Four-piece band Slate hit the Cardiff music scene only last year, but have already stirred up a small whirlwind with the recent release of Tabernacl, their debut single. Emma Way asks the band some burning questions.

The driving rhythms within new Slate single TabernacI feel like the glue to the song as a whole – when you cracked that did it feel like everything came together?

Raychi Bryant, drums: That’s a good way to describe the rhythm. The drum rhythm definitely acts as some sort of support. All of the other elements of the song are far more interesting, so it puts a focus on those. For example, bass, guitar and vocals all play different melody lines throughout the verses. If the hi-hat rhythm was written any differently then the song would definitely lose an element of its brooding, panicked atmosphere and would distract the polyphony of the instrument’s melodies. Definitely in the second half of the song, the ‘you are’ part.

The real ‘crack’ that you’re referring to are the musicalities Lauren and Penri brought to the song throughout. I remember Jack having a general layout of the song in the early days of writing Tabernacl, which is now so sparse in comparison. The weeks of refining the song with everyone’s musical personas written into the instrument lines really are what fitted the jigsaw pieces of Slate’s identity together.

What was it like working with Tom Rees of Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard on the single?

Raychi: There is a strong reason why Tom has repeat clients in South Wales – he understands what you want, what he wants from the experience and how to make that magic happen. Tom is an extremely talented producer, and despite working in a vast array of differing genres, each of his productions still hold his own unique signature stamp.

For this reason, Tabernacl has a production quality that has aspects of musical sounds that are recognisable in the current post-punk fixation, but the combination of timbre is a novelty. A producer that is capable of doing this in a musical era where it’s difficult to sound like something new is impressive. Tom is extremely dedicated to the recording process, he keeps the morale up to the point of his own exhaustion. If there is an artist that has not yet worked with Tom we highly recommend it.

You recorded the sound of a hammer against a ladder at one point. Did any of these unique sounds find their way into the recording?

Raychi: We spent a whole afternoon recording different metallic noises – for Tabernacl, I cannot say if any stayed on the track for definite, but I know for certain that the ladder/hammer clangs are used for a recording that is going to be released soon. Hopefully more metallic noises for the future too, that was way too fun.

When can we expect a follow-up release from Slate?

Lauren Edwards, bass: We’re looking forward to releasing our second single in the coming months. The song we’ve chosen as our second release is particularly special to us, as it’s one of the first songs we wrote together and expresses the type of collaboration we strive for with regards to our creative process. It deals with expansive notions of nationality and patriotism, but we feel it remains personal and introspective, narrating the complexities of belonging. The song sort of acted as a doorway to the sound we feel we’ve cultivated over the past year and a half we’ve been writing together.

Being a relatively new band in Cardiff who play the same length sets often, how do you keep your catalogue of Slate songs interesting to yourselves?

Jack Shepard, vocals: I think we’re finding out more about our songs the more we play them. We are often keen to incorporate our newest songs into the set list, and whilst we perceive them to be finished, they are often not yet complete. Songs grow into unusual beasts when they are being played to an audience. That is the unique, incomparable oddity of playing in a venue, and one that can be utilised as a songwriting tool itself. Whilst our songs continue to reveal these different faces within each performance, there remains a lot to be fascinated by.

For those who haven’t encountered a Slate show yet, what can they expect to hear?

Jack: It’s a noisy show, with a lot of dissonance and unsettlement. However, we are all great lovers of melody, and there are moments of gentleness to be found. We play almost continuously from start to finish, with moments of poetry bridging between some songs. Incorporating a narrative into our set is something we feel strongly about, and is something we will continue to develop further. The minimum we hope to do is leave some sort of emotional impact on our audiences, however big or small.

How does poetry influence your music and songwriting? 

Elis Penri (Slate), guitar: Poetry is but another form of expression which we happen to love. I think in terms of songwriting, being interested in and influenced by poetry opens the mind to the possibilities and ability to convey imagery within a song. All poetry has the potential to be a lyric, whereas not all lyrics would like to stand as poetry, I don’t think. I do think that many songs can live solely on the melody and harmony, and though we aim to write lyrics which could also carry their own life away from the song, I think it’s equally important to consider the power of simple, stark words – I guess the ‘poetry’ lies in their resonance.

You mentioned playing poetry games to bond as a band early on – what did this involve? 

Elis: A pen and a notebook are passed around, usually in our local pub. You write a line or couplet each and see what becomes of it.

Who would you expect to see in Slate’s collaborative Spotify playlist?

Lauren: My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth are mainstays of our collective influences – She Found Now and Schizophrenia would definitely find their way into our collaborative playlist. You could expect to find more contemporary bands there too. Floatie, Big Thief and Just Mustard are just a few of the bands that narrate our drives to gigs and to and from practices and are played alongside classic tracks from bands such as The Doors and the Beach Boys. RS Thomas’ Reading The Poems collection contains 145 short poems, and I’m certain readings such as The Bright Field and Reservoirs would be added to our playlist early on.

Tabernacl from Slate is out now via Brace Yourself.

Info: Bandcamp

words EMMA WAY