INTERVIEW: Bismuth

Nottingham based doom/drone duo BISMUTH might well have released one of the best records of 2018 with the colossal tidal swell of The Slow Dying Of The Great Barrier Reef. We took our chance to discuss how the album came to be, how the band have evolved since they first started out, and how the feel about that review in The Daily Sport.

What’s the reaction been like to the new record? Are you pleased with the response you’ve been getting?

Tanya: The first press of the record sold out in two weeks, which is mental. I can’t believe the reception it’s been getting, it’s been really good and really humbling that people seem to like it so much.

The Slow Dying Of The Great Barrier Reef is a very literal title – does the album focus solely on this developing ecological disaster or does it use this as a framework or allegory?

Tanya: It’s more of an allegory really, because obviously climate change is a massive issue that loads of governments seem to be ignoring and are actively just trying to blame each other rather than working together. People need to work together to tackle this issue and they’re not. The collapse of ecosystems is a massive marker that something is going wrong. This ecosystem that’s been around for millions of years is now dying off in very large sections and it’s terrifying.

The album is split into one very lengthy track and one significantly shorter one – was that intentional? Or a result of the writing process?

Joe: It was intentional. The idea to do the very long song was always there. It was because our very first release, our first release ever, [2012’s The Eternal Marshes] was a pretty long song, but we felt we could do a bit longer I suppose.

Tanya: It’s good to have a contrast, I feel. If you have a really long song then you don’t want another really long song following it, you want something to punctuate the track.

Do you find writing longer compositions a challenge, or is it a natural result of how BISMUTH work? What do you think long form songwriting offers that shorter tracks tend to lack?

Tanya: It’s very natural to us.

Joe: It’s always been the way for me. It’s the kinda music I want to create, it’s the kinda drums I like playing music for. It’s always been the M.O, as it were; it’s gonna be long, it’s gonna be slow. Because I’ve learnt to play these kind of drums, I never learnt to play drums, I learnt to drum to this style of music. It is pretty much through and through a natural process at this point.

Tanya: I’ve never been able to write short riffs [laughs]. They always end up really long and I think my brain works better in longform music rather than short music. Playing short things stresses me out and playing long things really helps.

If you had to pick an element other than bismuth to describe the band, what would it be and why?

Tanya: That’s a good question! Any element that’s radioactive and decays really slowly, I think. Bismuth is the one that has the slowest decay rate, but any other radioactive element would work well.

You’ve done a lot of split releases in the past – what’s the reasoning in releasing a split for you vs releasing an EP or demo alone?

Tanya: I think it’s good to release music with other people, especially if they’re your friends and they’re coming from music from the same kind of place you are. All the splits we’ve done we’ve done with people we really expect and admire. We always try to work with people not necessarily with the same music styles but with the same thought process behind it.

What influences would you say went into the creation of The Slow Dying…?

Tanya: One main things was that I study at Lancaster University and one of my colleagues wrote a very sad paper about the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, and she’s got a good quote; because David Attenborough was trying to be really hopeful about it and trying to convince people that “if we work together it will all be okay” but she’s got a more nihilistic view that’s “dead coral don’t spawn”. So that was quite an intense influence for me.

If you had to describe the record in a single word phrase, what would it be?

Joe: Long!

How would you say BISMUTH has changed between when you first started out and today? How would you say you’ve stayed the same?

Tanya: I think we’ve stayed the same in that we like using a lot of amps! I think we’ve changed in that a lot of the layers and effects that we use have matured quite a lot. We’ve got better separation between all of the amps and we’ve got a much better idea of what we’re doing live than when we first started.

Joe: I think that’s the long and short of it. At its core it’s the same thing its always been, two people making music with the same kind of idea of what that music should sound like. I think just having had the time to do it, there’s no “oh I wonder if this would go down well” or “I wonder if we could try this”. It’s not so much unspoken, but in terms of what we’re doing we know each other pretty well and that gives us more room to experiment within the kind of boundaries, as vast as they are. If Tanya starts playing something I can hear it and know what to do. Whereas when we started we put pressure on ourselves to make sure we were doing things ‘right’. Now ‘right’ is whatever we want to do. The output of our writing and recording process is exactly what we want it to be.

Tanya: Also, vocal wise, when we started the band I was terrified of vocals, and I still am but I’ve become more confident in trying to do vocals so there’s been development of that.

You’re Nottingham based – do you feel like part of a strong Nottingham scene? 

Joe: Definitely. Nottingham is our spiritual home.

Tanya: It’s the best music scene we’ve been a part of. There’s a really big DIY culture there in terms of bands doing things for themselves and helping each other out. We practice at a space called Stuck On a Name Studios (SOAN) and it’s by far the most important space for music in Nottingham. There are so many gigs there and people practice there all the time. It’s amazing. We’re so lucky to be part of it.

Joe: We really are. We played in Nottingham recently and seeing the same people come out who came out to our first show eight or nine years ago is so heartening.

How did you guys feel about the new album being reviewed in the Daily Sport?

Tanya: Pretty weird! When I saw that I was very surprised because we didn’t really think we’d be their demographic.

Joe: I don’t think we are, but …

Tanya: So that was interesting, but they seemed to like it even if they thought that I was the drummer and Joe was the bassplayer.

Joe: Always the bridesmaid. They just completely didn’t acknowledge my existence. But that’s fine, I’m used to that. I’m the ancillary character.

Have you got any immediate plans for gigging or tours supporting the record? Or will we be hearing more from you in the new year?

Tanya: So we’re going to have a break now until January and then we’ve got the a fair few exciting things lined up that I can’t really talk about yet. [it was announced shortly after this interview that the band will be playing the 2019 edition of Roadburn Festival]

Joe: It’s looking good for next year

Tanya: We’re scheduled to play a few festivals. And then we’re going to record again in August.

The Slow Dying of The Great Barrier Reef is out now via Dry Cough Records.

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