Gavin and Taran from Bicurious open up about the band’s new album, ‘Your Life Is Over Now’, the band’s history and much more!
How are you guys?
Gavin] The vinyl of our new album just arrived at my house and it all looks class and sounds class so I am in a very good mood
Taran] I’m also good! Slightly drowning under my to-do list as release day approaches, but it’s all very exciting!
How do you reflect on (Re)constructed, and the I’m So Confused EP now?
Gavin] I reflect on them well. It’s nice to look back on both those pieces of music and to see how we have evolved as a band. I feel “I’m So Confused” and “(re)constructed” really captured different stages in my life and personality. “I’m So Confused” captures a faster, party-er and a bit manic stage of my life. “(re)constructed” captures a quieter, settled and recovery stage of my life.
Taran] Similarly to Gav, I look at those releases and think back of how much of a different person I was at both those stages of my life. We’ve evolved personally, but also musically. I was honestly a bit daunted by the idea of people hearing a vocal-led album by an instrumental band, but so far, so good!
How has your attitude to the live experience of Bicurious changed and developed – it’s always engaging! (I remember seeing you at Adelphi in Hull)?
Gavin] I feel my attitude to playing live is to always put on a show and have fun but I feel like I’ve only started to properly achieve that in roughly the last 3 years or so. Whether that’s playing to two people in Chester or a few thousand people at ArcTanGent. At the end of the day those people took the time out of their schedule to see you play so give it as much effort as possible. I also feel we’re very lucky that we get to tour and play live, not everyone has the privilege to do that so you should try to enjoy it. Music is fun, playing music is fun and I like to have…fun.
Taran] Personally, I’ve had to do a lot of growing up in the last few years, and it feels like that has played into my approach to music. I think I’ve maybe calmed down a little, or at least tried to take a more mindful approach on stage – not worry too much about putting on a show, but really enjoy being on stage, experience the music, the interaction with the audience, etc. Thankfully though, that tends to naturally result in putting on a good show!
Have your motivations with the band changed at all – your mission statement, as it were?
Taran] I don’t think so. The circumstances have changed, but the reason why we do it hasn’t. I think most bands do it for the same reason – because they love doing it. Over the years, we’ve managed to surround ourselves with people who believe in us and who allow us to keep doing things in a wholesome, natural way. I think that’s been a big help in keeping us grounded and focused on what really matters – playing music together and having fun while doing it.
Talk us through the ideas and creativity behind the singles, ‘Gutless’ and ‘Uncle Kevin’ – why did you lead with those?
Taran] Gutless is written from the perspective of a baby who’s in hospital, hooked up to IVs, innocently wondering what is going on around him. Uncle Kevin speaks of the difficult relationship between an estranged father and child. It was difficult to pick singles for this album, but we led with those two (after first single Acrylic Fences) because we felt they were two of the best songs on the record, and they showed different facets of our songwriting. Gutless is an upbeat riffy banger, whereas Uncle Kevin has a slightly more ballad-y edge, a lot of emotion and profound meaning.
‘Monday Afternoon’ is a banger – can you talk me through creating that one, and the ideas in that?
Taran] That was one of the first songs written for this album. I was working in a supermarket at the time, and I remember thinking I’d love to have an intro with a big drum beat in the same vein as Scentless Apprentice by Nirvana. I ended up writing the intro guitar riff in my head during my shift and recording it as soon as I got home. The rest followed as we started jamming it together.
Thematically, it’s about feeling a bit useless, not having a proper job, feeling like a waste of space, with no life prospects, not able to provide for my family. “Just one f*ing day where I don’t feel any shame / I’m alone on a Monday Afternoon with nothing else to do”
Can you also run through Blind?
Taran] Blind also stemmed from the intro riff, which I wrote when I was listening to the latest Turnstile album quite a lot. We jammed it out and built the rest of the song together, leaning into a sort of NIN energy at times which was fun! Lyrically, it’s about the difficulties of learning how to be a father, mistakes made, and the guilt and shame that comes with those mistakes. This is a really important song for me because it reminds me of why I need to be the best possible father for my kids. It makes me want to be a better person.
Finally, Acrylic Fences?
Taran] Acrylic Fences was written about the breakdown in communication in a relationship. The Acrylic Fences refer to invisible walls that one can build around themselves in order to cut themselves off from the people closest to them. Musically, it was pieced together over a couple of months time – I remember writing the riff at home one night, and then kind of forgetting about it. Then I came back to it and wrote the chorus a few months later. We didn’t end up jamming it together until a few months after that, as we rehearsed on the day we played Strangeforms festival. From then on we kept working at it over the course of the following months. I realised quite early that there was something special about that song. I believe it’s the best song we’ve ever written, because it has everything – groove, riffs, emotion, heft…
So is my life actually over now?
Gavin] No you’re doing alright, don’t be worrying.
Taran] The title refers to something someone jokingly told me in passing after hearing that I was going to become a father for the first time. At the time, that really got to me. Even though it seemed like it was meant as a joke, it’s a pretty dumb and unnecessary thing to say to someone. So between that, and other comments I’ve heard people make within the music scene over the years, such as “this guy in this band is about to have a kid – ah well, they had a good run” and that sort of thing, the album title is a polite middle finger to those people.
Is there anything that I’ve missed that you’d like to cover?
Taran] I guess we should mention our upcoming UK and Irish tour across October and November, details are on our website www.bicuriousbandofficial.com! Aside from that, thanks a lot for taking the time to chat to us, it means a lot to be given the opportunity to push our music to new people. Cheers!
