In Conversation With Bleach Lab

Feb 25

Feb 25 In Conversation With Bleach Lab

Bleach Lab have been making waves with their sparkling, expansive soundscapes, marrying wistful melancholy with dark intent – and are now gearing up to release their debut EP, ‘A Calm Sense of Surrounding’ on March 19th. Anticipating the release to provide powerful fuel in their sharp rise to success, we chatted to them ahead of the release about grief, lockdown, and baths.

When did you guys start making music and form Bleach Lab?

Josh and Frank had made steps towards a doing project together a while before the other members of the band fell into place. They were looking for a vocalist that fits their style and vibe, and Jenna came to mind as she and Josh had studied music together at College. We just started by playing around, sharing our styles and different inspirations. Initially, we worked on rewriting some of the tracks that the guys had already made a start on, and then we just began developing our own sound.

How would you describe your sound for our readers?

Recently we had the phrase ‘Sad-Core’ used to describe our current sound. We liked that. Broadly speaking it could be considered Indie/Dream-Pop, strongly influenced by a lot of 80's and 90's music like Mazzy Star, Slowdive, The Cure along with contemporary artists like Julia Jacklin and Lana Del Rey.

You formed in Buckinghamshire but have since moved to London – how has this move changed things for you as a band?

Josh, Jenna, and our original drummer Shawn all grew up in and around Aylesbury, so we have always identified it as our origin. Though we were actually living all over the place when we got started (and still do). At the moment everyone lives in London, except Jenna who lives in Brighton so whenever we rehearse, we normally compromise and meet in Croydon. It often means relying on the very unreliable District Line and Southern Rail. One day (soon we hope!) we'll all be living closer to each other and can get things done more easily. Though the fact we've been living far apart till now has meant we were better prepared for everything going on at the moment. We were basically already used to writing music remotely before lockdown.

Bleach Lab’s debut album ‘A Calm Sense Of Surrounding’ is due March 19th.

The EP looks at the five stages of grief – what was the inspiration behind this?

Technically speaking, a handful of the individual songs took form before the concept of the EP itself. We had started to notice that the themes of each song seemed to quite cohesively reflect the idea of the ‘five stages of grief’, so we took that and ran with it. We think it worked out really well and allowed for a lot of inspiration with the artwork, as well as the track order itself. We wanted to create something that would allow us to move on and hopefully help our listeners who relate to doing the same.

Do you think the ‘five stages’ are an accurate representation of the grieving process?

I suppose it depends on the individual. Of course, everyone processes and digests it in different ways. It would be inaccurate to say that each person experiences the stages in the same way, however, we think it can be quite useful and healing to allow for overwhelming and confusing emotions to be defined in this particular way. It can make room to forgive yourself for feelings that can initially be assumed as unusual or problematic and be reminded that it is normal to feel that way and you’re not alone with it.

How have you been keeping occupied across the lockdown periods?

As most of the musical community has done, we've been doing a lot of writing. We didn't want to let the last year stop us from progressing as a band. We have continued to adapt ways to keep writing new stuff without having many opportunities to get in a room together. Home recording equipment has been our saviour. To be honest, we’ve been really thankful to be able to have this project to focus on for the majority of the past year. It’s allowed us to have just a smidgen of normality and have something creative to work towards.

What are you most looking forward to once lockdown ends?

Easy question, gigs. Going to gigs, playing gigs. Being able to get together properly, spend time together as a band, and continue working on creating and writing. And of course a decent draught pint.

You’ve already received support from the likes of BBC 6 Music, So Young, and DIY – what’s this been like for you guys?

It’s incredibly surreal. We are so grateful for the support and encouragement we have had from our current releases. It’s kind of crazy because you spend so long behind the scenes working on things, that you kind of forget that it’s going to be out in the world for people to form their own opinions on. We are determined to keep the momentum and keep getting our stuff out there for people to hear and hopefully love.

And lastly! What would your dream rider look like?

Kittens and an endless supply of earl grey tea are all Jenna needs! Chuck in a playstation2, Wasabi & Bleecker burger takeout, some tequila & Hibiki whiskey, and the boys would be happy. Oh and a large bath, don’t forget the bath - Frank LOVES baths!