Eagulls lead vocalist talks new album, streaming services ahead of Columbus show

Zak Kolesar
Tue, 14 Jun 2016 21:24:02 +0000
Arts & Life, Music

English rock outfit Eagulls will soon be making its landing in Columbus.

The band is set to make a stop at The Basement on Wednesday as part of its tour in support of its new album, “Ullages.”

The follow-up to the band’s self-titled release in 2014 is a testament to the group’s continued growth. The punk rockers still thrash out on “Ullages,” but at times the tracks sound dreamy and introspective.

Songs like “Euphoria” that clock in around five minutes—three in total on “Ullages”—denote a contrast from the tracks they created on “Eagulls.” With echoing guitars in the background, “Euphoria” builds up throughout the course of the entire song, and eventually comes to a peak with just over a minute left.

“The first record, we wrote a lot of that around 2012 so it’s been plenty of years for us to change in our own lives, and subconsciously that just comes out in the music,” lead vocalist George Mitchell said. “You just naturally evolve, don’t you?”

While the new album premiered on Spotify in May, Mitchell expressed some resentment toward the streaming industry. He said his skeptical views on streaming music represent how groups that do not experience tremendous commercial success are being taken advantage of by Spotify, Apple Music and the like.

“It’s a strange world at the minute… with the music world of who owns what,” Mitchell said. “We create music and then they stream it, but what we gain from it is nothing compared to what (streaming services) gain from it.”

It is no secret that streaming music has revolutionized how music is consumed, especially by college students who are struggling to make ends meet. Streaming has made it affordable to keep up with the latest album releases, almost eliminating the process of going to the store and purchasing a physical copy.

Despite owning a Spotify or Apple Music account making more sense monetarily, Mitchell still sees owning a physical copy as having its own value.

“You should be able to hold a record and read the lyrics and things like that instead of buying one song for 99 (pence) or whatever it is,” Mitchell said.

The Eagulls’ lead singer also mentioned owning additional artwork and photography, discovering who the band was inspired by and who it thanked for the creation of the project as other reasons for continuing to buy CDs and vinyl.

“There’s no identity to the streaming services,” Mitchell said. “It loses the whole creative side of music and what the band portrays and things like that; it just doesn’t come across through streaming services.”

He said he’s frustrated that bands like the one he is a part of are merely looked at as advertisements or clicks to fuel said streaming company’s revenue, which is why Mitchell’s resentment goes deeper than the band losing out on money.

“Music is an art form, isn’t it? It’s something that people should cherish and look after,” Mitchell said. “It’s not something that’s just throw-away material, and that’s what streaming services seem to make music seem like.”

Even with the aforementioned obstacles, Mitchell credits a lot of what Eagulls does creatively and musically to the band’s label, Partisan Records.

“We’re very lucky that we work with a label that still lets us do what we want to do creatively, where we’re able to just do what we like,” Mitchell said.

Eagulls is set to bring its Leeds-based music to Columbus at The Basement at 391 Neil Ave. on Wednesday, the type of environment the band is used to and enjoys.

“If I was to go and watch a band, I would like to see them in a more close situation,” Mitchell said.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, according to the Promowest website. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. with Columbus band INBOKEH serving as the opening act.