Arcane Roots - 2000 Trees Interview

You know when you wanna be in a band, and you're like, one day we're gonna do that thing, and I hope one day we get to do that thing. Well, this November we're doing that thing, um, and we get to throw absolutely every piece of sweat and tears and money, uh, at our show in November, which is gonna be an audio visual extraordinaire, and I think we're gonna. Pull in some massive favours to try and take Nine Inch Nails down, um, and just to blow people away with the visual, that's that's it. We saw them, I saw them Nine Inch Nails play uh Leeds Fest in, must have been 2006, the middle of the set, they brought the, the screen down behind them and do their electronic bit. Let me ask you this, it was a good question someone else suggested to me this weekend. Money no object for that show in November, what would you do in your live show that you would dream to get the budget for? Money no object. Money, but money no object, no object. Like money's some job. um Well, I think. So We once saw Do you think you're gonna have to remember the name, we're gonna take them on a, on a visual journey. There was, before um London Bridge was turned into whatever London Bridge is now, underneath it there's loads of tunnels. Sun shunt. And there was an experimental theatre company called Shunt, and the idea was, there was a door in London Bridge uh tube station, and you would have to knock on the door, no sign on the door, you would come in, there would be a cloakroom, and you would put your coat up there, and then you would be led. And every 2 weeks, it would be completely different. There would be an entire theatre exhibition, and it could be, for example, one time a huge CCTV robot came along and put us in a stress position, and then a SWAT team came along and escorted us to watch pigs, um, people dressed as pigs wrestling, um. But the level of involvement was kind of insane, and the idea that you just enter into this thing, so we're doing a pretty big audiovisual element, and yeah, getting an orchestra and, and just completely through composing the entire thing. We're working on something that's gonna come out that's already pretty challenging as a format, and we'd like to put that into that show as well, and that's kind of the idea. But to take it that bit further, wouldn't it be amazing if you was just like, be here. You know, follow the White Rabbit, turn up, and you're just, you have zero idea of what to expect and you're led through this kind of cacophony of discomfort and pleasure, and you'll remember it, but you're gonna remember it for the, oh yeah, that's the main thing, you're gonna remember it in a good way. Absolutely, well that's reminded me of uh Josh Homme doing the Catacombs gigs, finally. That was, that took 18 years to have, he's been asking for that forever. It was a no, it was a no, it was a no. He did get it, so if we're doing underground in Paris, we can do underground in London. I think that will happen. But Andrew, arcane routes, I'm looking forward to catching you guys in the forest later. I think it's gonna be very busy. So we might, we might have to try and sneak in round the side, but I'm very excited to see how you do. Anything. I've not seen acoustic only arcane routes, so I'm very excited. It's been a while. Yeah, it's, it's a very fast, we, yesterday was ninjas smoking daggers, um, and today is just. It's a sort of a thank you to our fans, we're gonna play some old, old songs and, and say hi and be nice for a bit. My name is Andrew Gross from Arcane Roots. I'm Darryl from Arcane Roots. And we're at 2000 Trees, we're here with Andy Guitar. Guys, it's so exciting to talk to you guys. Thank you very much. Uh, people are very excited you're back, you excite a, a passionate fan base. And it seems like 2000 Trees, and I'm giving a shout out Al Tangent and James Scarlett have been very instrumental in bringing the band back together out of after a little hiatus. Why now? Why this? Why, why, why arcane roots again? What was the need? It was very natural and I think it could have, it couldn't really have been any other way. I mean for us. Everything is based on interest, you know, it's based on passion and We, I'm a terrible liar, uh, and uh I think we had some music and we kind of had all had a nice break and we're all in a good position, you know, as, as, as, as people, and um I I'd moved to Iceland after the band and and met Bjani. Uh, and obviously me and Darryl started the band back in da da da da da and the dark ages, pre-internet, and um, so it was this kind of. Thing where we were all looking to do something together and me and Bianni had some music and we're like, hey, this sounds like Arcane Roots and this is kind of exciting and like a new toy. I was like, Darryl, I've met this guy and uh you know this is really exciting us and um. Very quickly all of these kind of ambitions started to come together and all these ideas and It just kind of formulated in in the single wave and we kind of were like, well this one feels like the, the right. Fertile ground for this experiment and it's part of a much bigger event to come and and it was like, well, let's experiment with this song and see what 5 of us could feel like and it just feels like the ceiling has lifted, you know, like as a band from being a scrappy kind of 3 piece, you know, to having all this space and dynamics and and and and just so much room to breathe within that. Doing these shows and coming back, you know, somewhere like here, which, you know, we met James in the very early days of this, and we, we have a penchant for anything homemade and handcrafted and and and loved, you know, and, and it shows, it shows, and so I, I think I have a running concurrent deal with James where it's always a yes, and if he asks, it's a no. I like that because he does, he does ask a lot, so he has to be told no sometimes. I love that you've said experiment because a lot of this comes with. You know, you think of a lot of how do you hone your sound and it's always like you're putting um you're putting barriers on yourself to do it. But where creativity breeds is curiosity and experimentation, right? And so I want to ask you, you said um one of uh we started to make stuff that started to sound like arcane roots. What was that to you? Was there one song, was there a particular vibe or feeling? I mean you put feelings into music better than anyone I can think of. You're very kind, um. To be honest, like, the experiment was very much an idea of. OK, what, what's exciting us now, you know, and, and, and being kind of removed is kind of a blessing as well, from the kind of machine of having to keep making records and, and do that kind of thing. I think it enabled us to really reconnect with this idea, how we started the band was kind of. Being able to dream a little bit and, and kind of be like. Kind of pure creationism, it's like. I wish this did that, I wish this that, wouldn't that be cool and, and then to start thinking, well. I think format is kind of our, my buzzword at the minute, and device. I'm excited by format, how can you challenge the format, how can you change it and. We wanted this idea that was like, exactly, and, and, and and and it's something we've really had to learn and, and we had this track that started with a a it was actually Bianni's piano piece, the beginning. And then I kind of grew from there and it was just a game of what would excite me the most. Next, outside of guitar, outside of any sphere, what, you know, if it's a 1000 violins, then it's that, you know, like I think, and it started working in this way, and then at the same time, you know, me and Darryl have been looking to reconnect for such a long time to be able to work on something together, um, that to be able to talk, uh, you know, so visually as well, and the entire track and forthcoming are. Almost entirely visually led and narrated. I want to comment on that because um well I believe we're both music tech or graduates, right? I graduated in 2008 from a music tech degree. That's where we met, yes, and um my dissertation was actually in film music. Studying Danny Elfman, studying Bernard Herrmann, all, all the greats, right? And I, the, the whole trick with that is to uh see, picture and hear music. I feel like you. Guys have to do it the other way around but get a similar effect, where hear music, feel emotion, but it's not what we hear a lot of, I mean Neck Deep are playing tonight, it's the uh it's the instant adrenaline. It's the instant feel that. You make us wait. You build a, you build a track and then when the riff hits, who did I hear earlier today saying they uh uh saw you guys supporting 5 Finger. Death Punch Wembley. Yeah, it was a last minute one, that one. I mean, but I totally get it. That is not an odd one. But again, you made the audience wait, so what, is there something about that that for you you need so that it makes the riff hit harder? Of it really, I mean, a lot of it is about, you know, light and shade and contrasts. And we were talking about, you know, you can't just go all out, you can't have an image, you know, that doesn't have. You know, shape to it, and for us, part of that, the thing that we've been excited about, me and Andrew have been working together, you know, constantly, and even outside of Arcane roots on lots of projects, is just thinking about narrative and structure and, you know, how you can have a relationship with an audience in that format. And I think, you know, that's one of the, the, the techniques that we like because. You know, nothing drops harder than when you kind of let, you know, a violin kind of grind out for 3 minutes and then you go in it, but you know, that, that is one of the ways in which you can do it. But you know, a lot of the things that we've been working on, like the recent single we created 3 different endings for it. And they were God, the ending of that is so yeah, what a what a payoff. They're, they're little kind of worlds, you know, little fragments that just exist for a moment and then disappear again and. That's really exciting for us, like playing with story, structure, playing with, like, you know, instrumentation and, you know, pairing like unexpected stuff with really familiar stuff. We've always built a band around that, you know, for us it's like the light in the shade, and we have an opportunity now with Bianni, you know, and, you know, I can do some of the electronic stuff now and, you know, we're all we've got space for each other and uh. In the music that we're writing, we wanna just accelerate into that, like really lean into, you know, how expansive we can make it, but also do some stuff that's super minimal as well. It may be not the way that I think, you know, if you were set out to write hits is the way that you would approach stuff, but the, the worst way to write a hit is to try and write a hit. Yeah, the worst way to try and make a viral video is to try and make it exactly, it's the hardest thing in the world. Yeah, and we said, you know. It puts, sorry to interrupt you, but it puts those automatic constraints on that you've told all you've said is we've taken off the ceiling. Yeah, we're we are, we are having this creativity that is how you get that by I think on that. I think it's perspective. I think that's. To my mind, I think that's the hardest thing about music. I think you have to remain self-aware and you have to work on that and, and trust that as well. I mean, you know, I think we've I've said it over and over and again, but I, it's, it's that contract we have with our audience, I feel like that's all we have, you know, and because it is, and that contract works both ways, you know, we were so fortunate. To, to kind of hang up the band with that intent, is like, every album will be whatever we're excited about, but, whatever that is, I guarantee you that I'm 100% excited about it. And when we see you see that live, I'm 110% about, you know, and, and I hope seemingly that translates as well, you know, to our audience and, and to the, to the live, you know, element of it. That it has to be fed that way, and right now we're obsessed with format and narrative and, and telling a good story, you know, and, and that. You know, almost every decision made on that single. Is entirely narrative, we tried, there was no verse, chorus, it was just, yeah, no hook, yeah, what's moving next, but, but then I would, I would say some of the more of the hooks we've, you know, that's how you get them. Try and write a hook, you won't write one. If you think about story, narrative, world building, you 100%. So tell me um one thing I'm. Asking everyone this weekend, what was the first songs you learned on your instruments, be it guitar or anything else? Oh, first ever, ever, when you first learned, we've got a lot of beginner guitarists following the channel that love you guys. Oh really, but they can't connect how smoke on the water connects with arcane roots, you know what I mean? So what's your journey with that? Well yeah, well I think when I started. I was really interested in things like Venetian snares and things like that, you know, trying to do sort of weird stuff with, with drums. We met doing music technology, and we started to branch out from playing, you know, a lot of rock stuff to more experimental things and when I started. It was, you know, about dabbling in that kind of stuff and trying to put a new perspective on it, so. I hear that influence in the rhythms you guys use. Well, one time when I was 15 I was made to study gamelan music quite a bit. And I was like, what are we doing this for, it's like that's where the good rhythms come from. They've got a lot of good breaks. good ideas, there's good ideas everywhere, right? And and you've got to have that wider influence. How about yourself, Andrew? Um. I riff, woof, I mean, I know, I know that instantly. Obviously blind by Corn, um, they were such a, they, they, they were pivotal. I mean they are a huge band now, but they, they did so much for the heavier genres. Yeah, I, I think, I think that was, I wanted to be a, a drummer and then I got a guitar for Christmas, and it was like, uh, OK, um, I better, my friends are much better than me, I better get my head down. I think the first active thing must have been probably Wish You Were Here by Incubus. I think so. Morning Morning View was massive. Megalomaniac, uh, what's what's the crow left and the murderer, isn't it? That was my, I know that's after they're like some people say the best stuff, that was my way into a lot of it. That's it, and then you have just endless Red Hot chilli Pepper tab books as well, all, all tabbed wrong. Yeah, exactly, yeah. Pink, Pink Floyd, a lot of Pink Floyd, a lot of Pink Floyd. Um, yeah, we are, I hear that in sort of, your, uh, the atmospheres that you build again, that world, but make them wait for it. Which, what's your favourite Pink Floyd's? Oh, Animals, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna say the whole album. That's how they were designed. I think it was, um, I think that was a real turning point for us. We, we were, uh, we were studying it at in music technology, and my dad always trying to push the vinyls on me and. You know, I was already, already engaged, but we used to have Pink Floyd Thursdays where um after the lessons had finished, we had to turn all the lights off, analogue desk with all the and uh everyone was the literally the whole record, completely sober, you know, midday on a Thursday, I think. I, so I've not, I've not seen Pink Floyd live sadly, but I've seen the Pink Floyd Experience, I believe the Australian one. Right, and the whole backlighting thing, uh, the two photos I was able to get of your gig when you were lit up at all, cause you're all backlighting, right? It reminded me of that. It's exactly that Pink Floyd thing of the atmosphere is the thing. 11 thing I want to ask everyone is, uh, what's one bit of gear you couldn't live without for arcane roots? Actually, I've learned this lesson recently, and it's been a good guitar lesson, I think. I, I haven't played a lot of guitars or gear. I just have the gear that I've got, and that's what I've done. I've played Fenders Victor Victor. Victory, yeah, Victory and just tellies and straps, that's always been my thing. But when we um. My obsession was always that, basically like, if you could play Ma Sugar with a neck pickup on the telly, that would be the ultimate guitar tone, in my opinion, but it's always getting that like fatness, getting that, that, that kind of visceral tone. Well, Tom Morello used to use it. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So like that was always my thing, and what's been interesting is now I live on an ice cube, that like, every gig is a fly gig. So it's like, oh I can't bring all these heads, and, and, you know, we were very lucky to work with Neural and their quad cortex. And I was like, oh Um, uh, I didn't realise how much of a staple it is, but like the Boss OC2, OC3, OC5. I thought I used those pedals in the most beige, vanilla way, and I thought my guitar tone was the most beige vanilla version of any of those things, nothing. But it was interesting when you have the entire world at your fingertips, any amp, any combination. I kept being like. That's not how I use that pedal. Like I, I, I, this is how I can't get that thing, and it was super, I ended up resampling it just to get the way I used it. And I was actually super proud of him, I was like, oh, I did something maybe. Sorry to take it off you, but that reminds me of John Priscanti, who I was like, everyone's like, what's your amp settings? And he cos he uses a strap through an old vintage Marshall, middle and treble all the way down, bass all the way up. Yeah, copy those settings on a Buscatana, you're not gonna get that tone, it's a different bit, it's all about the actual, and it's all about making the most of the gear you have and that you want to use. How about yourself, what comes to mind when I. So what's a bit of gear you couldn't live without? I'll tell you one recent one that both me and Jack have, uh, is the Porter and Davies. We have a tactile bass, uh, like a bass throne, which gives, gives you loads of sub, which if you're playing electronic drum kit, it's incredible to have proper low end, resonant low end. We've heard that a couple of times this week, but I definitely heard it on yours. And it's so powerful when you can't quite get that subs out of, out of a cab. Yeah, yeah, there's no design for it. No, exactly, and it gives you all of the feelback to playing electronic drums. I got one, you know, Jack, you tried it and loved it, I think he was gonna get one anyway, so we, we are a band with two P&Ds, uh, and we can't go back. That's exciting. We need to get our ones. Yeah, you do, you do. Arcane Roots, check them out. If you haven't heard of them already, you are in for an absolute treat. Thank you so much for talking with us. So of Mhm