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Indie musical seabirds Guillemots’ second offering 'Red' didn’t soar into the pubic consciousness on the great scale many predicted when it was released in 2008.
Now the eclectic collective are ready to go again with the release of their third long-player, 'Walk The River'. Already showered with a swag bag of gushing reviews – there is life in this old bird yet.
Gigwise caught up with the quartet’s Brazilian guitarist Magrão to talk typewriters, adverts and Sonic Youth…
How did the recent date at the Electric Ballroom in Camden go?
"Ah it was great, we haven't played a gig in a venue that big for so long - I didn't realise how big a venue it was! It was so great to play a lot of the new songs."
Is it right you answered an advert in a magazine to get the job in the band?
"Yeah! I was planning on moving to Berlin as my band Prendedor were over there and they said I should come over as it had a great industrialist scene, it was really cheap and they'd put me up. Then I saw Fyfe's (Dangerfield, singer) advert and responded saying I'm a guitarist who plays the typewriter - I didn't expect him to respond, but he did!"
You have played some pretty unusual things - like drills with your guitar and a typewriter…
"Yeah! I haven't played anything like that on the new album; I tend to save that for the short film soundtracks I work on."
What were your influences growing up in São Paulo?
"It's a big city so there are lots of different kinds of music, my sisters used to listen to Pink Floyd and The Cure - lots of rock influences. When I was 12 or 13 I got really into Sepultura, there sound really suits the city as it's big and dirty, there's loads of electric drills - it's constantly noisy."
You're a big fan of Sonic Youth – have you ever got chance to meet/play with them?
No I haven't sadly. I've been to see them a few times though; I saw them do Daydream Nation at The Roundhouse, which was fantastic. They're my biggest guitar influence. I can't believe how youthful they still are! Thurston Moore is still jumping around; I hope I'm like that when I'm in my 50s.
The band's third album came out on Monday, what can fans expect from it?
"It's different to our other albums, but you can still hear the Guillemots’ sound. It's a more mature in terms of songwriting, we know exactly what sound is - it's got different elements from our past records though. It's still got the dreamy and edgy elements of our first two records as well. We sound more of a unit though."
You are back in London for Camden Crawl this weekend - looking forward to it?
"Yeah it should be fun. We're doing two sets, an acoustic one - which I'm really looking forward to - and another one in the evening. We're curating the East End Film Festival too so I'm looking forward to see our choices on the big screen."
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
"We'll be doing a few festivals, we're not sure how many yet as a lot is still to be confirmed - we're doing Glastonbury though. I tend to find out at the last minute by looking at the calendar!"
Fyfe's done solo work, is that something you would like to do too?
"When we stopped touring in 2008 we'd been on the road for four years so we needed a break, we took four months off and Fyfe did his solo LP (Fly Yellow Moon), we spent 18 months writing for the new record. In my spare time I write for short film soundtracks and do a bit of directing too."
Are you looking forward to getting back on tour?
"Yep, I can't wait. We've never really rehearsed our record as a live band like we have for this one, so it feels really comfortable. We're in a really good place at the moment and we're really proud of the record and want people to hear it."
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