Band Of The Week #319 - THUMPER
This week's Band of the Week is the fast punching Irish alt-rock heavyweights THUMPER - who have just released their new album 'Sleeping With The Light On'.
With a line up of two drummers and four guitarists - THUMPER shouldn't make sense, but armed with their wall of sound they are pulling themselves ahead in the race that is the booming Dublin music scene at the moment. With their heaviest release to date - they took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.
Hey there THUMPER, how are you? So your album is out now – how does it feel to have it out there?
We've spent years making this thing, to be able to finally share it is surreal.
It is called 'Sleeping With The Light On' – what is the meaning behind that?
A lot of this album deals with themes of isolation. It came from a very insular place. While the title obviously references this fear, I guess for me it also acknowledges that all things pass. That sliver of Light that cuts though.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
We recorded a lot of this album in rural Donegal where we converted a cottage into a studio. We pushed the furniture aside and made a control room in the sitting room, running cables into the different bedrooms, and out the window into Alan's van - where we housed the bass amp. There was no wifi or reception so we just got stuck in and let the process consume us. When we recorded the last notes, we stripped off and ran naked into the ocean which was just outside the door. I'll always remember howling like animals under that moon.
What are the key influences behind the album?
More so than any of our previous releases, I'll always associate this album with the times we made it in. Most of it was written in lockdowns, in isolation, and I think you can feel that in the lyrics. I don't think we realised up until that point that the audience was almost like a 7th member, often dictating where a song would go. This time around we wrote songs to the back wall of our rehearsal room, and in doing so I think we made something a lot darker, and a lot less preoccupied with 'entertainment' as a core principle. Luckily we're still enamoured with the process of songwriting so the end product is still just a collection of pop songs, and not an hour of chin stroking.
If the album could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
The Sound of Music. I'd like to hear Julie Andrews sing The Rip to those poor children.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
Double parked my cynicism next to my career. This life will be the death of me - this love, a life of fear.
Now the album is out there – what next for you?
We're about to hit up the UK and Ireland for some launch shows. We can't wait to hear people sing these songs back to us.
