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Made up of the co-founder of Trunk Records and the man behind The Memory Band, Stephen Cracknell, Tunng's main songwriter, Sam Genders, one half of The Bicycle Thieves, Hannah Caughlin, and singer-songwriter Liam Bailey, The Accidental came together, as their name would suggest, almost by accident. A few chance meetings and a spark of inspiration led the quartet to begin writing and recording music in Cracknell's living room. Eventually they ended up with their debut album 'There Are Wolves', out now on Full Time Hobby, and the rest is history.
Coinciding with the release of new single 'I Can Hear You Voice', Stephen and Sam both took time to answer the Qs. |
Q1 How did you start out making music?
Sam: Three chords and a summer holiday.
Stephen: With friends, in bedrooms and backrooms hitting things.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Sam: Collaboration.
Stephen: The people involved really. It was all about just letting folk be themselves.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating an album?
Sam: It varies a lot, but I tend to get focussed on the songs and writing with others and then work with people who can bring something interesting to the overall sound.
Stephen: They’re all different. With this one we started writing together and had a few ideas before we decided upon it becoming a project in its own right and different people came on board at different times. Because it was recorded in a home set up it involved the people coming over to my place and just recording and improvising. With this record it was very much a case of writing songs and then very quickly arranging and recording them.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Sam: Too many to name, but they would include The Beatles, Vivaldi and The Albion Band.
Stephen: That’s a list that could go on forever. The sound of The Accidental album was somewhat influenced by a mixture of Panda Bear, The Free Design and The Watersons.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Sam: Probably as little as possible to that they can make up their own mind.
Stephen: Probably something embarrassing…
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album/single, and for the future?
Sam: For the records, just for people to enjoy them. For the future, two kids, a dog and learn to play they cello. Ooh, and visit Cuba.
Stephen: We’re really proud of the record, so just hope that plenty of people get to hear it. We have had great time making it and playing some live shows recently, so it’s a very enjoyable experience. We’re doing a few shows this summer, which should be fun. In the future we want jet packs.
published may 2008
