Interview: Ernest Graves On Confessions From a Western

I had the opporunity to ask David some questions about the album and get a bit more inside information on the production and approach to recording, as well as his general feeling and inspirations for this project:

Q:Some people may be familiar with your previous work in The Nighmares, which i hope you think it is fair to say was a much punkier, energetic project; for old fans and newcomers alike how would you breifly describe the Ernest Graves project and how does it differ from music we may have heard from you before?

A:"Yeah it’s definitely a shift from The Nightmares and music I had done in the past. What I’m creating now leans into stuff that I always loved and always enjoyed and I felt it was something I wanted to explore as a songwriter, I’m quite prolific and love having somewhere to put creative efforts in to! The music leans heavily into 90s alternative as well as Americana and Country, in all the projects I write for I want to make pop leaning music that is distorted or wonky in some way. This record is probably the most experimental so far."

Q:Am i right in thinking that this started as a lockdown project? It seems for some creatives lockdown provided (as well as the stress and panic and boredom) a good deal of time to work on ideas, can you say anything about your experience of being a writing musician during 'the covid years'?

A:"Yes and no, it started at the tail end of covid and lockdowns but in 2021/2022 it really became the thing I started focusing a lot of creative energy on. Covid was very stressful, I worked in healthcare at the time which was hard! I found it a frustrating time songwriting wise and did struggle at points with not writing anything but coming out of it as things eased and changed I had a bit of a creative burst and that’s what this record and my debut [came from]"

Q:This is the third album under the ernest graves name, by this point you've covered a lot of the bases of Alt Country and Americana, how does this new album expand those horizons? It seems to have a much darker tone, was that always the direction you wanted to take it this time around?

A:"I think a lot of artists want to dip their toes into different genres and musical styles, this one after losing the record and deciding to build it all together again me and Dom that I made the album with were able to create something really cool that has a lot of layers and a lot of textures. I think the darker tone was always in the songs but we managed to bring that out more, it was more in the recording. I had the songs written and me and Dom took the songs in the directions we heard as we recorded them"

Q:There's some really interesting production and sound texture on the songs, I know you've done home recording in the past, was this release entirely recorded at home or was there some studio time too?

In particular theres some great LoFi sounding moments and i wonder if that was something that came naturally in the recording or was it more of a concious effort to achieve that effect?

A:"Thank you! Yeah I wanted it to have a home made feeling and for there to be the ghosts of other songs and sounds on the album, like in the guitar solo on coyote you can hear people talking in the background and there’s a lot of little clips of me and Dom talking and radio clips here and there. There was one session in a studio but that was just a couple of vocal takes other than that we made it all in Whitstable. So I guess we can call it a studio album! So far the only studio album is Hallelujah! [Raise Your Hands To Heaven, Ernest Graves second album that came out earlier this year] But me and the band are in the middle of recording a new record. Which by the time it’s done will probably be the 5th record"

Q:So the albums out on sunday? I assume it'll be found in all the usual places (spotify, bandcamp etc)? So finally let us know if you've got any gigs coming up so people can come and see the new songs live

A:"Yeah it’ll be out everywhere and if you come to a show i usually have hand painted CDs that I give out! I’m taking part in Create Music Village in Ashford on October 5th at low-key taproom and then November 1st at the art club Dover! I usually go to Rye variations on the third Friday of every month at the queens head rye and Folke around at the blind pig in Folkestone on the 1st Thursday of the month!"

So there you have it folks, folk punks, cowboys and cowgirls, if the eclectic mix of styles wrapped in classic Country aesthetic described here piques your interest, or even without that element if you enjoy authentic and interesting independant music go check out all of Ernest Graves' music wherever you get it, go see them play live some time and make sure you listen to (or buy!) their new album 'Confessions From a Western' when it comes out this Sunday.

Interview By: Jim