Welsh psychedelic newcomers Race Horses have spoken to ClashMusic about their love of pop music.
When it comes to trading influences, most acts stick for the tried and tested. Garage rock, a slice of Factory Records maybe even some dance if they’re feeling frisky. However few dare to admit to a serious ABBA fetish.
Growing up in rural Wales, Race Horses weren’t able to indulge their avant garde side. Soaking up influences from the radio, the band have admitted to ClashMusic that they are serious pop kids at heart.
“In West and North Wales, there wasn’t much of an outside influence” singer Meilyr Jones explained. “There are not even any motorways in Aberystwyth. I hadn’t even heard anything near the avant-garde until I moved to London to study, where I mainly listened to Strauss and John Cage”.
“That upbringing is why we’re all suckers for pop at heart. I love a bit of Abba and Queen” he claimed.
Brought up in Aberystwyth, the singer later trained in music at a London college. Exposed to a host of new influences, these all come to bear on Race Horses who seem to sit somewhere between prog and pop.
Continuing, Meilyr Jones revealed that he has always been a little different than those around him. “When we were at school, everyone was listening to The Libertines, but I was more into Emerson, Lake And Palmer, krautrock and (Captain) Beefheart”.
To read the entire interview click HERE.
