Paul Love, drummer, producer and one half of London alt indie duo Plastic Barricades tackling the latest questions from The Median Man
Paul Love, drummer, producer and one half of London alt indie duo Plastic Barricades tackling the latest questions from The Median Man
STRANGE MISER
What inspired the name of the band and what are your influences?
We met a strange miser in the grotto of Buttes Chaumont: “When the yellow moon rises gibbous and waxes thou shalt bear the name Plastic Barricades” he said. We’re not sure what that meant, but we used the name at the next gig. Our influences are late night television, Sesame Street and both Bobs Ross and Fosse. We also like guitar bands from the 90s.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
We take it day by day. We make sure to add at least one new thing every day, and eventually it gets done. I find the hardest part of creativity is to disassociate from the creation itself. If I attach my self worth to the object of my focus I’m doomed to destroy it or change it. I try to form it in the shape of my ego instead of allowing it to take its own. Same with a drum fill as a lyric: If I think about it too hard it speeds up and runs away from me. I’m keen to be honest and sincere about my day or my state. That’s what excites me about others’ songs.
DAY BY DAY
DAY BY DAY
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
We take it day by day. We make sure to add at least one new thing every day, and eventually it gets done. I find the hardest part of creativity is to disassociate from the creation itself. If I attach my self worth to the object of my focus I’m doomed to destroy it or change it. I try to form it in the shape of my ego instead of allowing it to take its own. Same with a drum fill as a lyric: If I think about it too hard it speeds up and runs away from me. I’m keen to be honest and sincere about my day or my state. That’s what excites me about others’ songs.
FUZZY EDGES
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
I’m not sure what made the spanish electric so appealing in the 1950s when people started screwing strings onto ash. Can you imagine if the pop revolution of the 60s was all on Hawaiian slide guitars? That would have been wild and that’s a reality not far from ours. We like real instruments. We like hearing something that hasn’t been made before. I like inconsistencies and fuzzy edges. They make things interesting. My favourite special effects are in black and white. You can’t see it clearly so it has this real spooky edge to it. The first transformation of the doctor was really creepy and deathly. The last one was fireworks. We make music with wood cos it makes us feel good.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
We don’t transpose unless Dan’s had too many whiskeys the night before. We switch up the live set from night to night and tour to tour. We only have two members at the moment so we’re gonna figure that out for the upcoming tour. It might be a Steely Dan situation were we get some solid guys in to play our arrangements or we might strip it all down. I like a big live show, but I also love MTV unplugged.
STRIP IT ALL DOWN
STRIP IT ALL DOWN
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
We don’t transpose unless Dan’s had too many whiskeys the night before. We switch up the live set from night to night and tour to tour. We only have two members at the moment so we’re gonna figure that out for the upcoming tour. It might be a Steely Dan situation were we get some solid guys in to play our arrangements or we might strip it all down. I like a big live show, but I also love MTV unplugged.
WHAT WORKS
BOATS AND HOES
What plans do you have for the future?
Boats and Hoes…
And this album’s coming out soon. We recorded it all in our shed and it doesn’t sound like it but it kinda does sound like it. It’s full of songs we wrote over the past 12 months and it covers everything from the hedgehog’s dilemma to that moment when you’re trying to help a friend and you want them to do their own thing and have faith in themselves but then you get nervous about your own things and worry about whether or not you’re really helping. It’s a lot of fun. And optimistic. Have a listen, buy a t-shirt and join us in being confused about the world around us and just trying to be nice about the whole thing.