Clean Surface blends their quirky, energetic sound with diverse metal influences and chiptune vibes. Their family-driven approach and DIY ethos define their unique musical identity.
1.
You’ve described your music as 'loud, energetic, and quirky' with influences
spanning across a range of metal genres and sub-genres. How did you arrive at
this unique blend, and what role does chiptune play in your sound?
As a family unit we
share a lot of the music we listen to but where we always click tends to be
over specific elements of unusual or catchier parts of metal songs. The thing
is, we don't actively think about those parts when writing - the Clean Surface
writing and mixing ethos is to start 100% raw in that we don't say "let's
write a song with a beatdown", we usually start with a catchy lead (be it
synth or guitar) or a bouncy aggressive vocal line) and mold the vision piece
by piece, letting the track determine where we want to go next. We enjoy a 20
minute Periphery interlude as much as the next metalhead (seriously LOVE their
genius textured soundscapes), but through endless experimentation we settled on
an identifiable sound and an ideal of 'never sit still, never chill'.
Music is as diverse as the humans who write it and it's always best when you
can feel the artist loves what they do. We love what we do most when we channel
our collectively short attention span - shorter songs, sometimes overlaying
complementary lead melodies with old skool video game-inspired synth sounds,
blending leads into rhythms.
Speaking to influences specifically though, It's really interesting when we
start dissecting the end product and reflecting. As mega fans of all things
metal, we start to really notice the bands that inspire us sneaking in. For
example, it would be absurd to not acknowledge artists like Jon Mess and Scott
Wade for example, from a shouty/scream offbeat vocal rhythmic perspective. It's
organic and as a result, we ended up with a niche combination of sub-genres
thanks to our favourite artists. As for the chiptune inspirations, those
artists often lean into the precisely emulated and authentic sounds (which is
so impressive) - though we are not specifically doing the same, we do channel
the types of textures used into parts where we feel it enriches the overall
sound."
2. Your
upcoming EP is titled Excessive Wiping, which definitely raises
some eyebrows! What’s the story or inspiration behind that title?
It all starts with
the music. The music is controlled chaos - this spawned the thematic premise
for the choice of 'Clean Surface' as a name. It speaks to the idea of how we
all have to try to develop personal coping mechanisms when questionable and
fickle political and societal views clash - almost always with the nuance of
context far removed.
Being the Brits we are, we often look at events and ideas with a satirical,
cynical but frivolous, jovial lens. Both 'Clean Surface' and 'Excessive Wiping'
(a bit of toilet-humour driven use of a linked phrase) are used to
express the desire to keep on questioning that shiney public presentation to
every policy - where every complex idea is distilled into 'yes' or 'no', 'like'
or 'dislike', 'black or white' binary choice nonsense and forced upon us all.
Humans are more than that, but are made to feel like there are two choices to
everything. It's just not the way opinions and discourse works. Too many
variables and not everything has a straight answer. Opposing forces can work
together, they just chose not to. Most modern use of terms like 'Left', 'Right'
and 'Centre' are nothing more than divisive, wasteful, unhelpful and boring
labels.
Also, we get bored easily so we want to keep it fun for everyone, even if they
don't connect to the underlying messages or don't care for the politics (which,
in itself, is a convenient metaphor for what we're saying!).
3. You
mentioned that Clean Surface is a family band. How does that dynamic influence
the music-making process, and do you think it gives you a unique edge?
It's an odd
one for sure because when we say 'family band', we are literally talking
about the four of us within the same household! This comes with some
environmental and genetic parities, as well as a cross-gen mindset and plenty
of good-natured banter. We've got our own tastes and views (and plenty of
differing opinions, for sure) but the harmony between us holds firm. We're not
slaves to idealism but we try to channel shared family experiences in a
way that makes for interesting music and a dynamic writing process. it doesn't
need to be all agreement, all the time (or conversely all fighting, all the
time) - we work in isolation as much as we do together.... And, well, it's
chaos. Which suits us down to the ground.
4. Your
animated videos, described as 'dumb-fun,' also carry symbolic references to
your lyrical themes. Can you give us a sneak peek into the story those videos
tell and how they tie into your music?
A lot of our
favourite video games are Japanese RPGs and our favourite shows, usually anime
(of all stripes). That brand of flashy, over-the-top, in-your-face way of
telling stories really helps us think about how best we would capture the feel
of Clean Surface in the context of a music video.
Given the budget for this was close to zero, we were never going to be able to
create anything too grand in scope, so instead initially aimed for 'lyric
videos with an entertaining backdrop', if nothing else. However, that quickly
turned into an obsessive scene-by-scene grind of working through ideas of
symbolic imagery in a way that captures a very tongue-in-cheek connection to
the lyrical themes.
You don't have to take it seriously, hell, it's not meant to be taken
seriously, but we wanted to ensure we at least carry a consistent style, even
if a bit silly, where we can give our music a fitting visual identity.
Naturally, with this comes video editing, asset editing and, for many elements,
asset creation from scratch but we ended up having a blast. From there, after
deciding we should carry on and make videos for each of our four EP tracks, it
was a case of stepping back and planning a linked story. The scenes speak to
each song's own themes, whereas the overarching 'story' (let's be clear, this
ain't exactly a masterclass of storytelling) morphed into a battle between a
small time band and a growing political influence. That, and a guy who's full
of hot air... but we're going to have to make you wait for the rest!
5. With
a wide array of influences, from Knocked Loose to Dance Gavin Dance and even
Amanaguchi, how do you balance these different styles and keep the Clean
Surface identity intact?
To best
illustrate why we cite the bands we do (even if some only feel, at best,
loosely connected to our overall sound), we'll give you a scenario: together we
may all connect with a stunning chorus, a quirky chant or a heavy beatdown, but
more often it's just two of us who of go "you've heard me playing this
tune a million times but seriously, the lead riff in the Do It Again (Secret
Band) chorus", or we might send a text that will say something like
"man, I know Don't Look Away (The Plot in You) is a top song, but
seriously 46 seconds in... when it cuts back in it blows my face off". We
share the moments that connect with us, just to see if they resonate with each
other in the same way. Clean Surface isn't trying to emulate a band's best
qualities (why tackle the best at what they do best?) but, in those
moments that click - sometimes in an obvious way, other times in an abstract
way - those moments give us the right mentality and feel;
pushing us to write in a way that keeps us tapping, humming and feeling
the right vibe.
In some ways that can just sound like 'a list of bands we like', and
that's not entirely inaccurate, but it's our way of acknowledging that we're
not blind to the influences that give us the creative energy to write.
6.
Metalcore is a foundational genre for Clean Surface, but you’re open to letting
your audience decide on the appropriate subgenre. How do you think listeners
will define your sound once Excessive Wiping is released?
That's a tough one
and we're going to give the cop-out answer: we don't know! We would be happy
for listeners to be led by what they hear and feel, and by all means give us
your thoughts! If you listen and it isn't to your taste, that's cool, we just
hope you feel something... ANYTHING, YOU DAMN ROBOT. Sorry, sorry.
We don't mean that.
Truthfully, though there are probably loads of bands to genre-match us to -
music can be unique but still sonically similar, the possibilities are endless.
When we attempt to think objectively (which for obvious reasons, is impossible)
and focus on what a couple of others have said, maaaybe we'd point to the
genre-hopping likes of Baby Metal and the mixed stylings of early Sky Eats
Airplane, but don't think we particularly sound close either of those bands
overall. Tell us otherwise, by all means, that would be a huge compliment!
It's us, and that's fine.
7.
You’ve chosen to write, record, produce, and mix everything at home. What are
the biggest challenges and rewards of taking full control over your music
production?
Damn, where to
start? Well, there's plenty of band-related experience and we have close
friends who have helped steer us in the right direction but the accessibility
and availability of reasonable modern gear and software, while working with the
confides of a very limited budget is better than ever these days. From monitors
to audio interfaces, there are budget options which punch far above the weight
of their predecessors (full time work pays for a family. for band stuff it's a
slow burn and brings some tough purchase decisions over a long period). Playing
instruments prior to the band's conception naturally helps a lot, of course,
but producing and recording ourselves is comparatively new experience - it was
a long road with a couple of us squeezing most of our leisure hours into
continued practise and study. It's fun and exciting but nerve-wracking to put
it out there!
To cite one single example though, we'd probably give the dullest answer
ever... dealing with bass traps and trying to meaningfully control and
understand low frequency sound waves within a relatively small space. It's not
fun and not helpful when something seemingly innocuous like moving a piece of
furniture can make you go from thinking you've nailed a mix, only to later
listen back in your headphones and start to question why the Gods of Metal want
to curse and deny your very existence... We'll continue to fight that good
fight. Let it be known, we respected sound engineers and producers before we
started. Now have nothing but reverence for them.
We've made some mix choices that have a few audio engineer friends
scratching their heads - it might be that we take a bit of a different approach
in our mixing stage as we put more of tracks out, but as it stands, we're still
happy with our end result and feel it carries the unusual vibe without straying
too far into obscurity. We will continue to experiment as we write.
8.
Gaming subculture is a big part of your identity as a band. How has your love
for gaming influenced your music, both in terms of sound and creativity?
Aside from the
aforementioned Japanese RPGs, we really enjoy retro console sounds and the
music they inspire in the modern day. Those classic franchises like Mega Man
and Sonic in early days put out some bangers! In the last few days we've been
playing Tiny Rogues (shoutout to RubyDev, what a game!) and it's perfect timing
for this question because the soundtrack is clearly designed to adhere to
thematic limitations but remains so damn catchy and fitting.
From the perspective of creativity specifically though, we'd point to all
smaller video game developers and how, with the march of technology,
accessibility and sheer grit, have created some of our favourite experiences,
many of them without the backing of a bigger firm. It helps drive our DIY
situation. In music production, there are tonnes of parallels as well,
with an increasing number of bands doing amazing things on their own terms. All
considered though, we think it's still really important to acknowledge the
skills of the pros - they're where they are for a reason and, in the modern
day, it's increasingly difficult to break into those specialised roles as the
market demands multiple sets of expertise. There are so many offering free
advice through their podcasts, videos and products and that openbook freedom of
information is so vital to a thriving metal scene. If we're ever fortunate
enough to be in a position to hire these guys, we will, but for now we're going
to keep learning from the pros and our peers while developing and trusting in
our own skills.
9. Your
bio shows a fun, light-hearted side, but you’ve said that you take your music
production seriously. How do you balance humor and intensity in both your music
and your branding?
This one's easy:
when we put something out we have to both love it and find it fun. If it
doesn't tick those two boxes for us personally, out of the window it goes. Our
fun comes from the intensity of being hands-on with every step of the creative
process, but still keeping the mood silly and enjoyable.
We have so much respect for other metal bands and all the metal fan communities
that we're collectively part of. For this reason, if we don't put our all
into what we're creating, it would be a disservice to the scene!
10. Your
debut release on October 7, 2024, will be available across major platforms like
Spotify and Apple Music. What’s the one thing you hope new listeners take away
from Excessive Wiping and their first experience with Clean
Surface?
We want the first
experience to be like, 'huh?' and 'what the what?'. Hopefully in a good way,
but if it leaves a mark, it's done the job.
People's ultimate takeaway though? "Yup, that's definitely Clean
Surface".
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