Interview: Meadowlark

The feeling of discovering new music is great, but the feeling of discovering something that sounds like it's on the verge of something big is even better. Step forward Meadowlark who after gaining massive support for their debut EP Three Six Five are back with their follow-up release, "Dual". If you thought the songs on their first EP were good then wait till you hear "Fire"!

Kate's endearing vocals will bore into you deep, while the acoustic backdrop provided by Daniel is just exquisite. You have been warned, this is some highly captivating stuff.

As Meadowlark prepare for the release of Dual, and their launch party at London’s Servant Jazz Quarters on March 24th we spoke to Kate and Daniel via email to get the inside track on the duo.

Tuck in below:

 Tell us about the EP. What made you put these four songs together?

Meadowlark: Dual' feels like a natural progression from our first EP, they were the first lot of songs written after we'd recorded our debut. It was a really nice experience getting to the point where we recorded them, we'd had the chords and melodies for such a long time and tried out various different ways of executing the songs in a studio before settling with a sound that we wanted to continue with.

Tell me a bit more about one of the songs for us? Any of them have a particular story attached to them?

All of our songs are extremely metaphorical, it's one of the most beautiful parts of songwriting, being able to poetically shroud a track in deep meaning for others to uncover as they listen. "Fly" is a personal favourite of ours, it's all about the fears of growing up, but we use references of water and drowning to help convey this type of fear.

When can we expect a full length album and what’s the sound you’re going for on that?

Another wonderful thing about being musically open minded is the ability to experiment as you grow. Our sound drastically evolved over the course of a year, between our first EP and our new EP, I'm sure that influences and experiences will evolve us even further when it comes to doing an album.

I just caught the brief snippet for the "Eyes Wide" video. It looks pretty cool. What involvement do you have with your videos? Do your videos reflect how you visualise your own music?

We started this band with such a strong clear image of what we wanted to be and even over the course of our short career, with the introduction of labels and managers etc we still hold onto our creative input and put a lot of time and thought into what we want meadowlark to look like. Videos are a lot of fun, finding ways to express ourselves in a different format that's not music is exciting and interesting.

What artist inspire you at the moment? And If you could collaborate with one artist, who would it be?

We are really fortunate enough to have collaborated with a producer who forms half of one of our favourite band. Ant West produced Dual with us, which in itself was an incredible experience. His band OH WONDER are a big influence of ours and if anyone hasn't checked them out yet, we would strongly advise them too!

Kate, i recently read about your ‘Mysterious Monthly Music Parcel’ how's that going? And explain a bit about it for people who might be unaware of the project.

It's an idea I had at the end of last year to help me make living Meadowlark a reality. It's a subscription based 'service' for want of a better word that allows me to send gifts throughout the year to a mailing list for £1 a month - whether it be original songs, covers, videos, online live shows etc! And each £1 I get goes towards paying my rent and keeping me alive. It's gone so well and I've been overwhelmed by the response! People are so generous when you put yourself out there and show vulnerability.

Outside of music, what are your interests?

Dan actually dabbles in a lot of photography, it's great to have other creative passions that can compliment music but also allow you to getaway from it too. And I (Kate) am big into meditation. It's crazy how being still for 20 minutes a day can affect your life!

Tell us something interesting about yourselves?

People are always quite shocked when we tell them that our first ever gig was with Bastille at a sold out Coventry Kasbah show, it still blows us away thinking about how lucky we were to get an opportunity like that so early on.

Lastly, you have your EP launch party next month at the Servants Jazz Quarters. What can we expect from a Meadowlark live show?

We are working really hard to make a set that sonically delivers, playing live is one of our favourite parts of being in a band. We want everyone else to view us in the same way and we are sure that if you're lucky enough to have a ticket (as it's sold out, amazingly!) you will be in for a night of awesome live music.

Big thanks to Kate and Daniel! Dual is due to be released on March 30th. Make sure you support Meadowlark and stay tuned for more.