COMMON TONGUE Talk New Single, Favourite Musical Instruments And More

Formidable Brit two-piece COMMON TONGUE lay down a prominent marker in the shape of their engrossing new single and video, ‘Done’. We spoke to the pair about their new music, favourite instruments and more:

Who is in Common Tongue, what do they play and how did you meet?
Common Tongue are two normal guys Matt Thompson and Matt Winterman. We both work full time and we play our music alongside. Strangely we’ve known each other for years, but it’s only in the last few that we started playing music together. We both grew up in the same hometown, a place called Chatham in Kent. We knew of each other as kids but didn’t really hang out or anything. Years later we found a service ourselves playing for the same hockey team and both talking about Chatham and the friendship started from then.

When did you begin songwriting?
Guitar Matt has played sort of more consistently however as the band came together and Covid lockdowns lifted we started writing music together. We were both in bands as teenagers and had both written original songs before, or at least been involved in the writing process. In terms of the writing process, it involves lots of WhatsApp voice notes, Guitar Matt will come up with an idea and start sending it through sometimes with vocal melody over the top. Then Drummer Matt will start thinking of what sort of drums might sound good with it and then plays that on his electric kit. When we get together and the rehearsal room then we add the components and the song starts coming together.

What is your earliest musical memory?
Drummer Matt: My dad is a huge rock music fan. He’s been to thousands of concerts, always with his camera (sneaking it in) and started taking me to gigs when I was old enough. We went to see The Answer when I was about 11, I think it was at the late, great London Astoria on Tottenham Court Road. it was an awesome show and I do often think back to the sweaty beer and potentially smoke filled room. He’s more of a guitarist so obviously I wanted to play drums instead.

Guitar Matt: My first musical memory is being terrified as a kid by Jeff Wayne’s musical version of the War of the Worlds! My parents had it on vinyl and it’s something I still listen to regularly as it’s awesome – the ullah’s still get me though ha!
The lightbulb moment came the first time I picked up a dusty guitar that was neglected for too long after my grandad gifted it to me. Something about the tactile feel of the strings on my fingers just made sense. Something clicked and I played for like 6 hours straight and ruined my fingers but it felt good – I’ve not looked back since.

You have your new single ‘Done.’ which is out now. What was the inspiration/story behind the track?
Done is based on a toxic relationship that you didn’t even realise you were defined by until you’re out of it. It’s about breaking out of the temptation of holding onto something that’s easy but slowing and surely it rips you apart.

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?
So Drummer Matt made the music video (with his wife acting as executive producer). We took a GoPro to the studio and played around with getting some bits recorded as we knew they’d be to click. The live clips where Matt is singing are completely organic which just used them from a live show. We don’t play to click live so the fact that we’re that accurate live compared to how we record is something we’re really proud of and didn’t actually realize until we started putting the video together. The rest of the video parts we’ve collected from clips from mates and some more professional photography stuff we’ve had done. Quick shout out to Riley who came down to one of our shows recently and got some footage for us.

Where did you record the single and who produced it?
We worked with Jim Harding at Casemates Studios in Portsmouth. It’s a place we love and regularly rehearse at so when they opened the studio we jumped at the opportunity to record there. It was a really collaborative process and Jim really took on board our notes and paid close attention to our sonic suggestions.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the album recording sessions?
Matt T and Jim had a beautiful moment bonding over their love of guitar pedals and Jim helped us craft the huge bass tone that is used throughout Done – and it gave Matt the perfect excuse to buy a new pedal. Also kind of ironic that he bought a bass pedal which is potentially now his priciest pedal, as a guitarist.

Do you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for your music?
The aforementioned pedal is a Tech21 SansAmp Bass Driver, it helps give us that really meaty fuzzy bass tone at the start of the track. Quite impressive for a band without a bassist we think.

Which of your tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?
When we first got together we started bandying around the term sad songs for happy people. Not many of our songs have a particularly happy message and some of them are a bit morbid. We write about what we care about and unfortunately in the world at the moment there does seem to be more tricky stuff than happiness around. When we’ve tried to write more upbeat party tunes they just turn into more indie tracks and sound like a band that isn’t actually us. In terms of the most reflective song, Isolation is a sort of viewpoint of what happened in England around the Covid-19 pandemic and an observation of what was happening at the time.

Who created/designed the single artwork?
The artwork for Done is slightly different to our previous stuff. Our first three singles were all based on a picture that Drummer Matt took of one of his wife’s paintings that she did. That then went into Photoshop and was played around with, within an inch of its life. The image of Done is actually a picture that Guitar Matt took and sent over and it just looked quite cool so again with a bit of tweaking and editing that became the single cover. First it started as just a cool image but I think if you look deeper you can imagine that someone in that position of being lost in the dregs of a relationship might just find themselves in a tunnel like that and you can’t find that light at the end of a tunnel moment.

Was it a difficult song to write?
It was a really quick song to write. It came together quickly when we were together in the room. It was a Friday night after a long week at work and the components just sort of really started to click. The percussion part of the cowbell/clave really became a pivotal part of the song quite early on. Then the verse drums took a couple of drafts and once that came together the song was there.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?
Really simple but we just hope that everyone in the audience has had a good time and also that we’ve had a good time. When you break it down it’s all quite simple really, if you’re in a band you work hard to get good, and you work hard on your live performance, you have people come to your shows and then when they’re there you need to step up and impress. It has to mean something to you and I think the audience can tell quite easily if that isn’t the case. Before all the band stuff happened we were just two mates and we’re really passionate about making sure that that’s the underlying theme of the band.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?
Guitar Matt absolutely loves his red Gibson that he plays, it gets him a great tone and looks great on stage. He also is very passionate about his pedalboard so if that’s your thing drop us a message on Instagram and I’m sure I’ll chat to you for hours about that. It’s something that he’s crafted over the last few years and really helped us get our tone. It allows us to have such a big sound as a two-piece. Drummer Matt is less passionate about his kit at the moment and wants to get some new symbols that sound good soon. He does love his cowbell though.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?
Were from Southsea in Portsmouth –
Squinny, Shant, Seaside, Play Up

How do you look after your voices?
Lager and Black Coffee, simple. That’s about as Rock and Roll as we get.

Do you have any future music releases planned for 2025?
We’re releasing a track called Friend or Foe in late January 2025. It’s another song about a relationship breakup and kind of the Ying to Done’s Yang. We’re also very excited to be releasing this as a 7” double a-side single. We’ve got loads more tunes ready to go and written, we just need the time/funds to record them.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?
Guitar Matt: 1984 by George Orwell – dystopian staple which a lot of my own song writing draws inspiration from. Dark, profound and has many moments of beauty amidst the terror. Would be a fun one to compose as versatility would be required and would take me out of my comfort zone at the softer quieter parts.

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?
We tend to cite Royal Blood, Muse, cleopatrik, Tigercub, Queens of the Stone Age, Biffy Clyro as sound references and “for fans of”. They’re probably bands that on a brief listen we sound like. But we definitely take inspiration from a wide range of music. We’re constantly WhatsApping random Spotify links of songs we’ve heard and liked, or have cool bits of production. It’s great as deep down you can often hear.
In terms of recommendations, some are similar to us and some other great local bands: Elephants with Shotguns, Body Crisis, Salvo, Bottomless Brunch and Busking for Misfits.

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2024/2025?
We’re playing a headline show to celebrate the release of Friend or Foe and the Vinyl launch at Casemates where we recorded. It’s on the 18th January so if you’re local-ish come on down. We’ve got another two bands joining us and it’s gonna be a wicked night.
We’re then very proud to be part of Icebreaker Festival on February 1st when Albert Road in Southsea turns into an awesome, multi-venue music festival. We’ve been punters before but we are super hyped to play it this year.

What makes Common Tongue happy and what makes you unhappy?
We are at our happiest when we are playing music and having a beer. We’re simple guys and when you break it all down, that’s gotta be the most important thing – having fun with a mate.

Although we are hugely part of it, the Digital World and loss of identity and sense of self. Social media dictates our lives, adverts are shoved down our throats (tailored to us apparently), and everyone’s mental health is spiralling because of it (unrealistic body expectations, online hate, screen addiction to name a few). The saddest thing is that the people at the top disguise this digital disease behind the guise of making things easier for us – it ain’t right. Humans aren’t meant to be connected to everything 100% of the time, it’s unavoidable in this modern age and incessant.