When a pal and gifted songwriter sadly handed away earlier than his time, his buddies channeled their grief into the medium they know finest – music. Sam Lambeth spoke to We Had been Kings about recording their late comrade’s songs and elevating cash for charity.
Most supergroups type in pleased, moderately bougie circumstances. The Travelling Wilburys joined forces one sunkissed afternoon in a recording studio after an opulent lunch in California. A scorching, humid summer time in Detroit resulted in Jack White launching The Raconteurs. Let’s face it, when Dave Grohl ran into John Paul Jones and mentioned let’s type a band referred to as Them Crooked Vultures, it in all probability concerned an costly bottle of plonk and a label rep sweating with anticipation. For the multi-talented musicians that got here collectively to type We Had been Kings, it was barely completely different.
When native singer-songwriter Andrew Titley’s life was ended far too early to most cancers, his gifted buddies have been aghast. Uncovering a cathartic and productive strategy to cope with loss is at all times a troublesome problem to navigate, however these guys knew instinctively that one of the simplest ways to honour Titley was to go straight for his or her devices.
Whereas most new bands lower their enamel stomping it out in a grubby rock ‘n’ roll bar, these six friends performed their first gig at Andrew’s wake. “We had restricted time to apply earlier than his wake, so we simply aimed to offer the perfect tribute attainable whereas additionally holding it collectively,” explains We Had been Kings member Alex Ohm, a gifted frontman at present plying his commerce within the nationally famend band Little Juke. “The response on the day was unbelievable and we shortly realised how a lot energy we needed to make a distinction, to indicate folks energy in what we have been doing and in addition to boost cash for such an unbelievable hospice.”
And that’s what leads us to Message To A Buddy, a phenomenal, sleek and dignified assortment of songs all penned by Titley. The report is accessible to buy and/or obtain from Bandcamp and all proceeds go to St David’s Hospice, the place Titley spent his last few weeks.
Augmented by Alex Ashcroft, Andrew Bowater, Chris Barton, Chris Titley and Dave Boddison, the 4 songs – three very outdated, one written in direction of the tip of Titley’s life – have the type of gravitas and emotional heft of a person dealing with his personal mortality.
However this isn’t David Bowie’s Blackstar by any stretch. With swathes of harmonica, wealthy acoustic guitar and plush harmonies, Message To A Buddy’s songs recall the bucolic people of Bob Dylan, Faces and Tom Petty. “I suppose all of the songs have fairly easy meanings however they typically centre round love, friendship, positivity, and hope, a lot in the best way that Andy’s songs at all times gravitated in direction of,” Alex explains.
Submit-wake, the band knew it could be nice to commit a few of these songs to tape. Over three months, the group decamped sporadically to RML Studios in Wolverhampton. “We spent 5 three-hour periods within the studio on evenings from September to December,” Alex explains. “Ryan Pinson [producer] was unbelievable and never solely recorded us however did it freed from cost. He’s since change into a phenomenal pal of ours. It was emotional, sure, and you’ll clearly hear and really feel the emotion by the vocal deliveries and guitar taking part in.”
Three of the songs – Sure, Easy Track and Message To A Buddy – are joyful and meditative oldies. However earlier than he handed, Titley engaged in plenty of conversations with kingsman Boddison. The result’s Skimming Stones, an elegiac ballad buoyed by atmospheric riffs, plangent piano and scattered drums. It’s a heart-stopping second. “Bowater had by no means been in a studio earlier than, so for him to place his rhythm guitar down like he did and ship these vocals actually was distinctive,” Alex says. “All of us then did our greatest to make it as impactful as we may, delicate and heat stream. Boddison delivered the backing vocals. It actually was lovely how all of us naturally labored collectively and contributed to such a poignant music.”
The group weren’t anticipating to play any extra gigs, however took to the stage at Wolverhampton’s annual Neighborhood competition to carry out a fast set. Naturally, the response was rapturous. “The response was unbelievable, and it was clearly the primary time we’d performed to finish strangers. We made them smile, dance, and cry… in essentially the most lovely means attainable, in fact,” Alex says.
For the longer term, as Titley poignantly factors out in one in every of his songs, nothing is about in stone. However for now, these six gifted musicians have honoured their pal in an impactful, lasting and life-affirming means.
Message To A Buddy by We Had been Kings is offered to obtain and/or buy from Bandcamp. Proceeds go to St David’s Hospice.
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All phrases by Sam Lambeth. Sam is a journalist and musician. Extra of his work for Louder Than Warfare is offered on his archive. You will discover his music on Spotify.
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