“We’ve all been involved in a number of different projects whilst this has started, and I think it can only be a positive for everyone.”
The five-piece that make up the core of Falmouth Psychedelics Pastel Colours are a busy bunch. The band, the working idea of Josh Gibbs and Stanley Duke, come from a varied background of creating a range of music in different bands.
The two are also a part of garage-rock specialists Hazards, while bass player Matthew Oliver writes 50s/60s influenced pop as Goddam Nobody. It doesn’t end there, if you’ve heard Cornwall via Manchester rock n roll duo Lost Dawn, then you’ll be familiar with Duke and Benjamin Woods’ work. The members of this quintet are no doubt in a creative mood, and being this way makes them feel they are achieving more;
“The idea that you can only focus on one project is often overplayed. It’s totally possible to balance them all and in quite a few cases, it’s often beneficial as it stops you from feeling creatively stagnant.”
Pastel Colours adds another element to each members’ repertoire. Their first track, ‘Hands Like Silk‘ (listen above), appeared on Soundcloud in the first week of January. An upbeat and expansive four minutes of kaleidoscopic guitar and ethereal vocals, it hints at their 60s psych influences but also forges flashes of instrumental improvisation, building a shrine to the acid-rock era of early Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead. Their influences are as broad as they seem;
“Obviously we are influenced by 60’s psych records, but we are just as influenced by a ten-minute dance track, it leaves a lot of room for experimenting.”
Even just from one track you can tell their sound won’t be thrust into a stereotypical mindset. One thing you can’t mistake is the modern glisten they give to what is an increasingly maturing sound.
“The sound that we made is somewhat due to the equipment we had available to us, we did it in a basement on no budget and often broken equipment. So this lends itself to the sound in terms of giving us a challenge.”;
“With each song we release, people will see a slightly different aspect of what we do. Not saying were about to write an album of free jazz, but we definitely like to expand and explore as opposed to sticking to one sound.”
The concept of their live sound will be an interesting prospect and it’s something that excites the quintet in terms of evolving;
“It’s a lot more energetic and dynamically more muscular than on record, without a doubt. Performing live is a great emotional outlet and when playing songs that you love and believe in it’s really great to give it everything you have for yourself and for the audience.”
Having regularly played around the pubs and venues of Falmouth town for a number of years, the members are appreciative to the sunny town that has given them a place to experience a live atmosphere, but as Duke puts it, they certainly want to fly further afield;
“Falmouth has always been pretty great for music, although Cornwall is quite hard to break out of. My theory has always been that it’s a great place for bands to test out styles and really mature before moving onto bigger things. Josh is from London so he brought in a different perspective, also bringing London closer to us.”
Pastel Colours are an exciting prospect. Their music will compliment a dazed summer, an encompassing live atmosphere or just sitting back listening to vinyl, harking back memories of an experimental decade while exporting a fresh feeling a golden sound.