Skip to main content

Quirks Behind the Music - George Boomsma



For those readers not familiar with you and your music, tell us a little about yourself and your sound. What inspired you to start performing?
I grew up in Northallerton, North Yorkshire and I guess my first inspiration in music was joining a local church choir my grandpa was in when I was about 7. It's there I learned to sing, read music and generally get a feel for music. I started writing songs at university with my sound being pretty chilled and folky, on the melancholy side of the spectrum. I've been likened as a mix between Nick Drake and Thom Yorke.

Who are your musical influences for both your music and personal taste?
Some of my influences are Nick Drake, John Martyn, Jeff Buckley, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Mark Kozelek, Punch Brothers, Tom Waits, The Band to name but a few. I tend to lean towards music which I find musically interesting, stuff which raises the eyebrows a bit.

If you could only listen to three albums for the rest of your life, which would you choose and why?Nick Drake – Pink Moon. One of my favourites, I can listen to it over and over. I love the simple, raw and spontaneous production and the songs are beautiful.
Jeff Buckley – Grace. I admit I wasn't so keen on this album when I first heard it but it was that thing of every time I listened, it grew and grew on me. Now I absolutely love it, it's just genius. I have it on repeat in the car.
Tenacious D – Tenacious D. First album I ever got, still know all the words. I just thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever heard in my life when I was younger.                                                                                                                                                                                                         



If you could learn to play any instrument (that you don't already play), which one would you pick?
I'd like to learn a melody based instrument, maybe fiddle. I have a mate from university called Kieran Towers who just shreds old-time fiddle, he is so so good and when ever we jam I feel super insignificant just clunking out a G chord while he flies off on one. He has an album coming out soon.

What's your greatest musical achievement to date?
When I was 16 I performed at The Royal Albert Hall, London with a 6-piece dixie band, that was pretty cool. There's a video of it on youtube if you want to see me do some class act split trumpet notes.



If you could support anyone live, who would it be and why?
I'd like to support Mark Kozelek, I'm a huge fan of his music and I think we'd fit well together. I reckon I'd learn a lot from him.


So you've just released your debut album, which was recorded in a slightly unorthodox manner. Tell us about it and the inspiration behind it.
It was recorded in a local church, the same one I sang in the choir for. We went in at 2pm to set up, pushed record at 7pm and locked the doors about 4am with the album finished. We recorded all the tracks live, straight to a 4 track reel to reel recorder onto 1/4” tape, just myself on vocals and guitar, Adam Ridley on piano and Richard Miles engineering. I'm a big believer to 'relish the blemish' so no editing was done, just some slight vocal compression and EQ added. I only had enough tape for an hours recording time so If you listen to the last track of the album (Through The Winter) you can hear my final take of the night when the tape suddenly ran out before I could finish... Oddly enough I thought this quite apt for the album ending as the song seems to almost disintegrate so I kept it in! It was such a fun experience to record, the whole mechanical and out-of-the-box aspect was so interesting to do and just smashing it out in a night was the perfect thing for me.




Do you have a favourite track on the album, or do you love them all equally?
Well the newest one on the album is 'Brother Of Mine', I spent many an hour trying to get my fingers to work on the picking pattern which I find pretty satisfying to nail after all that struggled practise. The subject is on mental health which I believe is good to talk about – even better to sing about.

Which local bands have caught your eye recently?
I've been on tour a couple times with Leeds based People Poems who always blow me away with their performances. Good friend of mine Adam Ridley has an album coming out soon as 'Ridley Woof', his music is just insanely good.

Any final words? What's on the horizon for you?
Hopefully the album will open some doors and lead to more gigs around the country! Things seem to be at a steady incline at the moment so I'll just keep chipping away and working as much as I can! 

SUPPORT GEORGE


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Track of the Week - Sarajevo - The K's

Merseyside natives The K's kicked off 2018 by announcing that they had been signed to Republic Music Management. With a handful of sold-out headline shows already under their belt, their tongue-and-cheek indie tunes are earning them a loyal fan base and plenty of buzz. Their debut single 'Sarajevo' is an infectiously catchy and utterly charming track. The vocals are akin to a more in-tune Jamie T, giving their witty lyrics a warm ambiance.  The upbeat melody gives a nod to early 2000s indie, but the ferocious riffs and hearty bass lines give it plenty of originality.  The track has already achieved half a million streams on Spotify and it's a sure bet that there's bigger and better things on the horizon for The K's. FOLLOW SOUNDS OF AN ECCENTRIC FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM
Post a Comment
Read more

Quirks Behind the Music - CULT LUST's Sam and Owen

For those readers who aren't familiar with you and  your sound, tell us a little about yourself and your music? We’re Cult Lust! We’re a scuzzy garage trio from  Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, we like to think we’re loud as fuck but probably not to the point where it becomes obnoxious, which is sort of a disappointment. We use a collaboration of horrible old fuzz pedals tied to ropey old vintage guitars, topped off with clean technical riffs and a heavy driving percussion force to produce a louder than life sound. Which artists have inspired both your music and your personal tastes? Owen – I started listening to Led Zeppelin when I was seven and I started playing drums because John Bonham’s drums sounded so good to me and I just wanted to be like him instantly. I grew my hair and got my first drum kit at 7 and it’s led me to where I am today. I’ve picked up a lot from other drummers because I’m self taught so there’s probably a bit of jazz influence in my drumming too . Sam
Post a Comment
Read more

Middlesbrough Pub Bans Female Fronted Bands

Middlesbrough pub and rock music venue; Doctor Brown's ; has caused outrage after implementing a ban on female fronted bands, stating their customers believe that women can't sing rock music well. The story gained national attention after The Northern Echo published a damning article on the situation.  Consequently, residents and musicians have started to boycott the venue. I contacted Doctor Brown's to hear their side of the story. Had the situation been blown out of proportion on social media, or were outdated, sexist attitudes being called out? Paula Rees, the pub's manager cited that the Northern Echo had lied and "twisted her words" and she was eager to talk to me to "set the record straight". She said that was more than happy to talk, asking me to ring up later when the pub was a little quieter. Rees also confessed that she wasn't a "big rock fan" and was just going with what her customers wanted, stating that they had
Post a Comment
Read more