Interview with The Resolutions: ‘We wanted that sort of spacey sound’

Bimingham-based rock band The Resolutions are gearing up to release their second single ‘Cactus Jack’.

The band comprises Joe Bodman (vocals and rhythm guitar), Oliver White (lead guitar and backing vocals), James Lockley (bass and backing vocals) and Josh Round (drums). Lockley and White are studying at the same college, as are Round and Bodman. They are all studying Music Performance and have been playing together for six months. ‘We’re crap at resolutions,’ Round joked of their name, although they say there is no particular inspiration behind it. ‘Someone thought it sounded like school councillors!,’ Bodman said.

They released their debut single ‘That Girl Is Going Home With Me’ last month, a track that appears to be inspired by a night out, and which was actually written a couple of years ago: ‘We use a tremolo pedal, a Blues Driver, we wanted that sort of spacey sound,’ Bodman said. ‘The geezer we were working with wanted us to take the intro out but we left it in!’ I tell them that it’s my favourite part of the song. Round describes his drumming in it as ‘very powerful and prominent throughout, almost abusing the Ride and Crash cymbals effortlessly’!

As the chorus goes: “Well, that girl is coming home with me, that girl is coming home with me, that girl is coming home with me tonight. She is my silhouette in fucking debt from takeaways and crème brûlées.”

‘That Girl Is Going Home With Me’ is both infectious and humorous in places, with a huge Britpop era, singalong chorus. ‘Cactus Jack’ will give us something different, they say: ‘It’s quite upbeat, it’s got happier chords (laughs), there’s more of a story,’ Bodman said. ‘It’s about a bird in a taxi drinking Cactus Jack. (I tell them I’ve never heard of it and it turns out to be a fruit flavoured schnapps). We could do a good video for it (laughs). There aren’t any guitar solos in it but I’ve got little ideas for licks.’

Another song they’re working on is called ‘Scumbag’. ‘This is a highly energetic, sing along on the chorus, raspy vocals sort of song,’ Bodman said. ‘It’s very heavy on the lead guitar as there as a unique riff throughout teasing the upcoming solo in the middle, which is filthy! It’s about being caught in the wrong moment. It’s very descriptive about us, as it’s almost as if the lyrics are being commentated from someone else watching us get up to trouble.’

‘We write line by line and what’s in our heads’

Songwriting comes about in a variety of ways, according to Bodman: ‘We write line by line and what’s in our heads. We have a note on our phone with ideas, we come up with chord structures. We’ve got 70 songs written.’

Lockley cites Oasis, The Jam and Paul Weller as being huge influences, as well as Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and Elvis. ‘I like a bit of everything,’ he said enthusiastically. I ask them if they have seen the new Elvis movie starring Austin Butler as the man himself: ‘My mum has been to see it, she said it’s good, but it’s a bit of a commitment, it’s almost three hours!,’ Bodman said. ‘Me and Jimmy have similar taste in music, we also like The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys and drum and bass.’ Round weighs in: ‘He loves Sean Paul (a Jamaican rapper). Matt Helders from Arctic Monkeys, his drumming has influenced me a lot and I really like Lil Tjay, a rapper from Detroit.’ They’re also fans of local rock band The Clause and Manchester five piece rock band Dirty Laces.

If they could collaborate with anyone, Bodman is quick to say Noel Gallagher or John Lydon from the Sex Pistols as ‘he’s quite weird’. Lockley has other plans: ‘Paul Weller,’ he said happily. ‘He’s always changing, he’s never the same’. Round picks Alex Turner: ‘They’re so tight together as a band,’ he said. They all pick different favourite gigs that they’ve been to: ‘You know that Liam Gallagher did Knebworth the other week (3-4 June)? That’s the best gig I’ve ever been to,’ Bodman said. ‘Kasabian played the same night, it was class.’ Round picks an English bassline collective from Bradford, Bad Boy Chiller Crew. Lockley picks Madness: ‘I saw them in December before I joined the band, they were so good. I’d like to have a pint with Suggs from Madness, he’d have so many stories, wouldn’t he?’ Bodman interjects: ‘I’d like to have a pint with Paul McCartney, I reckon he could drink me under the table!’ Lockley is thinking who he’d like to go drinking with: ‘Ian Dury (from Blockheads),’ he said. ‘He just seems like a top bloke who knows his booze. I bet he’s got some stories ‘n’ all!’

Their dream line up would be as boisterous as they are: ‘Oasis and Artic Monkeys,’ Bodman said. ‘What period?,’ he asks his bandmates and they chat about it for a bit before deciding on 1995. Round also wants Arctic Monkeys but with Foo Fighters: ‘I love them, I was supposed to see them before Taylor died,’ he said, looking crestfallen. Lockley is quick to say The Beatles: ‘You can’t argue with that! And Blockheads, I like the drastic changes between the two (laughs). They’re so tight and all there musically. They’re poets as well.’

Funny moments have been par for the course but the night that Lockley joined the band is one of their favourites: ‘One quite iconic moment was our first headline when we were still a three piece,’ Bodman said. ‘Jimmy came along for a night out and was absolutely plastered after having about 10 pints and loads of snook in vodka. Oli had been nagging us all day about getting his mate on stage to sing ‘Parklife’, our last song on the setlist which we are sort of known for now. We met him outside and he was immediately making us laugh. Jimmy got up on stage with us after we called him on. We was all equally plastered at this point. And Jimmy sung ‘Parklife’ with us, smashed it, even introduced his iconic “All the people, woah woah oh”. He then fell off the stage. And we recruited him as our bass player!’

(Photo from left to right: Oli, Josh, Joe and Jimmy.)