Jon Bailey recently caught up with The Memory Band's Stephen Cracknell, who also records as Gorodisch for The Leaf Label. The band's excellent debut album, 'The Memory Band' is released on June 21st through Hungry Hill. You can catch the group performing a number of live dates this summer including 'The Green Man Festival' and 'The Big Chill' event.

Check their website for more details and live dates - www.thememoryband.com.

Greetings Stephen! How are things on this sunny day?

Not bad at all, lots of things to organise around the album release and upcoming gigs, but the weather brings out the best in people and I am looking forward to getting some time just playing soon. We have a gig on Friday and I'm really looking forward to it.

Your album is very traditional sounding - from the production to the structure, and to the instruments themselves...was it a concious decision to veer away from modern influences or did things just happen that way?

It wasn't really a conscious decision, I've been following a number of key themes in all my music for a while. Everyone picks up on the traditional or folky elements but I've always wanted my music to sound modern and "of now" as well. I don't think this album could have been made before and to have sounded the way it does. I take my influences from old music, new music and everything in between and from all over the world, that influenced the name of the band. I had in mind drawing upon the vast "memory band" of music created since time began. I think that's a really exciting factor in music now, we've moved on from simply creating fusions between two or more types of music, there are so many elements in the pot now.

It's also really important for me when writing and recording the music that whatever direction we take is dictated by the composition and what feels right rather than any stylistic manifesto. I'm definitely drawn to acoustic sounds because I like the breadth of the sonics. I have been lumbered with the folky tag, and the ghastly "folktronica" and "laptop folk" have also been used. I've been asked many times whether this represents a desire to get away from modernity or other such socio-political guff. I suppose people look to impose meaning on music, whereas I like the fact that relatively it means so little. The band veer aways from nothing, it embraces everything.

How long did it take for the finished album to be completed?

That's hard to answer, I started off making a Gorodisch album and when I thought I had it completed I then realised it was more than one project (half the material seemed suited to a live band and the other half seemed more abstract and studio based). I set about using some of it and developing The Memory Band album, at the same time I started putting together the live band and trying out the material with them, although it was all recorded and produced on my home PC. All in all that process took about two years. I have also delayed the album slightly in order to ensure the live band is ready and firing when the album is released.

A lot of your tracks comes across like improvised jams, is this a common way of writing songs as a band?

I don't really have a common way of writing, most of the Memory Band songs are written on a guitar. Sometimes that will be a more familiar or traditional song structure, but at other times I will just loop an idea I like and throw other ideas at it, just as someone would when making a hip hop or electronica track. I do like to improvise and encourage my musicians to do so on stage, it keeps things interesting and the ideas flowing; a lot of the parts on the album were recorded in one take; I wanted the record to be a celebratory thing so in some cases tracks probably sound more jam-like and improvised than they actually are. In places I have avoided using too many chord changes to prevent us going in the more obvious folk and jazz routes. Now that the band is an established seven piece outfit it enables me to develop new tunes either with the band or on the computer, more strings to our bow as it were.

Out of curiousity, what do you make of artists producing "live sounding" music from nothing but other people's samples? Theft aint it?

I'm not answering this one. Too much gets said which is ill informed and unconstructive. I am a musician, I don't look to judge others who make music.

Nice answer!

Adem (of Domino and Fridge fame) makes an appearance on several tracks, how exactly did that come about?

He plays bass on 'Catch As Catch Can' and sings on 'Calling On' and the 'Theme'. We met playing for Badly Drawn Boy, I was called in alongside Fridge to complete the backing band. I've remained friends with Kieran, Sam & Adem of Fridge. Adem played a couple of Gorodisch gigs I did and also played with myself and Polly when I did the 'Wicker Man' live soundtrack shows at the ICA and the Big Chill. It was around this time that we recorded his and Polly's contributions to the album. He also played on the first couple of Memory Band gigs, he is a phenomenal talent and it seemed obvious to ask him. Sam plays trombone on the 'Theme' and also built our website.

Have you plans to work with him again? Or any other collaborations in the pipeline for that matter?

I always knew he was going to become busy with his solo project, as was also the case with Polly, so when I was ready I set out to put another band together which has evolved into the current line up. I have been involved with most of Adem's Assembly projects and hopefully he will be joining us to do backing vocals at some of our summer shows, but we will have to see how our schedules map out. At the moment I am really into playing with the people I have in the band at the moment and exploring some of the elements they bring. I am sure however that we will collaborate with others in the not too distant future. I have a few ideas but will keep them to my chest for now. Because I like to play with good musicians, who often have to give time to ther projects, I was always prepared for a few comings and goings and have tried to make that a strength of the band.

As with your 2 EP's to date (Calling On and Fanny Adams), you are releasing the album yourselves through Hungry Hill - is this entirely to ensure complete artistic control, or just because of the difficulties in getting your music out on an established label?

Well I was involved with starting Trunk records and always knew I would go back into it in some way. When I played some of The Memory Band tracks to Boots from Spinney Records (an old friend who was also involved with forming Trunk) he was really excited by them. I had always wanted to work with him again and he has a strong understanding of some of our musical references, so it just felt natural to both of us, there wasn't much discussion about it and we already had distribution in place. That's the most important thing, it felt like the right home for the music. I've never tried to release my music on an established label, I would probably do it if they offered me lots of money, but I have never approached them.

This summer sees a handful of live dates including the 'Green Man Festival' - are you looking forward to it? You've played there previously too, how do you find the atmosphere of the festival?

Yes I am, at both the 'Green Man Festival' and the 'Big Chill' we are playing on the same day and stage as Adem's band and Kieran (four tet), so it will be good to be with friends and we can share transport. Our 'Green Man' show last year was the first with the nucleus of the current live band, but we weren't as well rehearsed as we are now and our violinist only got the gig with 24 hours notice after someone pulled out ill. This time round we've got a lot more gigs under our belt and are much more used to playing together, so I am really looking forward to returning and putting on a great show. I am very excited by the live band, if I say so myself we are a cracking band now and I know people are going to like it. The 'Green Man' is a good festival: small, friendly and well organised and in it's way unique.

Does the live show entail much improvisation or radically reworked moments? Do you find the songs work well within a live environment?

The songs were written to be played live. It isn't arranged exactly as on the record (there are no horns) band there is always improvisation, but not in a "free jazz" sense. I kept the compostions pretty simple on the record and this allows us to develop them further live without the need to radically rework them. I know that although we are an acoustic band relatively little is quiet and/or introspective, this was always an important consideration for me.

What originally got you into music while growing up and what / who has influenced the finished 'Memory Band sound'?

How long have you got? I have always loved music and first played a guitar when I as eight years old. I really do love all forms of music from the serious to the fluffy, it all has it's place. Hardly a day goes by without me hearing a piece of music and getting excited by it, whether I have heard it a hundred times before or it is entirely new to me. I suppose at some point in my teens music opened up for me and started listening to hip hop, jazz, folk music, dance music, soundtracks, avant garde stuff - you name it, I got into it! It does seem foreign to me when people about liking or being influenced by a restricted type of music and hating certain genres. It's all just music. I do remember reading an interview with Richard Thompson about Fairport Convention leading up to their Liege And Lief album. he was pointing out that at the time everyone wrote about their traditional influences but he stressed how much they listened to and were influenced contemporary music of the time. That was an idea that stayed with me.

What's next on the agenda after the release of the album?

I am getting round to completing the Gorodisch album and already writing material for the next Memory Band album. The main thing I want to do though is to play as many gigs as possible with the band. I really enjoy playing live, know the other band members do and know that we have something to offer. That's a great feeling. At the moment I think our next album will be recorded live in a studio as a band and then I wil take the tracks away and dabble with them on the computer if I feel that is needed. However I have always reserved the right with this project change anything or everything whenever I see fit. There are no rules, that is the great thing about it.

Many thanks for your time, we love the album and we're sure everyone else will too - good luck with the summer shows and any future work!

Thank you and for taking the time to listen. Make sure you come and say hello if you get to any of our shows. If you know anyone looking for a red hot band, tell them about us.