Andy Bull & his Phantom Pains

With an EP, nobody has much expectation, since EPs are often seen as under-resourced “bridging tools”, or at least that’s how a record company person would refer to it. Perfect; everybody thinks it’s just a bridging tool, then they can leave me alone to do it without fuss. No silly videos, no singles, none of that. It means I can just make some music, and so that’s what I did. Also, if people think it’s junk then, hey – it’s only an EP, right!

The signature mane has been cropped, so it’s rather fitting the follow up to his impressive (four years in the making) debut album, We’re Too Young, is a six-track EP, The Phantom Pains EP. Eighteen months ago, we spoke to Andy Bull - a singer-songwriter we’re of the opinion is one of the finest Australia has to offer - about the release of We’re Too Young and everything that comes with such a long awaited debut. Now we’re pretty damn pleased to sit down with him again to talk about ghosts of mental amputation and the effects of transferring the recording process from a studio to a small, single room.

Phantom Pains is the title track of The Phantom Pains EP – why the attachment to such a concept?

In the real world, phantom pain is the remarkable neurological condition whereby somebody who has lost a limb still feels the presence of that limb, but in the form of pain. I guess it must be pretty difficult to conceive of unless you have personally experienced the phenomenon (similarly so with those other “phantom” conditions, like phantom pregnancy; an idea which just blows my mind).

Anyway I thought that the idea could be applied metaphorically, and used to describe an individual’s emotional state. In my life, for instance, I have mentally “amputated” things; people, events, emotions; yet somehow the ghosts of these things remain, and hurt!

In regards to the ‘missing thumb’ image on the EP cover (drawn by Andy himself); I was really inspired by a short film my close bud (Matthew Chandler) had made about a guy who cuts of his thumb to receive the insurance money, only to black out and wake up in hospital with a doctor’s bill that it double what the insurance contract pays. It was a darkly funny film, and that led me to write the song Phantom Pains, which then lead me to draw the thumbless hand artwork. And that set the tone for everything else.

How much of a departure – stylistically, musically, conceptually - is The Phantom Pains EP from We’re Too Young?

It’s pretty different I think. I have some different ideas about music now, very different to the ideas I had when I was making We’re Too Young. WTY was pretty stylized, very precise and quite production heavy. Conceptually, it was like 1970‘s blue eyed soul. The songs, the lyrics, the delivery, all came from a different head space altogether to the one that created Phantom Pains. There are some things now that I find pretty impressive about that first album, but there is a lot that I don’t identify with now. I suppose it’s just the nature of experience and time; you create something and then you move on from it. Some stuff comes along with you and other stuff you leave behind. Everything has its moment. I just turned 26, and I think you go through some very different ideas in your early twenties. Certainly though, it feels good to be having a creative life beyond my first attempt and to be free to move on.

That first album took about 4 years to finish, whereas Phantom Pains took about 4 days, at least to get the lion’s share done. I wasn’t chasing perfection this time; I just wanted to capture a passing moment of energy, and that made all the difference. It was important to me that the experience of making The Phantom Pains EP should be very different to the experience of making We’re Too Young, and in the end it was in just about every way. I think Phantom Pains really benefited from that approach.

So what, in terms of influences, motivations, inspiration (that oft-used word in creative fields) drove the EP? Was there a main shaping force?

The guitar was a bit of an influence on this EP. I’ve played piano for a few years now, but guitar is a brand new instrument to me. I picked it up and started learning it at the end of last year and even wrote some songs on it, including Last Waltz, My Street, and Phantom Pains. It informed a very different sort of songwriting than that which the piano typically does. Different parameters, different sounds; they express different sorts of emotions. Also, because of my (very) limited ability on the guitar, it forced me to simplify my songwriting, which was something that was ready to happen. I tried to continue that sort of simplification throughout the EP, to cut out some of the intellectualizing and just tap into some spontaneity and emotion instead. I have also been trying to get out of my head a little and learn to use my intuition to make creative decisions.

The recording process was different this time round – more low-key, less fuss?

I recorded this album in a single, small room with the whole band inside, which is a less controlled, but more fun way to do it. It has an effect on the sound, because microphones are picking up all sorts of things that they’re not meant to and so on, but you get good energy from it. Whatever we didn’t record in that little room we recorded at home. I don’t know if there’s such thing as a typical recording process anymore, and that’s because none of us have any money to engage in such a process!

So, why an EP, not a full length album? Initially, there had been plans to do an album, but the nature of releasing an album means that it’s seen as necessary to release a single first, then, providing the single does well, maybe release another, and then if IT does well, release an album down the track. It’s a slow and horrible process; I don’t like that sort of pressure on singles, I don’t like being judged on the merits of a single song, and I don’t

Andy's debut album, We're Too Young.

like waiting around to see if “things do well”. I think that it really spoils the purity of the process. It’s no good to get in the habit of thinking about singles, and marketing, and timelines, and reviews, and all of that junk. I saw an EP as a means of escape from all that stuff. With an EP, nobody has much expectation, since EPs are often seen as under-resourced “bridging tools”, or at least that’s how a record company person would refer to it. Perfect; everybody thinks it’s just a bridging tool, then they can leave me alone to do it without fuss. No silly videos, no singles, none of that. It means I can just make some music, and so that’s what I did. Also, if people think it’s junk then, hey- it’s only an EP, right!

No singles?

No, no singles really. I’ve just released an EP as a whole. No videos, no singles. Triple J and some other stations have been playing Dog a lot though, which is pretty cool. I’m always pretty amazed when i hear it over the radio. I think; damn that sounds good…. damn- they’re PLAYING it?!?!

You’ve collaborated with some excellent Australian musicians – how did these musical relationships come about?

Lisa Mitchell (who sings on Dog) and I had toured together early last year and became friends. She is a sweetheart. When we toured, she was playing small venues, and now she is a bonafide star. Recently she invited me to sing on stage with her at the Enmore, and in return I invited her to sing on my record. She popped over to my house one afternoon when she was in Sydney and we recorded the vocals to Dog in an hour over a cup of tea.

Little Red (who sing on Nothing To Lose) are also friends; an electric bunch of guys, a very special band chemistry there. We had toured together two years ago – I supported them on their national tour – when things were starting to really get cooking for them. I was inspired by their energy on stage. Similarly to Lisa, they were in Sydney for a couple of days and showed up at my door with a case of beer, and that’s how they ended up singing on Nothing To Lose.

Hungry Kids of Hungary are a very talented Brisbane band. Tony Buchen, who produced this EP, had done a really cool HKOH single, “Let You Down”. We thought it would be pretty neat for them to sing on Last Waltz, so we gave them a call and sent them the song by email, and they sent it back with some backing vocals on it.

The band who played the EP is made up of me, Carlos Adura, and Nick Weaver. Carlos in Nick both play in a really cool Sydney group called Deep Sea Arcade. I’m a fan of their stuff. Nick, I met years ago, when we both were playing in a band for a female singer, and I always thought he was a really great bass player. Carlos started drumming for me last year and we clicked. It’s a fun band, and the guys are real gems, with wicked senses of humour.

Humour us …

Duet buddy – Britney or Gaga?

Gaga.

Favourite gummi bear flavour?

Flavour 255, 275, and 312

The book on your bedside table …

I’ve got a heavy case of the day-job-blues and typically as soon as I walk into my bedroom I black out, so there is currently no book, although I would like to read the new Jonathan Franzen, Freedom, because I have read all his other books and I really enjoy his writing.

Next place you’re travelling to …

Perth, for the One Movement music festival

Next place you wish you were travelling to …

Oh boy… Florence, New York, Berlin, Fiji, man anywhere would be good… work or holiday, I wouldn’t mind.

Tea or coffee?

Coffee … helps the brain start working. I love tea, but, if you want bang for you buck…

The language you wish you spoke …

Greek; that is my girlfriend’s language. But you know, I think Italian is pretty marvelous, I love German and French too, but French is so tough… the language is determined to resist the English as much as its people are. Swedish is also pretty amazing. Most days I battle with English, so I’ll settle for fluency in my native tongue for now.

Favourite breakfast …

Always been a sucker for bacon and eggs and a cup of coffee. Fat, salt, sugar, caffeine. That’s a powerful cocktail.

Last film you saw …

Inception

If you didn’t sing, you’d …

Shrivel up and die

Buy The Phantom Pains EP

CATCH ANDY ON TOUR …

Thurs 7 Oct – One Movement, Perth, WA

Thurs 21 Oct - Wollongong Uni, Wollongong, NSW (special guest for Clare Bowditch)

Unicentre 02 4921 8179 | Redback Music 02 4229 6169 |　www.oztix.com.au |　www.bigtix.com.au

Fri 22 Oct - Newcastle Leagues, Newcastle, NSW 　(special guest for Clare Bowditch)