Tessa Murray and Greg Hughes, the duo behind the dreamy Still Corners are currently on their longest world tour to date. Before their May 30 show at Brudenell Social Club, we sat down with them to ask about touring and the flexibility of modern music genres.
You have played in Leeds a few times now; do you have any specific memories from your time in the city?
Tessa: We’ve always felt connected to Leeds and the Brudenell, there’s a very cool vibe here. My sister went to university in Leeds so I’ve always had fond memories of nights out and fun times. When our first album “Creatures of an Hour” came out, JUMBO records chose it was their top album of the year. It was such an honour. We went up and played an in-store for them for Record Store Day with the Staves and Dodgy.
How do you keep yourself from mentally and/or physically tiring out too early on tour?
Greg: Whiskey. There’s just no way to live in a van that long without it. It’s a wonderful experience and we feel VERY lucky to be here and when the times get tough you just have to remind yourself the reality that you’re doing what you love and that’s all that really matters.
Are there any artists that you’ve been enjoying listening to whilst touring?
Tessa: We’ve been listening exclusively the Traveling Wilburys.
You’ve just come back from your first tour in Asia. How does your experience touring and performing there differ from Europe or the US?
Greg: It was our first time there so it was exotic and exciting. We went to the Great Wall of China which was stunning. It was incredible to meet fans there, just a lovely experience all round.
Is there anywhere that you haven’t performed yet that you would love to go to?
Tessa: Australia, India, Mexico, South America.
You’ve described your influences as ranging from Vangelis to Ennio Morricone to the Shadows. While your music has been described as atmospheric, it does not seem to fit in the limitations of modern genre conventions. Do you feel that these classifications are still relevant as more music starts to blur the boundaries?
Greg: Genre titles like “Dream Pop” are umbrella terms, we need a word so we can talk about the music, so it exists yes but it is vague and cannot capture a band or artist with any great depth, it’s clumsy at best. Certain artists share similarities so it’s up to the person to decide, personally I don’t care either way, it doesn’t bug me but then I don’t think in terms of genres, I just listen to the music, what genre is Bob Dylan? Does it matter? Not at all.
Do you have any plans after the tour ends?
Tessa: Take a deep breath, relax, let the well refill.
You recorded Dead Blue by the English seaside and Slow Air in Austin,Texas. Are there any places you’re considering moving as inspiration for your fifth album?
Greg: We seem to move around a lot I don’t know why. It’s exciting to go to new places. Maybe because “environment is mind”, the place you’re in greatly influences you in a variety of ways, deeper than you know. So we move to feel something new, to capture it and try to put it on an album. I don’t know where we’re off to next but hopefully it’s somewhere we haven’t been before.
Still Corners play the Brudenell Social Club on the 30th May 2019.
Header image by Bernard Bur