‘I Like To Hear That Bird Sing’ a sun-baked cruise through a sea of unrequited love with Late TV. On their single ‘Fools Fools Fools’ Late TV used punk-funk energy to illustrate a visceral emotional response to romantic frustrations. ‘I Like To Hear That Bird Sing’ tackles similar dilemmas of the heart but rather than bouncing into them with headstrong abandon, it takes a different approach; drifting along on a haze in the breezy style of a soulful yacht-rock ballad. The soundscape is bubbling with humming synthesizers reminiscent of Ned Doheny’s iconic ‘Get It Up For Love’ and glistening guitars that shimmer like the chrome of a vintage car on a bright hot day.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hello Late TV. What is life like in United Kingdom? Would you change this country for another?
Luke - Sometimes I feel like a palm tree that you see in the front yard of a Victorian terraced house, in somewhere like West Norwood, getting rained on, on a Wednesday afternoon in November. You think: “Cool a palm tree!” But it looks kinda beaten down like WHAT AM I DOING HERE?! That said, I don't know where else I’d move to, the world is pretty crazy all over right now. .
What made you take up music?
Luke - I need something to do with my hands… otherwise they go up my nose, into the biscuit tin, places like that that they shouldn’t be.
Your latest track is 'I Like To Hear That Bird Sing'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
Luke - We initially wrote it as a super-slow blues jam, it had a walking bass-line, I was thinking of ‘Down by The Water’ by PJ Harvey. But the mood of the tune was too breezy for that vibe, so we started playing it as a 4-on-the-floor disco song. Around this time Ryan Joined the band and we ended up with it getting faster and faster with this frantic Slap-bass line, kinda like the band Defunkt, we used to close our live set with it. Then there was another change where we had to play an intimate gig in a small bar area, so we basically played it as a slow-jam, keeping the funk in but slowing it right down like ‘Get it Up For Love’ by Ned Doheny. When we came to finally record this version we ended up keeping elements of all the different stages, I think that’s why it's so good. It's had a life, it’s been kicked around over years, it's been up, down and all around and now it's got real character.
What is the biggest mistake you have made within your career to this point?
Luke - Career, hmmm, I consider it more of a compulsion. Perhaps that’s the actual mistake! I should be more official about things, keep my receipts, get some business cards made up. I could have my own parking space by now.
How do you spend your time?
Luke - We spend most of our time in 4/4 but we have at least one tune that ends in 6/8.
What are you most proud of?
Luke - Our new single ‘I Like to Hear That Bird Sing’.. I strongly advise your readers to go and download it from our bandcamp right now.
What advice do you have for beginning artists?
Luke - To play their music live as much as possible, it’s all about playing live, get yourself lost in the magic frisson of the ongoing moment…. and don’t forget to buy ‘I Like To Hear That Bird Sing’ by Late TV.
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as an artist?
Ryan - We all are challenging ourselves and each other by approaching our songwriting differently. This could be with odd time signatures/rhythms or chord voicings. We like to switch up our gear as well to experiment with new sounds. There's some fretless bass on our forthcoming album and we now have an upright bass that we are using.
Do you think that technology is improving lives?
Ryan - Of course! It's all how you use it. We wouldn't have been able to record during lockdown without the advances. You just can't let them take over your life.
What memorable responses have you had to your work?
Luke - This year, in February, BBC Introducing made us ‘artists of the week’ after we released our song ‘Fools Fools Fools’. We didn't see that coming!