Bido Lito!

As RAMS' POCKET RADIO came to the end of an EP era to create their debut album, their grandiose yet personal sounding piano driven rock has earned them support slots with Snow Patrol and Everything Everything. Clarry M caught up with Pete McCauley ahead of his gig at the Shipping Forecast this coming Friday.
 

Bido Lito!: You’re playing Liverpool this Friday, what can we expect from your live show?

Pete McCauley: I think it’s something that’s really dynamic, we try to create an atmosphere, and to keep the effort of music and the accessibilities of poppiness in songs. We’re just trying to create a mood, and a fun atmosphere as well.

 

BL!: You play drums and piano. How do you present this live?

PMc: Well, I play piano and sing if we’re playing live with the band, and sometimes we’ll do a solo gig where I have the piano and the drums and switch between. With the band I play piano, it helps me to be able to really perform the songs and connect with the audience.

BL!: So is there an instrument you prefer then?

PMc: I really like the physicality of playing the drums, but with the piano it’s easier to create a mood. You’ve got the chords there and there’s so much more you can do with that.

BL!: You were a percussionist in the National Youth Orchestra, does your classical background inspire your current work?

PMc: Oh completely. I think, in terms of my writing, that’s where I get the most inspiration. My experience when I was playing with the orchestra inspired me to make my own music. I remember sitting at the back and hearing all this sound, these big soundscapes; the music was fantastic. I think one of the things about me is that I started on drums, and I think that definitely contributes to the way I play piano, the way I put it together is very rhythm based.

 

BL!: Are there any particular composers that really inspire you?

PMc: Beethoven would be my favourite. I actually wasn’t always into him, I got into him very recently. It’s amazing how modern his compositional stuff is, though hundreds of years old.

 

BL!: Do you draw inspiration from any other means alongside music?

PMc: Yeah definitely. I’ve got a background in architecture, so there’s that creative discipline of what I was involved with, and I apply some of the things I learnt there, and some of those processes to Rams’. So that’d be a big one.

BL!: Your name originated from the designer, Deiter Rams, whose mantra is “less, but better”. Would you apply this to your own creative endeavors?

PMc: Sometimes. I’m all about trimming out things that don’t need to be there, and rationalising things. There’s a lot of things I love about the Deiter Rams’ ethos, and I think it does apply. He’s relevant to his time, and he totally looked to the future. I think it was a timelessness that worked, and I find that really inspiring.

 

BL!: You’re releasing three EPs before an album, was there a particular reason for that?

PMc: Yeah, I think things happened quite quickly. There’s a lot of tension in the music and the band, from quite an early stage. I really needed time to develop, to explore different things, without a definitive work. So those three EPs have allowed me to explore a lot of different things. I think you get away with more with an EP. Because it’s four songs, it should be easier to get right. I think there’s this idea that for an EP you’re still figuring it out, you’re still getting there, you’re still honing your ideas. Getting to the end of this process, the third EP is out now, I feel like I really know what’s going on now, and I’m really really excited about the prospect of doing an album.

 

BL!: You performed at Glastonbury on the BBC Introducing stage. How did that help you?

PMc: The BBC Introducing guys are quite good at the regional thing. They picked up on us really early, at a live session, and that sparked a lot of things off. There’s been huge support over the years, in fact. I think they saw the time could be right for Rams’.

BL!: Do you think there’s enough initiatives like BBC Introducing for young, aspiring musicians?

PMc: I think there’s always room for more. Things are changing recently, I think that’s quite topical. The more stuff for young people, for new artists to develop, the better. I think there’s quite a lot of opportunities, especially with the internet. It’s easy enough to get your music heard.

 

BL!: What’s next? Are you playing any festivals this year?

PMc: I’m not sure which festivals. It’s funny, the first one we played was Glastonbury, and we only found out a month before, so it’s quite like that for us. We’re doing this European thing, and then we’ve got a bit of touring going on, and hopefully it’ll be quite a busy summer.

Rams’ Pocket Radio will be playing the Shipping Forecast on 17th February, supported by Deafen The Creatures.