Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with Testaments

Testaments - Never Run Dry EP

Never Run Dry EP showcases both the band’s experimental sound and Mark McQuillan’s distinctive voice as a songwriter and lyricist. Each track is a reworking of previously existing music, with McQuillan’s lyrical style and the band’s distinct sound as the constant throughout. Testaments’ recorded sound has live interaction as its foundation and even with the multiple layers of vocals and euphonium, this EP has an unmistakably live sound throughout.

Interview with Testaments

(º)> Never Run Dry reworks previously existing music. How do you approach transforming older material into something fresh while keeping your signature sound?

Because we've always worked with previous instrumental music, the lyrics are a new element in every one of our arrangements. This changes the emotional impact of the previous material, even if subtly, by giving it a specific theme and subject matter. Our instrumentation is also different from any other artist or group because of the euphonium, which any music we reinterpret is unlikely to have featured in its original version. It's very important that the musicians in the band have the freedom to improvise their own parts and lines as well as develop the previous material. Our songs are rarely arranged or written out in intricate detail, and we've improvised entirely new sections of music in the studio.

Going back to the question, I would say that our signature sound, in lyrical style and instrumentation, is in fact what allows that older material to become something fresh.

(º)> Mark McQuillan’s lyrics are a central element: how does his writing process interact with the band’s experimental approach?

This might be counter-intuitive, but I believe our highly edited lyrical style where every word has importance is what allows for the music to maintain cohesion within improvisation. No matter how radical the choices made by the musicians in the band, the lyrics don't change and therefore the fundamental subject matter and theme is the same in every performance. Adventurous harmonic, rhythmic and textural choices become subtle differences in emphasis in the context of a song whose subject and theme is clear.

(º)> You emphasize a “live interaction” foundation for your recordings. Can you describe how that translates into the final tracks on the EP?

This is in contrast to other ways of recording, particularly multi-tracking where performers record their parts separately and their choices are consequently more limited. When musicians record live in a room together, they can react to each other in real time and move together in manner that's only possible in a that context.

This manifests, for example, in the ending of Contemplation. Nothing from around the 8:30 mark was written down or decided before the recording. Consequently, the ending of this track was different from any previous performance of the song. This is not something that can happen without the recording being done live, and it's a very important part of our music and identity as a band.

(º)> With layers of vocals and instruments like the euphonium, how do you balance complexity with clarity in your arrangements?

This is an interesting question and I think has a lot to do with the mixing process. It's important to know what the central focus should be in a given section while mixing and which elements are secondary. With vocal music, that element of focus is usually the vocal, and I always prioritized the audibility of the vocal when working with Jared, our mixing engineer. As a bandleader, this is something that you need to be clear on: which instrument should be the focus at which time and why.

(º)> The band aims to bring experimental improvised music to a broader audience. How do you make avant-garde sounds accessible without losing authenticity?

I like to think of the avant-garde aspects of our music as being a colour and timbre within many which contrasts with other moments and sections in the music. Just as there can be contrasts between consonance and dissonance, soft and loud, and fast and slow within a song, there can be contrasts between arranged, controlled sections and those where musicians not only have the freedom to try new things but have the creativity and skillset to do so. You can hear this in the difference between Takes 1 and 2 of Mountain Stream.

Having vocals and lyrics also helps give listeners something to connect to within what could seem like chaos. No matter what's happening at a given point, if there's a lyric that can be heard there's something that can be understood.

Most importantly, the avant-garde sounds are a part of the music and an important element, but the foundation is the subject and theme of the song and the emotional world that flows from that theme. The members of the band are always making choices within that context, even if those choices are unexpected or radical.

(º)> TikTok has grown your following significantly in a short time. How has social media influenced the way you connect with listeners?

TikTok really seems to have a culture where users interact extensively with each other and with creators in the comments section. Getting positive comments and messages about the music is hugely rewarding in itself, but it has also allowed me to get a much clearer idea of which elements of our songs listeners are latching onto. This is the kind of thing that's impossible to replicate as an artist listening to your own songs with all the background knowledge of how you made them.

I've learned that our band sound, particularly the vocals and euphonium, is the aspect that immediately connects with listeners most often. Understanding the lyrics and themes tends to come later in a new fan's journey. This has effected which things I emphasise in talking to different people about the music. I'm careful not to assume people are interested in hearing about complex lyrical themes until they've first gotten comfortable in our sonic world.

(º)> Are there any particular tracks on Never Run Dry that you feel best encapsulate your vision for Testaments?

Ae Fond Kiss (Never Run Dry) is the best example of what we're trying to do in terms of its ambition and emotional power. It's very difficult to set the kind of complex poetry in this song to music, and the choice to have Rebecka improvise with the poem is one I'm very proud of. It allowed us both to have a fast, energetic tempo and very complex poetry which is normally not possible if you're trying to fit those words into a strict melody. This encapsulates my vision for the band because it demonstrates innovation in the service of a powerful emotional theme, as well as showcasing the unique voice and skillset of each of the band members.

(º)> How do you approach improvisation in a studio context versus live performance?

In the studio where we recorded this EP, the setup was such that I as the bandleader couldn't look at or give cues to the rest of the band as I normally would on stage. This meant that some transitions happened not by visual cue but by one of the musicians choosing to make that move to the next section. Contemplation has several sections like this, and the transitions were far more fluid (particularly around the 6 minute mark) than they had been previously. I think this made the music more interesting and since this recording, we rely far less on visual cues on stage than we had before.

(º)> What challenges or surprises did you encounter while producing a debut EP that blends experimental, jazz, and indie elements?

The biggest challenge in recording the EP was actually having to replace the drummer. Our original drummer was sadly called for jury service on the days of the studio session and Sam Nicholls, our current drummer played the music for the first time only a month before the session (which was our only rehearsal). In fact, what became Never Run Dry were the songs in that session that we didn't end up rehearsing beforehand, though this wasn't decided in advance. That means that the versions of Ae Fond Kiss (Never Run Dry) and Contemplation you hear on the EP were our first times playing those songs with the current lineup of the band.

One strictly positive surprise in the recording process was ending up with two takes of Mountain Stream. After recording the first take, I had no idea that Dom and Rebecka would improvise so much with the song in the second take, and I didn't give them any specific direction to do so. This was a beautiful moment for me as a writer because I listened in real time to my bandmates taking my song beyond what I myself could have imagined.

(º)> Looking ahead, how do you see Testaments evolving after this release: stylistically, lyrically, or in performance?

I'm currently working on writing a full album which I want to have some kind of cohesive theme. Part of why we released three singles and then an EP of different songs so far is that I didn't think there was anything tying them together into an entire album.

I'd also love to record a live album which will showcase some of the already released material in a radically different form. Anything can happen in our live shows, and I want to capture that for everyone to hear.

As we play larger venues, I also want do more creative things with visuals and lighting on stage. I think this is an under-utilised element of performance by jazz musicians, and I think it has the potential to take our live shows to a new level. I'm a huge fan of the way musicians like Michael Jackson and The Talking Heads integrated visual and musical element on stage, and my challenge now is to translate that kind of ambition to the smaller and more intimate jazz venues where we play.

(•)> That's all, Folks! Check out Testaments on the Pigeon Spins Playlist