Still Corners: TAS In Session
As adrift in moody atmosphere as a Jane Campion film, Still Corners' second album, Strange Pleasures, takes a nocturnal journey through London, reflecting the romantic evolution of a relationship.
The Anglo-American duo of Greg Hughes and Tessa Murray just wrapped a tour with Chvrches, appearing in New York last week for three gigs, including their own headlining slot at Mercury Lounge. A handful of UK and European festivals are set for later this summer.
Before their show at Music Hall of Williamsburg last Tuesday, Still Corners made a side trip to The Alternate Side to play a set of songs from their haunting new record, out now on Sub Pop. Watch videos of Still Corners' performance and read highlights of their conversation below.
Listen to the entire session this Friday, June 28, on TAS on 91.5 WNYE at 11 a.m. ET, also streaming online.
UPDATE: Listen to Still Corners' session in the FUV/TAS archives now.
Kara Manning: You’re described as a London duo, but in truth, you’re an Anglo-American duo because, Greg, you are from Austin, Texas.
Greg Hughes: Yes, that’s right. I went over [to London] about a girl. It didn’t work out but I stayed.
Kara: I interviewed Exitmusic last year and they met in an amazing way on a train, going through Canada. Then I heard your story and thought that it almost trumps Exitmusic’s story. It also involves trains.
Greg: A lot of people actually don’t believe us. But if you live in London, it wouldn’t be that surprising because trains get missed and go different places quite often. I was at London Bridge ….
Tessa Murray: You weren’t at London Bridge! He was trying to get to London Bridge.
Greg: Yes! I was trying to get to London Bridge from Charing Cross. The train said it was going to London Bridge, but it didn’t. It went out to this place that I’d never heard of before called Kidbrooke. It was actually a dark, foggy night. I got off of the train and there was this other person on the platform. I guess [Tessa] came up to me because I looked confused.
Tessa: He looked a bit annoyed. I was a bit annoyed. The train was definitely signposted to London Bridge and it was twenty minutes before the next train. I just said, “Did you get on the wrong train too?”
Greg: i was surprised because people in London don’t speak to each other.
Tessa: But I’m quite friendly.
Greg: We’re all too busy being miserable. But we got to chatting and that’s when Tessa said, “I’m missing choir.” And I was looking for a singer for my project Still Corners. So we shared the train back, talked about music and film ….
Tessa: And you had five books in your bag which you showed me.
Greg: So Tessa came down and we started working on music. It grew from there, a really great fit. Actually, [Tessa], you told me recently about the bench ….
Tessa: I was going to sit down on a bench to pass the time, but it was wet. So that’s part of the reason I spoke to him.
Greg: So the project hinged on a wet bench. Very weird to think about.
Kara: Your most recent record is Strange Pleasures which is the followup to [your debut] Creatures of the Hour. You were snagged by Sub Pop before your debut was released, but it was based on the double-A single you’d released, right?
Greg: Yes, it was the “Don’t Fall in Love/Wish” combo that we put out on The Great Pop Supplement in London. Shortly thereafter we did a video for “Wish,” the B-side, and that’s when we started getting some momentum. I think we noticed that Sub Pop bought the song ….
Tessa: On Bandcamp. We got an email saying that they’d spend £4 on the two songs which is twice what you’re meant to pay.
Greg: They doubled down. But we didn’t really think about it and then a day later we got an email and [reps from Sub Pop] flew over, and they saw us play. We were talking to other labels, but [Sub Pop] were really cool. It seemed like a great fit.
[video:http://youtu.be/ppoygttFNRs]
Greg: I think I turned an adjective into a verb on “Beginning to Blue.” It’s just about when you’re in a relationship and it’s starting to stall and you get that icky feeling ... it’s beginning to blue.
Kara: The album leads off with “The Trip.” I immediately thought of the Steve Coogan film, but I know that’s not what it’s from! But cinema plays a huge role in what you do. Do you find artistic inpsiration in film?
Greg: The whole film angle, when you watch a certain movie, like a David Lynch film, part of the film is the atmosphere that it provides and for Still Corners, atmosphere almost defines us as a band. Maybe it’s not something you’d bang on — you wouldn’t just throw on “Silence of the Lambs” — you have to be in the right mood. And we’re kind of a moody band.
Tessa: I think with the film, the influences, is us as sponges. Particularly with Greg, in watching loads of different films and soaking in those different atmospheres. When the songs are written, they probably project some of those things that we’ve seen over the years. More like a sponge, you squeeze it out, and that becomes a song. The dregs of the water in a little puddle!
Greg: Yeah, it’s essentially about the vibe and the atmosphere and we try to bottle that up into the music.
Kara: Greg, you do most of the songwriting, but do you find that the more [you work with Tessa], the more that might expand as you look to the third album?
Greg: Absolutely. It already has on the second album. Tessa and I have this sympatico and she’s almost able to read my mind. It was much more collaborative this time, so I think for the third record, we’ll be going more towards that. It’s fun, exciting an it definitely yields new, interesting directions. I think the first record was a darker record.
Kara: It was more about internal heartbreak too. This record seems to be about what you’re on now, a journey. It happens at night, there’s a nocturnal vibe to the record. Have you been working on songs for the third record?
Greg: No, actually. We totally revamped the live set and we brought on board Jack [Gooderham] who is our new drummer and he’s amazing. We’ve been working on blowing that up as big as possible.
Kara: I was intrigued that your song “All I Know” was a song that spun out of the aftermath of the [2011] London riots. What was it about that time that was a paradigm shift for you living in London, especially as an American?
Greg: The riots were a very strange time. If you’re in London, it’s never empty, but during those few days the streets were absolutely empty and all the shops were boarded up.
Tessa: Well, the streets were empty apart from where they were rioting.
Greg: Yes, well, all the surrounding area was empty. It created this very odd atmosphere. With the song, I tried to reflect that. When you turned on the the television there were fires everywhere. Businesses were on fire. Cars. So the first line is, “Summer was like a fire.” It took off from that. The chorus echoes the inability to comprehend what’s going on. It’s difficult to put into words, what’s happening, when everything around you is going crazy.
[video:http://youtu.be/XnqRhYRaWrA]
Kara: Lyrically are you as moved by literature?
Greg: Yeah, we read a lot of poetry. Keats, Yeats and Blake. Robert Frost.
Kara: What other songwriters?
Greg: Leonard Cohen. He’s amazing. That’s writing on another level though. We try to go deep, but maybe we’ll go deeper next time.
Kara: You speak a lot of influences — like Broadcast or Yo La Tengo — but what is it about Still Corners that really defines you?
Greg: Tessa’s voice which is very unique and intimate. It has a real soul to it, but it’s almost like a choir. That, as well as the atmosphere that we’re trying to provide through the songwriting. I think that’s what defines our sound.
[video:http://youtu.be/rvDYeqxLx30]
Kara: I have to ask you about the title of the song, “Going Back To Strange.”
Greg: Well, if you’ve ever left a place or moved away from home, when you leave ….
Tessa: … You’re still connected.
Greg: You don’t know what you give up. So the things that annoyed you draw you closer to it. So you eventually go back to the strange part of that.
Kara: Because you’re such connoisseurs of great music, if you were to demand that people have three essential albums in their record collections, what three would you choose?
Greg: The first album that comes to mind is Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. But as pertaining to us, Yo La Tengo’s I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One and Cocteau Twins’ Four-Calendar Café.
Tessa: I’ve got one, but it goes against the grain maybe. The one that immediately sprung to mind, but probably because I really love it, is Lou Reed’s Transformer. He’s not entirely happy.
