Somewhere In The Universe: Making Music In Isolation With Kashmere

Words by Lucy Harbron

In these strange times we find ourselves in, no industry has been hit harder than events and entertainment. With all gigs cancelled for the foreseeable, our favourite bands are getting creative. As I’m writing this, I could choose between 5 different Instagram live gigs from bands across the world, each week seems busier than ever with new releases and I feel like I know my favourite artists better than ever as they’re sharing more and more. But how are they keeping on keeping on? Unable to get the rehearsal rooms and relegated to their different homes, I talked to Joey Newey of Kashmere, hailing from Stockport, UK.

In the four weeks since lockdown in the UK began, Joey has been staying busy renovating a van and going for walks, and in the absence of full band rehearsals, he took on the challenge of producing a new EP from the seclusion of his bedroom. The EP, Flatten the Curve, definitely reflects this change in the creation process. While Kashmere’s previous releases have been high energy, guitar heavy indie, with everything about the band from their songs to their impeccable sense of style screaming refined alternative, this EP is worlds away. When Joey sent me the release, I expected their usual synth infused sound, but I was met with a trance inspired ambience as if Kashmere had floated off into an alternative universe. The EP consists of 4 tracks and 3 interludes, made up of some new tunes and some alternative reworkings of old Kashmere releases. But suddenly they’re unrecognisable, with only 2 tracks on the EP even featuring guitar, this isn’t a sound Kashmere fans will be expecting. But it’s an impressive new venture for a band that’s never doing down this direction before. The EP flows from start to finish like one continuous piece of music, separating the tracks with beautiful and atmospheric interludes that feel like exactly what we should we listening to as a soundtrack to their strange dystopian reality we keep waking up in. It hits a cinematic high peak as Joey’s voice takes centre stage on Make Love, a track that feels the most like old Kashmere and somehow manages to successfully merge several genres as I hear elements of pop punk, classic indie and soft electronic such as the likes of The 1975’s musical interludes.

It’s a complete change and it’s so exciting, so inspiring to see musicians that have found what works for them being unafraid to use this time to step outside of their norm, using the break in their schedule to try something they’ve always wanted to. Here’s what Joey had to say about the experience of making Flatten the Curve during lockdown:

Let’s start with a little insight, where are you isolating and how are you feeling about in all?

I am isolating at home in Stockport, I kinda don’t feel so bad about the whole thing at the moment because I’ve managed to keep so busy, but we will see how I feel after another 3 weeks haha.

What would a normal week in your life look like if was business as usual?

Normal week would be writing most days and rehearsing 2 days a week, we spend a lot of time around each other obviously playing shows or practising and social stuff so it’s a shame we can’t see each other at the moment!

And then what has the average week been looking like at the minute?

At the minute it’s kinda just feeling a bit like Groundhog Day, now this EP is finished I need to find some challenges to keep me occupied!

Have the band been finding a way to rehearse and work together remotely or have you been mostly just working on individual stuff? How do you think this will alter the way the band works/sounds when we all finally get let loose?

We haven’t really no; unfortunately, it’s not something we can really do as some of us have no access to our gear etc. I think it gives us a chance to really come out and smash it when all goes back to normal; annoyingly we were halfway through our next singles when lock down started, so at least we’ll be back with new music as soon as we get out of lockdown.

So this EP, was it an idea you’d been toying with beforehand or just something you thought of as a project for the lockdown? Did you have experience producing like that or has it been a full from-scratch experiment?

I hadn’t really planned to do it at all, we were conscious that we hadn’t released since Lucid last June & and couldn’t get our new singles out. So I decided fuck it I may as well try and get something recorded that people can listen to, I’ve never produced properly (and I still don’t consider it as proper production!) so I had to watch loads of tutorials and had copious amounts of Skype calls with a dance producer called Desert Star who mixed and mastered the EP and gave a much needed 3rd person on it.

Can you tell me a little bit about the creation of it? What sort of make-shift studio were you working in and what did you have on hand?

So it was all written and recorded in my bedroom, I’ve got a relatively decent setup that I’ve upgraded constantly for the past 6 years or so. There is a guest vocal from Sid Cooper of LOAstate on the song “Crystals” which he recorded from home, and guitars recorded from our friend Darragh Burke on “Make Love”, was really cool to be sending over and receiving recordings from other people and whilst working in isolation.

What was the experience like working on this EP without the band? How did it feel compared to the creation of your other releases?

It was nice to be able to get it all done from the comfort of my house and at my own pace, but was also a shame of course to not have the boys doing it with me. I’d much rather not have to do the EP on my own, and just record the full Kashmere stuff! But with the situation we’re in, it was the only option and I did enjoy it.

The EP definitely has really different vibes to the full band Kashmere releases, is this a sound you’ve been getting into for a while or do you think the lockdown has had an effect on what stuff you’ve been listening to? What have you been listening to?

I think we are all listening to a lot more modern stuff, and this is probably the most straight up modern sound we’ll ever release… but that said the EP does weirdly follow into the next singles quite well, I do think there is a genuine cross over into the next period of Kashmere.

In lockdown I’ve been listening to loads of stuff that I haven’t been interested in for a while, I’ve found myself revisiting some of the proper Indie guitar stuff that I have found myself inspired by again. But also listening to stuff polar opposite like The Weeknd’s new album etc.

The re-imagining of Gravity is really interesting; the lyrics feel scarily relevant to the current situation with big dystopian vibes. What were your thoughts when reworking this song? Has it changed your relationship with it at all?

I really like how the Gravity remix went, I’ve been meaning to get a decent remix of one of our songs for ages and Gravity just seemed to fit the bill. I think as gravity is such a laid-back song, it’s nice to give it some uplift, and maybe it pulls out the lyrics in a more vigorous manner.

There’s so much pressure to be productive and creative during this time, but it’s so hard without being able to go out and find inspiration. Has making the decision to remake old tracks helped with that? What have you been doing to try and keep creativity levels high?

I’ll be honest I feel more creative than ever, I think some aspects of what we were doing previously to COVID were starting to feel like a routine. So, it’s been nice to slow down and not be so pressured for me, it’s worked the opposite and I feel like I’ve got the time to be creative!

Are you missing gigging or is this quite a welcome break to focus on other projects and do your own thing?

I am missing playing shows, mainly just because we had a lot of great things ahead this year and it’s always so much fun with the lads in the van, it felt like we were starting to build a really cool family around as a touring party, with Dec Smith our Sound Engineer, Dom Walsh with us doing photography and Darragh Burke touring playing synths. So it’s a shame to not be with them all at the moment but it will all pass!

Flatten the Curve is released on April 28th 2020.

Images courtesy of Kashmere