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Written by Niamh Christian
What’s that emerging from the darkness? It’s only the one
and only, Distant Blue, finally breaking their silence as they get ready to
drop their latest single – The Ghost Of My Empty Glass.
Having had to cancel all plans for gigs this year due to the
cursed pandemic, they decided to take their efforts back into the studio,
working hard to finalise some new music for our enjoyment.
The band has become quite a fixture in Nottingham’s local
music scene over the years, while simultaneously spreading their music to other
cities across the UK. Now after staying quiet for so long, they’re back and
better than ever.
With bigger riffs and bouncier beats, they’ve thrown themselves
in the deep end of this new sound and have displayed it wondrously. They’ve hit us with a lightning bolt of power
as they take their abilities further, in a way that’ll have you wanting to get
up and dance.
It’s funky, flirty and ferocious, painting a mental image of
a hectic night out you probably wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon (depending
on how intoxicated you are). The dirty breakdowns compliment the groovy chorus in
a way that’s dynamic and bold.
Distant Blue kindly took the time to answer some questions
for me about their new single and what it means for the future of their band.
“The Ghost Of My Empty Glass” shows a very different
side of you from your original pop-punk days, what does new direction mean for
you as a band?
It’s a weird one because this song is a bit of a one-off, we
experimented with a slightly more funky and poppy sound while still trying to
maintain our heavier roots. Depending on how people take to this track we might
or might not do something like this again.
Where did the inspiration come from for the song?
The Nottingham club scene, nights out in town with your
mates drinking and interactions with lovely ladies.
With Covid-19 cancelling all your gig plans this year,
have you got any other plans coming up?
We’ve mainly been focusing on writing and recording throughout this pandemic. Although we miss the live shows so much, we don’t want to rush back into it, have to cancel things and let people down. It’s all very up in the air at the moment, but when we get the green light you’ll be sure to know about it.
Can you sum up your song in a sentence?
One of the best nights I’ve ever had in song format.
You’ve said lyrically ‘The Ghost Of My Empty Glass’
describes Nottingham’s nightlife, how would a usual night out go for you?
First of all, pres with the boys usually at someones yard,
get the tunes on and get pumped. Second, get your look right get fresh garms
and make sure you stand out. Third, jump the train to town head to spoons for
your second round of pres. From there, It all gets a little blurry but we
usually end up in Rescue Rooms, Stealth or MOJO. After that, we see where the
night takes us but more than likely it’s a fat scran and bed.
What are your favourite venues to play at and why?
Got to say Bodega and Rescue Rooms for our hometown shows.
Outside of Nottingham, we really enjoyed West Street Live in Sheff, Verve Bar
in Leeds because it had the best interior we’ve ever seen.
What venues do you hope to play in the near future?
Jimmys in Manchester, the Rock City main stage, Camden
Underworld.
What new cities are you wanting to play next?
Manchester and London are the big ones, but it’d be nice to
work our way up to Scotland and down to Brighton as soon as we can.
Have you always been interested in music? Was there a
particular moment that made you say "Woah! I want to do this!"?
Watching live Green Day and Nirvana shows on the internet
when we were youths. Generally, music has always been a big part of our
everyday lives, we don’t remember a time when we didn’t want to do this.
Has your musical journey had a deliberate direction,
or did it simply gradually evolve in whatever direction it found?
We’ve always wanted to make Rock music as we are all big
fans of it, however there was no deliberate direction. It’s just evolved into
what our sound is today.
What music are you currently listening to?
Ed’s been on the gangsta rap vibes recently, Peter has been listening to Underoath and the new Ghostemane album, Kieran’s been delving into the depths of Hip Hop history as usual and Jack has been listening to Thundercat a lot.
What has been the most challenging aspect of your current
release?
Not being able to book a release show due to COVID.
Do you plan your music releases, or do you just finish
a song and release it?
We like to plan our releases, but we have a bad history of
sticking to the plan. However, in the end it all comes together through the 4 brains
we have between us. We did plan this release a lot better than we usually do.
Do you have any pre-show rituals?
We used to have one which included energy drinks but after
one show where we played the set at 300mph, we put a stop to it. Now we like to
just huddle up and get hyped right before the show.
Last year you went on tour, what was that like? What
were your favourite moments?
It was the best time of our lives so far, we had so much fun
being on tour, playing with quality bands, exploring the cities, and getting
messy after the shows.
Have you had moments where you considered giving all
this up?
We’ve never come across such problems that put us in that
kind of mindset. I guess that somewhat shows we are cut out for it. We’ve all
had arguments and get on each other nerves, but at the end of the day, we could
never see ourselves doing anything else.
In years to come, what do you hope your fans remember
you for?
Iconic live shows, Crazy after-parties, emotionally
relatable records, and the journey from here to the top.
FaceBook- https://www.facebook.com/OfficialDistantBlue/
Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ESxqEPFrn0rfAuTzqfPKQ
Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/artist/36gtG3aOBV2x6jKQgIWAWu
Twitter- https://twitter.com/distantblueuk
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/distantblueuk/
Listen to The Ghost Of My Empty Jar HERE
