The Playlist
Frontman for Liverpudlian indie rockers Circa Waves, Kieran Shudall tells TG what makes his musical mind tick
The first song I remember… It’s a kind of magic – Queen We had The best of queen - the second one was the one I used to play around the house a lot. I used to listen to It’s A Kind Of Magic and jump up and down on the sofa, dancing around thinking I was Brian May. That was probably the first thing I became slightly obsessed with, it made me realise that I loved music with guitars in it.
The song that made me want to play... Polly – Nirvana
My brother brought back a Minidisc - remember them?! - with MTV Unplugged in New York from Australia. It was one of those older brother moments of ‘Listen to this!’ I remember thinking, ‘Holy fuck, this is amazing!’ Because it was acoustic, and Polly was really easy, it made me feel like I could do it. Then, later on, I realised that’s not how Nirvana sounded, but Unplugged is what made me want to learn guitar and play those tunes.
The riff that I’ve never been able to play…
A crow left of the murder – Incubus
It has this riff that I thought was a bit good. I always try and play it in soundcheck, but I’m just not very good at guitar, I’m very limited! It jumps between octaves and you have to do a lot of stretching and hammering-on. Mike Einziger is a really good writer of parts, he makes some really unusual stuff. I think he’s quite underrated in that sense.
The riff I wish I’d written…
Seven nation army – The White Stripes I’m sure loads of people say this. To me, the best riffs are just straight down the line, and that’s a riff where you think ‘How the fuck didn’t I think of that?’ You try and make a riff that’s similar and as good, but it’s so difficult. It’s transcended guitar music now and become a football anthem, with everyone shouting ‘Jeremy Corbyn’. It’s probably one of the only later modern-day riffs that has become globally huge. If 10 drunk football fans can scream your riff then you’re sorted!
My favourite guitar sound on record is…
12:51 –The Strokes I always loved 12:51 on the second Strokes record. Apparently he just cranked a load of Fender Champs and pumped loads of distortion through them. The legend is that he broke about six amps trying to get this take. It’s a super-saturated lead sound, and I think he played a hollowbody Epiphone Riviera. It’s an amazing sound, like a keyboard, but it’s this super-cranked amp.
The song I’d like to be remembered for…
T-shirt weather – Circa Waves Our biggest song is T-shirt Weather, in terms of connecting with that many people. For a song to become as big as that has for us is something I always wanted, to have a bit of an indie anthem. I write everything on acoustic, if it sounds big on an acoustic then it’s going to sound ridiculous on an electric. I read Tom Morello saying that in Total Guitar when I was a kid, and if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me!
The song that reminds me of home…
In my life – The Beatles Most Beatles songs remind me of home, being from Liverpool. I have very fond memories of listening to them, and In My Life is very humbling, and feels like a big, warm hug. They were the masters of weird chord changes that sound natural. Only a few acts can get away with that and they were one of them.
My musical guilty pleasure…
Sugar – Maroon 5
I was listening to Sugar by Maroon 5 the other day, and that is a proper banger. I was going for a jog and I needed some pop energy so I whacked on Maroon 5. I think with guitar you want to be cool and listen to Sonic Youth, but ultimately people like Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5 and Shawn Mendes are keeping guitars alive too, which can only be good.
Happy, part one of the Sadhappy album, is out now. Sad is realsed 13th March.