In Conversation With #228 - PLAY DEAD
PLAY DEAD grapple with mixed fortunes and comic introspection in their new gritty EP ‘Mug Cake’.
The scintillating follow-up from punk rockers showcases a maturity and grit in the south Londoners’ sound that has fermented for some time as they come up against anxiety-filled drawbacks of young adult life in London - without losing the unique sense of nihilistic wit and 'less is more’ punk ethic that has come to define PLAY DEAD on the underground scene.
They took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey there Play Dead- how are you? So your EP is out now - how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
Hello! We are doing very well thank you. It feels good to have the second record out in the ether now. Ever since we recorded it we felt we needed to release it as soon as possible. It feels very necessary to have it out there to accompany our debut EP skint, as we reckon our sound has progressed and thickened since that time and we just wanted to show people that we’re changing and slowly writing more interesting music.
It is called ‘Mug Cake’ - what is the meaning behind that?
I honestly wish there was a deep and profound meaning behind the name because on the first look it seems like a stupid title but maybe people have tried to analyse and dissect the meaning behind the name but the reality is that it is genuinely just a stupid title. It originated in the Play Dead x Blitzcat Records group chat where on a whim I decided to showcase my beautiful hangover food that morning which happened to be a mug cake. I sent a little snap holding my pathetic little cake and Fil from Blitzcat instantly fell in love with the name Mug Cake as an EP title. To be completely honest none of us were very keen on it at the start but somehow it ended up making it to the final draft. I’m still on the fence on whether we all ended up liking the name or if we’re just simply so un-creative to the point where we settled for the bottom of the barrel. Who knows? It’s out there now and there’s no going back.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
We recorded it in Brighton Electric Studios with engineer Joe Thorpe. We all clicked very well with Joe which made the process much less tedious than previous recording sessions. In terms of behind the scenes stories, both days of recording all three of us were violently hungover. We made the executive decision to go and see Shame in Brixton the day before the trip to Brighton and then after day one finished we went off to see Kid Kapichi at patterns. Whether this stunted or helped our creative output I don’t know but it seemed to turn out ok. Also remember those mad noises at the start of ‘Company Car’ were made by a bottle of Buckfast being violently scraped on my guitar through a delay effect. It was the last take of anything we did on day one and it actually came out alright. On the topic of Company Car, we hadn’t even nearly finished it by the time we got to the studio! I had to franticly write a second verse in the corridor between studio and mixing desk. I forgot we didn't have any fucking lyrics.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
There isn’t a set theme for the EP, I feel like every song has a different vibe and theme. These themes range from shit haircuts to anxiety. Basically we’ve got everything covered. In terms of influences I think we’ve always been influenced by bands like Slaves, The Chats, Aerial Salad and The Streets. At the time of recording we were listening to a lot of L’objectif, Wolf Alice and King Krule. That may of subconsciously influenced our recordings or production techniques as well.
If the EP could be the soundtrack to any film - which one would it be and why?
Three words… The Lego Movie
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP - if so, which one and why?
I think the my favourite lyrics on the EP mainly come from Barbershop. I remember writing it being so angry at the absolute atrocity that was sitting on my head at the time that it literally all got written in the space of an hour. ‘Don’t you dare fuck up my hair’ is quite a funny one in my opinion. These days when friends or people we meet at gigs are gonna quote a lyric it’s gonna be that one ninety percent of the time. Another one from Barbershop that I quite like is ‘He looks at me with a tired stare, there’s tension in the air.’ I remember looking up at my barber just looking absolutely knackered and it was from that point on that I just stayed silent and hoped for the best.
Now the EP is out there - what next?
Now that Mug Cake is finally out there we’re so excited to tour. Granted, the tour we’re doing isn’t a 3 month world tour around Europe and America but we’re just so gassed to get a taste of what it’s like on the road. We ideally want to be lining up some festivals for 2023, that would be class. Getting out of Britain and going abroad to play some shows would be nuts too. Aside from gigging we also want to be in a place where we can record our debut album early next year. We are constantly writing and there are a few specific songs which we are so buzzing to record. They have all had pretty good reactions when we do them live so we just can’t wait to get back to Brighton Electric and bang it out.
Thank you very much for having us! Always a pleasure,
Lots of love, PD x
