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Journey to the Great Eastern – An Interview with Eastern Lane
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Journey to the Great Eastern – An Interview with Eastern Lane
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Journey to the Great Eastern
Marlies Oostland visits the Paradiso to critique and interview newcomers Eastern Lane.
Photo by Marlies Oostland
Eastern Lane are a new, young band from Berwick upon Tweed, which is a pretty town sitting daintily at the border between Scotland and England. Nice as it is, it is by no means a surging area of rock and roll, and the myth about this group of young men is that by coming from a place where there is absolutely nothing else to do, they have no excuse not to spend their time becoming great at writing and playing music.
As a four-piece they consist of singer/pianist/guitarist Derek Meins, bassist Stuart Newland, guitarist Andy Lawton and drummer Danny Ferguson. Despite barely being out of school, the lads had gotten themselves a record deal with Rough Trade in London, and ever since have been releasing singles, recorded their debut album and toured all over Europe and the United Kingdom.
This was how the Netherlands first came into contact with Eastern Lane a few months back, when they supported the Scottish band Aereogramme on their tour. However, this autumn has witnessed their return to the Dutch shores and their performance was not only witnessed by Marlies Oostland, but she was there to grill singer, Derek, on music, life and death.
It was a quarter past nine when support band British Sea Power finally finish cleaning their mess from the stage. Derek from Eastern Lane then appears on stage alone and sits behind the piano. He begins playing ‘Shadow on the Floor’ solo, and with this starting song he gets the attention of an audience caught somewhat off guard. A calm, emotional song – is this it? Mixed feelings emerge from the audience. The people who know Eastern Lane enjoy this great sad song, knowing harder songs will come soon enough this evening. The people who are hearing Eastern Lane for the first time, however, are confused, but they won’t be disappointed for long. After the first song, the full band joins Derek on stage and the harder songs enter the hall with them. With acoustic songs such as ‘Portrait of Tuesday’ and ‘The Royal Way’ interspersed, the band attempt to show all aspects of their style throughout the course of the set.
The setlist also includes ‘Feed Your Addiction’, which will be their new single in the UK, and although singer Derek will later admit that he thinks it is the hardest song to do live (“I always have a bit trouble with the singing on that one”), it is their best song on the night. It really is the best example of Eastern Lane’s potential to become bigger than they are now, but during the rest of their performance it is also made clear that they will have to learn some more before succeeding completely. Bassist Stuart is paying more attention to the notes he should play than to the audience, and only Derek is really giving a “performance”. The rest are merely playing songs, and this is one of the bad points about Eastern Lane currently, as the band is playing at two levels: Derek being on the higher one, the rest of the band on the lower level. They clearly lack a unity on stage, but, lest we forget, the youth of the band – they are still gaining more experience on stage gig by gig. They have already improved vastly since their last visit to this country and I’m almost sure the next time they come over there won’t be many negative comments left for them. Half an hour after the end of their performance, we wrangle Derek away from the backstage masses and have a chance to chat…
Do you like the tour so far?
Yes, it has its advantages and disadvantages. Sleep deprivation and things like that. Food deprivation, money deprivation, and feeling alone all the time probably are the disadvantages. And then, being on tour is the advantage itself.Do you enjoy playing the gigs here in Holland?
Eha…yes. [During the rest of the interview Derek repeats ‘Eha’ frequently. It actually sounds quite cheerful, and he means it as a clear ‘yes’.]
You’ve been playing in Great Britain, Spain, Germany, and now in the Netherlands. Is there any difference in the way the audience is reacting to you?
Definitely. It’s just that… people in Holland seem to speak all the time while you’re playing [laughing from the people in the background – “yeah, that was us”]. Ah well, I don’t know, it’s just… that’s fair enough, that’s maybe just like a thing, but in Britain it’s just kind of like a thing that everyone is quiet, and then they make noise afterwards, but…
So are you more popular in one country or another? Here British Sea Power are supporting you, but in Germany and Great Britain it’s the other way around.
It varies, really, but I’d say in Holland we’re the most happening, well, not really… We’ve got a single coming out in England, so that’s doing quite a lot in the NME and stuff like that. Can’t say anymore.
Earlier in the year you were supporting Aereogramme over here. What do you think of them? How was that?
I think they’re horrible. [laughing] I don’t know, they’re just…horrible. They’ve got funny moustaches and beards, and stuff like that.
So no way we’ll see you within a few months with like, beards and stuff?
I don’t think that’ll be possible. [Stroking his cheek] In ten years or something, I think.
About your album ‘Shades of Black’, is there any deeper meaning behind the front cover? It says “Repair worn edges.” What’s that about?
Well, actually, it’s Andrew, who plays the guitar – his cousin made it, and all the parts of it were gathered at the beach in the town where we live. So it’s all rubbish. We just kind of gave her the album, and that’s what she came up with after she listened to it.
Are you satisfied with the results of the cover and with the music?
I think it’s good. It’s what we made at the time, but I know we’ve got all of our songs for the next one, so I kind of think the next one will be better.
Will it be very different than your debut?
I’d say it’s more like what we are live, really. Cos the current album is quite different from what we do live, so it’s more of our live-style.
Did you ever think of expanding your use of musical instruments?Pff! We do, but… Eha, I’ve got a banjo. I bought a banjo a couple of weeks ago, when we were in England. That’s a pretty good question. I’ll think about it in the future.
So, what was the idea behind the hidden track on your album?
It was to make as much noise as possible I think. We just made the worst noise we could for like half an hour, and then, the funny thing was, Iain, who produced the album, spent three days editing it, and it’s just half an hour of complete rubbish and he edited it to ten minutes. After three days he was like, “Ah, this sounds really good,” and we were all like “What?!” and we just didn’t say anything else. I think it’s quite funny, but it’s not really meant to be much more than that.
Do you feel your music is a very personal thing? Do you find it difficult to bring it out to so many people?
I do feel it is personal, but I don’t think I would write something, any song if I didn’t want somebody to know that I wrote it. So, by writing the song, I suppose I want people to hear what I want to say. So it doesn’t really bother me going onstage doing that.
Is there any song you find very difficult to play for an unknown audience?
Our new single. I always have a bit trouble with the singing on that one.
You also say that you read a lot. Is there any book that has influenced your music?
Every book that I’ve read. I’ll tell you, probably more than any music that I’ve listened to.
Are there any books you can mention in particular?
‘Pale Fire’, by Vladimir Nabokov, any of the Saki short story books, or J.D. Salinger.
So, are these also your favourite books, or just the books that have influenced your music most?
No, no, they’re probably my favourite ones.
Do you have any rituals before going on stage?
Um…no. I think it might be something good to have, but we just don’t. Sorry.
Hmm, that’s boring.
Yeah, I know. [laughing] I’ll think one up.
If you ever had to choose between musical integrity and commercial success, which one would you choose? Would you compromise?
How would you have to compromise them?
Right, well here’s a theory. You know, talking about selling out so and so forth. If somebody came to you and said “I want to pay you a whole bunch of money to use your track on a certain commercial” for something that you would definitely not approve of, would you sell out for that, or would you try to maintain your musical integrity?
I know, but…. It’s like that… I don’t know.
Maybe if Aereogramme wanted to use your songs?
I’d put in the contract that they’d have to shave first. [laughing in the background] No, but I don’t think you can say that kind of thing from us. The songs aren’t written about that, so I don’t really see how you’re selling out. More people hear your song, you get more money which, ultimately, is why you do it really, if you tell the truth. But, I don’t know. Just write nothing? [Laughs]
What would be your idea of hell?
Beards! These are quite good questions. Or bad questions from my point of view. Of hell? I don’t know if I can come up with anything. There are too many things. I don’t know. Yes, I know heaven is first, and I know hell is later.
So what would be your idea of heaven?
I don’t know yet, so I’ll tell you when I know what heaven is.
Do you believe in heaven and hell?
It’s like a pretty story, I think, and I kind of like the story and the idea behind it, but it doesn’t really do anything for me.
Are you going to be in heaven or in hell when you die?Am I going to be in heaven or hell when I die? It probably depends how I died.
Don’t you think it depends on how you live? Or if you died robbing a bank?If I was to die robbing a bank… [silence] I’d probably go to hell, but I’d go to jail first. I don’t know what hell is, sorry. I’ll tell you when I know. But then I’ve died already. Well, let us know.I’ll send you a postcard. That’s pretty cool… postcard from hell.
Is that going to be your next song? Postcard from hell?Postcard from hell… I’ll give it a try.
Do you regard yourself as a wise man?
No!
Then why didn’t you say so earlier on Wednesday when you were performing at the radio programme Club3voor12 in Amsterdam. Jaap Boots was asking you if you thought you were a wise man. And you just didn’t react from that. And now you just say ‘No!’ immediately, like you know for sure. Is it because you had some days to think about it or because….
I had forgotten about it actually. I had no idea what you meant when you suggested it. And… I don’t know. I was probably intimidated by certain people. Well, because when I get nervous I tend to murmur.
So are you often nervous?
Eha.
Every time you go perform?
I don’t know. I think I’m more nervous when I’m not performing than when I’m performing.
So when you’ve done a really great performance, after that, how do you feel?
I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it. I don’t think we ever do good performances, so I don’t really know.
Aren’t you ever satisfied with a performance?
I don’t really know. I can say if I thought it was good, but I don’t think we’ve ever played when we thought it was great.
I think that was all for now. Did you have a hard time with the interview?
Yeah, there were a few rocky moments.
You thought you wouldn’t make it but somehow you managed. Congratulations, you survived.
Marlies Oostland