Prolonged Eye Contact and Potholes: Meet Dennis Beach

Story of Song: Can you introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about how the band came together?

Dennis Beach: We’re Dan, Chris, Joe, Cathal and Jim, we met whilst individually examining a dangerously expanding pothole in the Stretford and Urmston constituency, and we’ve been making music ever since.

SOS: How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard your music before?
DB: We’re the world’s best and worst Pub-Kosmische outfit.

T: Who or what are your biggest musical influences?
DB: The bands we speak about the most in rehearsals are the Cool Greenhouse, Talking Heads, Parquet Courts, Viagra Boys, Hotline TNT and Squid.

SOS: What’s your creative process like when writing and recording music?
DB: A lot of our song come from a place of playing around, it’s usually loose and low pressure. A lot of the time someone brings an idea and then we extrapolate from there, it’s not sustainable but it’s fun.
We recorded the EP with our mates Euan Campbell and Ross Bagley at Salford University, we recorded the Drums and Bass together and then built up guitars, and we recorded much of the vocals at Euan’s Studio “House Cat Audio”.

SOS: Is there a particular song you’ve released that’s your favourite to perform live? Why?
DB:We’re putting together plans for our first release, come see us in real life. We’ve got one called Martin Scorsese, about living next door to a celebrity director, which will be on the Greatest Hits.

SOS: What themes or messages do you find yourselves coming back to in your music?
DB: In many of our songs we create frustrating scenarios, that way we don’t need to address any of our real problems. We form rudimentary mundane avatars and make them fight each other.

SOS: How has your sound or approach evolved since you first started?
DB: We’ve gained a lot more confidence writing with each other and playing live, there is a lot more fluidity with trying out new ideas. Our individual contributions have got a lot more sure of themselves.

SOS: What has been a standout moment for you as a band so far?
DB: Our Akoustik Anarkhy gigs at the Britons Protection have been a standout as they’ve always felt like a party and really encouraging. Also putting on our first DIY show at Withington Public Hall Institute was a blast! We played with Ainakanna who came all the way from Tokyo and absolutely smashed it!
And recording the EP was a dream, creating a document of our tunes with 6th members Euan and Ross.

SOS: How do you approach performing live, and what can fans expect from your shows?
DB: Prolonged eye-contact and rhetorical questions, and a tight 30 mins (until we start getting paid some reaaal money).

SOS: Are there any challenges you’ve faced as an independent/small band, and how have you overcome them?
DB: Our kick drum keeps moving so we’re thinking about selling paving slabs as merch. Bring a jet wash and we’ll sign it.

SOS: What are you currently working on, and what can listeners look forward to next?
DB: We’re recording again soon, and keep your eyes out for our EP, something will be released this year!

SOS: If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
DB: We’d love to be Frankie Monroe’s house band, we could be the Roots to his Fallon.

SOS:What does success look like for you as a band?
DB: Playing more outside of Manchester is our goal this year, we recently played The Shakespeare in Sheffield and loved it. We’d like to keep on doing what we’re doing and an album one day would be the dream!

SOS: Where can people find your music and keep up with what you’re doing?
DB: Instagram and more importantly IRL, thanks webheads.

Cover image taken by Daniel Ramsoy (@danthemanintheshade).