October 16, 2020

THE BURNT TAPES CONVEY THE BEHIND THE SCENE DETAILS OF THEIR NEW EP "GROWER"

The Burnt Tapes, a four-piece grunge band out of London, have just released their EP Grower. The four track EP is a testament to their adaptability within the scene and within their own sound. I sat down with their drummer, Jo, to discuss the release and what’s to come from the band!

Congrats on the release of your newest EP Grower! Can you tell us more about the recording and writing process of this album?

• Thank you, it's been quite a ride. We started recording Grower at the beginning of the year and managed to get a couple of the tracks recorded before lockdown came along and put everything on hold. We were lucky enough to get back into the studio in July, once lockdown had been lifted, to finish the rest of them off. We've been working on it, on and off, for about 6 months. It's the first lot of songs we've written since Never Better came out, so it's been nice to get something fresh out into the world.

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​This release follows that of your debut album, Never Better. How has the way you approach music, both lyrically and sonically, changed since then? 
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• I think we made an effort to take the level of detail up a notch. Things like song structures, guitar tones, drum sounds, details in the vocals - We always try to better each release in comparison to the previous recordings and I think that these songs are more creative and more complex in their sound than a lot of the tracks on Never Better.

The first single you released from Grower was “ Greek Wood.” What encouraged you to release this as the first single? 

• “Greek Wood” was the first of the Grower tracks to be finished. We had it completely ready, and when lockdown came along with all its uncertainty, we decided that rather than hold on to it, we thought it'd be good to just get it out there. Almost as a little bit of positivity, something people could enjoy during such a weird time. 

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After you released “Getitgotitgood.” Can you talk more about the inspiration behind this song?
 

• Pan wrote this one and he's usually pretty tight-lipped about the inspiration behind his writing. I do however remember him saying that the hook in the chorus came to him in a curry house in Kirkcaldy, Scotland a few summers back. We like curry, Pan especially. So I’d imagine it might have had something to do with a garlic naan. 

The only song not heard by fans before this release was the starting track, “ Dynasty, Die With Me.” Did you always know this was going to start the EP? 

• By the time the EP had come together, with all 4 tracks, we realised that people who had listened to us before may well know 3 of the songs already, so we figured we’d hit them with something brand new, straight off the bat.  Also, we just really love it as a song and felt it fit perfectly as an opener.

The EP ends with an acoustic version of your song “Yuzi.” What inspired you to end the EP in this way? 

• Like everyone else, we had a fair bit of time over lockdown. We were invited to play a few acoustic shows and we realized during these sets that Yuzi worked really well with an acoustic set up. Pan locked himself away for a couple of days in his attic and recorded, mixed and mastered it himself. We’ve never really done anything like that before, but we thought it gave a nice chilled ending to the EP. 

How has being from London defined your roots in the alternative music scene?

• 3/4 of us grew up in Greece which has a very tight music scene where everyone is connected. So coming over to London and starting a band was quite a shock. The amount of venues and bands means you have to really bring something special to stand out. It also means you're exposed to such a great variety of music, that really pushes you to be better as a band. Living in and around London has definitely had a big influence on our music and probably always will. ​

How has it felt to be featured in Spotify-curated playlists like “The Scene?” 

• Its been incredible to be a part of these big playlists. We’re just happy to be able to release music that we love, so when it gets picked up by these playlists and is potentially listened to by lots of new people, it feels pretty great. It’s also nice to be featured alongside lots of artists that we love. 

​What song would you tell someone to listen to if they wanted to get into your music?

• I would probably suggest “Getitgotitgood”. It grabs you from the start, is pretty accessible and I personally think the hook in the chorus is definitely one of our best. It's nice and short as well, no messing around.
  

Anything else you’d like to say to the fans? 
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• Just a big thank you to everybody for listening, for being kind to us, for saying nice things and for caring about our band. We cannot wait to get back to playing shows so we can hang out with everyone again. 

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