INTRODUCING: Palmist
Music in its purest form is when it’s made for genuine reasons. For PALMIST, it’s simply about making something fun, and creating some meaning where otherwise there would be a dull day-to-day. We caught up with guitarist Alex Hills about the band’s song writing style, influences and contemporary styles of releasing music.
“We’re a bunch of guys from Essex -and one from Swansea- making dancey alt-rock and just generally vibing,” Alex puts it simply, “Sam [Patterson, vocals] & I met around early 2012 in an old band, we found Adam [Sutherland, guitars] & Jack [Hudson, bass/vocals] through the local Essex music scene. Brad [Ratcliffe, drums] joined the band around September 2019, after our manager introduced us when we were in need of a new drummer.”
The origins for PALMIST are also pretty light-hearted and come from a place of pure inspiration. “We discovered a love for synthwave music after Stranger Things premiered on Netflix. From there we started to get into acts like THE MIDNIGHT, GUNSHIP and even that BUSTED album Night Driver which led us a bit further down that rabbit hole and now it’s just a part of our DNA. We just want to make stuff people want to dance and sing-along to.”
The fact that synthwave has become such a big part of pop culture at the moment doesn’t mean it’s lacking in innovation. For example, there’s a really funky edge to PALMIST which isn’t the most commonplace vibe when you think of synthwave or pop-rock, but it really sets what PALMIST does part from the rest. “I’d definitely agree it’s something a little out there but we think it works well!”
PALMIST’s blend of synthwave rock is upbeat and overall feels pretty positive, exactly what everyone needs right now. However, it doesn’t sugar coat things, and faces bittersweet lyrics and subject matter. “That’s definitely important to us! Life is horribly mundane and soul crushing, especially at times like this, so it’s good to remind yourself of that when you’re feeling down,” Alex concurs. It’s the balance that we all need; to be able to embrace the emotions we’re feeling but not shy away from things that make us feel better in the world.
When writing their music, it’s a fairly kinetic environment where everyone gets to input, and the overall tone and energy of the song comes before anything else. “Normally the instrumental hooks come first,” Alex explores the way that inspiration hits when the band are creating. “Or, maybe it’s a whole track that pours out in an hour or it could even just be a short 4 bar loop. From there we just throw some ideas back and forth as a group and see where it goes. I think lyrics tend to be the last thing that gets written normally.”
One of PALMISTs most successful songs is NVRB, “Musically, NVRB was based more on some Indie bands we’d been listening to a lot around that time,” Alex explains. “The song came out in a pre-production session with everything up to the bridge being written in about 20 minutes. Lyrically, Sam was drawing from his experiences with dating apps with a bit of a tongue-in-cheek mentality to it. We were originally a bit sceptical of releasing it as we thought it was a bit too “pop”, but I think we made the right decision.”
PALMIST have a great collection of singles; some have multiple mixes to encapsulate a more of their synthwave sound, which feels like a very contemporary model for a band. The Fake Smiles EP is a great collection of songs, and while the band have plenty of material for an album, they’re not committed to that traditional formula.
“I think we’ll probably have more than an album’s worth by the time life goes back to normal, but I think we’re going to focus on singles and EPs for now so we can have a constant stream of material coming out, rather than getting it all out in one album,” Alex explains. This more in-the-now mode of releasing music, song by song rather than in one huge containment, has been a method used before, but one that’s becoming more and more popular as people stop consuming media in the same way. It’s a smart move, and proves PALMIST really are a band of the here and now.
What’s to be considered here, however, is the future. With performances on hold for the time being, PALMIST are still looking forward to getting out with BLACK ORCHID EMPIRE once the travel bans are hopefully lifted. “We absolutely cannot wait! Germany is such a great place but we’ve never played any shows there so it’ll be a fresh experience for us!” Alex tells us excitedly. “Feeling that connection to the audience is so rewarding. Most of the time we’re just a support band so we find ourselves having to win over the crowd more often than not, but when we’ve got them it’s always a great show. I think we’re just looking forward to being able to see each other in person and getting to play music together again.”
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