Interview with White Novels: ‘Storytelling is about the only form of therapy that works’

Glasgow-based rock band White Novels released their single ‘Circles’ earlier this month, a hauntingly beautiful track about growing up, relationships and breakups.

The band comprises Jack Bestow (vocals) and Chris Roarty (drums) as permanent members, with other musicians who come in on tracks from time to time. ‘Chris and I have known each other for about 10 years or so,’ Bestow said. ‘We met through a friend of a friend and didn’t really get on (laughs). Through time, we gained more and more mutual friends and now he’s one of my best friends. We were politically very different but there was always banter.’ Their name has a poetic significance: ‘I came up with the band name during COVID, I wanted something that had a common theme,’ he said. I liked the idea of ‘white novels’, the blank page in them and writing about life experiences.’

‘Circles’ was co-written by Bestow and former bandmate Tam Kane at the peak of the COVID pandemic and it follows the story of a boy growing into adulthood and battling his mental health as he seeks the perfect life but is dealing with alcoholism and a poor relationship with his partner. It opens with the line “The flowers in the window, they always seem to die”, which both sets the scene and gives you an idea as to where the track will take you emotionally. It’s a stunning song, with Bestow’s impassioned vocals pulling you in, as does the melodic piano line played by Kane that underpins it: ‘I think ‘Circles’ is more about me than I’d like to admit,’ Bestow said. ‘I’ve battled alcoholism myself. I was in bad relationships or situationships. This one is about being able to accept yourself. Funnily enough, shortly after writing this, I started a relationship with Katie – now it’s been three years! The line “The flowers in the window, they always seem to die”, it was supposed to be the chorus but I thought: “Nah, it needs to be a verse”. Myself and Tam were in my flat playing it on a loop for a long time (laughs). It’s a song that grew and changed over time. I initially played it heavier, the intro had a lot more going on, it had drums and guitars. It was a bit like ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ by Keane. I really love them, they’ve had a big influence on me. One of my favourite bands, Travis, have a song called ‘Flowers In The Window’, which is what I wanted to call it at first but any Spotify search would have brought up their song first (laughs).’

Emotional, heartfelt storytelling weaves throughout all of their songs, giving them a warmth and gravitas that will resonate with their listeners. ‘Storytelling is about the only form of therapy that works,’ he said. ‘Every song released so far has a true meaning behind it. In ‘On the Bottle’, it says “Your name’s on the bottle”, the name of the wine was “Wicked Lady”, so I guess I have hidden meanings behind lyrics at times (laughs). I always need to write about something I know, even if I have to alter the story a bit to fit.’ I ask if it’s him doing all the vocals on ‘On the Bottle’ because the vocals are so layered and varied that it’s hard to tell and he nods: ‘It’s just me, it’s the first song I ever produced. I bought equipment when lockdown kicked in and wrote ‘On the Bottle’ and kept adding more harmonies into it. Some harmonies are very low but some are very high. I pitch shifted one down because it was so hard to sing!’

‘It started on Tinder, it’s a true story’

‘California’ is a more uptempo rock song, albeit with a painful backstory: ‘It started on Tinder, it’s a true story,’ Bestow said. ‘What makes it funnier is that the person it’s about messaged me when it was released and said it was harsh but that they loved it. I met a girl who was from California, we’d been speaking, we’d been on a few dates. She had an American friend, I’d been helping her with his travels and one night after a concert in Glasgow, she told me he was her boyfriend. I was maybe 19, transitioning from being 19 to being an adult. It was my first real heartbreak, I was completely head over heels for this girl. The song came very naturally, I wrote it in about an hour.’ I say how sorry I am that he went through that but a lot of the best songs come out of heartbreak and he agrees: ‘They do and then there are those songs you think are about heartbreak but aren’t at all, like ‘Driftwood’ by Travis which isn’t actually about heartbreak but about being sacked!’

Bestow is testament to just how beneficial music programs in primary school are, giving children who otherwise might not have access to instruments the chance to learn: ‘Neither of my parents are musical but they had really good taste in music,’ he said. ‘My dad was a fan of Status Quo and my mum is into funk/soul/disco. If a disco band covered a rock song, there was rivalry in the house as to which version was the best (laughs). I grew up in one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow, I used to get bullied at school. My teacher would give me her guitar and let me sit in her office and play for three hours. Can I give a shout out to her, to Jackie Mullen from my primary school? Without her, I wouldn’t be doing anything musical at all. I was really lucky to have the music groups such as East End Music Group, Creation Studios and more growing up who invested so much time and care in us. There were problems with drugs and smoking growing up but I avoided that with the music. Our primary school had a school band and a drum kit. I was the drummer but I couldn’t hide away at the back for too long (laughs), I had to come to the front and sing for people! We were lucky that my primary school had music teachers who came in, so I learned the trumpet, clarinet, guitar and bass too. I played more instruments then than I do now (laughs).’

Locally, he is a big fan of pop duo Majesty Palm, calling them ’80’s and 90’s synth wave mixed in with modern pop as if you were to mix Depeche Mode and Dua Lipa’: ‘Each Confide are really good and The Katuns are really, really lovely guys, I’ve got a lot of time for them.’ I say that I agree that they’re lovely and that I’ve interviewed them. ‘Wrest, they’re unbelievable. They’re very similar to Frightened Rabbit and early Coldplay, they’re such a beautiful band.’

‘It’s my favourite we’ve done so far, it sounds like what ‘California’ would sound like if I wrote it now with more experience behind me’

Bestow was given the brilliant opportunity to take the band live at a charity show in October 2020 alongside legendary acts such as The Snuts, Lewis Capaldi and Retro Video Club. In February last year, he decided to take an indefinite break to focus on his mental health and ‘Circles’ now marks the return of the band. ‘We’re planning to come back live towards the end of the year and we’re going to release one more single this year, stuff I’m very excited about, I had a writing spree and wrote five or six songs. I was demoing with my friend Kyle, a producer, and sending bits back and forth. One song just now is ‘Fear of Heights’, it’s quite similar to Tears For Fears, synth pop. We’ve got another one that’s similar to ‘California’ called ‘Oceans’. It’s my favourite we’ve done so far, it sounds like what ‘California’ would sound like if I wrote it now with more experience behind me. It’s got a much better structure, I feel this time I was more open to exploring ideas with Kyle in terms of where the track should change, for example, adding a bridge, an intro and so on. It’s the first time I’ve been confident doing my stuff, not doubting it.’

I ask him why he thinks the Scottish music scene is so good and so diverse, producing bands like The Snuts, Fatherson and Dictator. ‘It’s so good and diverse because we’ve got a thing in Scotland about being raw,’ he said. ‘No band is an exact copy of the next. My favourite is Fatherson, I go to an open mic night in Glasgow on Tuesdays and Ross from Fatherson (their frontman) is one of the hosts. He’s lovely, he’s one of the nicest people I know and a brilliant musician. So are The Snuts. Jordan, their drummer, has been so supportive. I guess Fatherson were the band I’d been searching for, they are the perfect mix of all my favourite acts and when I heard them, I was instantly hooked. I remember the first time I heard ‘Always’ walking home in the rain after a terrible day at work, I had it on full blast and repeat. Fatherson remind me of bands like Citizen, Title Fight, Foxing and so many alternative bands which helped shape my teenage years. Songwriting-wise, I guess it’s the fact I can listen to each song multiple times and always hear something new. I go between albums, just now it’s Sum of All Your Parts.’

If he could hang out for a night with any musician, he picks Keane frontman Tom Chaplin: I’ll probably get slaughtered for this (laughs) but it would have to be him. I’d probably ask how he makes Keane sound so good and if we could steal ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ from them! Keane have influenced White Novels so much, my dream would be to support them. I’d also ask him how he keeps his hair so good, mine is what my school teacher would have called “room for improvement”!’

They’ve had some brilliant moments along the way: ‘The best moment was playing the sold-out debut headline show at Sneaky Pete’s, the energy in that room was unbelievable and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night,’ he said. ‘I can’t lie, I was so nervous and shaking before going on – there’s no band room or backstage at Sneaky Pete’s, so I guess that was a huge challenge as I had nowhere to relax before the show. The funniest moment for me was probably when we were last in the studio – I had recorded my guitar parts and was upstairs watching TV, I was absolutely shattered. There was a pool table and a high number of tennis balls. I found a jar and started the best game in Scottish sports history – Jarball. It involved the player bouncing the tennis ball off the pool table and trying to get it in this tiny jar, around the same size as the ball itself. We ended up playing it for hours, so stupid, but just a huge laugh!’