Interview with The Station: ‘You sacrifice a song but something better comes out of it’

Newbury-based band The Station have released their debut EP, Dark Energy, today (21 May), giving us six sunny and catchy tracks that show us just how versatile they all are.

The Station comprises twin brothers Dylan and Louie Morris and school friend Josh Hensby. Interestingly, the band has an unconventional structure, without a set frontman, with all of them playing guitar, drums and bass and both brothers singing lead vocals.

There are three new tracks on the EP: the title track, ‘Dark Energy’, ‘Seeking Valid Appreciation’ and ‘Sun In The Morning’, each of which has a very different feel. ‘Dark Energy’ is destined to be a big hit, kicking off with feathery drums before Josh’s thumping bass line sweeps in. ‘I wrote that at the start of 2020,’ Dylan said. ‘The song is based on an ancient legend in Cornwall about women dancing by the sea and being turned into stone and I thought “That’s quite nice, I could turn it into something positive”, I’m singing on it.’

As the chorus goes: ‘I don’t care if I turn to stone because I think I might be dancing in the circle by the sea. I don’t care if I dance alone because I think we might be made of the same dark energy.’

‘It’s got a real Jerry Lee Lewis feel’

The standout track on the EP for me is ‘Seeking Valid Appreciation’, which has been a near-constant earworm since I first heard it. It’s immensely catchy and is carried along by some glorious honky tonk piano playing from Dylan and Louie’s vocals punctuated with an enthusiastic slew of ‘Oh la la las’ that make you sing along: ‘I wrote it at the beach in Cornwall,’ Louie said. ‘It sounds as if we write all of our songs at the beach, doesn’t it?! I put together what sounded nice (laughs) and I added the oh la las.’ The honky tonk piano, which underpins the whole song, came later and marks the first time that Dylan has played the piano on one of their tracks: ‘We recorded it at home and a few weeks later I put in the piano and sent it to Josh,’ Dylan said. ‘He really liked it, he said we had to keep it, it’s got a real Jerry Lee Lewis feel.’ I ask what instrumentation they had in the song prior to that and they all try to remember: ‘I think it was just guitar and bass, wasn’t it?,’ said Louie.

As the lyrics go: ‘Seeking valid appreciation from a disunited nation, I’m looking for the way that you found me, silver tarnished expectations, ready salted recommendations, the problems fade away, today, ooh la la la…oh la la la…’

‘Sun In The Morning’ could easily be a 60’s song, with its Beatlesey vibe. It’s the most mellow song on the EP and the longest of the new ones at 4 minutes. ‘I like the 50’s/60’s feel, the doo wop bits,’ said Louie, who wrote it. ‘It’s changed a lot, though.’ Dylan interjects: ‘Yeah, before it sounded more like a cheesy rock ballad! You sacrifice a song but something better comes out of it.’

It has the feel of a lazy, dreamy Sunday morning: ‘If you ask me where I live, I’ll say that I don’t know. If you ask me what to give, you know that I’ll give loads, if you want me to be there, I’ll wait for you upon your stair, like the sun in the morning, I’ll shine on you…’

‘We’ll have more time to focus on our music’

‘Smile’, ‘Start Again’ and ‘I Say Hello’, which have all been released as singles, also feature on the EP, which they had initially planned on releasing around January: ‘You want to get it out but you want it to be right,’ Josh said. They’re looking forward to finishing their A levels this year: ‘It’s really nice that it’s nearly over because we’ll have more time to focus on our music,’ Louie said.

If they could collaborate with anyone, Dylan goes with The Felice Brothers, an American folk rock/country rock band from New York. ‘I’d probably say Roy Orbison,’ Louie said. ‘I’m a big fan of him and of The Traveling Wilburys and what they did with George Harrison and Bob Dylan.’ Dylan is nodding: ‘Their song ‘Handle With Care’, that’s the peak for us, we play it.’ (The Traveling Wilburys were an English–American supergroup in the late 80’s and early 90’s consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.) Josh is still thinking: ‘Possibly Jerry Lee Lewis because of the instrumentation,’ he said.

People can’t agree on who they sound like: ‘People manage to hear so many different bands in our sound!,’ Dylan said. ‘Some people say we sound like The Clash. Somebody else said we’re a mix of Squeeze and The Holloways. So I had a listen again with that in mind and I could hear The Holloways a little bit.’

Recently, Louie has been listening to English musical duo, The Flight, who are best known as composers for video games. ‘The new album (Down In The Woods, 2020) is really good,’ he said. Josh has been listening to English Mercury prize winning singer Michael Kiwanuka, whose music fuses elements of blues, rock, funk, R&B, jazz and soul. They have an impressive selection of kit dotted around the room they’re sitting in, so I ask if they have favourite items. Louie’s prize possession turns out to be his Gretsch guitar: ‘It kind of gets that nice, jangly tone,’ he said. Josh loves his Sterling Ray 4 bass. ‘Josh is really energetic on stage and you can’t kill it!,’ Louie joked. Josh is laughing: ‘Yeah, I’m very energetic on stage but a bass has to be played!’ ‘I’ll get my guitar,’ Louie said, disappearing momentarily and coming back with it to show me: ‘It’s an Epiphone but I’m conflicted ‘cos I love my drum kit!’

(Photo from left to right: Louie, Josh and Dylan)