How Southampton’s Central Baptist Church Influenced Band Of Skulls' New Record

"We took a bit of time out after the last record and we wanted to write as many songs as we could and really kind of start afresh in a way," Band Of Skulls bassist/vocalist Emma Richardson enlightens on the making of their next-level new album, By Default. "You know, we're really proud of our first three albums, but we had a bit of time to take stock of what we'd done and then think about what we wanted to go for next. And the beginning started with hiring the church to write in and it really kinda made an impression on us, and it kind of, yeah! It influenced the whole sort of sound of the record, really. So, yeah, it was a great starting point."  

If you're curious to know what this church looks like, check out By Default's cover art. "We took a bunch of pictures when we were in there and we thought [it would] be very apt to use it for the front cover, because it was where we first started writing the record," Richardson explains. "So we thought we'd go on and share it with people; it played quite a big part."

When asked who discovered Southampton's Central Baptist Church ("It was such an amazing space to be creative in"), Richardson offers, "We were all kinda looking in our hometown — just for a new building or a new place — so, yeah! We all kinda fell in love with it, really.

"We used to walk past it and sometimes just hear choirs and people singing in there and it was like, 'Wow!' You know, you wanna see what's in there; what it's like inside… And, um, yeah, we went and had a chat to the Reverend, and he showed us around, and it just felt perfect. So, very generously, he allowed us in there for a couple of months." Richardson says the acoustics inside the church were "amazing, really amazing". "The drums sound incredible in there and a cappella vocals — obviously, you know, those spaces are made for sort of a cappella singing so it lent itself to music really well. So we found that very inspiring." A lot of samples that the band recorded inside the church — "the sound of the echoing, hand claps and vocal sounds" — got used on the record: "Gil Morton, the producer, ended up really kinda trying to emulate that feel."

"We try and really use our voices in that way because it gives, you know, an extra layer of another dynamic, and another feel."

Word has it that the Reverend would bring them tea and bickies. "He was very generous and there was lots of tea and coffee going on all the time so, yeah! We were grateful," Richardson confirms. Last time we checked in with Band Of Skulls it was to interview the band's drummer, Matt Hayward, who claimed he made "the best cup of tea". When this boast is relayed, Richardson chuckles, "Matt does make a good cup of tea."    

All three Band Of Skulls members are also songwriters, which Richardson admits "makes it really exciting and frustrating". "You're constantly competing with each other," she elaborates. All songs have to get the double thumbs-up from all three musicians and "get through all of [their] kinda critique" to be deemed "good enough", "So it has to go through many a layer before it makes it." According to Richardson, only the best compositions make it through these "barriers", "which makes for better songs". On the songs that don't pass the trio's stringent selection process, Richardson divulges, "We've got a big pot of songs we wrote — over a hundred songs in this period of time." Songs that don't make the cut continue to brew in the "pot". "We're stirring the pot and we can draw from that pot all the time and make new parts or add to things, and go back and change things," Richardson continues. "It's really nice to have a good wealth of material to work from and get inspired by, so we all kind of work on each other's ideas and, you know, sometimes that can bring really surprising — and great — results."

The track Tropical Disease is "one of our favourites," Richardson confesses. "That was a really interesting one, actually. Russell [Marsden] came up with an idea he had — an original idea for a song — and he wanted Matt to play a mambo beat. And Matt, I don't think he'd played in that style before. So [Russell] gave him a couple of YouTube videos to kinda play along to and Matt, being the great drummer that he is, picked it up within about half an hour." After Hayward "learnt that style pretty quickly", Richardson enthuses, "It just opened up this whole new kind of feel — this new world — and so the song ended up being built around us just jamming it, really, and playing it in the room". Tropical Disease's arrangement is totally unpredictable; delivering sucker-punch riffs that'll knock you from your seat. "Yeah, we like doin' that: shocking people," Richardson allows, sounding pleased with herself.

Another song that Richardson considers a "departure" from the band's usual sound ("or trying a new feel out") is Singing. "It's kind of the idea of dance music being taken and then put through us, you know?" When told the track calls to mind The Golden Path by Chemical Brothers, Richardson extols, "Ah, nice! I'm a big fan of those guys. They make great music."

She alternates vocals with Marsden and, when asked how the pair decides who takes the lead in specific songs, Richardson laughs, "The song rules, basically": "Whatever's gonna work best with the feel of the song and the delivery." Given that Band Of Skulls are "only a three-piece", Richardson believes their two different vocal tones act "like two extra instruments in that respect". "We try and really use our voices in that way because it gives, you know, an extra layer of another dynamic, and another feel. And so it's just trying to be as creative as possible with what we've got.

"We both sing, sometimes; Russell will sing to a really high part and I'll sing right down in the lower register just 'cause, you know, it works that way and vice verse. We sort of ape each other [laughs]. Sometimes it's hard to tell who's doing what in some songs."

Richardson is also a visual artist — the Baby Darling Doll Face Honey (Band Of Skulls' debut album) artwork is based on her paintings — and the bassist shares, "It's a bit of a downtime hobby, painting, for me at the moment". Even though "the music takes over", Richardson offers, "[Painting is] in the back of my mind a lot and I do think about; if there's an idea I really wanna get down, you know, then I sketch things out and wait for a time when I can actually tackle something on a big canvas." So what sort of music does Richardson put on the stereo when she does find herself staring at a blank canvas? "Ooh, a real mixture," she ponders. As well as tuning in to "different radio stations from around the world" including "a local radio station in Cuba" and "a 1920s radio station", Richardson's mood determines the music she chooses "and then that influences the painting". "So some days maybe heavy rock 'n' roll and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds or AC/DC or something, and then Queens Of The Stone Age, and then the painting can take quite a dramatic turn."