Introducing #260 - Theo Bleak
Let us introduce you to Dundee-based singer/songwriter Theo Bleak - who has just announced her new EP ‘Iliad’, which is out on the 12th May.
Along with the news - Theo has also released her new track ‘Homer- which showcases Theo's brilliant knack for brutally honest, delicately presented lyrics and tender vocals arranged over nostalgic 90s-inspired guitars. Following a support slot with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds last year and Suede and Joesef earlier this year, she’ll be performing at All Points East this summer with more dates to be announced soon.
She took a moment to talk to us about her music.
Hey there Theo - how are you? So your track ‘Homer’ is out now - can you tell us what it is about?
Hi! I’m good, I hope you are too. In December I decided I wanted to read Homer’s iliad and odyssey, I phoned the local book shop and weirdly she’d got in a copy of both in that day. When I read the iliad, there was a line about how Achilles feels sorry for the Gods because their time is limitless, they have to pan out existence in utter boredom. Whereas humans are special because, “we’ll never be here again”. That line stuck with me so much and I started to think about my own life in those terms, I considered landmark memories growing up and how they could never be repeated. Like when I got punched in the face or was Blousey Brown in an amateur production of Bugsy Malone. All this embarrassing and weird shit. I kind of turned my life into an epic poem. Sarcastically comparing growing up to the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad.
Where are you from and what are your favourite things to do there?
I live in Dundee which is on the east coast of Scotland but I’m from Blairgowrie in Perthshire. My studio is in my house so I barely leave my house to be honest. I go walking most days though, there’s a beach next to my house. I like going out to Perthshire though, it just feels more like home to me. I read a lot too I guess. Mainly music fills up all my waking (and sleeping) moments though.
What are the key influences when it comes to your music?
Everyone is bored of me saying so but Jeff Buckley is my biggest influence, in the way that he was one of the last ‘messy’ artists who was allowed to try loads of stuff. He was a vocal maximalist which I appreciate, thought I often am more minimalist in my own choices. Robert Plant more recently became a big influence because I realised he was present in all artists I love. In terms of my lyrics, always Mina Loy, some other postmodern philosophers though too. End of last year I returned to the sort of emo music I loved as a teenager, Alexisonfire and Dance Gavin Dance inspired a lot of the vocal melodies in my newer work. Production wise, I’ve been in love with artists like Pinegrove, Searows, Skullcrusher and Alex G. They just create such a feeling and that’s what I aimed to do. Guitar wise, I’d taught myself a lot of stuff in 6/8 so things became kind of like goth waltzes, I also ruined all our guitars necks by finding the most elaborate of tunings. Was worth it though cos that’s how I wrote ‘Homer’. I actually am kind of bad at guitar but my producer Mark just creates the most stunning chords out of bones I give him. I guess Mark was my biggest influence guitar wise. Films also play a huge role in my sound, soundtracks were something I’d return to over and over. Or songs that sound like they should be in a film. I’d ask myself, what makes that FEEL so much?
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never listened to your music before?
Describing your sound is hard because it’s subjective. Someone once said I sounded like Liz Fraser which made me faint. People also say the guitars are 90s inspired but that’s so broad, like Slipknot are from the 90s and so is Mazzy Star. I guess though they more likely mean the bands like the latter. I think maybe the alternative scene from that era is present in the sound. Radiohead, Grandaddy, Pavement, early foo fighters etc. I’d agree with that, but there’s something else in there too. The midwestern emo, the musical theatre, something which always walks the line of ham. I actually really do try things, but it has to sound like a reflection of my life. Oh my god I just remembered a guy told me in Dublin that I sound like a Buffy the Vampire slayer soundtrack, yes that’s perfect actually.
Now the track is out there - what next for you?
Now the track is out there, I will keep releasing more and more music til I run out of ideas or til I join the majority. And I’ll tour, as much as I can.
