Interview Weird Dreams: ‘A Lot Of Blood, Sweat And Tears Went Into ‘Choreography’’

If you intertwine influences as diverse as David Lynch and T-Rex, The Tammys and The Beach Boys, what you’re going to end up with is no run of the mill album. Especially if you wear your heart very openly on your sleeve, when it comes down to it. And clearly, that’s what we have with one of our top 10 albums of the year; the brilliant ‘Choreography’ by east London’s Weird Dreams.

The reason it’s so well loved is simple; in their debut, Weird Dreams created a long player so timeless, that it’s hard to know whether it was recorded in 2012 or another year entirely. The upbeat, vintage sounding guitars distract you from the bittersweet lyrical unravelling that takes place beneath. Whilst the album was recorded entirely at Edward’s home, you’d never realise from the production. “We did it all ourselves.” Doran confirms, “But we had a lot of support from our label [Tough Love Records], who are small. We were really really happy with the response we got from it.”

As they should be; after it’s initial release last April, the reception for the record was pretty much universally glowing. And on the back of that acclaim, the band spent some of the summer on tour, finding themselves playing some frankly unusual venues. “We played at the Villa Noailles, which was designed by two French aristocrats,” Doran enthuses, “They were dadaists and surrealists, it was one of those you’ll never forget, definitely.”

Having finished recording ‘Choreography’ in August of last year, talk turns to their future plans, and whether we can expect to see a follow up in 2013. “Yes, definitely next year. We’ve just begun demoing the second album.” Edwards confides, “We’ve actually been writing it for a while, so I’ve got to go through hundreds and hundreds of ideas. It’s quite a long process, which has only really just begun now.”

“Definitely, a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into ‘Choreography’, it was a pretty exhausting experience.” Doran ponders, “But I think that’s how it should be for your first record. And maybe every one after that, as well.”

Weird Dreams ‘Choreography’ is number 15 in DIY’s Albums Of 2012. Find out more here.