When a good friend and gifted songwriter sadly handed away earlier than his time, his mates channeled their grief into the medium they know finest – music. Sam Lambeth spoke to We Had been Kings about recording their late comrade’s songs and elevating cash for charity.
Most supergroups kind in blissful, fairly bougie circumstances. The Travelling Wilburys joined forces one sunkissed afternoon in a recording studio after an opulent lunch in California. A scorching, humid summer time in Detroit resulted in Jack White launching The Raconteurs. Let’s face it, when Dave Grohl ran into John Paul Jones and stated let’s kind a band referred to as Them Crooked Vultures, it in all probability concerned an costly bottle of plonk and a label rep sweating with anticipation. For the multi-talented musicians that got here collectively to kind We Had been Kings, it was barely completely different.
When native singer-songwriter Andrew Titley’s life was ended far too early to most cancers, his gifted mates had been aghast. Uncovering a cathartic and productive solution to take care of loss is at all times a tough problem to navigate, however these guys knew instinctively that the easiest way to honour Titley was to go straight for his or her devices.
Whereas most new bands lower their enamel stomping it out in a grubby rock ‘n’ roll bar, these six pals performed their first gig at Andrew’s wake. “We had restricted time to observe earlier than his wake, so we simply aimed to supply the very best tribute doable whereas additionally holding it collectively,” explains We Had been Kings member Alex Ohm, a gifted frontman at present plying his commerce within the nationally famend band Little Juke. “The response on the day was unimaginable and we shortly realised how a lot energy we needed to make a distinction, to indicate folks power in what we had been doing and likewise to lift cash for such an unimaginable hospice.”
And that’s what leads us to Message To A Buddy, a lovely, swish and dignified assortment of songs all penned by Titley. The report is out there to buy and/or obtain from Bandcamp and all proceeds go to St David’s Hospice, the place Titley spent his last few weeks.
Augmented by Alex Ashcroft, Andrew Bowater, Chris Barton, Chris Titley and Dave Boddison, the 4 songs – three very outdated, one written in the direction of the top of Titley’s life – have the form of gravitas and emotional heft of a person going through his personal mortality.
However this isn’t David Bowie’s Blackstar by any stretch. With swathes of harmonica, wealthy acoustic guitar and luxurious harmonies, Message To A Buddy’s songs recall the bucolic people of Bob Dylan, Faces and Tom Petty. “I assume all of the songs have fairly easy meanings however they typically centre round love, friendship, positivity, and hope, a lot in the way in which that Andy’s songs at all times gravitated in the direction of,” Alex explains.
Submit-wake, the band knew it will be nice to commit a few of these songs to tape. Over three months, the group decamped sporadically to RML Studios in Wolverhampton. “We spent 5 three-hour periods within the studio on evenings from September to December,” Alex explains. “Ryan Pinson [producer] was unimaginable and never solely recorded us however did it freed from cost. He’s since change into a lovely good friend of ours. It was emotional, sure, and you may clearly hear and really feel the emotion via the vocal deliveries and guitar enjoying.”
Three of the songs – Sure, Easy Tune and Message To A Buddy – are joyful and meditative oldies. However earlier than he handed, Titley engaged in quite a few conversations with kingsman Boddison. The result’s Skimming Stones, an elegiac ballad buoyed by atmospheric riffs, plangent piano and scattered drums. It’s a heart-stopping second. “Bowater had by no means been in a studio earlier than, so for him to place his rhythm guitar down like he did and ship these vocals actually was distinctive,” Alex says. “All of us then did our greatest to make it as impactful as we might, delicate and heat circulate. Boddison delivered the backing vocals. It actually was stunning how all of us naturally labored collectively and contributed to such a poignant tune.”
The group weren’t anticipating to play any extra gigs, however took to the stage at Wolverhampton’s annual Neighborhood pageant to carry out a fast set. Naturally, the response was rapturous. “The response was unimaginable, and it was clearly the primary time we’d performed to finish strangers. We made them smile, dance, and cry… in probably the most stunning approach doable, in fact,” Alex says.
For the long run, as Titley poignantly factors out in one in all his songs, nothing is about in stone. However for now, these six gifted musicians have honoured their good friend in an impactful, lasting and life-affirming approach.
Message To A Buddy by We Had been Kings is on the market to obtain and/or buy from Bandcamp. Proceeds go to St David’s Hospice.
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All phrases by Sam Lambeth. Sam is a journalist and musician. Extra of his work for Louder Than Conflict is on the market on his archive. Yow will discover his music on Spotify.
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