press
Source: Birmingham Mail back
Subject: Treeology EP (Static Caravan)
Attention to detail important to band
At the time it seemed like a good idea, but a couple of months later and shady bard’s Lawrence Becko isn’t too sure.
‘It’s taken us nearly as long to package the CDs as it did to write the songs,’ he laughs.
For their debut release, Treeology, the Birmingham-based five-piece decided they would make the packaging for one hundred CDs by hand.
‘They’re all tied up with string and parcel wrapping paper,’ says Lawrence. ‘We started before Christmas, and then ran out of string. Everyone has got a nature themed stamp on too – like a tree – and finding those on eBay took a while. Then we have the idea of putting the CDs within a tracing paper envelope, but it turned out you couldn’t buy them so we embarked on making them ourselves. We could have spent our entire lives working out how to economically cut brown paper. There’s a lot of love gone into this.’
And it’s not just the packaging as the music itself is warm and, layered and assured, inspired by Lawrence’s awareness that not everything in Birmingham is concrete and a fondness for alt.country and music from other countries.
‘Musically I’m into Super Furry Animals, Grandaddy, Sparklehorse and experimental music form Wales and Scotland. It’s music from other places but I’ve tried to make it sound as close to home as I can.’
Coming together over a two-year period, the band bgan playing live at the end of 2004 before getting the attention of local label Static Caravan who were keen to release the self-produced Treeology.
‘I record and produce everything from home,’ says Lawrence. ‘So it’s very layered and textured music. The production process is very important to the texture of the songs.’
Picked up by 6Music’s Phil Jupitus, Radio 4’s Loose Ends and also Radio 2, the buzz around Treeology ahs enabled the band to embark on their first UK tour, taking in London, Manchester, Bristol, Oxford and Leeds before arriving at Birmingham’s Flapper & Firkin on Saturday, February 18.
But the band’s activity isn’t completely focused on shady bard, as under the banner of fuzzy bird, they also DJ and produce a free fanzine, the latest issue of which includes exhibition and food reviews, articles on SFA and Misty’s and instructions on how to knit a pair of gloves.
Says Lawrence: ‘We put them around places like The Jug of Ale, Flapper & Firkin, Polar Bear Records, Tempest and Oasis market and they’re free but if anyone can’t find a copy, we’ll be happy to send them a copy.’
Dave Freak