Little Victory

He’s become known for his extroverted experimental synth pop band So So Modern, but Grayson Gilmour is a little more reserved with his solo output. Famed for playing few live shows, he graces Wellington’s San Francisco Bath House this Saturday in celebration of completing his sixth album, No Constellation.

The year’s been busy for Grayson Gilmour. Having covered a gamut of styles with his previous five albums, he’s been busy developing his more acoustic folk-oriented music to include more symphonic, orchestral pop, putting his degree in composition to good use. “The year’s been really busy in the studio side of things,” Grayson says. “So So Modern’s finished an album, I’ve finished my latest studio album and also started working on short film soundtracks, and a larger body of work for a feature film next year, so I’ve just been at work at home in Wellington for the last six months or so.”

His latest output is explained as a stepping-stone between his former folky flame and the next big move towards something else entirely. It’s “in the middle of some label talks”, he says. “I’m quite excited about a particular person who is keen on releasing the record for me, but it’s a bit hush-hush right now so I can’t really talk about it,” he says.

This comes after many years of working as a solo operation, doing all promo and distribution himself. “It started when I was young as something I liked doing and didn’t really see an end to doing. I wanted to always be writing music and releasing it and seeing what people’s reactions would be to it. And regardless of whether it was good or bad I’d just keep doing it, cos it was something that I really enjoy doing. But now that it’s six albums in I’ve started to think about how it could get received wider, which is why I’ve become open to the idea of releasing through a label instead of doing things myself, which has got its advantages, but it’s also got its disadvantages.”

His band, So So Modern, is on Transgressive Records in the UK and Unter Schafen Records in Germany. “The only thing that gets tiring is writing press releases in the third person! But yeah, I’ve never had a problem doing physical promotion, sending out CDs and stuff like that, I quite like it in fact. I guess I still like the approach of sending out CDs to people and physical copies of things as opposed to just shooting off MP3s in the hopes that someone will listen to them.”

He’s been described as a perfectionist, and this could in part explain the lack of shows. “I continuously recycle or reinvent ideas to eventuate at a point where I feel the song is at its best possible version.” The permanence of the resulting object serves to somewhat dictate his strict regime. A record store employee by day, Grayson says, “A record has got almost an eternal life, so your work is there, on display, for whoever knows how long, and I guess I kind of want that to be the best work it could be.”

“It started when I was young as
something I liked doing and
didn’t really see an end to doing.”

With No Constellation he let go of some of the control to his band mates, Troy Cooper (The Actualities, Dial Square) and Chris Conaglen (Standing On Chairs). “We recorded it as a trio, drums, bass and piano. The idea was to try and get more a live feeling to it, which has come across to my ears, but I’m not sure if it really has come across over the whole record, because it was only really the main trio of instruments that was recorded live. Everything else, like the cello parts and the giant xylophone parts and guitar parts and things like that were just all overdubbed later on.

“I’ve played around quite a lot with doubling up the drums in this album, it really lifts the feel of the song when a part comes in and the drums pan hard left and hard right, and you get this big orchestra of drums happening. It actually makes the album feel quite rhythmic focused in a way.

“The drums and the piano were done properly in a studio, but everything else was recorded by me in different locations here and there,” he says. Part of it was done in his hometown of Palmerston North, and the rest he did in his attic bedroom in his Mt Vic flat. “I set up all my instruments and my home recording booth made out of mattresses and duvets and stuff.”

It’s his first record where he’s done the larger part of the recording himself, and this has made the whole process “a lot more relaxed”, he says.

Striving for continuity, Grayson kept the same band he’s worked with in the past. It’s been “the longest run” that he’s worked with the same people on his solo compositions. Now he’s approaching it more like a band – bringing song ideas to practice with his band mates and working them out together.

“It’s definitely a learning curve,” he says. “I’m coming in with a lot of little root ideas to see what the other guys make of them, and they can change them and see if they feel good. I think it’s good because it allows you to see a song in a way you probably wouldn’t see it if you were working on it by yourself, like I usually do. So that’s what I’m opening myself up to now, the idea of working with two other guys that know my music fairly well cos they’ve been playing it with me live, to then see what it’s like to work on new stuff.”

He’ll be working on a different type of project soon, with plans to score a feature film called The Most Fun You Could Have Dying. “That’s a really exciting and interesting opportunity, that’s where I want to take my composition side of things and make use of my degree.

“It seems like between me and this director we’ll be able to come up with something that’s really good. From reading the script it seems like a really moving film. She said her favourite movie was Trainspotting… I wouldn’t say it’s as drugged up as Trainspotting, but it’s definitely got that element of debauchery to it, but in more of a romantic kind of way. And she’s a big fan of post-rocky kind of soundscape stuff, so that’s right up my alley!”

“In a way it’s just me wanting to give
the best performance as I could
give the best recording on a CD.”

To fit everything in, he’s working on his follow up to No Constellation now, before the former’s even out. “Ideally I’d like to do a little bit of recording maybe before the end of the year, but that might be a big wish, I don’t know if I could actually pull it off! I guess I don’t really plan song writing, it just sort of happens continuously.”

No Constellation is yet to have a release date, but Grayson intends to award his listeners who download it with special early b-side versions of songs from the album, “to show how they were originally conceived. Because of opening my brain to new arrangements, anything from here is going to sound quite different, I hope!” he laughs.

He aims to make his live performances as thoughtful and spotless as his recordings. Originally the lack of shows was an issue of shyness, “I always liked playing in bands cos in a way it’s like playing sport; if you make a mistake you’re part of a team, so no one really notices! This is a terrible metaphor, but if you’re playing a game of tennis, it’s up to you to make the right moves, so that’s how I kind of felt in a way, about playing live originally. It was a shyness/confidence thing. I actually really do enjoy playing, it’s just a matter of making sure that everything is going to be as good as it can be.”

His So So Modern showmanship comes through in his approach to performance. “Something that I’m attempting to work on more is playing live more often, because I like making shows quite special occasions. Because it’s a show, I’m going to put on a really good concert and it’s gonna sound great. In a way it’s just me wanting to give the best performance as I could give the best recording on a CD.”

Grayson’s supporting WHY? at the SFBH on December 18 and is also planning a few “bare-bones kind of shows” for later in the year. “Just me,” he says shyly, “because I did that in the past and it was nerve-wracking, but it was a good experience in the long run.”

Grayson Gilmour with live band
plus Seth Frightening & I. Ryoko
at the San Francisco Bath House
Saturday, October 24

Tickets- Under The Radar (w/ free download of ‘Loose Change’)

Grayson Gilmour- Little Victories: MP3

Grayson Gilmour- Myspace

Grayson Gilmour- Website

Posted by Sarah Gooding under New Zealand, Wellington