Big bands with lots of personnel have a big sound, that much is obvious. It takes great skill to write songs that still have a crispness to them. It would be very easy to muddy the waters. Midwich Cuckoos are a six piece featuring three guitarists who have been getting a lot of attention of late, mostly for their forward thinking way of writing . They chatted to Gary Trueman about having so many six stringers, their writing process and the progress music is making.
The first thing we need to do is find out who does what so let’s have a quick roll call
“Tanzy is our lead vocalist, Rob is on guitar as are Patch and Lesley, Dan is on drums and Ben is our bass player.”
We ought to discuss the fact that we’re at a punk festival and you have enough people for two bands. How does that work? How did you end up being a six piece?
“Cuckoos started four or five years back and it wasn’t really a band then it was more of a project. When it was a live band it was a five piece originally. Valentina who was the original singer left and we brought Tanzy in. Then Patch couldn’t make a gig down in Bristol and asked if Rob could stand in. So he stood in and he’s still here and never left. So we ended up with three playing guitar. Also we just wanted to see how it went with three. And now we can’t play without everyone being there. Having the three guitars is integral to the songs now.”
So you now write specifically for three guitars a bit like a punk rock Iron Maiden then?
“Haha, yes I suppose you could say that. We have to be quite disciplined with three different sounds to make sure they don’t blend into one. We have to work quite hard to get three different sounds and have three different parts. Everyone needs to have their own identity within each song as well.”
With the song writing do you all agree on everything?
“Absolutely not haha.”
Who are the main song writers or do you all contribute equally?
“As the band has expanded it has become a lot more collaborative. Everyone gets to put a little bit of their personality into it. You can almost tell who wrote which parts because of the style changing and what sort of thing each one of us likes to listen to. The bulk of the last record was written during lockdown so it had to be ideas that were passed around because we couldn’t get in a room and just thrash it out. A fair amount of the finishing and polishing happened when we were recording. That was about the first time we could get back together after Covid. Previously we jammed together when someone had an idea but then we had to send ideas to each other. Then it got worked on and sent back round robin until it became a whole song.”
What about lyrics? Presumably Tanzy as the vocalist writes the bulk of those?
“There are a couple of songs where Tanzy wrote all the lyrics. Most of the songs are a mixture of everybody’s ideas. Patch has written quite a few on his own as well. People just add to it as we go along. If the words don’t sound right then other members will step in. Everyone can add to a song. Ben wrote a song as well. So everyone does a bit of everything.”
Which comes first, do the lyrics inspire the music or do you write words to fit the notes?
“It tends to be more music first because of how many of us are writing the music side of it. It does seem to be that way even though with some bands it’s lyrics first. It’ll be interesting with the next record though because Dan has been throwing out almost like a poet. There are three or four songs that Dan has written the lyrics for with no music behind it. So there’s a few things already there to get us going next time around.”
We’re here at Rebellion, so what can people watching Midwich Cuckoos for the first time expect from you?
“It’s been said before that we’re the heaviest band at a punk festival and the punkiest band at a metal festival. We’re somewhere between punk and metal we guess”
It’s fair to say that since Tanzy has joined the band she’s gained a reputation for having quite a stage presence too hasn’t she?
“Apparently so haha.”
With six of you, even as a ‘punk’ band, there’s a progressive vibe to the style you play as well isn’t there? It must be almost inevitable?
“The stuff we write is a mix of punk and metal influences. So the guys with the metally influence has led to sections that might go a bit rocky. Having a big band takes it in different directions which keeps it interesting for us. ‘Hour Glass’ goes from happy to heavy, it goes everywhere. It just felt natural to add ska to a big breakdown. Some would say no! But it works. The first track on the album ‘Majesty’ is almost a Bohemian Rhapsody kind of thing where it travels all over the place with big break downs and the harmonies at the end. It takes you on a bit of a journey rather than being a straight up song. A lot of our songs, if you chopped them in half the beginnings are so different to where they end up.”
Do you think the genres within music are losing their narrowness as people experiment? And that the experimentation is a vital part of music?
“Absolutely. You’ve got to or the music dies. It makes us so happy when we see young people who are listening to some grime followed by the evilest death metal you’ve ever heard, and then on to a pop song. It makes us happy that genres aren’t restrictions. Anything goes now!”
And that goes for the writing too doesn’t it?
“Yeah, a few bands are really tearing it up, like Riskee And The Ridicule and Bob Vylan who are smashing everything together and it’s being accepted.”
It’s interesting you say Bob Vylan who are playing Rebellion and have been upgraded to the Empress Ballroom from the Arena simply because of rising popularity.
“Ooh well yes there’s not enough room in the Arena now for everyone to watch them.”
It’s been mentioned a few times in various discussions over the weekend that as music is progressing the festivals that are being seen to survive and thrive are the ones who progress with it by moving with the times with their bookings. Will the traditionally narrow festivals have to diversify to survive?
“We hope so. There’s a lot of work to do. It’s great seeing diverse line ups but there’s still more to do to see more women and more people from marginalised communities. Yeah, more work has to be done and it’s not like there’s a shortage of bands out there. There are some fantastic bands out there.”
You mentioned women and it’s fair to say that Rebellion has a very high percentage of women playing the festival and they are booked naturally. So why do other events not do that?
“We don’t know. There are resources out there like the diversify your scene data base. Any promoter wanting to book bands and a non all male line up, it’s all there. There’s not really an excuse. Things are changing, it’s just a matter of time.”
If you could share the stage with any acts alive or dead who would you choose? So throw some names this way….
“The Damned, because of how inadvertently similar we are across 30 or 40 years of music. Faith No More, it doesn’t matter what mood you’re in they have something for that mood. Err also Prince and Motorhead in zombie mode… haha! And you can’t beat a good old knees up with Chas And Dave. We’d love to be on a bill with The Bronx. And the Foo Fighters because Dave Grohl has such a down to earth energy.
Interview and photos by Gary Trueman