London based psychedelic garage band Dead Coast are certainly making their mark on the global scene since their debut album release ‘Shambolic’ last year. The foursome have just returned from a long and successful US which saw them grace the stage at none other than SXSW amongst other infamous American venues. Lucky for us, they are back home to share their unique sound.

Can you give us a brief history of the band?
Craig: Me and Luca had been playing together for a while in London, we needed a guitarist and a friend got us in touch with Jonny. We'd seen Mari at a few gigs where she was working as a sound engineer and asked her to be our drummer. We released our first LP last year and have since been touring it around Europe and most recently America.

How would you describe your music?
Mari: It can be whatever you want it to be. We sit across a number of genres

Talk us through the recent single release ‘The Slit’.
Luca: It is a bit unsual as a single as it's not really a cacthy pop tune but it reflected the mood and sound of the band and gives you some hints on what we're going to do with our next record. ‘The Silt’ was recorded at the Hermitage works studios in London, with Syd Kemp behind the desk as producer

What can we expect from future releases?
Luca: We really can't precisely say what's going to happen with the next release. It's part of the nature of the band, I think, the feeling of not knowing what's really going on that makes everything a bit more exiting in some sort of sense. What we really know for sure is that we're gonna rehearse new material this summer and try to select songs that we like first of all, without thinking what's best for the market or what's best for us.

Can you pinpoint the influences behind your music?
Craig: We have a variety of influences and different tastes in film and music which I think is reflected in our album, it's not one particular genre or sound. I guess if we had to pick an influence for the overall sound it would be the production styles of Brian Wilson and Joe Meek.

Is there a particular process to your song writing?
Luca: The songwriting process it's a bit of a tricky part as much as I'm concerned. Usually before strumming notes or chord progressions I personally think on how the song should sound, so once I have the whole sound in mind I start writing some chord progressions, then I show the idea to the rest of the band and if they like it we keep moving, I was saying that it's a bit of a tricky situation, just for the simple fact that sometimes it's very hard to explain what you have already in mind in terms of sound. Other times instead, songs just come out from jams or someone else's inputs.

What music are you listening to at the moment?
Craig: I've been listening to Jackson C Frank a lot at the moment. Also the Rocky Erickson album All That May Do My Rhyme, plus the latest Bill Ryder Jones album is really great!

What has been a musical eye-opener and how has it affected you?
Jonny: Hard to think about this one, lots come to mind for different reasons. From Art Blakey to Pink Floyd, Sun Ra to Chuck Berry… they all taught me something about rhythm or about sound or about the message they wanted to express so all the music I listen to has effected me and showed me that there are no rules in music.

Is there a particular ethos that drives you as a band?

I guess we do try to always be different from a lot of the current trend of bands, both in sound and songwriting. We try not to jump on the bandwagon as such.

What is your relationship with Brighton?
Jonny: We filmed our music video for ‘Hills Made of Sand’, the first single from our album Shambolic in Brighton all dressed as sea animals. We were all soaked through at the end the day because of the rain, which seemed appropriate. We've also done a number of gigs for Acid Box Promotions which are always fun.

What are your plans for the next 12 months, is there an album in the pipeline?

Jonny: We're definitely working on some new tunes at the moment, although how and when we'll release them we're still not sure .
Sian Blewitt