In this new normal in which live music is restricted to Zoom performances, what do we have to like forward too? Well, it appears that Covid has given musicians a creative opportunity to explore new projects and sounds. One such opportunity is Liverpool's Nul Telexes, two lifelong friends who have played together previously under the banners of People/Talk and Oh Well Goodbye. They have just released their eponymous three-song debut EP digitally on Edils Recordings, and will be following this with their debut album on Swiss Dark Nights early in 2021.
I met up with Phil and Jay before we did a mini promo shoot to chat about Nul Telexes and the development of the project and its direction.
PB: Thanks for agreeing to meet up and opportunity to discuss Nul Telexes.Can you tell me who does what in the band?
PHIL: Yeah, that's an easy one as we are a small project. I play guitar and vocals.
JAY: And I do the electronics, before we hand it all over to Mike and his magic machine.
PB: So. Mike does the sound engineering, I see. Phil, your vocals are attracting a lot of positive comments. Do I hear 80's baritone influences?
PHIL: Yes, I heard that. It's my natural singing voice, I guess I always suppressed it when I was singing before in People/Talk and Oh Well Good bye.
PB: So, Jay, can you tell me where the name came from?
JAY: Yes it was a code machine used in the war to transmit messages to the allied forces. It was a tex message device,
PB: Thanks for that. Can we talk about the recording process for the EP?
JAY: Sure, we both record our parts at home, then via the net, simply exchanging musical ideas and building the tracks.
PHIL: I actually recorded my vocals in my bedroom. We only met up twice in the studio to refine and polish up the arrangement. Then it was over to Mike.
PB: Well, the results are very impressive. Are you happy with the sound and the how well it has been received?
PHIL: Yes, it's been a big surprise if we are honest,but that's such a bonus.
PB: Equally your YouTube channel has been getting a great deal of attention. All three tracks have very strong imagery. How important was that too you?
JAY: We feel our music has a landscape quality and we wanted to capture that with the videos.
PHIL: We are really happy that we achieved that, especially with the track 'Streetlights Will Tend'.
PB: I totally agree. Just one last question! How many songs did you work on before refining the three that made it onto the EP.
PHIL: We concentrated on just the three tracks that made the EP.
PB: That's an amazing return. I think Neil Armstrong would struggle to match that return with his 97% success rate with his camera strapped to his chest! Thank you.
Photos by Darren Aston
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