A Bright Future - Screaming Lights

Not much has yet been written about the euphoric teenage upstarts known as Screaming Lights. Having said this, their name is beginning to feature increasingly more in the credible ‘top tips for 2009’ lists around the UK music scene. They are set to hit the road with Nine Black Alps next month and have just released a noteworthy double A-side single, ‘Phenomena/Grandfather Clock’. It seems only right then that Gigwise catches a moment during the band’s busy schedule to talk to lead singer Jay Treadell.

The Liverpool quartet are currently putting together the final pieces that will make up their debut album as we speak to Jay. He is enthusiastic to start another day in the studio and has relished the chance to hone his craft in a variety of studios, including The Hospital Studio in Covent Garden. Jay explains why this studio in particular is special to him: “This is a dream come true for me in a strange way, because it’s Nigel Godrich’s studio. I was always following that Dead Air Space blog when they (Radiohead) were making the last record. There were pictures of them in the studio, and I didn’t know that they were here for some of the sessions. It’s strange to be so close to the bone of a band that you’ve been into when you were young. To be honest I wouldn’t even be here now if I hadn’t heard them when I was 14.”

Well, Jay is here - but alone he is not. Bassist Alan Breen, drummer James Connor and guitarist Max Goldberg make up the rest of the band. Jay, Alan and James all grew up together playing in bands at school but only met Max around a year ago.
Jay describes his bandmates as a “mix of funny, quirky and good musicians”.

He singles out guitarist Max for a bit of respectful praise, due to his different take on Jay’s initial vision for the band. “He had a different approach to using effect pedals. He catches things that I would not see in a million years ever.”