On The Up

Bright, bold and innovative, Temples banish doom and gloom

James Bagshaw is the frontman, guitarist and producer behind Kettering psych pop band Temples. Both of their albums, including vibrant second effort Volcano, were recorded in his bedroom.

“People like Chet Atkins and Les Paul, the true innovators, appeal to me more than anything,” he tells TG. “You can’t hear them in our music directly, but from a production point of view they changed everything.”

There’s a fearlessness to Temples’ own endeavours. They produce a boisterous psychedelic emulsion that appeals to tonal glassswillers, vinyl crate diggers and fans of Tame Impalaesque warped melodies alike, but they’re still not afraid to slaughter some holy cows.

“It’s easy to be a purist,” says James. “But if [Atkins or Paul] had our technology, it’s ridiculous to think that they wouldn’t use it. We like to blend the two worlds.”

James takes this melding of the analogue and digital to interesting places: layering sine wave effects to create tape-like sounds, changing timbres by manipulating recording speeds in a DAW, or splitting his Gretsches – including a 60s Tennesseean and a White Falcon (“Because it’s rude not to…”) – through a delayed stereo amp set-up to give it double-track-style width. As a result Volcano makes for a rich and - more importantly – contemporary listen. At once nuanced and yet still big, bold and melodic.

“It was important for us to make something that stood up against other [modern] music,” concludes James. “Not because we fear it, but because you can embrace it from a production point of view. There’s nothing wrong with hi-fidelity – as long it doesn’t sound like pop tripe!”

“There’s nothing wrong with hi-fidelity – as long it doesn’t sound like pop tripe!”