San Fermin draw strength from their weaknesses.
Much of their new album was prompted by experiences of anxiety, turning these moments into something beautifully moving.
New album 'Belong' has an incredible sense of unrest, a feeling of perpetual moving that is both inspired and unnerving.
Band leader and creative lynch-pin Ellis Ludwig-Leone explains: “I don’t think writing actually fixes anything, but it helps you name the problem, figure out how to live with it, and sometimes that’s enough.”
Out on April 7th, 'Belong' is a dense yet warmly inviting return – Clash hooks up with San Fermin to uncover their Influences…
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From lead singer Allen Tate…
Thom Yorke / Radiohead – 'Myxomatosis'
In terms of influences on my singing, I tend to gravitate less towards people I might sound like and more towards interesting ways singers use their voices. I sound nothing like Thom Yorke. However, his use of dynamics, particularly variation in volume is amazing. He is one of the few singers I can think of who can fade to a whisper and swell to a scream seamlessly all in a single song. It's easy to get wound up on stage and sing full voice for a whole show.
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Julian Casablancas / The Strokes – MTV $2 Bill Concert
I don't sound anything like Julian Casablancas either. The thing that has always drawn me to his singing is his ability to shape his delivery to add the emotional content of the lyrics. There are lots of people who can sing sad songs but I have always found him to be one of the best with in between emotions. He is able to change his delivery to highlight lines that convey boredom, angst, confidence, frustration and so on all with subtle changes.
I remember watching The Strokes MTV $2 Bill performance in 2002 (in middle school!) and it's still some of my favourite concert footage to watch.
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Frank Ocean – 'Thinkin Bout You' Live on SNL
I definitely don't sound like Frank. Frank Ocean might have the best vocal control of anyone walking the planet right now. Some of the runs he sings are otherworldly. The thing I am always most impressed with and try to keep in mind in my own writing is that he uses his whole range and gives each part of it its due. I have listened to Blonde certainly more than 100 times since it came out. His falsetto alone is something to aspire to.
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From lead singer Charlene Kaye…
This might seem obvious, but Destiny's Child and Queen B, duh. Destiny's Child's Survivor was one of the first CDs I ever bought and I played that thing OUT on my Walkman as a kid. Hers was one of the first arena concerts I went to as a teenager and, as someone who had only gone to underground punk/rock shows up until that point, it was a tectonic shift.
She put on one of the most Olympic spectacles of singing/dancing/overall/showmanship I'd ever seen – and each time I've seen her as an adult, she's only gotten better. My voice is nothing like Bey's, but her artistry, work ethic and imagination continues to blow me away. It's insane that she's been present and relevant in the zeitgeist for the past 20 years of my life and still outdoes herself with every new record.
Not necessarily a vocal influence, but Brandon Boyd/Incubus certainly gelled with the angsty punk rock teenager in me and awoke me to the fact that I could be aggressive with my singing, even as a girl. My sister and I went through a phase of loving these hardcore prog/funk bands and their record S.C.I.E.N.C.E. was catnip for us – technical musicianship, heady lyrics and wild guitar tones.
She was taking drum lessons learning Jose Pasillas' parts and I was looking up tabs to learn Mike Einziger's guitar parts – we were that committed. And guess what – it holds up!! I'm fortunate to have bandmates who also loved this record, so we turned it up to 10 and played the shit out of it on my last tour (violently headbanging throughout, of course).
Ugh, I love Rufus Wainwright . As a young singer/songwriter, he was a gigantic influence in my songwriting and in how I use my voice. He has one of those classical voices that can sustain notes for seemingly ever, and an impossible vocal range. He's self aware about the fact that he's a diva—so many songs are about his longing for fame and how that goes hand-in-hand with his own self-destruction – but that belies an underlying desperation be heard, to be appreciated and to be understood.
There's this existential sadness paired with this bombastic euphoria, which I really connected to as a misfit teenager (and still do now)!
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San Fermin's new album 'Belong' will be released on April 7th.
Get tickets to the latest San Fermin shows HERE.
