Interview with Primes: ‘I always say our songs are quite happy until you listen to the lyrics, which are quite melancholy’

Falkirk, Scotland-based pop-rock trio Primes have released their latest single, ‘Shangri-La’, today, an infectious, anthemic track about hoping for better times.

Primes comprises Ollie Kitchen (vocals, bass), Sarah Monteith-Skelton (guitar) and her nephew Reece Ryan (drums), which in itself breaks the typical mould: ‘It’s very different to have a guy on lead vocals and bass and the girl doing backing and guitar – normally, it’s the other way round,’ she said.

‘Shangri-La’ is not, at the title suggests, about an imaginary paradise on earth but, rather, is refuting the existence of such a place. As Kitchen explained: ‘It started off based on the personal realisation that things aren’t perfect, you’re not always destined for that happy ever after but overcoming the hard times is what makes everything worthwhile.’

That is very much backed up by the lyrics: ‘The rest of our lives look jaded, a fairytale end is fading out, I’m sorry they sold you the story, the same old fallacies of love and holy happy ever matrimony where people believe in 
sweet Shangri-La.’

Nevertheless, the overall message of the song is optimistic, as Monteith-Skelton elaborates: ‘Life can be tough, it will throw you a curveball, it’ll beat you down and it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. What makes us keep going? It’s hope. Hope that the future holds something better and it’s exactly within those moments that life becomes exciting, interesting and makes the good times even sweeter.’

The song comes on the back of three other singles which they have released over the past year: ‘Nine Lives’, ‘Dreamer and I’ and ‘Moment’. Typically Sarah starts songs off with the chords on the guitars. ‘Then we write the melody and Ollie takes it away from the practice room and writes some lyrics before it comes together in the studio.’

One defining quality of their songs is their ability to create soaring, upbeat melodies to pair with lyrics that are frequently quite dark: ‘I always say our songs are quite happy until you listen to the lyrics, which are quite melancholy,’ Kitchen said. ‘Nine Lives’ is probably our darkest one.’

‘Nine Lives’ is, in her words, ‘about a dodgy night out’: ‘Oh my days, look at what I’ve done, you can’t take me anywhere, this day’s troubles, last night’s fun, you can’t take me anywhere.’

‘Each of us can hold a song, we have to utilise that’

Typically, they all sing on their tracks, although Ryan doesn’t sing on ‘Shangri-La’. They are also wary about adding in musical parts in the studio that would not be possible to reproduce live as a trio: ‘Each of us can hold a song, we have to utilise that,’ Kitchen said. ‘When you’re playing live with three voices, people notice that, it’s good. When Reece doesn’t sing, you notice it, it changes our sound.’ Monteith-Skelton jumps in: ‘It comes back to what makes us unique, that’s our sound.’

Their musical direction has evolved a lot since their debut single ‘Breathe’ in 2018: ‘When we wrote that, we didn’t know each other as a band,’ she said. ‘It’s got a big chorus. harmonies and vocals, so it has the basis of what we are but we’ve grown since then. ‘Breathe’ was a stepping stone, we wanted a big rock stadium sound.’ Kitchen interjects: ‘We’re still changing our sound.’

They are both huge fans of Biffy Clyro – Kitchen’s first gig was to see them – and Monteith-Skelton also really likes Dancing On Tables, whereas Kitchen is a fan of multinational progressive rock supergroup, Transatlantic and Mark Sharp. Monteith-Skelton has been influenced by groups such as Placebo, Muse, grunge band Cereal and rock band The Subways. Kitchen, for his part, likes The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Kinks: ‘I went through a phase where I only heard Nirvana for years!,’ he laughed. Ryan’s taste is very eclectic and different again, according to Sarah: ‘He likes heavy thrashy stuff but also heavy dance tunes and Lewis Capaldi. If there’s a beat, he’s all over it!’

Primes played festivals such as Vibration Festival, Butefest, Gig In The Goil and Party At The Palace throughout 2019, with many of their 2020 festival bookings being honoured in 2021. They have also supported Red Rum Club four times in the past couple of years.

If they could tour with anyone, Kitchen is quick to say Biffy Clyro: ‘That would be the ultimate,’ he said. Monteith-Skelton mulls whether to pick Biffy or Foo Fighters: ‘Dave Grohl is a genius,’ she said.

(Photo from left to right: Sarah, Ollie and Reece)