Influenced by 70s and 80s Synth Pop and Electronica Suburban Spell is an instrumental expedition into modern Electronica. Founder Peter Endall explains that the band name has two meanings. “I’ve always been a Pet Shop Boys fan and the term “suburban spell” is mentioned in their classic 1986 song “Suburbia”. That song and its lyric content must have had an impact because it has stayed with me for all of these years.” The name also was inspired by Peter’s youth and what he describes as “suburban lifestyle and how we are all part of a “spell” that is cast over it, and this manifests itself in a desultory suburban life.” With a fascination regarding how people live their lives Peter admits that he “tries to capture those moments in time, not in an accusatory way but in an observational sense and sometimes in a very personal way”. Primarily a solo act as far as recording and songwriting go, Suburban Spell frontman Peter Endall also enlists the assistance of his son Jack Endall on bass and JohnnyB on guitars when the band play live.
Having started playing keyboard at around the age of 8 or 9 Peter learnt the basics of music composition and established a good musical grounding. Realizing as a teenager that playing music was “cool” he began to play music with friends at high school. Peter says “my best mate Rick and I used to hang around record shops listening to cool electronic music and we then picked up some of these ideas and started playing live together, mainly to our school mates or family but it was great and fun and set me on my musical journey. More recently Rick was instrumental in getting me back into the technology side of things.”
His choice of musical general was inspired by an interest in what Peter describes as “juxtaposition that arises out of Electronic music having an emotional impact on the listener” his music quest became “to merge, blend and create music that is in its essence, Electronic yet in other ways is organic. The possibilities with electronic music are endless and only limited by your imagination, once you get past the technological challenges, an amazing world of music is right in front of you with no boundaries.”
Peter’s early music influences include pioneers of electronic music such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulz. He then naturally evolved into interests in Ultravox, Giorgio Moroder and Yello. Peter believes that “there is probably a linking theme that ties all of these acts together and I have probably subconsciously absorbed a lot of these melodic structures and rhythms.” His modern music interests include Japanese Post Rock outfit Mono, VNV Nation, Fragrance and Plague Pits.
With an approach to songwriting that involves what Peter describes as a process of “distillation“, he explains that he “usually start with a rhythm or a concept and build a sound or mood around this, after what is usually an extended building up of the parts (I still structure in the traditional sense of verse, bridge, chorus mid-8, outro / intro & instrumental) I will then expand and get rid of what is not working or distracting thereby distilling the track in an attempt to gets the music into its purest form”. Keeping a scrapbook of lyric ideas that come from musings, overheard conversations or something heard or read, the actual writing of lyrics and melody happens after the music is written. Of his lyrics Peter says “They are usually simple concepts or lines that reflect or relate to the suburban life, its mysteries, beliefs, politics, social interactions, and probably most importantly, its vulnerabilities.”
Heavily involved in the aesthetic of Suburban Spell, Peter acknowledges two particular areas of influence “Brutalist architecture and the German expressionism art movement. These two influences and their monochromatic and dystopian forms have always appealed to me, the thinking behind Suburban Spell and what that means seem to resonate with this visual aesthetic. The approach where function comes before form has its own unique beauty…similar in a way to my thoughts on the juxtaposition of electronic music being an emotional art form.”
Without having to consciously think about it Peter finds he is inundated with musical ideas and themes and he believes “the artistic themes that Suburban Spell is interested in is so wide and varied, I can only see that creativity growing and maturing, I have so much more to say.”
With live performances being a fairly new experience for Suburban Spell it is Peter’s aim is to bring the performances up to a standard he is comfortable with and proud of. He says “I don’t think I’m a natural performer but I am prepared to give it my all and I’m busy ensuring my artistic theme works both in the studio and on stage. It's been great having Johnny B and Jack to help with all of this, they are my rocks when on stage!”. Peter is also connecting with fans and enjoying the quick evolution of this continuing journey.
In terms of the future of Suburban Spell. Peter acknowledges an interest “in developing broader musical structures, e.g. longer, more musically developed themes that have stronger concepts and threads, I suppose being clearer in what I think Suburban Spell stands for and what it is that I’m trying to say”.
For those who are new to the music of Suburban Spell Peter explains “I’m trying to musically cross the bridge and create a beautiful dystopia, where we can have the cold power of electronic music mixed with a fragile beauty…think New Order meets Erik Satie. “
Links:
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/SuburbanSpell
Bandcamp: https://suburbanspell.bandcamp.com/
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