Neu Get To Know… Dog Race

Describe your music to us in non-musical terms. 
James: It’s a stark winter’s night; you wake in a cold sweat, rain and wind laying siege to the gaps in your rotting window frame. In a haze, you go to turn on the light in a futile attempt to orientate yourself. After an eternity of impotent fingering of the switch, you bathe the room in illumination. As you momentarily bask in its warmth, you suddenly become aware that nothing you do matters and you will eventually die.

You hail from Bedford - musically, what was it like growing up there? Was there much of a local scene to speak of?
Katie: The music scene was non-existent in Bedford growing up, but being a big fish in a little pond gave me more confidence to be experimental. I think if I’d grown up in London or a bigger city, I would have felt more insecure about the music I was listening to and the sounds I was creating, as I fear I’d constantly compare myself to my peers. Having no musical peers but my family meant that there were no ceilings, and the creative limits felt endless. That being said, we did have the wonderful Esquires, which really is the heart of Bedford. It gave me one of my first ever gigs as a 15-year-old, has seen endless amounts of shit performances from us, and going back always feels like going home<3

What was the first song/album you bought with your own money, and why?
Dillon: I only ever used Limewire… buy our EP though.
Will: So many of my first CDs were ripped copies of my dad’s collection, but the first CD I remember getting of my own was Scouting For Girls’ debut.

You’ve described ‘Return The Day’ as “a soundscape born from sleepless nights, intrusive thoughts, and the quiet war between the mind and the world around me”. The way the EP captures the inherent unease of these experiences is no mean feat - was it challenging to translate such internal processes, and create something public from them?
Katie: I think we’re really good at coming up with big, ambitious ideas and then totally struggle to figure out how to execute them. There’s this whole process where we have to translate what we mean from ‘dog race spice’ / ‘big spooks’ terms to Ali [Chant, producer], which is a feat in itself. He’s incredible, honestly - I’m not sure how or why he puts up with us and then how he nails it every time.

That said, I think it’s actually easier to create something within our little dawg race world with Ali than it is to let it go. Writing is where I feel everything that is raw and vulnerable, and then releasing that into the world is when it becomes very real and scary. Breaking through that psychological barrier and welcoming people into something so personal is definitely the hardest part of the writing process for me.

How did you land on Ali Chant as the right person to help bring this collection of tracks to life?
Will: We’ve known about and loved Ali’s work for a long time, so it was amazing to be able to work with him for our second single, ‘There’s a Mouse in My House’. He really helped bring that track together and help us figure out the sound we wanted to make. It was an obvious choice to bring ‘It’s The Squeeze’ to him next. After that, he asked if he could put it out on his record label Fascination Street, which was a no-brainer, and since then he’s not been able to get rid of us. We tend to explain our ideas in ways that most people probably couldn’t turn into anything coherent, but somehow he always manages to nail it.

Much of Dog Race’s world seems to deal in the uncanny - can you tell us a bit about how non-musical media impacts your songwriting?
Katie: We’re just as influenced by non-musical work as we are by music, drawing inspiration from our favourite films, directors, books, and even advertising. Kubrick has been a huge influence, as has Wim Wenders. What resonates with us most is a kind of quiet, creeping horror - not so much supernatural or slasher stuff, but that which is more lurking in the mundane details of everyday life. It’s that psychological tension (the slow unravelling of a character in a familiar setting) which sparks our imagination far more than more traditional horror ever could. I guess where something feels off but nothing is overtly wrong [is what] often shapes the mood and tone of our music.

If you could be in any band from the 21st century, who would you pick?
Will: Sextile.

Finally, DIY is coming round for dinner - what are you making?
James: Bucky and chips. 

‘Return The Day’ is out on 6th June via Fascination Street Records. 

Tags: Get to Know, Neu, Dog Race