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Five Questions: Electric Soft Parade

With three albums and a Mercury Prize nomination to their credit, Brighton's Electric Soft Parade have established themselves as one of the most accomplished and unpredictable acts on the British music scene. Their latest album, the eagerly anticipated No Need to Be Downhearted, finds the duo of Tom and Alex White further pushing the boundaries of their signature sound, venturing into psychedelic synth-rock, post-punk piano ballads, and crunchy guitar pop. And they did it all on their own terms, recording on a shoestring budget away from professional studios and record label meddling.

Here, Tom White tackles our five questions, discussing his band's unexpected hip-hop influences and why he sometimes to listens to crap music on the radio.

1. Name a musician who has influenced your sound, but that people may not expect.

Robert Wyatt has been an enduring influence for a few years now, lyrically and musically of course. People may not see that as a particularly obvious influence, but it's there, definitely. I think there's also a big hip-hop influence in terms of how we build tracks in the studio rather than laying them down live.

2. Who or what inspires you to make music?

The idea that a piece of music can take you on a journey for a few minutes, take you out of the everyday and transport you somewhere—that's what I've always wanted to do with our songs. I think there's massive parallels with music and art, too—the way a painting has a certain initial impact, then depending on your personal reaction to it, those feelings grow or subside. It's a big cliché, but everything I hear or see can influence me, totally. I'm not the kind of person to switch off the radio if I hear something I don't necessarily like—even if I hate something, I'll still be able to find what it is that other people like about it, and use that somehow.

3. Was there a driving concept behind your new album?

Not particularly, other than just to communicate as best we could how it feels to live in England at the beginning of the 21st century. A document of that.

4. What's the most exciting part of the actual music-making process for you?

Making music, of course!

5. If you could pick a dream band to open for, past or present, who would it be?

Guided By Voices.

Electric Soft Parade's new album, No Need to Be Downhearted, is available now in the ARTISTdirect Store.