by it was that on the record we’re acknowledging a lot of things that are passing in our lives and that have changed, but you shouldn’t be too sad about it, because they were good things.
If you could describe your music in the form of a fictional character, who would it be?
Pete: Dan Aykroyd in My Girl.
Do you think we can ever live in a world where a chicken can cross the road without having its motives questioned?
Pete: Just let the Chickens have some privacy.
What are your plans for the remainder of 2014?
We've just completed a great run of shows, which has made us hungry to do more. There have already been murmurs about our next release, so I'm sure we'll hole ourselves up somewhere for a week or two maybe around winter time and see what new material comes from that.
Oobah was getting tired of rowing and nobody else wanted to get involved, I was sat with a voice recorder and a notepad in both hands so I was out of the equation, we decided to let the boat drift and see where we ended up, prior to requiring the S-U-A river police to tow us ashore, we threw a few quick fire questions at the guys....
Coffee or Tea?
Pete: Coffee
Coke or Pepsi?
Oobah: Coke
Lifts or Stairs?
Tom: Stairlifts.
Drum machine or the real deal?
Pete: Dickinson’s Real Deal
Joe: I’m leaving.
Mac or PC?
Pete: Mac
Fry up or Sunday Roast?
Pete: Just the coffee, please.
Tom: I'll have Pete's egg if no one else wants it.
Oobah: Sunday Roast
Fleet Foxes or Mumford & Sons?
Pete: Fleet Foxes
Banksy or Dali?
Pete: In a knife fight? Dali.
Lemmy (Motorhead) or Ozzy (Black Sabbath)?
Pete: Running a successful Ice cream truck? Neither. I don’t think they’d wear the plastic gloves.
CD or Vinyl?
Tom: Vinyl
Car or Motorbike?
Tom: Car
Acoustic or electric?
Oobah: Dunno, ask that Dylan bloke.
Shower or Bath?
John: Bath.
Tattoos or Piercings?
Pete: Piercings on Babies, Tattoos on dogs.
Robert De Niro or Al Pacino?
Pete: De Niro has the reach but Pacino can shout his head off. De Niro, but Pacino pulls a good chunk of his hair out.
God or Google?
Pete: Google has the answers.
We'd like to thank the guys for taking time out of their busy day to join us on the river for a chat, we wish them every success in the future and look forward to catching them live one day in sunny Devonshire (hint hint).....
Interview by Steve Muscutt