Discover thrilling artists in 10 questions…
3 April 2018
ALTAR FLOWERS are heartfelt guitar popsmiths based in that legendary sonic city of Manchester. They write heartfelt, lifelike songs about love, death and all mixed emotions
in between. Amplified musings about real emotions and human experiences, colored with a glamorous touch caused by poetic guitar lines and tempting male/female vocals here and there. Musically they bring The Human League‘s catchy electro romanticism and Pulp‘s high-quality pop songwriting to mind. After their excellent 2016 debut album i.d.s.t the band just returned with magnificent 4-track EP Performance. Time to talk. Before doing
so, with frontman (guitar/vocals) Jay Gibb, let’s get in the right mood. Here’s ‘Dead Leaves‘, the compelling opener off that fresh extended play…
Welcome Jay Gibb at Turn Up The Volume!…
1 / What’s the story behind the band’s name?
“Have you seen Batman Forever with Val Kilmer? The scene where Edward E Nigma is
coming up with his name for The Riddler… like that! We got it from a heavy metal band-name generator. We liked it in a very tongue-in-cheek way but I liked the idea that the exact same decorative flowers on an altar would oversee loads of different occasions
and celebrations like ‘love’ in marriage, baptisms, morning mass repenting, and
of course, death!”
2/ “Love.Death.Pop.” Does these three words on your Facebook-page
indicate what ALTAR FLOWERS is all about?
“In 3 words, yeah. We’re very much one extreme or the other but at the same
time working within our boundaries which is the pop element, and most bands
seem to say the opposite. Which is probably why we’re better than most.”
3/ I’m always intrigued by records’ artwork. What’s the story
behind the image on the new ‘Performance’ EP’s sleeve?
“It was very last-minute to be honest but I dig it. We spent a lot of time on another
cover that got over-complicated and smart-arsey, so in the end I just thought, fuck it,
it just needs a visual to look how it sounds. I’m very lazy like that. But no underlining meaning, no.”
4/ The band released excellent debut LP “i.s.d.t.” about two years ago.
What does the title stand for and which track is the group’s favorite?
” ‘i.D.S.t’ was written all over every wall, park bench, even carved into trees round our way in the 90’s when I was a growing up. It stands for ‘If Destroyed Still True’, haha. Like a kind of a ‘statement’ of everlasting eternal forever, ever and ever and ever love between young teens whose relationships lasted a whole 3 weeks. My favourite track is ‘So Happy‘. We played it live in a church once, it was truly, truly beautiful. One of ‘them’ moments, ha.”
.
5/ Many big bands (The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Oasis, Happy Mondays etc…)
came out of Manchester. Is the city still that buzzing place for alternative music today?
“I don’t wanna sound like a dick but I wouldn’t know to be honest. So, probably not.
I don’t get out much, so, for all I know it could be absolutely buzzin ‘n’ ravin it’s fuckin
tits off. Put it this way, a promoter sent an email to us just before a gig saying summut
like “Right you guys, tonight, I want the bands to be talking and buzzing with each other from start to finish to create a party atmosphere” that probably says it all.”
6/ Which movie would you pick to visualize your music
on a big screen when playing a concert?
“ ‘Robocop’. Part man, part machine, innit… or maybe something like
Weird Science or a John Carpenter movie. Though to be fair, he did his
own soundtrack music which was fuckin’ boss. He’d laugh at us.”
Special guest at Altar Flowers’ next gigs…
7/ Your number one artist/band to do a world tour with?
“Probably, Poison or Skid Row . One of those fun bands from the 80’s with big massive vodka swimming pools and disposable Lamborghini’s, innit. Or Elton John, I can watch
his tantrums on Youtube for hours. I’d love to wind him up, cut the heads off his flowers
or put a fake shit on his piano or summut.”
Altar Flowers’ world tour ambition…
8/ Manchester City or Manchester United?
“Man U obvs.”
9/ If you could go back in time on which artist’s front door
would you knock and ask to have a selfie together?
“Cher in the 60’s was a proper fit. I’d fancy my chances
aswell, definitely.”
Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPiere…
10/ Future plans for ALTAR FLOWERS?
“I feel like we’ve probably spent too much time in the studio,
so probably just to get out, and do it live a bit more and to just
be wonderful… we’d like a 2nd ep out, before the end of the year,
but we’re taking it all as it comes for now I reckon. It’s all good
in the hood at the minute.”
Thank you for this interview, Jay.
May the road rise with ALTAR FLOWERS!
Here’s new EP ‘Performance’ in full…
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ALTAR FLOWERS: Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
Debut album ‘i.d.s.t.”: stream on Bandcamp
Love.Death.Pop.
(promo photos received via band)