INTERVIEW: BDRMM
For those who’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, BDRMM (pronounced ‘Bedroom’) are a band on the rise. Along with Low Hummer and Life, they can lay claim to the moniker ‘the biggest band in Hull’ right now. And they most definitely have a strong claim on ‘the best,’ such is the electronica-tinged shoegaze band’s trajectory.
We’re out the back of Arthouse on Princes Ave to chat about this meteoric rise. I’m with brothers Ryan and Jordan Smith, lead guitar/vocals and bass respectively, and Connor Murray, the drummer, and his beautiful whippet. Rhythm guitarist Joe Vickers is on dad duty. The sun is shining, and it feels like summer’s finally arrived. So, beer garden it is, with four pints of Birra Moretti. For now. More will inevitably get downed as the chat goes on.
The first time I saw BDRMM was at FireFest in 2017, and despite my early exit due to food poisoning, I caught these lads and asked everyone who they were ‘cos despite fluids coming out of both ends of my body, I noticed them and how good they were, so I stuck around for their whole set, before having to retire to a nearby toilet. I’ve caught them many times since, including a support slot for one of my favourite bands of all time, Ride, last year in Sheffield, where they turned in a masterful performance which had the crowd eating out of their hands. By the end of the night, there was no small number of people walking around in BDRMM t-shirts. Job done.
Their first gig as a band was back in February 2017, and the transformation in both the confidence and richness of their sound has developed dramatically. For the better of course. This doesn’t detract from how good they were at the start, it’s just that it’s quite a radical transformation. I put this observation to Ryan.
“‘Yeah, the first stuff I did was basically just me on my iPhone. We recorded Happy at Hull Uni, where we all produced it collectively and is featured on our 2nd EP Yucky, which is on Bandcamp and Soundcloud through LoveOurRecords. Kare was recorded in Leeds at The Nave by Alex Greaves, and we also recorded the next single The Way I Want with him there too, so that’s why the sound is fuller, and closer to where we are now.’ The band have completed their second album, I Don’t Know, due in June, with Greaves at the helm again and they credit him as being an unofficial 5th member, such is his influence over the sound.”
I ask the lads how they got together, and Jordan chips in, ‘Well me and Ryan are brothers so we’ve been together since the womb.’ I ask what it’s like being in a band with your brother, and whether they’re Gallagher-esque in their dealings with each other. ‘No, we cuddle instead of punching each other, we’re both too shy to get that confrontational.’
Ryan had been in bands before BDRMM, so when Jordan came of age, it just felt natural that he should jump on board. Joe and Connor had also been in bands and played on the same bills and they all bonded over a shared love of music, Radiohead being the main band that threw them all together. Portishead and Massive Attack also come up as great influences, as do Autechre and Aphex Twin, to add a resolutely electronic bent to their Shoegaze-y guitar sound. It’s quite a melting pot and it sounds incredible.
I interviewed Ryan back in 2018, and I ask what’s changed. Since then they’ve put out many Eps, a studio album, Bedroom, in 2020, and they’ve been on European tours supporting Mogwai and Ride, as well as performed at festivals around the UK and Europe, and headline tours.
‘Everything’s changed really,’ says Ryan. ‘We changed record labels, sat down to write the second album, and the tours with Mogwai and Ride were pretty epic. There was also a certain strain to replicate the first album, which was an accident really. A happy accident obviously but an accident nonetheless.’
‘With the first album,’ adds Jordan, ‘there’s no one looking at you, so you can do what you like, and you have that blind hope of never having made a record before, whereas with this one, obviously that ‘difficult second album’ mindset sets in. The new record’s definitely a bit different. We got more interested in synths. With the success of our first record, we obviously find it easier to get advances to get more equipment, so that shows on the new record. And with that came more of an interest in using samples and synths. We’ve been cutting and chopping instead of just writing straight tracks.’
‘Alex Greaves, our producer has also been much more hands-on with this record,’ says Ryan. ‘It’s often a case of us having the ideas, but not being able to execute them, so he’s been instrumental in developing the sound.’
For a band of their stature, it must be difficult to keep the egos in check. They are remarkably grounded. I ask them about this, to which Connor replies,
“ ‘It’s never really been about that. It’s really just all about the music. What we’ve achieved isn’t because of any one of us, it’s because of all of us. We keep each other grounded.’”
I ask about how the bromance with Andy Bell of Ride came about.
‘He was on our old label and came down to a few of the shows,’ says Jordan. ‘He did a DJ set at a gig we played, and he borrowed Ryan’s amp for one of his solo shows, and then it just progressed from there, and he asked us to do the Ride tour. And it felt like the perfect marriage.’
I say that, as obviously Ride have influenced BDRMM’s sound, how it felt sharing a stage with one of their musical heroes.
‘It was really overwhelming at first,’ says Ryan. ‘I remember when we first heard the news about the tour, we were in a service station, and I fell off my chair. But we’ve remained really grounded. It helps that we like to keep ourselves to ourselves, we’re not really ones to flex, even though we’ve probably earned the right to do that a bit, haha.’
What was it like touring with Mogwai?
‘It was amazing,’ Ryan says. ‘They’d watch us every night from the side of the stage, and after their gig, we’d all get smashed together. They were just like us really, there was no posturing with them. They welcomed us like family. The gigs would be amazing, and the nights were amazing, but from waking up to post-soundcheck, I’d just be a wreck.’
‘There was only a few days off. We did the first two dates with Mogwai,’ says Jordan. ‘Then we had five days off to get to Paris. Joe went home to look after his kids, we went to Amsterdam, Hamburg and Bruges. It was disgusting,’ he laughs. ‘You’re in a place and state with ten like-minded people between the bands, so it’s like you’re all in it together really.’
‘It was like being thrown in at the deep end really, with those tours with Mogwai and Ride,’ Connor says. ‘But it was also the perfect learning experience. Playing our own shows at venues like the Adelphi, to playing in front of hundreds of people at places like Alexandra Palace. It was mind-blowing. It does a lot for our confidence too.’
‘It was daunting looking out that sea of people,’ says Jordan. ‘But as the nerves go, you don’t see individual people, it’s just a massive crowd of people, but it’s helpful to look to ourselves more instead of out into that ocean of people.’
Mogwai taking them under their wing like they did has obviously had a deep effect on the lads. The way they were welcomed and looked after has made them aware, and as per Mogwai’s parting words, they plan to do exactly that for whoever they take on tour. Both Ride and Mogwai made them feel really comfortable, because they were such cool people, so although a bit nervy at first, and maybe both bands sensing this, it wasn’t to last long because they were so easy to get along with. The most important part was both bands trusting them to do the job well.
Martin from Mogwai even gave Connor his snare drum at the end of the tour. ‘I actually started crying,’ he laughs.
How does it feel also being championed by the UK music press?
“‘Getting championed by the NME was like a tick. It’s something we all grew up reading, so that was really special,’ Ryan says, referring to the five-star review bestowed on them for their debut album. Also high on the to-do list is playing Glastonbury. ‘I’d play the opening slot on the Thursday and pay them to play,’ he says, half joking. I tell them it’ll come for sure. ‘Michael, if you’re reading this, gizza call.’”
So what’s next for the band?
‘We’ve got a new single coming out tomorrow (16th May), which is the last single before the album comes out, which is due out next month, on 30th June. So we can’t wait for that to come out,’ says Jordan. ‘Exciting times. It’s been so long since we recorded it, that it’s just nice to finally get it out there.’ I’ve heard the new album, and it really is a huge step forward. Sonically, it’s massive, producer Alex Greaves really assimilating all of their influences and creating something uniquely BDRMM. It’s set to propel them further in their upward trajectory. There are shades of Radiohead, My Bloody Valentine, DiiV, Slowdive and Portishead in there, but it’s very singularly their own sound. It’s a colossal achievement.
‘To be honest, it’s a nightmare waiting to release it,’ says Ryan. ‘We’ve been sitting on this album for about eight months, and we just want to get it out there. But that’s how the music industry works. You can’t just write an album, release it and move on, you’ve got to wait in a vinyl queue for months. We just want to be getting on with album three.’
What stuff are you listening to mostly at the moment?
Ryan: ‘I’m listening to a lot of Autechre and Squarepusher. Also Saint Etienne, all their albums are really different and I find it really interesting the way they use samples.’
Jordan: ‘I’m really into the new Everything But the Girl album, it’s fantasic. The way they’ve developed from being quite a traditional band into incorporating drum ‘n’ bass and electronica into their sound is incredible.’
As we speak they’re readying up a European tour, playing Spain for the first time. We also get into a discussion about where their music is listened to and how. Thoughts about Spotify are mixed with them branding it as ‘disgusting’ how artists are treated, but instrumental in getting hits in places as far-flung as China or Venezuela.
‘I’d much rather put music out on Soundcloud for example,’ Ryan says, ‘and know you might get very little back, than put it on Spotify and get 0.0001 quid in the knowledge that the owners are all billionaires with probably very little interest in music. Bandcamp’s very different and run by musicians, so the artists get paid properly.’
What are your long-term goals?
Jordan: ‘Just to be full-time musicians and do this for a job, that’s all we want to do. To be able to live in our own houses and make a living out of what we love doing.
Ryan: ‘To be as big as someone like Pavement who are still headlining festivals. Something like Primavera’s an aim. To be playing in an amphitheatre with a backdrop of a Barcelona sunset. That’d be ideal.’
Connor: ‘Yeah to be the size of Pavement would be great. I know they did it in the 90s, but they’re still headlining festivals which is great. My dad actually knows Bob (Nastanovich, percussionist in Pavement who has strong Hull links, even supporting Hull City), I’d come downstairs after a night out and Bob would be there in the kitchen, just making a pie or something.’
As we wrap things up, a special shout goes out to the institution that is the Adelphi. All present are in agreement of how instrumental the venue is to the local music scene. The lads played their first gig there and continue to play sold-out headline slots there, and the sense of community it has fostered doesn’t go unnoticed. I’m sure every local band would echo the same sentiment. Ryan and Jordan even worked there for a spell so they are extremely supportive as they threaten to go massive. It’s a support marriage that goes both ways.
We wish the boys the best of luck with their imminent tour and, of course, the new album. Not that they need the luck; with the world at their feet, these four are about to go supernova. BDRMM are leaving the stratosphere.
