WAKES, WEDDINGS & BAR MITZVAHS by The Screens / debut album released 5th October 2018
With an unashamed nod to the sixties, The Screens know exactly what they're doing as they seduce you with unforgettable melodies whilst selling you the darkest o
f lyrical scenarios.
'The Screens could have filmed 'Bambi' in an Abattoir and you'd have taken your kids to see it” (Timmy Newton/ KTRM New York ).
The Screens are a duo made up of Colin Wade (lead vocals) and Neil Watson (things that make noises). Their debut album was born out of sheer frustration of what writers have to do to make money out of music...
“When we started working on the album we'd just finished writing and producing the music for a German TV show and it was so painful we actually considered selling all our gear and buying an ice cream van and moving to Newquay. Colin was scrolling through Ebay to see what we could get for a couple of grand when the chorus of Avalanche came into my head and, by midnight that day it was written and recorded. We found a sound that we both fell in love with the fact there wasn't a record label in the world that was releasing what we were writing which was a complete buzz.”
Having complete artistic control was enough inspiration to turn that first song into an album of unique sounding songs. The bands management set up a label for The Screens to work without parameters...
The prospect of making an album without a team of marketing people telling us to make the beats sound like Ariana Bieberlake with a bit of rapping thrown in the middle to entice the working class street kids was as liberating as wearing your girlfriends underwear to a Rugby match. Through writing music for film and TV we've had a lifetime's worth of advice about how to write music from industry experts that would struggle to tell the difference between a fart and a French Horn.”
Nine songs grace this debut outing and there's references to the bands heroes along the route. It’s no coincidence the release date of the album coincides exactly with the date The Beatles released their first single Love Me Do...
“We're not the Beatles and don't want or pretend to be, Noel and Liam had that one covered, but The Beatles were the first band to show what happens if you write your own songs and, in a world where record companies manufacturer artists, it’s important to be unique and be in control of your own destiny. We wanted to release our debut album on a date that was the most significant for bands to write their own songs.”
The Screens live 2000 miles apart, Colin in Essex and Neil in Marbella which means co writing and recording is a unique process.
“If I want Neil's opinion on lyrics I'll ask him just like when he comes up with a melody he'd do the same. The fact that there's 2000 miles between us tells you all you need to know about how much we crave each others input..”
The Screens have an amazing history of credits and collaborations from film and TV music as well as working with artists that includes Sir Tom Jones, Paul Weller, The Cult, Hue and Cry, Mari Wilson, Tony Hadley, Will Smith through to Kill Bill, The Simpsons, The Sopranos, Lost, Smallville, 24, Mr & Mrs Smith........
“We've done some cool hook ups and then some that just pay the bills, you can work out which are which. Working with Weller was really inspiring as he was such a brilliant guy. We were co producing a single together for a girl called Lisa M and he was insanely focused on what would work and what wouldn't. We'd heard loads of stories about how he could be controlling or aggressive but he was far from that. Just a decent bloke that you'd enjoy a pint with....
“Tony Hadley is also brilliant to work with. We worked on his album and, despite having an amazing voice, he's really insecure about it. If he was left to judge when he'd got the vocal right he'd still be singing To Cut A Long Story Short..
Film and TV work like Kill Bill, Mr & Mrs Smith and The Soprano's is really impersonal and a bit like being a musical escort service. You get a phone call from the PA of the PA who gives you a brief, tells you when they want it by and how much is in the budget. That all takes about 30 seconds. Then when you submit it
they're on the phone morning, noon and night bending your ear to make inaudible tweaks because they had a meeting to discuss it and it doesn't quite work. It can be incredibly frustrating especially when you are dealing with people that don't really have a clue what they're talking about yet they have no problem calling you at midnight saying they desperately need a revision by 8 in the morning and then take two weeks to get back to you if it’s OK. Sometimes they don’t even come back to you. That’s why, after the German TV project we'd had enough of being musical escorts.”
The album has attracted a few guest appearances from an eclectic group of singers and musicians that you wouldn't necessarily expect to be working with an act like The Screens
“It’s the biggest rock n roll cliché when you hear someone say they're making an album and it would be great if you'd come down and play on it, or the reverse when someone invites you to play on their album and promises to call you but the phone never rings...
Musicians are great but they can be flaky. Fortunately we've made some solid friendships over the years and a lot of those guys have turned up to play on our tracks. People like Jakko Jakszyk who is regarded amongst fellow pro guitarists as one of the best in the world. He's currently touring the world as lead guitarist and singer with King Crimson although before that he was lead guitarist with Level 42, Phil Taylor is currently touring with Nick Heyward ( Haircut 100) and Tony Hadley ( Spandau Ballet). Phil Williams is also with Tony Hadley but plays with Gary Barlow, Go West.....Greg Kane is one half of Hue and Cry, Ton
y Moore is now a successful radio presenter on Soho Radio but was originally with Iron Maiden and Cutting Crew.... the list goes on but essentially they're friends with benefits more than just people that bowled up to play on the album and asked for wages. They're special people with immense talent”
Touring is something The Screens are desperate to do but jumping in the back of a transit and heading up the M1 is not something that appeals....
“The absolute pinnacle for any band has to be to play your album to a sold out gig and we're no different in that respect. But Wakes, Weddings and Bar Mitzvah's isn't something a well versed combo could pull off. There's a lot of production that went into creating those orchestrations on tracks like Avalanche and Dange
rous Game. There's no point us taking it on the road to play pubs and small clubs as we wouldn't be doing the songs or ourselves justice despite the fact we are
desperate to do it. To give people who want to see us live the experience they would expect to hear we would need to take an eight piece band on the road and that costs money and also a lot of stage space. Hopefully the album will do well enough and we'll be able to look at festivals for summer 2019.”
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