From making music DIY style to Lady Gaga...we chat with Slomo Casino
PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF FOR US WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOU AND YOUR MUSIC AND TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
We’ve (Jonny Ball & Jack Batchelor) known each other for many years and lived together while studying music at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute Of Performing Arts. We’ve both toured the UK and Europe extensively as part of separate outfits, supporting bands like The Libertines, Mallory Knox, Feeder and Coheed and Cambria. We only started making music together a year ago; with ideas usually derived from drunken voice memo’s we’d send back and forth ’til they materialised into something with substance. Through developing these songs remotely we became the DIY Indie Pop/Soul project 'Slomo Casino.’
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM OR SINGLE?
The self titled single from our debut EP Marshmallow comes out on 17/09/21! It’s a song about Love, lust and searching for something more.
WHAT INSPIRED THE ALBUM OR SINGLE?
Boredom. Mostly.
CAN YOU SUM UP THE ALBUM IN A FEW WORDS?
It’s a bona fide, succulent, gratifying ride.
WHAT RECORD CHANGED YOUR LIFE AND WHY?
Jonny - there are quite a few I could pick for this. But I think hearing Jeff Buckley's grace as a 16 year old completely blew my mind. It’s still one of my favourite records to this day and every song still sounds as fresh as my first listen, it throws my emotions around like a wet tracksuit.
Jack - Parachutes by Coldplay. I used to listen to this album on my portable CD player in the backseat of the car on the way home from holidays with my family, it makes me feel an overwhelming sense of security, melancholy and hopefulness all at the same time.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE MUSIC VIDEO FILMED BY YOUR BAND OR ANOTHER ARTIST?
We’ve recently just filmed a couple of videos for 2 acoustic versions of songs from the EP, and honesty we’re so pleased with how they’ve turned out, so definite contenders for favourite to shoot.
Jonny - I always remember loving the video for ‘bliss’ from muse when I was younger, because of how ludicrous and over the top it was.
Jack - Judas By Lady Gaga, it looks like it’s straight from a film.
WHAT WOULD WE FIND YOU DOING WHEN YOU'RE NOT MAKING MUSIC?
You’ll find us cooking, playing ancient video games and arguing over different varieties of grape.
DO YOU GET NERVOUS PERFORMING LIVE, IF SO HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT?
Jonny - I definitely still feel a sense of nerves or at least a state of hyper alertness/adrenaline which I doubt ever goes away.. but the experience from doing lots of shows does make it much easier to deal with, and just the awareness of what you’re feeling can help to accept it for what it is, and even use it as a strength for the show. I find that improved state of awareness is reminiscent of meditation.
Jack - I don’t really get nervous performing anymore, unless very unprepared for the gig, however I have a lot of experience in winging it so I usually get away with it in the end.
HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND?
So the idea for the band weirdly came from sailing down a canal on a friends narrow boat amidst the storm of the century with lightning strikes, thunder claps and non-stop rain. We couldn’t get out of there so we turned the boat into a mini casino, in an effort to boost morale on those choppy waters and a couple of days later it inspired the name ‘Slomo Casino’ and it took off from there…
HOW DO YOU WRITE? - DO YOU HAVE A KEY SONGWRITER, OR DO YOU ALL WORK TOGETHER?
To quote Bill Withers, it’s “just the two of us”, we tend to do all of the writing together and it’ll start from an idea one of us records on our phone. Jack’s the main lyricist and we both chip in with melodies and develop everything from Jonny’s home studio.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Coffee, wine, The weather (bad & good), space, anime and most of all ‘The office’ season 1.
WHAT IS NEXT?
After the campaign for our debut EP is finished, we’ve got some covers of some of our favourite songs coming out & then for 2021, back to the studio for the next release and some exciting dates to be announced!
PLEASE TELL US ANY SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS SO WE CAN SHARE.
Here’s a link to our lovely new site that has links to all the platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc. www.slomocasino.com