Syd Arthur - Chemi-cool Brothers reign in the city of the strange
Syd Arthur lead the new Canterbury scene with an album that has legends purring, writes Andy Gray
Canterbury is Kent’s unofficial music-based la-la land. From trip- pop trail-blazers and forefathers of the fabled Canterbury Scene of the early 1970s, Caravan and Soft Machine; to chemi-cool groo- vers, Syd Arthur, whose current album, Apricity, is psych-rocking the nation, there’s a deliciously loopy element to the area's best-known sounds.
Whether this is due to musicians imbibing the free-wheeling spirit of the thousands of souls who've made a pilgrimage to the city's cathedral since time immemorial, or the local waters being rendered Class-B positive by bong-on-it sections of the student population...Canterbury's sonic brew is often strange and heady.
Joel Magill, Syd Arthur bassist, agreed it was 'quite possible' the city's creatives were blessed with a certain 'other-ness'. "All the bands I know from this area tend to be interesting musically. I'd no idea of the Canterbury Scene until I was about 20, but when the band found it, we instantly loved it. It's been part of us ever since.
Although we're doing something different, more contemporary, it's just a crazy coincidence that we
discovered 'the scene' and felt such a connection to it."
Syd Arthur formed in 2003 when Joel, now 31, and younger brother, Liam, 29, (guitar/vocals) teamed-up with two St Edmunds, Canterbury school friends: Fred Rother (drums), and a keyboard/violinist with a name so saucy my keyboard blushed as I typed it - Raven Bush.
In previous interviews, the band have cit- ed experiments with 'philosophy and drugs' as a catalyst for embracing music rather than anything resembling a conventional '9 to 5' career. Two early names failed the audition (Grumpy Jumper, Moshka) before the current moniker was settled upon; a reference to Siddartha, the founder of Buddhism and the title of a Hermann Hesse novel. It's also in homage to Pink Floyd’s mad psychedelic professor, Syd Barret.
Their first two albums, both DIY releases; the self-titled Syd Arthur (2006), and On and On (2012) are heavily-clouded in the smoke of their own experimentation in heavy-folk and spacey-jazz – and what- ever the band might’ve been toking on at the time. The third, Sound Mirror (2014) released on Harvest Records, Syd Arthur's current la- bel, is less of a mind-warp, hinting at a more commercially-focused direction. This was duly realised with the 2016 release of Apricity, which saw the band shift from leftfield to centre stage with an as- tral-charged masterpiece that skypes the cosmos whilst remaining rooted in pop sensibility. In fusing meditational grooves with the sonic virtuosity of Yes; the prog-light eccentricities of Syd-era Floyd and the big beats of their techno-heavy youth, they’ve made an al- bum for soul searchers and ravers.
Following the storm-tossed exploration of their previous studio outings, Apricity - dictionary definition: warmth of the sun – repre- sents a calming of the waves, with Liam's pure, desirous tones lead- ing the band's lighter, more melodic new dawn.
The album soon found a champion in old-timer's music bible, Mojo, in which it was named one of its releases of the year. Main- stream radio finally caught on, too, with BBC 6 and Virgin falling for the soft-shoe boogie of the record's stand-out, sing-a-long track, No Peace.
Apricity’s blissed-out air has much to do with the location of its recording. For six weeks the band were holed-up in LA with producer and A-list guest performer, Jason Falkner, whose contributory album credits include Sir Paul McCartney and Beck. It’s not like the band hadn’t travelled to the US before. They'd supported the likes of Jake Bugg, Yes and Sean Lennon on previous Stateside tours, but to journey to America to record an actual record represented a seriously big deal. They returned to England and their own rehearsal space in Boughton, near Faversham to give it its final mix.
"To have the opportunity to make an album in LA was a dream come true and just a crazy, surreal experience," Joel said. "It was cool to be so detached from everything, which added to the creative atmosphere. If we’d recorded it in England I’d still be getting phone calls from mates, but we did nothing else in LA except make a record. We needed to come back to England to finish it, though. It helped bring us back down to earth, hence we've an album that was made in America...and Boughton." Apricity saw the studio debut of a third Magill brother, Josh, 27, as a replacement for original drummer Fred Rother who was forced to quit due to struggles with tinnitus - a nasty ear-ring- ing condition. It was a trying time for the band. Fred had been there from the beginning and his departure momentarily broke their stride.
“Paul (Weller) is always in contact. He texts randomly to ask if we’re working on anything new or to tell us when he’s listening to our record”
There was little chance adding a third brother to the mix would lead to a discomforting sibling rivalry within the band. Mixing blood with business might have proved too much for the Gallaghers, Phil and Don Everly and, er, the Bachelors, but the Magills are far too level-headed to let familial enmities interfere with the music. "We’re all essentially just pretty good mates," Joel says of the Magill trio's relationship – they have one other brother, Callum, 25, who's doing his own musical thing. "We obviously argue, but we're generally really tight," Joel adds.
In Paul Weller, Syd Arthur have a friend, fan...and critic, (jokingly) telling the boys to 'get a haircut' on one of their first visits to his Surrey studio. Following a UK support slot with the so-called Modfather in 2013, the band have remained on his speed dial. In March, Weller released a remix of No Peace as part of his Sine of 4 project, which also features guitar input from Noel Gallagher.
Syd have been on further play-dates with Weller as part of prearranged 'hanging' and
'jammin' sessions – a full-blown collaboration hasn't been ruled out. "We'll wait and see," is all Joel will commit to the subject, adding, "Paul's always in contact. He texts randomly to ask if we're working on anything new or to tell us when he's listening to our record. He was one of the first people we played Apricity to - he really loves it."
Syd Arthur may be mellow in look, with their luxuriant locks and preference for urban-hippy clobber, but they’re filled with inner-re- solve. Whatever success comes their way will be on their terms, and the pursuit of new, and exciting creative adventures - rather than an- ything fiscal or fame-related – remains their one ambition. Besides, when you're related to arguably the greatest female artist the UK's ever produced, what possible mysteries could fame hold? Syd's Ra- ven Bush, 30, (the keyboard's glowing again) is nephew of Wuther- ing/Babushka Kate. It's a sense of mild vexation for the eminently chilled band that their association with the kooky, reclusive genius remains a source of fascination for outsiders. So, tempting as it is to ask, 'Does she still wear the leotard? Does she do normal stuff like cook oven chips, or do her nut 'cause she can't find the TV remote?'... it's best not to go there.
This year is shaping-up as a pivotal one for Syd Arthur. A Europe- an tour is in the offing, but beforehand they’ve booked themselves a night at the fair – Margate's Dreamland, where they're piecing to- gether a bill of psych-minded, groovers and shakers at the venue's Roller Room for their biggest Kent gig to date. "We’ve been keen to get something going at Dreamland since they rebranded it," Joel ex- plained. "We want to curate something really cool for Kent, which for some reason is often overlooked as a place to gig,"
Whichever matter - spiritual, metaphysical or chemical - fuels Canterbury's famously 'out there' music scene, it's weaving its magic once more, propelling Syd Arthur beyond their Home Counties hori- zon to higher, greater acclaim.