Recorded in Alfred Lavender's DIY home studio in Warwickshire, the song is a reflection of late nights, first flats, and the sort of nostalgia that hangs around long after the moment's gone.
In preparation for their debut tour and the upcoming release of new EP Love and Decay, we spoke with the band about hiraeth, disorderly live performances, cross-cultural tension, and the protracted, costly myth of the bedroom pop fantasy.
Hello, Rubbish party! Could you walk us through the creative process for this song?
J. Edwin Galloway with Rubbish Party here, As a band we've recorded dozens of tracks since 2022. Something changed this year where it felt like we had to get our stuff out there or die in obscurity. We started by releasing our roughest tracks on Culinary Vendetta. We weren't expecting such a dramatic response to the material. We garnered 10k streams in our first week. However, the tracks were so rough and full of cursing we couldn't get anyone serious to put their support behind them. We then made a conscious effort to polish a handful of songs ( now part of our ep Love and Decay) to perfection, and we enlisted the help of renowned DJ Crimson Creep to do it. His keen ear for production was vital in creating the dare I say "poppy" vibe to all our new tracks including "Flat by the Lake."
2. Flat By The Lake feels like a memory suspended in sound- what was the first image or moment that sparked the creation of this track?
I stood on the Atlantic coast watching the waves crash against the rocks and it all sort of hit me. A nostalgic tear came to my eye. I just wanted to bottle that up and something in that memory told me: 1980s Manchester. I ran to my band mates and we went right into the studio with that in mind. We used Evans lyrics he has written about his first flat because it fit the nostalgic theme
3. How does the songwriting dynamic work between you all - do lyrics lead the way, or does the music pull them out?
We all write some of the songs. But primarily Evan sends in the lyrics from America and the rest of the band draws sort of a composite sketch around those lyrics. The music is then relentlessly perfected in a process much akin to pulling teeth.
4. How are you hoping that the audience is going to perceive this song?
I strongly believe that art is subjective and I sincerely hope that everyone interprets the song in their own special way. Obviously this song is about nostalgia for a first flat. I think everyone has a time and place like that which they can drift back to in their minds as they listen.
5. Recording in Alfred’s home studio must create a special atmosphere - how did that intimacy shape the final sound of the track?
Being sequestered in Alfred's secluded home offers the perfect forum for the sort of screaming required to record a work of art. There's always disagreements somewhere. For instance our drummer George is a metal head. Every now and then we catch him trying to sneak double bass into a track and we toss him out of the studio. Edwin seems to only play punk music. On the bass he prefers to pluck at one string. We take the piss out of him for that. It's all proper fun most of the time but there comes a moment where everyone has to buckle down. We're grateful to have these experiences away from the public eye. Though our process probably frightened Crimson Creep during the first session. Alfred's place is very cozy. We can have tea in between recording sessions even play a little skyrim to clear our heads. This safe environment contributes greatly to the cohesion of the final product.
6. How does each of your musical personalities show up in the final arrangement of the song?
It doesn't actually and that's what's beautiful about it. We've killed our egos through extensive psychedelic treatment. Being former art majors, we were constantly around stuffy people that believed the road to a song was paved with excessive complexity. Many of us were in bands before rubbish party. All those bands fell apart because of the insistence that music had to go in a particular direction. That sort of ego driven thinking is unproductive. At the end of the day writing a hook is simple. We're not trading stock options here. Just play what sounds good and you're there. You have a song.
7. What’s one moment during the recording of this track that none of you will forget?
From the first second of the track to about 2:26, we spend the entire time building to a sort of crescendo. George taps the drums three times, the bass line slides in seamlessly, then we add the keyboard elements. Then we deconstruct the entire thing. That's where the magic was. We get to 2:26 and it's just bass and kick drum with Clutterbucks vocals. Then at 2:41 that guitar kicks back in faintly. That's where we all stopped and looked at one another. Fairly simple stuff if I recall Fmajor to G major something like that. But the beauty of that is mental. Building up that track just to break it down and rebuild it. That was where we knew we had something and yes we all cried just a little.
8. Do you see the song as a catharsis? Or more of a tribute to a past that shaped you, mess and all?
I draw a key distinction between Rockstars and musicians and I strongly feel that everyone in Rubbish Party is a Rockstar. What does that mean? In simple terms we're not role models we're dynamic human beings with messy lived experiences. We don't have our sobriety and we're proud of that. We were recently kicked out of an interview in France for being too extra. There's no guarantee that we show up anywhere in a functional state. Rubbish Party is a mess and that's why the art is good. A lot of the pop stars in our age are products of nepotism. "Daddy works for Sony so i can make music now." We're broke, we're raw, and we're unfiltered. This song is a representation of that. We want to bring Rock back to it's working class roots. It's felt corporate since the death of Cobain.
9. If each of you had to describe Flat By The Lake as a physical object, what would it be?
It's a canoe.
10. “Love and Decay” is such an evocative title - how do you personally interpret that phrase?
There's love which I think one can feel when they listen to the opening track "Hear ye." It's a desperate plea. "Hear me, revere me." Followed by the decay of this love in a way that is initially shocking. "Why do you fear me?" We all ask as we all belt into the microphone at once. The second track "shimmy and shake" is when a lover cheats. By "flat by the lake" the relationship is totally over and we're looking back at the best parts of said relationship. And so this 19 minute project is meant to tell the story if a relationship from it's initial love to it's final decay. Hence why I feel it is the perfect title for this project.