ganser

FIVE FAVOURITES: Ganser

Formed of Nadia Garofalo (keyboards/vocals), Alicia Gaines (bass/vocals), Charlie Landsman (guitar) and Brian Cundiff (drums), Chicago-based Ganser have garnered comparisons to the likes of 90s noise-makers Fugazi, Shellac, and Sonic Youth. The band have recently shared their new album, Just Look at That Sky, via Felte Records and it’s a defiant fusion of jolting rhythms, confrontational vocals and manic riffs.

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with bassist & vocalist Alicia Gaines to ask about her “Five Favourites” – five songs that she believes have inspired Ganser’s song-writing techniques on their latest record. Check out her choices below, and scroll down to watch Ganser’s video for ‘Projector’ at the end of this post.

 

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ‘Date With a Night’
There is a songwriting mode we’ve utilized at times which I’ve jokingly called “Doom Hoedown” or “Doom Shuffle.” Before really getting into The Birthday Party and their ilk, my first concert back home with my high school friends was Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I remember being blown away by their raw delivery and Karen O’s command of her particular vocal style. It took us a while to tease out what songs lean into Nadia and my strengths as vocalists, but man the music’s like a glove for O’s voice here. Listening to this really makes me miss the chaos of playing live.

2. Ultravox – ‘Distant Smile’
For Ganser, it’s about contrast. The violence and serenity in this track really compliment each other. Red looks more red against green, and so on. In a way the form of this one is a backwards version of our track ‘Emergency Equipment and Exits’. I love how the back half of this song sounds like its running away from itself.

3. Talking Heads – ‘Life During Wartime’ (Live in Los Angeles 1983)
This live version has an inevitability that’s hard to escape. The faster tempo and incredible work by the band’s support vocalists adds to the urgency on this classic. Tina Weymouth is just a monster. I have a strained and complicated relationship to the history of particularly Black women backup singers for white bands, but my affinity for this song and album (Stop Making Sense) remains.

4. These Immortal Souls – ‘The King of Kalifornia’
When there isn’t really a template for voice or perspective, it’s a journey to find what feels natural or what you need to try on to see how it fits. I think this album (I’m Never Gonna Die Again) is the first time we’ve really waded into “cockiness” as an attitude, which isn’t something women are encouraged to do. It felt really good to really absorb the energy of Rowland and some of the 90’s British bands we love. Bravado feels like a lounge lizard to me. We free associated in that direction and that attitude crept into several songs on our new record.

5. Liars – ‘No.1 Against the Rush’
I’m so amazed every time I look at Liars’ range. I have a soft spot for ambivalent tone bands like Liars and Radiohead have. There’s always a sinister edge, a wistfulness to their music throughout their discography that’s extremely admirable. Our album Just Look at That Sky is really comfortable for ambivalence, but that takes time and living in the grey. We’re just here to eavesdrop.

Thanks to Alicia for sharing her favourite songs with us.
Watch the video for Ganser’s latest single ‘Projector’ below.

Order your copy of Ganser’s new album here.

Photo Credit: Kirsten Miccoli

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LISTEN: Fern Ford – ‘Match’

Sparse beats and atmospheric electronics permeate ‘Match’, the debut single from Fern Ford. Released via AWAL, the track is a slow-burning soundscape inspired by Ford’s desire to overcome feelings of self doubt.

Best known as the drummer for Mercury Prize nominated band The Big Moon, Ford’s solo work is a world away from the garage-rock anthems she creates with the group, who released their second album Walking Like We Do earlier this year. On ‘Match’, Ford allows space for her musings about trusting your intuition with her tentative beats and ambient keys.

Speaking about the track, Ford explains: “I first started writing 8 years ago, armed with just a Casiotone 202 and a xylophone. Being the drummer in a band, I always felt like maybe I should stay in my lane and leave the song writing to the pros. It felt a bit like imposter syndrome, helped by the fact that the music I was making didn’t sound like the music I was hearing around me, which made me think that maybe I was doing it wrong. I soon realised that was silly. Over the years the self-doubt subsided and with a bit of practise, I finally found my voice. ‘Match’ is about trusting your intuition. It’s about realising your strength and finding comfort in the unknown.”

Listen to ‘Match’ below and follow Fern Ford on Spotify for more updates.

Photo Credit: George Selwyn-Brace

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Madame So – ‘You Say’

Madame So provides a cathartic dose of resilience and optimism on her latest single ‘You Say’. The Paris-born, London-based songwriter’s vocals flow over fuzzy guitar riffs as she dismantles feelings of negativity and despondency in her lyrics.

Following on from her previous release ‘Generation Y’, Madame So has teamed up with Brazilian illustrator Tomás Santos on ‘You Say’ to create an animated lyric video for the track. She recalls her first interactions with the artist: “In January 2019, I got a notification on Instagram that I had been tagged by a certain Tomás. I clicked on the post only to gasp at the beautiful illustration of a shot of me by photographer Crawford Blair. Tomas’s work is one of a kind, as confirmed by my friend Julian Molinero of the band Medusa who when he saw it wowed, I quote, ‘that’s the sort of thing ya pay absolutely loads for!’ Well, I was blessed with Tomas’s gift to me, and here we are now in full-blown collaboration.”

“‘You Say’ is a song about stonewalling negativity and seeing the bright side of things in life”, she continues. “It is aimed at all the killjoys, naysayers, narcissists as well as all the ambitious, optimists and resilient.” Watch the video for the track below and follow Madame So on Facebook & bandcamp for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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FIVE FAVOURITES: Delhia de France

Crafting a solo career between Berlin and L.A over the past two years, Producer and songwriter Delhia de France has been busy re-working a track from German producer Robot Koch’s latest album, The Next Billion Years. She takes Koch’s concept of sound-tracking the far distant future of earth on ‘All Forms Are Unstable’ and gives it an alt-pop twist, breathing new life in to the instrumental piece with her soft vocals and shimmering electronics.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with Delhia to ask about her “Five Favourites” – five songs that inspired her song-writing techniques. Check out her choices below, and scroll down to listen to her cover of ‘All Forms Are Unstable’ at the end of this post.

1. Massive Attack – ‘Paradise Circus’
‘Paradise Circus’ has a certain melancholic lightness to it that I really like. Massive Attack have been consistently bending genres and been a huge influence of mine since forever. Their latest project Eutopia with Young Fathers is as brilliant as it is important. The tracks are layered over with speeches and lectures by prominent educational figures demanding justice, equality, sustainability. Goosebumps education.

2. Fever Ray – ‘I’m Not Done’
This whole album is one of my all time fives. I will never get tired diving into these eerie synth baths that have a very artificial sound yet and incredibly warm vibe. It really is an album of light and dark and to create opposites so each side can shine is something that I picked up from Karin Dreijer’s productions.

3. Rosalia – ‘A Palé’
I love how the track begins with this soothing melody and then takes a totally different turn. It’s incredible how she fuses traditional flamenco with modern sounds. I love all the space in between and her voice effortlessly pouring over it like a waterfall.

4. Thom Yorke – ‘Skip Divided’
Radiohead had always been a massive influence to me and Thom Yorke with his extraordinary fragile voice throwing words at you like daggers. He has a special way of writing melodies that uniquely beautiful. How he marries the piano with these textured organic sounds has been, I’ve always been fascinated.

5. The Knife – ‘Silent Shout’
Again Karin Dreijer, this time with her brother Olof. The whole Silent Shout album has been an eye-opener to me, these simple melodies and her bone-shaking voice combined with glowing and sawing synths are so far opposite of my usual sound yet so captivating and just plain beautiful in this genius simplicity.

Thanks to Delhia de France for sharing her favourites with us.
Listen to her cover of ‘All Forms Are Unstable’ below.

Photo Credit: Alix Spence

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