Cardiff trio Why Horses? release their debut EP Yeah, Hi? on 9th October via grassroots label BWGIBWGAN (Pronounced ‘Boogie-Boogan’ – Welsh for ‘Ghost Disco’) – five tracks of genre wandering sprechgesang loveliness, melodic bass high in the mix driving everything along with the assistance of agile drumming, while meandering guitars add texture and contrast.
Take lead single ‘I’ve Got a Fever’, its anxious rimshot drumming, undulating bass and rambling semi-spoken vocals fighting against guitars that go from a nerve-tingling jangle to an unexpected spaghetti-western twang, relaying the feeling of those times when you know you’re sick but nobody seems to care. Or opener ‘Mon Monde’, its gallic monologue leaving my distant, neglected A-level French grasping for meaning just out of its reach, before a hooky bassline and tippy-tappy drumming hoik my brain out of the bilingual dictionary and shove it onto the dancefloor as sparkling guitar slides shine like slow-motion discoball lighting overhead.
Why Horses? round off a series of shows in South Wales and beyond with a performance at their hometown festival Sŵn on 16th October, and with an ever-expanding number of great bands appearing in the region, we asked them to take us on a guided tour of the local scene.
What makes South Wales a special place for music?
Because of the concentration of Welsh culture, it becomes easy to feel tied to the place and invested in its history. Many artists in the area draw from this culture and the land either in direct ways like Gwenno’s ‘N.Y.C.A.W.’ which is an acronym for Nid yw Cymru ar Werth (Wales is not for sale) or indirect like Cate Le Bon’s ‘Daylight Matters’ which is a dreamy song which reminds us of the grey days in winter.
Is there a scene, a sound or an aesthetic that you’d describe as being specific or special to the area?
The scene that comes to our mind of Cardiff is the feeling that you are looking beyond what’s immediately in front of you (the city) tugged by the hills and the sea with the sound of seagulls and ventilators.
Give us a quick history lesson – who are some of the most influential and bands and artists from South Wales, whether on a personal or broader scale?
Probably one of the most influential bands from Cardiff for us and on a broader scale are Young Marble Giants. Rather interestingly, when we were last recording in a Studio in Cardiff, our recording engineer found a record from 1979 in the studio called ‘Is The War Over?’, there was a track by Young Marble Giants on it that was recorded in that same studio.
Other than the Giants, Cate Le Bon has to be one of the most influential artists from Wales of relatively recent times. Gwenno is also someone we look up to a lot. We actually saw her give a talk at Cardiff University two years ago. We didn’t speak to her after but we really regret it.
And who should we be looking out for right now & why?
The band that immediately comes to mind is Spirited Followers; they’re really good mates of ours and they’re insanely talented musicians. They blend Indian folk with western folk music in such an interesting way. Some other bands to look out for are Casual Smart and MORN. Both bands are mates of ours so maybe we’re biased but they’re both very good.
What impact do you think living in this part of the world has had on your sound and songwriting?
Well, our rhythmic basslines are somewhat inspired by Young Marble Giants. The amiable nature of people in South Wales has inspired the last song on our EP: ‘Conversation’.
Where are your favourite local places to play or see live music and why?
Definitely Porters. Granny Macs as well (it’s on the rise).
Aside from the bands, who are some of the local heroes working to keep music thriving in the local area?
Andrew Gordon has done an immense amount of work for the South Wales scene. We love that man. Dali Mia Poulsom as well, she is also known as Scene Bean and always puts on extremely well curated nights at Porters.
We asked Why Horses? to create a playlist capturing the best of what South Wales has to offer – listen below.
Gwenno – ‘Y Dydd Olaf’
Named after one of the most famous novels written in the Welsh language which explores technological dominance over humanity. The song is dreamy and groovy and its by Gwenno so of course it’s amazing.
Casual Smart – ‘Cranes’
Again, maybe we’re biased because they’re our mates but we think this song is a banger. It’s a gentle song that gets quite hectic at the end, it’s quite nostalgic as well.
Spirited Followers – ‘Awakened’
Pure Mastery. Dissonant electrifying folk. It’s wonderful. Craziest Cello solo ever?
Papa Jupe’s T.C. – ‘Milgi’
A song about a dog. What’s not to like? We love dogs. We also love Papa Jupe’s T.C. They’re a big part of Cardiff for us.
Slate – ‘Shade in Me’
Great song by a great Cardiff band. Their shows are comparable to a religious experience. We always feel like we’re ascending at a Slate show. You get a lot of that energy in this track.
The Meritones – ‘Fine Art’
A big tune. The drummer of the Meritones played with us for about 9 months. We have a lot of love for him and for the band. They are very loud.
Louis O’Hara – ‘Just Grand’
A delicate song about parting ways. It’s beautiful, personal, vulnerable and unplugged.
MORN – ‘Modern Man’
A chaotic take on a modern man’s apathetic world view and the relentless helplessness which overcomes him. This is a belter. We are MORNERS.
Cate Le Bon – ‘Daylight Matters’
A beautiful and mesmerizing song. As we step into autumn and then winter the daylight will soon start to feel like it matters.
Muriel – Seaside Painter
It’s so catchy and it makes us smile. The singer of this band is also an incredible tattoo artist, the song feels like a personal account given the context. But what do we know?
Why Horses? new EP Yeah, Hi? is out on 9th October via BWGiBWGAN Records. Pre-order now as a digital download from Bandcamp
Why Horses?: Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Interview by Paul Maps
Header image is owned by Julian P Guffogg and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
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