Interview by Steve Lucas
We started by taking things back to the very beginning, and how The Desert Plaza came to be. As is often the case, it began life after the demise of another project. “I was in a band with Luke (Allatt, bass) that broke up, but we carried on writing a lot of new music and put an advert on Instagram and Facebook looking for a singer. I’m not sure how he saw it, but Luca (Zanni, vocals and guitar) got in touch, and we started to write together. Then Max (Rhead, drums) joined, and we had the perfect fit. We carried on writing songs for a good couple of years before it even had a name. We had a few rehearsals based on demos we’d recorded, but it took a long time to find the sound of the band. We were quite heavy at one point, we were very Royal Blood, but it wasn’t working. It got to a bit of a breaking point and Luca took the songs away and basically re-wrote them. The sound got a lot lighter, but the vocals stayed the same and eventually, we ended up with the sound we’ve got. We experimented for a long time to find the sound.”
Jack then moved on to the creative process that the band have used for the music they’ve release so far, explaining, “Usually, either Luke or me will come up with a riff and send it to Luca, who basically re-writes it to turn into something he can work with, and that give us a foundation of what it could be, sometimes it doesn’t turn into anything. Then we’ll re-write again together. The songs on the EP have been re-written four or five times, easily. And then you think how did that tiny riff turn into that whole song – it’s really weird”. So, how do they collectively know when a song is finished? “When you feel like you can’t contribute anything else and you have a good feeling about it, if you feel like you’ve got the end result and you’re either happy with it or you’re not. You end up with something that has potential or is really good or it ends up in the bin. Quite a few have ended up in the bin”. As well as the five tracks that are on the EP, they have more in the mixer. “We’ve got a lot of ideas already, no new full songs yet. A few are half ready and some are in the infant stage.” Lyrics are down to Luca and generally are the last thing to be done. Other than a few tweaks suggested during the recording of the tracks, they get left alone.
We then started to talk about the tracks and started with the first single, Dog Days. “That was really the start of the sound of the band. I had that riff in rehearsal, and it just fell out of my hands – I don’t know how, it just did. After rehearsal, Luke starting writing something around it and we got a rough demo, Luca put his vocals on it and that was when we felt actually, this is the sound of the band. It’s a bit different, it’s not like anything we’ve done before, it’s very different to all the previous projects we’ve been involved with, and we really leant into that because we really started to enjoy it. It’s summer anthemy rock.” The bridge of this track reminds me of the Foo Fighters’ Best of You, and Jack confirmed ‘It’s very Foo Fighters inspired’.
Hate To See You Go was the second release but was the last track to make it onto the EP. “Luke had a riff he’d been working on and the song really came out of one rehearsal, it’s really odd, we got into some kind of flow-state together and it just happens.” There are multiple sources of inspiration for this one, including Gaslight Anthem and Catfish and the Bottlemen. “The reason it sounds as good as it does is our producer George (Fitzgibbon). We’re new to the alternative/indie world, but George has been in that world a long time and he added a lot with synths and vocal layering, and it’s the most fun I’ve had working with any producer.”
The Story started life during the band’s Royal Blood phase, long before the epiphany of the discovering their sound. “Luca re-wrote what we had and that formed the basis of The Story. I think it’s our best chorus and I think the others would agree.” Inspiration for this one came from Nothing But Thieves. “The song really came to life with George adding synths, we told him to go to town. Luke wasn’t sure if this track should be on the record, but I campaigned for it, hoping that George would make it sound amazing, and he did.”
For me, People Talk was the clearest evidence of the influence of Nothing But Thieves. Jack confirmed that their song ‘Particles’ was a major influence on this track. “I wrote this track in about an hour and half. I sent it to the others, Luca asked for it in a different key, and it was completed when we had our first rehearsal with Max on Drums. Luca added a bridge and it was done.”
I was curious how the band will transfer what they’ve done in the studio to their live shows; the sometimes slightly contentious issue of backing tracks is something I’m always keen to discuss. “We haven’t done it at all our gigs. We played a gig at Spiritual Records in London in a really tiny space. So, we just played that without tracks. But when we played a headline show in Birmingham before Christmas, we took everything with us. In previous bands, we hadn’t done it because it felt like you were a bit of a cheat. But what we’re doing now is so fresh and a lot more modern, we 100% wanted to use the tracks. There are lots of vocal layers and although Max is a good backing vocalist, Luke and I aren’t so we think it’s better to use the tracks than hear us butchering the backing vocals! We are still experimenting with it, and there some things that we’re pulling back on, particularly some of the effects.” For Jack, the choice of using or not using tracks comes down to honesty. “The issue for me is when bands are using tracks but don’t admit it.”
There is one more track to come on the EP – The Ride. Of the track, Jack proclaims, “It’s my favourite one; it’s always been my favourite one. Luca’s vocals are really good and the production’s brilliant. I’m really proud of the solos that I wrote on it because they’re not typical guitar solos. I imagine people chanting along at Radio One’s Big Weekend, and the whole song was inspired by Catfish And The Bottlemen.” When you listen to the track, you can hear exactly what he meant, Luca’s vocal tone shifts effortlessly between soft and edgy, to reflect what’s going on in the song. Jack’s solos are more like an extra melodic theme that complements the song instead of trying to melt your face. It’s another cracker.
So what’s next for The Desert Plaza? “We’re recording acoustic versions of all of the songs and we’re getting some more gigs booked. We have one booked already at the Sunflower Lounge [Birmingham] on July 3rd and we’re looking to get another London gig booked. And while the acoustic songs are being released, we’ll keep working on the other songs that are in the infant stage.” Jack explained what they hope to get from the launch of the EP and also how it differs from other projects. “The EP is an introduction to the band. We’re just putting our sound out there and building up the fan base. It’s been really cool seeing it grow organically. With previous projects, I was always in a rush to be the next big band. But with this one, we’re all really enjoying the process of watching it build from nothing into something.”
I’ve really enjoyed this EP and I’m really looking forward to seeing these guys live. That is evidence to me of how hooked I am already. I’ve been busy with gig and new music reviews recently, so I’ve had to dedicate time to listening to those artists, but I find myself returning to The Desert Plaza tracks frequently. It seems that whenever I get the chance to listen to them, I take it. I wholeheartedly recommend that you do the same.
The Desert Plaza are:
Luca Zanni – Vocals/Guitar
Jack Edwards – Guitar
Luke Allatt – Bass
Max Rhead – Drums
