bdrmm: Humber St. Heroes — Yuck Magazine

It was summer 2017 and I found myself at the Tramlines Fringe. As I navigated my way to the side of the stage inside Sheffield’s Bungalows and Bears, out stepped bdrmm, a then-relatively unknown entity from Hull. Originally arranging to arrive at the venue later that evening to watch the late-Liverpool band, Her’s, torrential rain meant myself and my Co-Editor, Tom, found refuge inside B&B’s a little earlier than we’d planned. Nothing could have prepared us for the storm that bdrmm created indoors that evening; leaving a lasting impression upon us that later induced drunken monologues at university house parties about ‘this great new band from Hull.’ It’s an evening that brothers, Ryan and Jordan Smith, look back on with fondness.

“We played a game of bingo with Her's before we played. It’s damn shame man; rest in peace to them because I fucking loved them,” Ryan asserts passionately before Jordan chimes in. “That was such a nice day. We were just sitting in the back room with them just, they were just yeah, really lovely. They didn't know who we were, but they really accommodated us even though we were just five idiots in a green room.”

Also in the green room that day was Brighton-based rockers, Fur. No one could have predicted the eventual success of all three bands on the bill that night. One commonality that all three share is the effect that moving away from their hometowns had on their careers; leading them to relocate to cities that they quickly became synonymous with. For bdrmm, that was Leeds.

“I moved to Leeds for uni. So I came here and then I don't know why Ryan did, I think, to move,” explains Jordan, before Ryan cuts in. “I just fancied a change. Leeds is like, kind of not too far that I can’t go home and it's not too close either. The scene is really good here and it's just decent. You don't want to spend your whole life in your hometown because then you'd just be spending your time in your hometown,” he laughs.

Fast-forward three years later, the name bdrmm is cropping up ubiquitously; following the release of their critically acclaimed debut ‘Bedroom’ via Sonic Cathedral, the five-piece have kicked up the kind of hype that fledgling bands can only dream of; though it wasn’t something the humble pair ever expected. There’s an almost endearing naivety to Ryan and Jordan; they virtually don’t know how good they are, which is arguably their finest quality.

“We thought people might like the record, but not to the point of getting like, really decent reviews in such acclaimed paces, from such acclaimed people,” Ryan begins. “It was like a proper shock, and it's really nice because it's kind of spurred us on through the pandemic and also spurred us on to be like, right, maybe we can do this. We never thought we would write an album in the first place, let alone be writing a second.” Jordan echoes his bandmate: “It's just a really nice experience to have put so much effort into something and for people to actually enjoy it and resonate with it. It's just a real nice feeling.”

bdrmm’s debut was written by guitarist and vocalist, Ryan, who until meeting his bandmates had intended his new material to be the basis of a solo-project. Now ready to let go of the writing reigns, bdrmm’s debut sees the culmination of one era, and the beginning of another.

“Now, going forward, we're definitely going to start writing as a whole, which I prefer because I think it's just, it's just nice,” Ryan starts, before adding: “It was nice to have the first album to like get out all my shit that had happened. But now I'm kind of done with talking about me and what's happened with me, so I'm still gonna write from a narrative point of view but it's gonna be nice to hear whatever the other members of the band have to say,” he pauses, then comically retorts. “You can take one person's idea and just allow everybody else to get their grubby fingers in.”

Working with long-time collaborator Alex Greaves on the LP, bdrmm have created a long-lasting relationship with the Leeds-based beatmaker. Ryan and Jordan talk fondly of the blossoming relationship; they’re fairly coy about their ever-growing instrumental ability and pass the plaudits on to their recording partner.

“I think definitely at first with the first singles we weren’t unsure but there were sort of teething problems, producers and stuff,” Jordan starts. “With the album though, it was so nice to have had that experience with someone [Alex] that we can grow confident with, because none of us were really like, overtly musical.”

“Yeah, working with him was like, just great. He'll tell us when we're shit, and he'll just be very honest with us,” Ryan adds before pausing. “I think that's important when it comes to a producer because it's easy to sit back and just record a band, but to have the passion in the project he does, I think it’s going to continue in the future because he's one of us.”

The album is littered with quality material, stand-outs like the opening psych-infused track ‘Momo’ and the darkly emotional ‘If’ give an insight into the pool of influences Ryan and the band draw from; the latter track sharing the same name as the 1967 Malcolm McDowell film it was penned in response to.

“During the time of a certain event happening in my life, I was introduced to that film,” Ryan opens. “It kind of distracted me for quite a while, like I started thinking a lot more about kids getting shot than me getting sad. So I guess, yeah, that kind of made its way into it,” he laughs.

Dealing with themes of mental health, alcohol abuse, unplanned pregnancy and drugs, ‘Bedroom’ is an insight into the mind of Ryan, who’s quick to explain the source of lyrical inspiration when I ask whether or not his material was influenced by his northern, working-class surroundings.

“It was more or less a personal than anything,” Ryan asserts. “It wasn’t an observation from what I’ve seen happen to people. It's literally happened to me, that's where it all comes from. I think it but the way it's written, it's written for anybody to interpret. It’s written in a way that people can listen to it and maybe take away something.”

It was during those more darker times that a light was shone; it came in the form of an email from Sonic Cathedral boss, Nathaniel Cramp, who proposed the release of a seven-inch that eventually developed into a string of singles and a full-length debut. Ryan confesses that when Nat sent the original message, he was so hungover he couldn’t believe it was happening.

“I remember I was in absolute bits to be fair, because you never, ever think that you're gonna get the chance to like release anything. Especially when you’re from Hull, like that just doesn’t happen,” Ryan starts. “I just remember being overwhelmed. Just as we've progressed, like Nat's honestly just one of the nicest people I've ever met. He’s someone who's just purely passionate about the music and simply someone who genuinely enjoys it to the point of wanting to invest time and money into us. It’s overwhelming, but great.”

Jordan adds: “Yeah, it's nice. It connects back to the Alex thing as well because it just feels like we're assembling sort of like, just a team of people that really want us to do well. There's no like, big label behind us. Sonic Cathedral is like just one Person basically, it's just Nat.”

Ryan and Jordan haven’t seen much of that team they mention, nor each other. The coronavirus pandemic has meant that the band have spent more time away from one another during the last six months than ever before, though the easing of restrictions in the last month has meant they are at least now able to practice together.

“It started pretty slow, we couldn't really do anything. Practice was cancelled but me and Ryan managed to like get a few Ableton files together and start working on some stuff,” Jordan explains. “It feels like we are like a band again because we can all be together in the same room now; you can't hug people in zoom meetings,” he says, before Ryan jokingly retorts: “And believe me, I've tried.”

bdrmm are one of the few bands that have been able to play a live show recently, playing an Arts Council England-supported small weekender at Hull’s The Adelphi; limited to just 48 tickets the show was seated and social distancing was in place. When I asked the pair if they are looking forward to a return to ‘normal’ touring, I was near enough cut off by their enthusiasm to respond.

“It's just gonna be really nice to just play the songs that like yeah, there's a lot of songs on the album that we haven't played live yet,” Jordan starts before Ryan adds, “I miss the energy and the build-up. I love driving to different places with everyone, just getting stupid in the van and just all the little bits about playing live, not necessarily just performing but like everything about just going to play a live show. It's just like, it's just a good day out. It's better than Chessington World of adventures,” he laughs.

As we were about to sign off our lengthy zoom call, trying hard to resist the urge to get some exclusive info, I asked the question that every band, journalist and PR loathes. What are your plans post-pandemic?

We've moved the tour to May next year, which hopefully fingers crossed, will go ahead,” Ryan begins. “The only thing we can do is remain optimistic that it’ll happen. There are plans to go to America and Asia, and stuff like that. So all being well, when we can do that, we will be doing them.”