INDIESWAY #INTERVIEW - PATTERNS

Patterns are a young Manchester band on the verge of releasing their first record "Waking Lines" on Melodic records (6th January 2014). The sound of early morning hallucinations, interstellar sonic plains; that weird space between deep-sleep and reality where nothing is as it seems. That's what their music is all about, they're here to open your mind and shape your world. Here's our chat with Ciarian from the band:



So let's start with a simple and seemingly trivial one: why this name for the band, Patterns? 

It is a reference to the interlocking patterns that make up, music, ourselves and our reality.

And how and when did you meet each other?

We met at university, we used to get high a lot together then slowly a musical project evolved from that.

Your debut album Waking Lines is coming out on January, how're you feeling about that?
Incredibly excited, we've worked on this project for so long that to finally see it coming out is amazing. I just got the finished CD of it through last week and it doesn't quite feel real that something thats been on your computer screen for so long is now a physical thing.

Talking about the themes emerging from it, the title itself conveys a sense of false waking, sleepness, memory, doubt and ambiguous reality. Do you agree?

Yeah the title is about the border lines between different mental states which are ultimately ambiguous and indefinable. I love those states of near deliriousness that you reach where you're not quite sure whether your dreaming or awake and your mind is awash with confused memories and visions.

Do you have a favourite track from it?

Yeah I love the title track "waking lines" its our most experimental song structurally but it also seems to sum up all of the musical and lyrical themes of the album.

You come from Manchester that all we know to be home to huge bands, how do you see yourself in relation to them? Do you think to have roots in your city's music?

Its a bit complex being a band from Manchester because people often ask you this question about how you relate to this musical lineage thats gone before. Quite honestly at the moment we don't see our music as being particularly located in Manchester and we're not influenced by those bands. Its still a beautiful to make music it.

What are your favourite bands and artists? Who are you listening the most?

I listen to a lot of older stuff like Van Morrison whose album "Astral weeks" completely informed how I approach album writing. Recently though we're all enjoying the latest Braids album as well as Cloud Control's Dream Cave.

Listening to your music i felt the meticulous focus on every single note of your album, how was the recording and writing process?
We deliberately avoided the big studio approach because we thought we would lose the ability to experiment and tweak everything, which is so important to our sound. Although we make music that sounds like a band our writing process is much more like an electronic artist where samples, synths and effects processing is quite carefully combined to take the song into a different space. 

How much does the live element matter in your music? And if you could choose a band or an artist to play with on a stage, who would you choose?

The live experience is incredibly important to us and we're always aiming to find ways to evolve it. Personally the best live experience I ever had was watching Bjork perform biophilia at the Manchester International festival, I would love to collaborate with her.

What is the message that you would like to convey to those who listen to your music?

In a lot of ways our use of reverb, non linear lyrical devices and opaque references are an attempt to avoid direct communication with the listener. But for me I suppose the album is about how our reality, values and sense of identity are not as fixed or concrete as we sometimes think they are. Our realities are constructed and performed rather than discovered or present. 

Have you ever been to Italy?

We've never played in Italy but if anyone wants us too we'd be more then happy to oblige. 

Beatles or Rolling Stones?
Beatles