Interview with Civic Green: ‘We want people to jump around if they can’

Barnsley, Yorkshire-based indie rock band Civic Green will release their debut EP ‘Sailing The River’ tomorrow (17 June), giving us seven incredibly anthemic tracks loosely connected by the theme of escapism.

The band comprises Dan Hall (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gav Darley (drums), Andy Lowman (backing vocals, bass guitar) and Matt Walker (lead guitar), who formed in late-2015. Hall and Lowman grew up together and have been best friends for all their lives. Darley has been best friends with Walker for nearly 20 years. The band’s name came from where their first drummer used to get high, on the green outside of the Civic Centre in Barnsley town centre.

Every song on ‘Sailing The River’ offers something different, according to Darley, ranging from the slightly melancholic yet beautiful opener ‘A Million Little Pieces’ to the really heartfelt and upbeat ‘Nothing In My Way’, the song from which the album title comes. It’s unquestionably one of my favourite EPs of the year. Each song is incredibly tight, with a soaring chorus, and you can imagine the crowds singing them back with gusto: ‘They’re all unique in their own way,’ Darley said. ‘I don’t think we knew what we going to make when we started (laughs). We tried to break the songs apart individually when creating them between lockdowns in late 2020.’

With its soaring guitar line, violin and viola and massive chorus, ‘A Million Little Pieces’ sets the feel for what we can expect from the rest of the EP, with the escapism theme riding high with the lines “If I don’t leave this house today, I think I’ll go in fucking insane, so get me up, I’m leaving out that door”.

”Nothing In My Way’, it’s straight in with a good vibe’

In addition to previously released singles, ‘City Streets’ and ‘There Is Always A Light’ which have been added to the physical copies for release, there are also three new tracks on the EP: ‘Nothing In My Way’, ‘Surrender’ and ‘Writing’s On The Wall’: ‘I like ‘Surrender’ for the “I’m in heaven’ line later in the song, it just instantly puts me in a different place’, Darley said. ‘We recorded the EP last March, it’s been over a year we’ve been waiting to put it out but we wanted to wait until we knew we could gig it. We were going to release the five songs on this EP in physical copies, (CD and vinyl) but we didn’t think it’s really fair charging all that money just for five songs, we wanted people to get value out of it so we’ve added two bonus tracks for the physical versions, with a 20 page booklet of artwork, lyrics and band photos.’

‘Nothing In My Way’, the second track on the album, is one of the most uplifting ones, with a bouncy, singalong chorus: “So maybe if I turn around, I can face the demons that I’ve have found, ‘cos maybe if I sail away, they’ll just come back on another day. You’re the calm in the storm, keep me safe, keep me warm.”

”Nothing In My Way’, it’s straight in with a good vibe,’ Darley said. ‘I love the first line “Sunshine in my soul today” and the nah nahs. That song originally had violins on the intro when we first recorded it, but now it’s got a gradual build throughout the song and they come later on. We sat in the studio with Matt Cotterill, our sound engineer, who is fantastic. From an outside perspective to the band when recording, if someone tells you that you need to play in time (laughs) or play something else as he doesn’t feel it’s right, you have to let your ego go and think it comes from a good place, he’s trying to makes the songs better and he does. No matter how many times you’ve played the song before, you have to think maybe what I’m doing isn’t right and trust his judgement.’

I ask if they are all singing the nah nahs because it sounds so layered: ‘Dan and Andy sing the nah nahs but it’s multi-tracked to sound like a crowd. Sorry, we did get a crowd in to sing it, *wink wink*,’ Darley joked. ‘Dan’s about getting people to engage and sing along and I’ll try to get people to “clap” with my drum sticks!’

‘I was trying to think of ways to structure the songs to make them different’

He is a big fan of Queen drummer Roger Taylor and his influences have seeped into the songs, most notably on ‘Surrender’ and ‘Writing’s On The Wall’: ‘We made all the songs in a tiny period and I was trying to think of ways to structure the songs to make them different,’ he said. ‘I thought of ‘We Will Rock You’, the double click snare they used, ours isn’t an anthem like theirs but I wanted a beat that people could clap along to. We want people to jump around if they can (laughs). On ‘Writing’s On The Wall’, there is an open high-hat cymbal when it comes into the verse “I can’t keep holding onto this”, you hear that “crssh” sound. Roger’s done that over the years, it’s got that powerful kick to his beats, so I borrowed it (laughs)!’

Darley jokes that some drum patterns recur on the EP: ‘There are a few bits I’ve repeated through the songs (laughs), there’s the same drum fill that starts on ‘A Million Little Pieces’, ‘Nothing In The Way’ and ‘City Streets’. When it comes into Dan singing, they have the same drum fill. We had five songs to record in five days, I forgot I’d already used that to bring in the verse.’ He looks a bit dejected and I say I hadn’t noticed and I bet nobody else will either because they’re all such big songs. ‘I remember Taylor Hawkins saying in a Foos documentary ‘Back And Forth’: “That fricking snare hit, we should pro tools the fuck out of it” (laughs) and that’s me now!’ We chat briefly about Hawkins’ tragic death earlier this year and what a loss it was to music: ‘I remember my girlfriend said “I don’t want to upset you but look at this” and showed me the news headline about Taylor’s death on her phone,’ he said. ‘With rockstars, you expect them to be older than that when they die, don’t you? The Rolling Stones will be like Stonehenge and go forever (laughs). Chad Smith, one of my faves from the Chili Peppers, is filling in for him, I think for now, but it’s weird to think that Taylor won’t be their drummer anymore. My friends always said to me that they bet my dream was to be in the Foos but I always said “No, I’d have to replace Taylor”. It’s gutting. They’re my favourite band. I hope there’ll be a miracle, that they’ll get back out there. They’re doing a couple of tribute gigs to remember him later this year.’

At their last gig in Bridlington in May, they supported local indie rock band Edge of 13 for their album release: ‘It were the first time we’ve heard people sing our songs back to us,’ Darley said proudly. ‘The lead singer in Edge of 13’s mum, she’s a photographer, she was there taking photos and she made us some free badges for us to sell, she was so nice. We were onstage and Andy looked around at me and said “People are singing along, It’s working”. We’d never had that before, it were ace. Edge of 13, they’re a really great band, it were really nice they asked us to play on their album launch after a gig we met with them in Hull in February. The more north you go, the friendlier they are. I know you’re a southerner,’ he said mischievously. ‘We’ve been asked to play London once or twice in the past but the gigs got cancelled.’

‘Matt’s guitar playing on that song is brilliant, he has a million different solos’

‘Writing’s On The Wall’ hooks you from the gorgeously Beatlesey, dreamy into featuring delicate strings, starting off softly but building quickly to a really catchy chorus. The outro feautures a brilliant layering of guitar lines and strings weaving in and out. ‘There’s a lot of layering,’ Darley said. ‘When we play it live, minus the strings, it sounds exactly the same. Matt’s guitar playing on that song is brilliant, he has a million different solos.’ It also marks the first time that Darley has sung on one of their tracks, as part of the choir at the end.

Their artwork for their singles has been extremely striking, from the warehouse with a massive moon rising above it for ‘Nowhere Close’ to an apocalyptic street scene of boys playing football as menacing red moons peak out from behind the houses for ‘City Streets’ and I ask where it comes from: ‘Liam, he were the drummer before me, he’s been friends with Andy and Dan for years, he’s done all of the artwork,’ Darley said. ‘He’s an artist and likes surrealism. Me and Andy are graphic designers and could do it, but we thought we’d ask him for his unique style. He made the EP cover as well. We’d send him a song, tell him what it’s about and give him full creative licence to do what he wants. For ‘There Is Always A Light’ he did a lightbulb with Saturn’s rings around it. The houses in the street for ‘City Streets’ looks like the last shot you see in the music video we did next to Hillsborough park in Sheffield.’

Hall is the main lyricist in the band, although he has been known to hang onto songs for weeks, according to Darley. Hall will typically create a riff on the guitar, Darley will start playing a drum beat, they’ll try a few different patterns before Hall goes home to listen back to it and start getting a vibe for the song, nailing the chords down and creating the song’s lyrics and melody. ‘Surrender’ is probably the closest they have got to a love song on the EP, even though Hall is typically not a fan of writing them: ‘I feel that it has elements of a love song about it,’ Darley said thoughtfully. ‘The “My heart is beating, to the rhythm of your ways”, it implies it on a few lyrics like that.’

‘The lyrics really sat with me in that little room all on my own, recording drums’

He has a soft spot for the EP’s closer ‘City Streets’: ‘The lyrics really sat with me in that little room all on my own, recording drums, my grandad had died a few weeks earlier,’ he told me in an interview last year. ‘The lines “As I walk these city streets, with my shadow all alone, I don’t need nobody here, I can make it on my own” really drove me, I felt so down at that time, so those and lyrics from our debut single recorded the same weekend ‘There Is Always A Light’ really helped me. “Harder times have been and they’ve gone, faces loved and lost will live on, oh for now I’ve no words to say, take me back just for a day” and “You’re the sun in my sky, where there’s always a light”. I’ll always love and feel that way when I hear those songs.’

His dream line up is a reflection of the powerhouse bands that he is such a fan of: ‘I’ll have Foos, always,’ he said happily. ‘And Queen. I’d have Mercury, a tribute band at my wedding, they’re fantastic live. My friend went to watch the real Queen last week but I couldn’t watch them without Freddie or John, don’t forget him! I’d probably have Stevie Wonder on there. He’s one of the best musicians ever, period! And he plays every instrument, even the drums. As a blind man, how does he do it?! He’s better than me! I’d have Tenacious D (laughs). I watched their film ‘The Pick of Destiny’ the other week. They’ve released a Who medley and a Beatles one, it’s so random, it’s Jack Black (laughs), they’ve got the line “Skit scat and a motherfuckin’ skit scat, what the fuck y’all lickin’ my crack” (laughs). I’d have them open!’

However, he is less impressed with how some venues treat bands: ‘We played a gig before Christmas. The crowd were loving it, jumping around, there were only about 20 people there,’ he said. ‘We thought we were getting paid but at the end they said “Is a slice of pizza alright, lads?!” We took time off work to play it and we had travelled up there for nearly two hours. It’s not on, is it?’ I say that it’s definitely not on. Neither is it the only time they have encountered similar behaviour: ‘In Leeds, a few months ago, we played and when we’d finished we said thanks, we appreciate you having us on, can we get something for the expenditures getting here? They said we’d get the money but I’ve sent three emails and never got a reply. We’ve only a handful of gigs we’ve got paid for. If we can sell merch, making an extra five pound on a shirt pays for practice time or time in the studio, for a band like us trying to get somewhere, it means a lot. There are a lot of bands like us in the same boat.’

Nonetheless, meeting people at their gigs who connect with their music means a lot to all of them: ‘The last gig we did, there were people singing and clapping and Andy looked around at me and said “It’s working”, he were really proud. The people who turn up and come and talk to you, it’s really nice. Mark, on Twitter, who we’d never met, he’d come down and chatted. We had half an hour talking to him, what a guy.’

‘We’ll have ‘Always A Light’ to end, it’s probably the best song to play live’

They will play their EP launch gig this Saturday (18 June) in Sheffield, opening with ‘A Million Little Pieces’, then switching it up between the faster and slower tracks. ‘It’s easier for me that way,’ Darley grinned. ‘We’ll have ‘Always A Light’ to end, it’s probably the best song to play live. We always go from ‘Surrender’ into that because they start and finish on the same note. The Beatles used to have a new set every couple of nights, it’s amazing to me that they could learn new songs on the road.’

If he could have shadowed any well-known drummer, he picks American jazz drummer Buddy Rich: ‘He was a pioneer in his field, he were brilliant,’ he enthused. ‘Cobus Potgieter from South Africa, he’s my fave, he started out playing YouTube drum covers. His life’s changed so much now from when he started out, he got to move to America a few years ago, he played a cover of a Fightstar song which is a side project from one of the guys in Busted. That guy watched Cobus play it and years later he wanted him to play on their next Busted UK tour, how crazy is that?! He created a band for a project on YouTube where he did auditions online, picked four guys he’d never met. They all moved into a house in LA for a month and made a record together. They were called ‘Ventura Lights’, I found him years ago because I wanted to learn to play Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’, I watched him play it in, like, 2009 and was blown away!’

(Top photo from left to right: Andy, Dan, Matt and Gav)