“We wanted to record the bulk of it to tape, to use analogue stuff in favour of computer wizardry where possible, but without it sounding like an old folk record. “We were looking for someone who could strike a balance between lo-fi and hi-fi,” says Liddle. In March 2011, the band traveled to Bridgeport, Connecticut to record their debut album with producer Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), a man whose professional ethos was a perfect match. “I guess in that respect it's like living with four brothers - we rip it out of each other relentlessly, but we know when to leave each other alone.” “We know each other well enough to tell when people are actually pissed off,” says Taylor. “It’s pretty normal behaviour on that scene.” The close living conditions and hard touring have fostered an impossibly tight bond between the band. “You have to climb over his head to get to the toilet in the night.” For at least one band member, it’s an improvement on what came before: “When Jonny was in hardcore bands he couch surfed for three years,” says Taylor. “Pete sleeps on a mattress on the dining room floor,” says Taylor. When not on tour, the five were living together in a house in Stratford, East London, in what can be described as near-medieval living conditions. “We just partied the whole fucking time.” They clocked up some miles too, playing across Europe, the UK and even the Outer Hebrides. “We went on tour straight after and went absolutely wild for six months,” says Taylor. On signing to Transgressive publishing, the band were able to quit their jobs and studies. “Every time Jon tried to rock out I’d say, No, no, keep it stripped back.” “Initially the emphasis was on it being something distinct from our old bands - really gentle and lo-fi,” says Liddle. Liddle started writing folky material in his hall of residence room and, on summer break, called on those old friends from the Reading scene – by now all living in London – to record them. But in spite of his best efforts, the acoustic guitar in the corner was calling. I think in some ways I also wanted to look illness and mortality in the eye, to see how things like human dissection would affect me.”Īt medical school, with ten years of band experience behind him, he resolved to put music on the back burner and focus on his studies. You know, spending a lot of time in a white coat looking down a microscope. “I saw myself more as a lab doctor than a people doctor. “I don’t know if I wanted to save lives in a hands-on way,” he muses. University took Liddle first to Bristol, where he studied anthropology, and then to London’s Kings College, where he enrolled in medical school. It meant you could sell out a decent venue with your 16 year old punk band.” “You could rehearse there, and they always put on local bands alongside touring artists, which really helped cultivate the scene. “It was this cool, grimy little venue,” says the singer. “It sets a tone that says this is some serious shit.”īy the time Liddle returned to Newbury as a teenager, he and the various members of Dry the River – guitarist Matthew Taylor, Scott Miller (bass) and Jon Warren (drums) – were crossing paths in various bands on the DIY scene centred around Southampton, Reading and Newbury’s Waterside Youth Centre. “I think if you play with King James' vocabulary it accesses a solemnity something deep within people,” says the Leonard Cohen inspired singer. Though he’s not overtly religious, religious symbolism creeps into Dry the River’s lyrics, whether on first album ballad's Bible Belt and Shaker Hymns or the more anthemic Gethsemane or Hidden Hand on the more recent Alarms in the Heart. Ever-changing homes and schools gave Liddle a peculiar set of reference points: "I think I have a fixation with community and belonging, because that wasn't something I had as a child." And though his parents are only “quietly religious,” Liddle became fascinated by the iconography and language of the Roman Catholic Church at one of his many primary schools, where his voice was honed in the school choir. Born in Norway to British parents, his early life was a shifting one thanks to his father’s work as an engineer in the oil industry. Inclusive, inspirational and utterly thrilling.ĭry the River’s origins lie with frontman, Peter Liddle. Another exceptional group signed to Transgressive Publishing in 2010- and now Records - Dry The River are a band we've been waiting for for some time.
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