SAM GENDERS, the former front man of experimental folk group Tunng, is back after a period of time working in a primary school with his solo project Diagrams.
The same soft, Derbyshire tones that were the hallmark of his former band are still present, yet on his recently released debut album Black Light, you get a sense of a cleaner, crisper sound with an altogether more contemporary feel. The album has received widespread critical acclaim and ‘Tall Buildings’ was recently the single of the week on iTunes.
Despite the praise, and clearly delighted about how Black Light has turned out, Genders is refreshingly honest and humble; “I am never completely pleased with something, or haven’t been yet; but I feel really lucky to have had the chance to make it. I loved making the album, and overall I’m really pleased with the response, which is really the hope. When you spend so much time doing something, it’s obviously really nice that people actually do take notice of it. It makes you feel like it was worth doing.”
The album is richly layered and varied all the way through, Genders’s soothing voice the only real constant, which reflects the front man’s own personal tastes; “I definitely wanted those different shades, as most of the music I really like has got really fast, upbeat songs as well as slow downbeat ones. I like music that is eclectic.” It is unsurprising then, that his major influence growing up was the Beatles; “I especially loved Revolver; it is still one of my favourite albums. All through my childhood, I loved what they did, their mixture of pop but with experimental elements to it.”
Black Light, compared to his work with Tunng, has more classic guitar riffs and prominent drums, none more so than on ‘Appetite’ and ‘Tall Buildings’, whilst still retaining the electronic elements with which Genders is so familiar with. I asked him if he consciously wanted to move away from folk, or was it a natural progression; “I really like all that stuff, but I realised I had to be a little bit careful because when I made this album, if I was to just have guitar, my voice, and a bit of experimenting, you could quite easily have what sounded like a Tunng record. I’d done three albums with them and I was ready for a bit of change just in terms of writing and inspiration.”
Whilst Diagrams is labelled a solo project, and Genders is the principle song writer and lead vocalist, he plays with as many as nine on stage. He agrees that “it’s my project in that I write the songs, and my plan was I’m going to make a solo record, but I did always envisage that I’d end up working with other people and now I couldn’t really call it a solo project.” Putting himself in the perspective of a listener or an audience member at one of his gigs, Genders wants to present his music in a creative way. “I’d want to see a band that I’d find interesting, to entertain me and keep me thinking, and one way of doing that is to have interesting musicians playing with you.”
Genders is clearly a very down to earth person, who is not afraid of self-criticism; “I don’t see myself as a great performer especially, or I don’t think I’ve got the greatest voice or am an incredible guitarist. I see myself as a songwriter.” Therefore, it is no surprise that his lyrics are very thought provoking and poetic. Be it tales of late nights spent in motorcades on ‘Ghost Lit’ or the motif of snow on ‘Night all Night’, every word and idea is meticulously thought out. “It is really nice when you can tell a bit of a story, and I do try and do that. But I like ambiguity in lyrics, when something is ambiguous it can trigger the imagination. The lyrics I am most interested in are those when I’m not quite sure what they mean. I feel like I have written a successful lyric when there’s three ways you can interpret it and they all kind of make sense.”
The album cover of Black Light is a beautiful creation, as is his website design, both rich in colour whilst contrasting the natural world with angular lines and shapes. I wondered how important artwork is to him. “I’m quite artistic myself” says Genders, “and I find it hard not to have an opinion about that kind of stuff. If the art is good, it ties in well with the music. Chrissie Abbott has done all of the artwork so far for the album and the website. She has taken elements from different lyrics for the front cover and it has turned out absolutely brilliant.”
It becomes apparent when listening to Genders sing that he has a very British accent, rare in a culture of British vocalists singing like they are from Los Angeles. He stresses that “people should not do this, that or the other when it comes to music. I know singers who sing with an American accent who are English and are great. You can’t really have rules about what you do, because if you make up rules, usually someone comes along and breaks them.” However, he feels that what he has is unique; “For me personally, I do like singing with an English accent, especially a Derbyshire accent where I come from. I remember the moment when I consciously noticed about 15 years ago that I was softening my vowels ever so slightly, sounding less English when I sang. It was at that time I made a deliberate decision to try and sing with the normal accent I’ve got, which I think is nice to do.”
Diagrams have a few European dates lined up on their forthcoming March tour, and I asked Genders how audiences tend to differ on the continent, if at all. Genders states “it is quite a different and really quite nice experience really. You get treated really well in Europe in general and every place has its own character… and good food! About three quarters of the places we’re playing in Europe I’ve played before and have asked the agent to go back.” I then asked what he all time favourite gig was, and he struggled for a definitive answer. “The Paradiso in Amsterdam is special; crowds in the Netherlands are great. The Avalon Stage at Glastonbury with Tunng was also amazing. But I’d probably have to say the first Diagrams gig at the End of the Road festival, which was really great. I’ve been really lucky to have some fantastic experiences.”
Finally, I asked what the future held for Diagrams and Genders seemed genuinely excited about the March tour and the prospect of “some festival dates that are starting to come in now for the rest of the year, and maybe some more touring. I’d love to jump back into the studio and make a second album, but I probably have to do a few gigs first! I am really looking forward to making a second album eventually; I’ve got lots of ideas.”
The future looks bright for Genders. He was a pleasure to interview, a normal bloke who has made a captivating record that is both quirky and accessible, and crucially popular with the listening public. You cannot help but get the impression that Diagrams is a name you’ll be hearing a lot more of in years to come.
