Another Eden

"Mirror in Music" interview 2016

MiM 
It's safe to say this album has been a long time coming, in the pipeline for sometime.
What's been the ups & downs with the process of putting together this body of material.?

Kieron
(Laughs), "Wow, straight for the jugular", 

Firstly, it's certainly been a journey , & quite a learning curve in human nature among other things, as well as the ever changing technology available to musicians in the recording process.
Regarding the downs,  AE has had quite a revolving door of musicians over the preceding years, so there's been the visiting & revisiting of material for an incoming musician to learn, to rehearse, & to gig etc.

"That can eat away time at an alarming rate".!

Though this has in itself made the songs evolve along the way, which hasn't been something detrimental to the material I'm pleased to say, but something that's enhanced it in my opinion. 
I don't think the album would have been nearly as well received, if for instance we'd made it five years ago
it's very much it's time now, it's time to flourish.

Going back to my original point regarding the revolving door, the only mainstays to AE has obviously been myself & the one musician I've been able to trust & rely on 100%,  Japanese guitarist Naoto Shimoda.

"I like to think we both jammed our foot into that revolving door".!

So what we've done is put this album together mainly by ourselves, using other accomplished musicians to guest on various compositions along the way, whilst still keeping complete control of the recording process, especially as we both have a far better & more advanced understanding of recording techniques & tools at our disposal now.


MiM
Listening to the album & reading through the lyric sheet that comes with the album, it seems a very personal body of work, & quite raw in places.
It seems on the surface that you're giving a lot of yourself away to the listener.

Kieron
I suppose you could say I'm leaving myself somewhat naked to the listener, but then I guess you could equally say that I'm collecting all this baggage & dumping all my dirty laundry onto the listener. (Laughs).

"A cleansing of the soul" perhaps?

Either way, it's written from the soul & above all else, I've been true to myself.

I guess there's a certain amount of darkness to some of the material, it seems to be the only way I can work, a natural way to create.
There's a whole spectrum of emotions artists write about, for myself, I write through & out the other side of tougher times perhaps, &/or make darker observations.

"Any way you achieve it is equally valid though."! There's no right or wrong way to write music at the end of the day.

I'm sure the listener will find something that resonates, something accessible to jump aboard & hopefully stay with.
As long as they don't leave more troubled than when they arrived, I'll be more than happy.
Listen, redemption is there somewhere, but I'm certainly not going to sugar coat it, to make it more palatable.

MiM
Sunburnt & Spellbound seems particularly personal, with quite a rawness to it ( "I have to get back to safety, Sunburnt & Spellbound") does this song refer to something rather more illicit?

Kieron
No No, not at all !!!!!
It does though refer to a certain time in my life.
I won't say with who or when.
It was certainly a trade off between short term highs & longer term lows.
Ultimately though,  it affected plenty of people. 
There were some casualties at the time for which I still carry that guilt.
I'll leave it at that.
On a positive note, I originally wrote this with a friend Chris Duggan, someone whom I had an almost spiritual musical connection with at the time.
I like to think we had a very positive influence on one another for the brief period we worked together.

MiM
Talking of influences, & of course on Playtime Lizzy, there's a small reference to The Police's "Roxanne", are they?,  or any other artists a big influence on you or your music.?

Kieron
Actually, not really The Police. 

I mainly improvised the lyrics there & then on Lizzy, the story started forming in my mind as we were jamming Naoto's ideas for the first time in rehearsals.
The (Roxy), Roxanne piece you refer to just came into my head on the spot, it just worked & stayed in ever since really.
Although I wrote the melody & lyrics to Lizzy, it's very much Naoto's idea & creation.
He's a big fan of Elvis Costello & Japanese band "Fishmans" 
I'm pretty sure his ideas for Lizzy stemmed from his love of Elvis Costello &  Shinji Sato of Fishmans. 
I'm feeling a little "Watching The Detectives" as I'm singing it. (laughs)

On a more personal note, I'd say my musical compass for AE would be Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, Shannon Hoon, & maybe Kurt Cobain/Zeppelin
Have you noticed that's four musicians right there, all passed away to violent deaths, Kurt Cobain aside three of those guys were certainly on the verge of big things.
It makes me sound like I've got something of an unhealthy fascination for dead singers. (Laughs)

"Okay" let me try & even this up,
I also happen to love David Sylvian, Kate Bush, Radiohead & Placebo, "is that a better compass"?
A Moral Compass (Laughs)

I do though draw influences from all manner of musical styles, I'm also a fan of 1960s British Jazz, the likes of Don Rendall, Ian Carr, Michael Garrick  & Joe Harriott etc

At the moment though, thanks to Naoto, I'm listening to Tim Scott McConnell (Ledfoot), he's cornered the market for Gothic Blues, he's got a lot of soul in his voice.
And I shall be copying his hairstyle in the not too distant future.


MiM
You mention sideman Naoto Shimoda, how did you two meet?, & was it a match made in heaven? , seeing as you are both, as you say,  the mainstays of AE.?

Kieron
Naoto heard that I was looking for a lead guitarist, in or around 2007 & he was looking to hook up with a band at that time, having been settled in England for a few years.
His English wasn't so good at the time, so he needed a band or someone who had a little empathy or sympathetic awareness of what he was about & what he could do musically.
Funnily enough, I was learning Japanese at the time, rather poorly I may add, maybe that was it?, maybe that was the sign.!!!
So we've been a constant ever since really, we've been through some good times & some tougher times together, and come out stronger than ever.
We certainly have a unique loyalty to one another, & the reason we have the Kanji character for loyalty on the hard copy itself.

MIM
I have to ask you about the opening track to the album Miss America, It certainly makes the listener sit up & take notice from the outset.
What's the thoughts behind the song?, and is it a little anti American as it appears, or do you just dislike beauty queens in general?

Kieron
Do I dislike beauty queens ?? (Laughs)
Not really, I'm sure they have a place, (Laughs louder)

"Purveyors of world peace" perhaps.?

No, I guess what I'm trying to say here, is that as much as people look to the West to set the moral standard for the world,  there is equally a fair share of crap in the West, bad choices, bad decisions, needless wars, banking greed. 
Shall I go on???
And so I crystallised this juxtaposition through the naive eyes of a beauty queen.

MiM
It's certainly a great album opener for me.
The harmonica on Miss America, also sounds really great on this track, is that your work.

Kieron
Yeah, I particularly love the sound of the harmonica on Miss A , it's played by Tomo Sugisaka, blues harp player for The Swaps.

It's amazing how different Miss A sounds listening with & without the harp on this particular song.
It not only lifts the song for me, but carries it along, the guys a particularly
special find for us.
So consequently we have Tomo San playing on a few of the tracks on the album.

I try not to fill the spaces in a song with too much sound, too much noise, I like to keep as much space as possible within a song, so as to make something like the harmonica sound as important in it's own right, as say the guitars, & the vocals for that matter.
It's certainly opened my eyes to what a valid & important instrument it is, & Tomo San is certainly the best player I've heard, so we are more than pleased to have his expertise on Shades, & fingers crossed have him as a permanent fixture in the band.

MiM
You appear to like working with Japanese musicians, is that something you actively encouraged?, set out to do?.

Kieron
No not really, it's just how the cards have fallen to be honest,  we also have Shuichi Matsumoto playing drums on Lizzy & providing some percussion on other tracks. Kazuo Yoda also plays on Graffiti Child & First Love with some fantastic piano & keyboards.
Its not always been an easy option.
Though Naoto & myself have a good understanding now, some things do invariably get lost in translation at times.
But what does show above all else working with Japanese musicians is that there is no compromise, nothing's finished or signed off until we are 110% satisfied, this can lead to endless takes, until the fingers are literally bleeding, or my voice has gone.
I feel that dedication really shows on the album. There's certainly been a lot of all nighters put into it.


MiM 
The title "Shades of Blue" , what's the thoughts behind the title??

Kieron
A couple of reasons really, firstly I feel the material on the album has various melancholic moods to it, varying shades to similar themes, & secondly it's the title of an extremely rare & valuable album that I once owned & was close to my heart.
1965's Shades Of Blue by Don Rendall & Ian Carr.
The album is somewhere in Japan at the moment & I'd very much like it back (laughs).
So in my heart of hearts this album from the outset was always going to be called such.

MIM
So what's planned for the future?

Kieron 
The main priority is to put a full band together now, we have had some strong interest from musicians, so that's being looked at, & we need to prepare for gigs in Japan, we are working with music promoter Tatsuro Tonoko in Tokyo, so opportunities are in the pipeline.
And there's always a follow up album to think about (laughs)

MIM
Any last words you want to say regarding this album.

Kieron
(Pause!!!!!)    Only that's it's as ugly & beautiful as I wanted it to be.