Band Of The Week #117 - Chapter and Verse
This week’s Band of the Week is London based quintet - Chapter and Verse, who have just released their EP ‘Love & Error’ via Killing Moon Records. They took a moment to talk to us about their EP, and their new project - ‘The Isolation Sessions’.
So, the EP is out now! How does it feel?
Great! I’m always so nervous in the week leading up to a release; always makes me go a bit nuts, so it’s a relief at the very least!
We all feel like it’s our most complete body of work to date and although it’s a bit of a left-turn to what people are used to from Chapter and Verse, we’re so so proud of it.
How do you feel the EP differs from your previous release ‘Glow’? Do you feel you have changed as a band since that release?
We’ve definitely changed, yeah. We toured ‘Glow’ for nearly two years before we actually released it, so by the time it came out we’d already grown hugely as a band. We love that EP and it’s done a lot for us, but it’s definitely somewhat of a stepping stone.
I think some people would say that we’ve gone a bit more ‘pop’, which I suppose is true to an extent, but really I think the big difference is a sense of confidence and coherency.
Purely through virtue of the time we’ve invested in this band, we’re much more confident in ourselves these days, so some of the bolder genre-bending choices feel like they have way more conviction.
We also wanted this record to be full of personality and it definitely required some confidence to inject that into the music.
Where was the EP recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the recording process?
We recorded it at The Ranch Production House is Southampton with Neil Kennedy & The Ranch’s gang. To be totally honest, we’re super focused in the studio, so there’s not many crazy stories to be had!
I guess the most interesting part is that long before we went in to record (when we were still a 4-piece), we had decided that we were going to find a 2nd guitarist. As we hadn’t found anyone yet, Ash was going to be tracking the drums and the rhythm guitar part. However around the same time our TM/driver Kevin’s band *Bad Sign* parted ways. Kev’s one of our best friends/one of the best drummers we know, so we pitched the idea of him coming on to play drums, with Ash shifting over to guitar.
Kev decidedly became a member of the band a week before we were due to go into the studio, so had less than week to learn all the parts.
Although throwing him in the deep end was a risk, we all collectively agreed that if he’s joining the band, he should be involved in the making of ‘Love & Error’. The upcoming year or so would revolve around the record, so it was important for him to share in the sense of ownership.
I guess the added pressure we gave him is that we went texture-crazy and used about 3 different drum kits on each song…
What would say are the key themes and inspirations on the EP?
The release is a collection of different stories about love & error acting as opposing forces. Each song is based around a real moment in my life where love in some form has either fallen victim to poor choices or come out on top.
‘Bad Blood’ for instance is about self-love and understanding that looking after yourself is important. It’s about how too much of a good thing can have the ability to change into something negative, and that if that happens you owe it to yourself to cut that shit out.
Because of the sense of opposition in all the songs, mirroring became a big feature for us. There’s loads of mirroring in the visuals, on the EP cover, in the videos, the live shows and in the colour palette that surrounds the whole thing; everything is deliberately contrasted. We’ve always been meticulous in making sure that nothing is ever (as Jonny would put it) “for free”, meaning that there’s a reason behind everything. Both musically and in all the things that surround the music, we love the idea that you can come back to it at any point and find something new, but still connected to the core messages of the release.
Obviously one of the key topics on the EP is love, so how do you define love?
Kindness.
All types of love starts with kindness. Kindness begets compassion, affection, patience, empathy. All those things fall under the umbrella of love and it’s not love without it.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP? If so which one and why?
For me, there’s something really coherent about ‘Sweet Time’ & ‘Where We’ve Been’. When I read or listen to them back, everything I felt all comes rushing back, so from that angle alone I feel like I did myself proud in representing those emotions within a song.
I’m also really proud of this section from ‘Bad Blood’ -
“You’re some kind of right,
But some of lonely,
Good from afar but far from good.
You are,
Still in the night,
A face in the reverie,
Love and error within me.”
Just cause I think that section’s fucking cool!
Now the EP is out there, what next?
We host a group called ‘The New Breed’ which is for people that want extra content from CandV, so there’ll be a bunch of stuff going out to them surrounding ‘Love & Error’. We’ve previously sent everything from live sessions to full music videos, so if anyone wants really wanna dig their teeth into the record and the deeper side of it, then that’s the way to do. Shameless plug (sorry), but you can join that group by Whatsapp’ing your name to +44 7784 868086.
We’re also currently working on a project called ‘The Isolation Sessions’ where we’ve gathered a bunch of different artists from a variety of bands to remotely write and record brand new songs.
It’ll be a different line up of artists on each track. Along with Chapter and Verse, the first track has people from Dream State, Hellions, Sun Arcana, Courage My Love and we’re gunna be announcing the second line-up soon. It’s already producing some insane stuff, so yeah look for that.
Other than that, it’ll be trying not to drink too much whilst in isolation, trying not to binge Disney+ too hard and washing those hands!