After listening to "Emily," the newest single from The Beautiful Word, I knew I wanted to feature them here! "Emily" is a highly addicting song and one listen is not enough! Be sure to watch the video for "Emily" below and read the highly entertaining interview with the band. I have a feeling that they are really going places!
INTERVIEW with JEN ANDUJAR and THE BEAUTIFUL WORD
Before we really get into the interview, can you give our readers a quick introduction on who The Beautiful Word is and where you all are from?
We have Megan and Emily (vocals) Nelson (guitar) Scotty (bass) and Gruff (drums)
Megan: I’ve always been here, I’m a Brighton local. Emily and Nelson came to study and Emily wanted me to sing harmonies for one of her songs. It was ‘Golden Box’ and I thought it was amazing. I hadn’t really written much and I wanted to, and Emily spurred me on to do that. We had a few different drummers and bassists until we found Gruff, and later Scotty. We couldn’t see it any other way now.
Emily: I’m From North East Scotland, moved to Brighton for college and met Megan and Nelson there. We jammed as a 3 piece and played our first gig in an Oxfam.
Scotty: Spent most my younger years in Seaford East Sussex, Emigrated to New Zealand then came back to study music at college. I met Megan there and she took me to see ‘The Omen.’ 2 years later she phoned me up and said she needed a bassist. I was touched!
How did you come up with the beautiful name, The Beautiful Word?
Megan: We were googling 'Beautiful Words' for hours - we wanted just one really nice sounding word to put out there. We thought about Sister for a while, which seems so lame now. In the end we went with what we'd googled the whole time!
Emily: Yeah Sister, what was that about!? Plus we have come across two similar bands that have “sister” in the name since then.
If you had to describe your sound in 10 words or less, what would it be?
Megan: Harmonic, uplifting.
Emily: Experimental mystery pop folk. ABBA with country attitude? Ha.
Megan: Dunno about country! ‘5 children write grown up music with a child's heart’ - that’s 10 exactly!
You guys just released a new single, "Emily," which must be so exiting for you! How has the initial reaction been so far?
Gruff: It's been great so far. It's the first time we've got someone else to do the recording for us and it's a different sound to what we've had before. People love it! Everyone loves the video too!
Megan: Online, it’s been really nice. We're self releasing and completely DIY - I think this is the first time we've really consciously taken it into our own hands and done it properly, although we've made an EP and an Album before this, not as many people know about them. This time it's like 'Wow, these people we don't know in Malaysia are talking about our single!' That is really nice.
Emily: Woo hoo it’s been great! We do have a few Malaysian fans, yes! The launch party was rammed, there were people singing along.... All good stuff.
Megan: Yeah selling out in our home town was lovely. Now the world, please!
You have a video for the single as well. How long did that process take? Do you have any stories from the experience you would like to share?
Megan: Sooo much running. 12 hours of running!
Emily: Yeah, unfortunately the running is also my strongest memory!
Megan: We got there at 6.30am to get that nice healthy light, but we’re not actually that healthy ourselves. That was tough. Myself and Emily had to wrestle for ages which was hilarious but then tiring. The boys were on form though and were really patient, unlike me. Also Dan Bridge who filmed the whole thing was super positive the whole time which was great.
Gruff: I spent a lot of the day with a tissue in my face. I get quite bad hayfever. Frolicking in the woods didn't help too much.
You just played a bunch of gigs as part of your UK Summer Tour. How was that experience? Do any shows stand out as 'a best show?'
Scotty: Touring was great fun but tiring. It was really good to see/play new places. Met some great people along the way too!
Gruff: I think we all have good and bad shows but the overall experience of being on tour was just awesome. It was great to see so many sights and meet so many people.
Emily: For me the best show was Edinburgh. The tour was full of old surprised friends and lots of new and surprised fans. There were no bad shows. The best bit was the hospitality of the people we stayed with. We all got to know each other pretty well too...
Megan: Yeah we slept for free on peoples’ floors, normally all 5 of us in a line, waking up together, driving somewhere, doing a gig together, going to sleep… no arguments, though!
Speaking of touring, are there any plans for a next tour?
Scotty: I think we were thinking of doing more "weekends away" rather than a large chunk of gigs off, were all busy bodies etc and want to record so that will be better for economizing our time. (I’m a geek)
Emily: We’re planning some citybreaks as Scotty says. It’s important for us to get out there and meet new people!
Megan: Yes, If you can take us in for the weekend and want us to play in your town, we have our own sleeping bags, and cutlery…
What has been the most embarrassing thing to happen while onstage?
Gruff: Luckily, being the drummer, I'm right at the back so no-one ever saw that thing that happened once.
Emily: The amount of times I’ve forgotten the words to something is hilarious. There was a moment on tour when Megan and I forgot the words to something we were meant to be singing in harmony at exactly the same time and we looked at each other and it came out something like “meh meh ma na na meh ma”.
Megan: I dropped my toy piano on my head when trying to move the crate it was on to lengthen my mic cable. I did the gig with concussion…
FUN BAND QUESTIONS:
Who in the band is the...
friendliest? (added in by the band)
Emily: We’re all pretty friendly! But I’d say Megan?
Megan: Damn straight, it’s me!
most outgoing?
Nelson: Jones - he goes to work everyday
best dancer?
Nelson: Gruff, he has more shapes than a 5 sided fistagon
Emily: Sorry guys, but I think we’re all pretty bad dancers!!
Megan: My ‘Loosey Goosie’ is quite good!
pickiest eater?
Nelson: Scott "Calorie count" Jones
Emily: Scotty.
Gruff: SCOTTY
Megan: Jones has to watch the biscuits, yes. Calls them ‘Mcfatties’
most likely to spend too much money in one place?
Nelson: Meg, replacing stuff she’s left in an off license.
Megan: :’(
Gruff: Not me, I'm a Tesco value man.
messiest?
Nelson: probably me - drum village (What Megan used to call my tobacco packet mountain next to the mixing desk) and baccy corner are 2 of my favorite places, although at least twice in recent memory, Emily has been messier than all of us.
Megan: Emily is messier in the behavioral sense.
Emily: Well done Nelson for taking one for the team. It’s definitely you!
What makes you stand out from others in your genre?
Emily: We created mystery pop! We did that on purpose so we could be the best!
Megan: On a serious note, I think the thing about this band that gets me the most excited is how genuine it all feels. We’ve been together 4 years now, we’ve all lived together at one point or another, we only make music we like. We’re not chasing trends and employing stylists – our music and songs have grown into something we are all proud of. You can see with some bands that what they are doing doesn’t fit with who they are – that’s not the case with us.
Nelson: Jones is a Ninja, occasionally he is known to vanish onstage and return with a menagerie of energy drinks... it is the 8th wonder of the world. Other than that, a toy piano, intricate musicianship and harmony, and generally not being a miserable bunch, apart from me, which makes me ironically happy.
Where do you see yourselves in five years?
Emily: That’s a scary question!
Nelson: Creating musical riots where scones will be thrown at police armed with tea and jam.
Megan: Hopefully doing the same thing, making more friends, playing more gigs. I’d love to tour France or Japan.
Where can our readers find out more about The Beautiful Word and buy your music?
Megan: Everything is on Itunes, if you don’t like them you can download form our website, or from amazon mp3, in loads of places really. We’re on Spotify, and you can get physical CDs hand posted from us on the website too www.thebeautifulword.co.uk
Any last thoughts before we wrap this interview up?
Nelson: When the zombie apocalypse comes, are you ready?
Megan: Zombies are sooo late 2010.
