An Interview with The Beatroot Road

A vastly experimental album release from The Beatroot Road delivers such a lush and outside-the-box set of soundscapes that blend and mesh together seamlessly, but still have a way of branching out in different directions with each new track.

This is a full record of songs that feel spacious, cinematic, and again, quite experimental, as you never really know what's going to happen next. This release is packed with surprises around its corners, unique production approaches, and hints of psychedelic underbelly that all managed to come together in an almost confluent way, giving the record its own atmosphere.

You most certainly have elements of jazz, world, pop, folk, and plenty more, and the first and title track, "Humanimal" does a beautiful job of setting the tone for the rest of the release.

You have some beautifully woven vocals that harmonize and are sort of strewn together throughout the playthrough, different kinds of strings, deep-toned upright bass sounds, and so much more that all play a role in creating this aesthetic.

What's amazing to me about this track, in particular, is the way the upright bass and vocal sort of flow and weave into each other majestically.

Right off the bat, you get the feeling that this is sort of fantastical; in a sense, it's otherworldly. It pulls you away from whatever you're doing and puts you into this different place for a time.

This whole record is a source of escapism, if you ask me.

Songs like "Arlington" bring out a much more spacious soundscape with reverb-drenched but beautifully performed vocals, some warm guitar tones,

Meanwhile, tracks like "Morbid Love" come forth with a more thriving, energetic, and almost blues-like approach.

There are what sound like slightly distorted strings that come in and out like a fiddle, performing this jig and giving you the sense of a roots-style folk dance with elements of Celtic undertone.

As I mentioned before, loads of surprises throughout this entire thing, and the fun never ends.

This is a record that keeps you on your toes, and I definitely suggest listening to it all the way through from start to finish, in one shot.

Only then will you get the full spectrum of what the actual album has to offer.

Listening to a few songs might give you an idea, but it won't give you the full spectrum.

"Confusion Island" gives you a sort of 90s pop feel, amazing vocals that are built into the song and give it character and personality, and even hints of what feels almost like reggae coming through.

Now, some of this has to do with the instrumentation in the way it's performed. Their choice of instruments, textures, and tones are all really intricate in terms of the song that they're doing at the time.

It's really beautifully done, and you can tell there is a lot of attention to detail in terms of the tones of their instruments and the arrangements of their songs.

This is very unique in the way that the songs somehow go together, but still feel so separated at the same time.

It's been a long time since I've heard a record that's this genre-bending, in a sense. By the time you get halfway through this record, you begin to expect the unexpected.

As I said, it keeps you on your toes. That aspect alone was incredibly refreshing and really keeps your attention.

One of my favorite tracks on the record is the closing track called "Payday" which is a really cool one because it blends this rock element in. The beat is not standard rock, but something different. The guitars are what give it the rock feel. It even has a slight vintage punk tone.

This was such a cool and unique approach in terms of blending it in with this world music and ethereal sense, along with the pop overtones.

With a record this diverse, eclectic, and flavorful, we wanted to have a sit-down with The Beatroot Road to find out where all that actually came from, what the process was, and what might be coming up next for the project.

So, while you listen to this record, have a read through of our interview with The Beatroot Road, and don't forget where you heard this all first.

Let's talk about Humanimal! This record had a wild approach and was intense at times blending world, fusion, jazz, and electronic!  Where did this album come from? 

- This has been brewing for many years now with songs that are up to 75 years old, but the starting point was lockdown - I was stuck in a brand-new studio with no new work coming in, and we weren't allowed to go out. Couldn’t have been an easier decision really. 

But bear with me for the project's explanation: music is now controlled by computer programmers whose goals are very different to those of artists - the algorithms only work by comparing things that are the same, and genuine artists only work by producing incomparable pieces. So, success means choosing a familiar genre and style that can be promoted to the largest audience by an algorithm. That means there is no longer any money to be made from original music, or ‘art’ as we like to call it, (Spotify pay $0.004 per stream - you do the math!).  We couldn’t see any reasons to make the usual compromises on the material needed to make it accessible enough to the mainstream for us to try to make money.

So instead of getting bitter about it, we just stopped trying.

We now make music we really believe in with lyrics that mean something to us, with no concern for instruments or genres, and no compromises made for success. Our belief was that if we genuinely feel it, some others may feel it too. Turns out we are not alone as ‘Post Genre’ is now used as a genre description. It’s really liberating, and we are truly delighted that people are starting to listen too - we literally had no idea whether it would just be greeted by confused contempt, or tumbleweed and silence on release.  

I'm hearing a few different approaches to this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

- No. 1 is easy: Lee Perry - I heard the album ‘Double Seven’ when it came out (I’m old) and my world exploded. While others were listening to Dancing Queen by Abba, I was being stunned by 'Stick Together’ with U-Roy toasting. This was a decade before rap, I hadn’t heard of toasters, dub or remixing, never mind U-Roy’s free style chanting over a Perry dub remix - in 1977 Perry was inventing remixing right at the time, along with some other Jamaican producers like Tubby. The session band for the album was most of the Wailers by the way. My head just went bang. It’s all wrong, but for me, oh, so right. As a result, from then to now, I’ve been pushing boundaries to see where they break. I see it as the responsibility of artists to break the rules.

But my first calling- to play drums - came from the original rock and rollers; Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard etc. For electronics, Massive Attack, Underworld, never get tiring for me, and Boris Blank’s sonics seems to be from a different league from the rest of us. Ian Dury, Transglobal Underground, Kid Creole, Tackhead get a shout out for genre busting, and for African music my original heroes were Fela Kuti, Umanji, Ismael Lo, and Oliver Mtukudzi.  But then there’s Hidalgo and Big Youth and John Cooper Clark and I could go on and on. I just love all music with rhythm.

Did you record this at a home setup, or at a big studio?

- I’d call it a good home studio - we built our house with a properly designed acoustic studio in place of a garage (we’ve both built studios before so we know the science), and chose a very small number of high quality pieces of tube analogue equipment and one good pro microphone to go into the usual software recording studio everyone uses these days. I think myself lucky to have it all every time I walk in to it though. You can see it in the video for ‘Humanimal’ if you like, (link just below) - the whole video was shot from the studio's driving seat.

Will this single be part of your upcoming album release? When is that set for?

- Yes ‘Humanimal’ is the title track. The album is out now, and available on Bandcamp and all the usual platforms - there are promo videos for the track ‘Humanimal' and also 'Dance, Sinners - Dance!’ on YouTube and the platforms that have videos. The tracks are all quite different from each other but tied together with a sound and an intention - they all take a sideways look at a different human condition from an international and intercultural perspective. 

How did this all start for you as an artist?

- This project relies on the contemporary technology that allows artists to work remotely in their own homes in their own time from anywhere in the world - based on emailing recordings back and forth. This is one of the few truly good things that has happened for musicians this century so we are seizing it with both hands - we can now all work self-employed in normally dead or down time, with very low or no overheads at all, using equipment we already own. So, collaborations can be made ….and here is the kicker that changed the world for us all: very quickly and cheaply. This whole album cost less to make than we used to spend running a band van, yet everyone got paid just enough to make it worth their while. We can also smile that we have to pay nothing at all to the usual ‘essential' middlemen of the music industry throughout the whole procedure - it’s all just from artist to artist. This method works really well for this type of project, but it’s not for all artists obviously.

Did you produce all the songs yourself?

- Yes - the singers and musicians use their own arrangements - and also play freely - along to a guide track that I send, but once all the recordings are here in Vancouver, I use cut and paste a lot, to move pieces of each instrument's performance around in a kind of collage which eventually builds up into a finished piece. I also do the final ‘mastering’ stage myself. These days mixing is really exciting due to the endless creative possibilities of digital mixing boards, with limitless processors and toys to apply to sounds, so it’s probably my favourite part of the whole process now. I can’t see how I could get that Bodhrán sound with an old analogue desk for example. 

Are you performing live right now? 

- Sadly no, and there are no real plans to do this live - mostly for financial reasons. It costs a fortune to properly rehearse a show, and also this is really not a good era for venues - certainly where we are, so the pay is really poor when you do play. My sideman bass player friend hasn’t had a raise this century in the UK either. That’s an issue. In all honesty there isn’t really an industry to support artists anymore either, so if you aren’t rich or have someone supporting you, the only work available is already flooded by amateurs who have day jobs, or ‘function work’. I wish it were possible, as I think the only way out of the miserable auto corrected algorithmic internet-controlled mess we are in now, is from a new, youth-led, live, raw music movement -  just like 70s punk was a reaction to disco. I live in hope that I’ll see this before I croak. 

Now that this is out, what's next for you?

- There are a few more tracks that didn’t make it onto the album that I’m trying to finish - just now we are working on another with Deborah Holland who sang on Arlington on the album and have a couple more in the bag that need vocals. Probably some more videos - I’m new to it and they are made with zero budget, but I found I like making them, and we can at least keep the content relevant to the music’s message by keeping it in house. 

Who's in your headphones right now?

- Taking you literally - Ren, Oliver Mtukudzi, Sleaford Mods, Kari Bremnes, Big Youth, and then Yello are the next up on my current playlist. Kind of eclectic, but totally normal for me - it’s a good average.

What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

- I’d like to think at some point everyone will say, ‘I was not expecting that’ if they listen through to it. We are going for both depth and dopamine, so although there are many experimental combinations of instruments, genres and cultures, it still has melodies and easy dance beats at its heart. I can never understand experimental tracks where you spend the whole time wondering when the tune will start. Many of the lyrics were by the late great Demmy James, and we hope people will take the time to notice depth and layers in meaning - and a deal of irony - in the words. But you can just dance instead if you like… The album is trying to express some of the things we all have in common - for everyone who feels joy and pain, in these times of ’social’ media distorted wall building rhetoric and alternative facts. In my many international relationships I find there are kind people and not so kind people from every single culture and creed. I’ve yet to meet someone who is good or bad because of a flag. 

Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

- We are genuinely delighted that you feel it too. Doing something a bit different always involves anxiety at the beginning, so finding out there are people who understand it in the world is always encouraging. Thanks to you all for listening to the music, to Buzz Slayers, and to Stephen James Moore from IMP for their support. …And also to everyone who is fighting to keep music human!

Official Website: www.thebeatrootroad.ca

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBeatrootRoad/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the.beatroot.road?lang=en ; 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/The_Beatroot_Road 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2igBGRo0CgkQaQmR6nrk9b

Bandcamp: https://thebeatrootroad.bandcamp.com/