Introducing: Debris Discs

Debris Discs has featured regularly on the blog in the last few months, most recently with Cypress Tree, his collaboration with Test Card Girl. As the latest single Caravan hits the airwaves, we caught up with James, the man behind the moniker, to talk music, Glastonbury, and being a solo artist.

First up, could you tell us a bit about Debris Discs?

Debris Discs is me, James and I make music up in the hills of the High Peak in Derbyshire. I’ve been writing, producing and performing songs for almost 25 years but this is the first time I’ve done it solo. Debris Discs music tends to be quite cinematic and expansive in scale, but resolutely lo-fi and understated in its delivery. I tend to pair synths and drum machines with live guitar, bass and percussion to try and instil the electronics with some heart. A bit like Arnie in Terminator 2 I suppose.

I write and record with mostly hardware instruments and effects and then track and mix into trusty old Garageband. I’m the first to admit my production workflow is rubbish, and quite often I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I usually like the sound I make in the end.

What inspires you to write?

Lyrically, I seem to be most inspired by my family. They’re usually the focal point for ruminations about my feelings or the context in which I imagine my flights of fantasy. My latest ‘Caravan’ is a good example. It’s essentially a song about escapism, but we’re just escaping as far as a holiday park somewhere by the coast.

Who has had the most influence on your music?

From age seven to nine I exclusively listened to The Beach Boys and Fleetwood Mac. My parents had various records of theirs and I became obsessed. I used to draw pictures of Lindsay Buckingham and actually wanted to be Mike Love (obviously I was too young to realise he was a bit of a dick). Then when I was ten, my sister’s friend from over the road gave me a cassette of Spectrum and Commodore 64 computer game music and it completely blew my mind. I loved that the songs were pretty simple in structure but totally bat-shit crazy in sound design. So, I think these formative listening experiences have definitely shaped the music I make today.

What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far?

One of the biggest challenges, now more than ever is cutting through. Not just through the sheer volume of new music, but the perceived professional quality of it. In the race for Spotify playlist adds, most songs have to sound super-slick and polished to be in with a chance. I have no real qualms with this, but as I do everything myself (except mastering, which I leave in the hugely capable hands of Philip Marsden) I find it a constant struggle to keep up. I’m spending more time worrying about kick drum frequency range than I am writing songs.

I also think the kind of music I write isn’t a natural fit for the streaming algorithms. My songs aren’t always that immediate, they’re designed to grow on you and reveal different layers, textures and melodies each time you listen. I often feel like I’m fighting a losing battle against the instant songs that hook you in ten seconds. So, my challenge is to find and grow an audience who are happy to spend some quality time with my tunes. Hopefully they’ll think it’s worth the effort.

How did you find the move from band member to solo artist?

I think I’m more suited to being a solo artist to be honest. When I write songs, I tend to arrange and produce in my head at the same time. So, I’d usually turn up at band practice with a fully formed composition, much to the annoyance of my fellow band members. Also, at this stage in my life I just fit Debris Discs around everything else, so my musical brain doesn’t really have the capacity to think about anyone else.

What is your most memorable gig experience as a musician?

Definitely playing Glastonbury with electro folk troubadour Magic Arm. It was a BBC Introducing thing, Magic Arm got invited to play and asked us (my old band My Side of the Mountain) to be his backing band. We got free tickets for the full weekend, our own private camping area and even a VIP toilet block. The whole thing was just surreal; on the way in I remember getting pipped to a parking space by Alex Kapranos, driving Franz Ferdinand’s tour van.

There was probably only 50 people watching, but the set was amazing and even featured on the BBC2 highlights show. Of course, I dine out on this experience regularly

What was the last album or song you listened to?

It was actually Stilettos by Holy Fuck on a run this morning. It sounds like it’s about 2000bpm, so it’s a good one to get my old creaking legs moving.

If you could support anyone, who would it be and why?

I haven’t played a proper gig in ages, so given all the global misery of the past 18 months I’d want my first foray back into the live scene to be a happy, joyous affair. Therefore, it would have to be The Flaming Lips. I feel like their slightly ramshackle, endearingly positive outlook would be a safe space for my inevitable litany of bum notes and out-of-sync arpeggiators. And those giant bubble things are just really cool.

What other bands do we need to be checking out right now?

Well of course there’s Polyhymns, who guest on Caravan and Test Card Girl who featured on my track Cypress Tree. Both brilliant, immensely talented artists operating in the folky electronic space but very much doing their own things. There are a couple of independent labels (aside from you guys of course!) putting out consistently excellent music- Happy Robots and Cue Dot. I’m a big fan of their latest offerings from Alice Hubble and Veryan respectively. Then there’s a lovely community of musicians I’ve found through social media, internet radio and podcasts who are making ridiculously good music – New Wolves, Found Instruments, Hazy Sofia, Puffi, The Happy Somethings, Lines of Flight and loads more.

Give us a few hints on what’s in store for fans of Debris Discs…

I’m finally getting close to finishing my debut album. My last two songs Cypress Tree and Save My Life will be on it, and I’ve put an early mix of an album track called Postcards on the b side of latest single Caravan for anyone kind enough to purchase from Bandcamp. They’ll be another six or seven songs on the album and I think it’s going to be the best thing I’ve ever put out. I’m excited to build on the artwork concept my good friend Gavin Stretch of Mode=Create has been developing over the past three singles. I think we can do something really special for the album art.

I’m also trying to work out how to do Debris Discs live. I’m going to start with some live from the (spare) bedroom sessions later in the summer and see where that takes me. Hopefully further than the front door.

Be sure to catch up with Debris Discs on Instagram and Twitter to find out more about the upcoming album and potential live outings later this year. Caravan is out now, while you can listen to Debris Discs on Spotify and Apple Music, and download their music on Bandcamp.