Oli Brown & The Dead Collective Talk 2024 UK Tour, Instruments And More
Words by Glenn Sargeant
Photo Credit: Supplied By Duff Press
Oli Brown & the Dead Collective are Oli Brown, Sam Wood and Wayne Proctor. They have released “Epilogue” which is out now and the third in a series of EPs. Currently touring the UK, Oli Brown kindly sat down with JLTT:
Who is in Oli Brown And The Dead Collective, and what do they play?
Oli Brown & The Dead Collective is me, Oli on guitar/vocals, Wayne Proctor on drums & Sam Wood on guitar
How did you want to approach the making of your new music as a band?
I just wanted to be honest with myself and the music I create. I didn’t want to write in a “style”; I didn’t want to be bound by expectations of who I thought I should be. I just let my feelings lead the direction. It’s an incredibly personal and exposing journal of who I am.
Where did you record your EP, and who produced it?
I recorded the EP at Superfly Studios and House of Tone. Myself and Wayne Proctor produced, mixed and mastered this record.
Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, etc?
My self-built black Stratocaster has played a massive part in the journey and my connection back to music. Hands down, the show wouldn’t have the weight it has without my ThorpyFX fallout cloud and the POG2.
Where is your hometown, and could you please describe it in five words?
My hometown is Norfolk—a Beautiful, Solitary, Natural Home.
Have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the EP recording sessions?
Working the ‘solitude sessions’ version of “Another Day Lost” is a memorable moment. It’s the first song we recorded in House Of Tone, and we spent hours exploring different options on how to approach this song as the ‘Solitude Sessions’ are our way of envisioning our songs in a completely different light (rather than a token ‘acoustic version’).
It took us so long, and we tried different instrumentation to get the right atmosphere. We saw what would happen if we got the vocal sound right first instead of the instrumentation. We created a pretty intense vocal chain to get an intensely aggressive compression, and I sang as softly as possible, it kept the vocal pinned and brought so much power to the song. It created the entire music foundation, and we made everything around it.
You also released “Prologue” & “Prelude”, which features Jo Quail. How did you both meet and subsequently record together? What was the story/inspiration behind both songs?
Wayne put forward working with Jo Quail as we wanted to explore reapproaching some of the songs we feel lose a little of their depth from being surrounded by “the rock”.With “Haunted”, we gave her a demo vocal and guitar but performed them as best as possible to inspire her and gave her free reign to arrange around it. Her contribution led to the journey of that song.
With “Sinking Ship”, we gave Jo creative freedom to explore how she would approach this song. Once we had her parts, we started cutting and shaping the journey we wanted to lead the song with; it ended up becoming a lot more dissonant and unsettling up until after the last chorus. We wanted to create a sense of unease that only gets a proper release after the second chorus, where all the sustained elements start entering. Almost as a sonic eyes open moment, the sigh of relief.
Do you plan live shows in Europe/UK in 2024?
We have a headline tour this April
05/04 – Leeds
06/04 – Manchester
11/04 – Norwich
13/04 – Milton Keynes
17/04 – Southampton
19/04 – London
21/04 – Nottingham
25/04 – Wolverhampton
26/04 – Crumlin
28/04 – Bristol
Festivals throughout the summer like Steelhouse & Wildfire, with more to be announced very soon
How do you look after your voice?
Proper sleep makes so much of the recovery. But also very little talking and good monitoring on my in-ears, so I’m singing consistently rather than pushing too hard and contracting. When I’m working on my demos, I pay attention to the way I’m singing certain words to make sure that I’m not straining and always staying in a comfortable place.
Which tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?
a) The current songs don’t highlight anything happy; they’re all written from a dark period of my life
b) Heard it all before
c) Haunted
What makes Oli Brown and The Dead Collective happy, and what makes you unhappy?
Finishing a gig knowing the synergy was right between us all, that feeling of when the show works, and everything flows smoothly, it’s so rewarding. The live shows are incredibly challenging, so there’s a different level of expectation we have of how we deliver this. There’s a lot on the line for us in this band, so that makes us happy.
I don’t think much makes us unhappy; we’re just focusing on pushing forward and overcoming obstacles when they happen.
Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By Duff Press
Oli Brown & The Dead Collective’s third EP ‘Epilogue’ is out now.
The band are currently working on their debut album – due for later in 2024.
Oli Brown & The Dead Collective have a full headline UK tour in April and full dates are below:
Thurs 11th April 2024 The Waterfront Studio, Norwich UK
Sat 13th April 2024 The Crauford Arms, Milton Keynes UK
Wed 17th April 2024 The 1865, Southampton UK
Fri 19th April 2024 The Camden Assembly, London UK
Sun 21st April 2024 Bodega, Nottingham UK
Thurs 25th April 2024 KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton UK
Sun 28th April 2024 Louisiana, Bristol UK
For ticket information please see https://www.olibrownofficial.com
