Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard: Non Stop, Double Denim, Glam Rock!
“We’re really lucky in that regard,” begins Tom Rees, frontman of Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, as he opens up about releasing a debut EP during a pandemic. “Releasing music at any time in any sort of situation is good fun just because you get to gauge people’s reactions on certain new stuff, and we’re lucky to be in a position where the reaction is usually good. That makes me very excited,” he laughs, “it feeds my ego, I become more powerful as a human being; so I can assert mastery and control over the people.”
If you’re a fan of Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, which I can only assume you are if reading this piece, although if not – you will be soon enough, you’d know that these tongue-in-cheek remarks are a familiarity for a band who on occasion underestimate their own success. Frontman Tom in particular, is very humble about the band’s quick progression into the minds and hearts of music fans across the country, although he is simultaneously in acknowledgement of the hard work the four-piece have put in over the last three years, which will soon culminate in Buzzard’s first recording session together post-lockdown; ushering in an adjustment of sorts.
“It’s [recording] all changing soon because you’ve got to put yourself in a position where you don’t hold on and be too precious about everything. For this EP, all that stuff was just me playing everything and running between rooms and recording it all myself. And that’s the same with what’s been out so far as well. It’s good, but I’m excited and looking forward to the prospects of recording with the guys in the band and getting other people to mix stuff.”
You don’t have to spend long in Tom’s (virtual) company before you realise this is much more than a passion project gone-good; he lives and breathes the music he creates. Working as a producer during the daylight hours, he has made a name for himself of late as the go-to producer for burgeoning bands, Cardiff and beyond. Private World, TJ Roberts, and Rosehip Teahouse are just a few names from an ever expanding, eclectic cluster of artists and musicians that he has worked with.
“It’s really cool, it’s my job, my main job. I’m in a very fortunate position to say that as well,” he starts. “It just made sense for me and its good for us to be in that creative position where we have a studio and where we are kind of capable enough to record stuff and put it out. For example, if we want to write a stupid, disco version of a song we can and put it out. Which is cool,” he laughs.
The fact that Tom works with some of the most promising artists to come out of Wales in decades is no coincidence; having built a reputation for both the quality of his output and his fairness when it comes to the awkward question of price – something that up-and-coming bands often have to compromise on.
“That’s the thing, I’ve been working at my day job for three or four years now, and it’s just like, getting in on how to price myself, asking other people and engaging,” he begins. “People would be like ‘how much do you fucking charge?’ freaking ripping people off, literally fucking robbing people. It’s really bad. I think I’m actually quite cheap,” he laughs, before adding: “You can put that in there.”
Whilst spending time working on the records of tomorrow, Tom concurrently devotes a good deal of his time to penning tracks for the band. Their latest batch of songs have seen a change in emotional direction; Tom’s lyricism more introspective and evaluative of his own experiences as he matures with his bandmates, who include childhood friends Ethan and Zac, and his younger brother, Ed. The EP’s final song, ‘Sugarloaf Mountain Crucify Me’, is an emotive number that takes the listener on a vicarious journey through Tom’s eyes, exploring these relationships, his responsibilities and his family dynamic.
“I realised that I after spending a couple of years writing songs about fucking denim,” he pauses, before continuing. “I thought I should write some music that is about me. Everyone who I really love, all the records I love are really introspective in that way. I’ve always been honest in song writing about stuff that I know, like stuff I really love and about things that worry me or trouble me personally. The other side of it is trying to politically preach to people. With ‘Sugarloaf’ I was just fighting with the fact that I just didn’t call my mum enough, basically. God, if something happened to my mum, it would be awful for the rest of my life.”
The song in question is a nod to Sugarloaf Mountain, which is located off the coast of Rio De Janeiro in Brazil, although the famous South American peak has a namesake located in the Brecon Beacons, which like me, you could have easily mistaken the song’s title for.
“Well hopefully if people question the song, ‘I went to see the real thing, I went to South America’ when actually it’s just a mountain in Abergavenny,” he chuckles. “It was a good opportunity to be truly honest in the song writing, and emotional, because I never write love song or songs about love. It was good to have that sort of experiment in a way. Really making a statement in the last song, because I think you can really lead people to the idea that they don’t really want it to be over.”
When listening you’d have to concur with Tom’s assessment. The final bridge in the six-minute epic leads to a breakdown that will shatter the best of speakers. The guitars amplify in what can only be described as an Owen Morris-style explosion of sonic lucidity. It was all intentional as well, no happy accident here: total control and mastery over the final product in what would be a situation that could frighten the most-hipster of label bosses. ‘In Tom we trust’, uttered Communion.
“When I was getting that one mastered, Eddie Al- Shakarchi mastered it, he’s the guy who mixed all the Azooga stuff. I remember being sat there for hours – ‘no it has to be as quiet as humanly possible, then the last bit needed to be as loud as possible. I’m glad it comes across that way,” he pauses, as I nod in agreeance through the screen of my laptop. “It’s just the honesty thing, man. I think we try to persevere with that approach anyway, whether it’s life, artwork, videos, or whatever. As long as it’s fun. We all fucking love it and it seems to work. People can see through that shit so fucking quickly if it isn’t.”
See through it you cannot, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard seem to have a bulletproof product; that, and the consistent collection of new fans over the last year has led them to open up for the likes of Miles Kane and Noel Gallagher. They even featured on Soccer AM; a rites of passage for indie bands of yesteryear that became slightly unfashionable until the Welsh glam rockers reset the trend for Saturday morning television appearances. The path to daytime TV stardom wasn’t always rosy though, the conclusion of a previous project, Tibet, and the ending of full-time education left Tom longing for something more; he found inspiration in an unusual place – a manufactured algorithmic playlist.
“I remember I was at home, living with my mum after I left Uni and I was listening to a Spotify playlist; ‘clean your room’ or something,” he explains coyly. “Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum came on and it flicked a switch. That is just the most amazing music I’ve heard in my life. I looked it up, did a bit of research into it because how did the guy write this song? ‘I love Jesus’ man, that’s his whole thing. It’s so beautiful that’s it’s just him telling you that.”
It’s Tom’s own eclectic music taste that has influenced Buzzard’s sound; you could be forgiven for believing that some of the riffs on ‘The Non-Stop EP’ were written by Lennon, Bolan et al. The catchiness of the metallic guitar combined with an often stomping drum beat provided by long-time collaborator, Ethan Hirst, means that Buzzard’s back catalogue is club ready, something that was recently proven to be true. Having released a number of alternative versions of their songs, their latest rework saw OG single ‘Double Denim Hop’ take on a disco-infused twist, and Tom can’t be more enthralled with the end product.
“I just think it’s really fun. That inspiration comes from listening to loads of Beatles B-sides and the Beatles anthology. It’s even more than that because it goes to a deeper level of fandom,” he laughs. “It’s stuff like that I think is important if you want dig deeper into a band. A lot of bands and a lot of the industry is too restrictive in the idea of this build, or the idea that you’ve got to strategically release stuff to get to a point. But the fact is that all we ever wanted from having the support from management, label, whoever, was just to be in a position to create as much as we can.”
Create they do; Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard is a hands-on-deck project, and Tom explains that the visuals, video and artwork are just as important as the music they produce. ‘The Non-Stop EP’ artwork is inspired by an Yves Saint Lauren shoot, and given the abundant creativity of the band’s manager, professional artist Edwin Burdis, who artistically directed the Arctic Monkey’s Tranquillity Base Hotel and Casino video, their ties to the inventive world of creativity are clearly tight and open for exploration.
“Music feels really precious. If I’m writing, I don’t really want people to fiddle with it. It’s a very precious thing,” he starts. “But all of that accompanying stuff, the videos and artwork, is a collaborative space where you can do a lot of stuff. It’s very stress-free as far as I’m concerned. For example, our manager Edwin, who also does our creative stuff and directs videos – we were on a train and he said ‘oh this is a fantastic picture, should we do this?’ ‘Yeah, let’s do that!’. And that’s it, it’s really low stress but equally exciting. It think it is really, really important to encapsulate the whole thing. There are a few things I’ve changed my mind on that I use to be really hard on but I’m sure that’s something that all artists worry about.”
I questioned whether the band have any more lofty ambitions given the recent resurgence of guitar music in the album charts; both Sports Team and Dream Wife scored top 20 albums in the last few weeks, with the former pushing Lady Gaga for top spot right up until the dying minutes. While Tom concedes the success is great, he doesn’t long for the commercial appeal that many musicians do – you can tell he’d be happy with cult status. The fortunate problem he has? He and his bandmates might just be too good for that.
“In terms of our ambitions, I don’t think we’ll be that type of band. I don’t think we’ll be chart busters. As long as the people who are along for the ride are having a great time and really enjoying the music and feel like they identify with it, and puts them in a position socially and culturally that they feel like they’re at home, they have an identity, then that’s really, really strong,” he says assertively.
With rearranged tours booked for September, Tom agrees that the band are excited to play live shows across the country again. The four-piece have certainly made more of a name for themselves on the road than in the studio; it’s not a backhanded compliment whatsoever. It’s a statement fuelled by the undeniable fact that if you’ve been lucky enough to catch one of their live shows, you’ll have the image of the temporary sweat-induced, leg-kicking, beat-driven dungeon they create in venues globally etched into your psyche forever.
“I think it gives a lot of context to the music as well. What’s so tricky about releasing music right now is that there is no contextual element to back up how the energy feels in a track,” he opens. “In Canada, that was a really visceral, vivid change in people, because everyone was really stiff. Like, ‘ok, these guys aren’t from here. Are they going to be shit? Is this going to be embarrassing for them? But seeing them [the crowd] warm up and change over the course of the time is fun. So I love doing that live, and on tour that’s really cool. Especially on tour when you’re a support act, you’re in a really specific position and really great position to do that. When you’re the main act, people already have a predisposed idea of what you’re going to provide. I think that’s my favourite thing about touring is just connecting with the people on that level.”
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard’s debut EP ‘The Non-Stop EP’ is available now via Communion Records.