In this conversation, I caught up with Harry from Sheffield-based indie-pop band Cloud Caravan. So far, the band have released two singles titled 'Good Old Days' and 'Separation' and have received radio play and support from BBC Radio Sheffield and Leeds. I asked Harry about the recording process behind the singles and how the band write and produce their music. We also discuss the band's plans for the rest of 2021 and their upcoming live shows.
Hi Cloud Caravan, how are you?
Hey Keiko! Harry here from Cloud Caravan. We’re all doing OK thank you and hope you are too.
Could you introduce yourself to our readers!
We’re a UK three-piece indie pop music project, made up of Harry Corps (vocals, keyboards, lyrics), Tobias Holden (guitars, bass, production, backing vocals) and Adam Ryan (drums, vocals, visuals). Harry is the main songwriter, Tobias produces and mixes our tunes, Adam makes our visuals and music videos – and we come together as friends to work on Cloud Caravan. We call Sheffield home, but are currently going to university in both London or Edinburgh – which as you can imagine has been challenging, especially due to the pandemic!
How did you guys meet?
We actually met on our first day of school way back in 2004, and we’ve been really good friends ever since, which has been key to the project staying a really important and positive part of our lives. One of the lovely things about playing music together is that it feels very organic and grounded around the place we grew up, which I think is important for all of us. Any excuse to hang out with people from Sheff is always cool!
What is the meaning behind the band’s name?
Unfortunately there’s not a thought-provoking or romantic story behind this one! We found it super difficult to decide on a name. Some of the options we were considering by the end were pretty off-the-wall to say the least! I think it was Adam that suggested the name originally as a random combination of words and it eventually stuck. We all liked the alliteration, and the imagery that ‘cloud’ conjures up. I think it fits well with our music, which is often bittersweet and written from the perspective of staring out at the sky.
What inspired you guys to start writing and recording music?
Originally, we were all part of a 4-piece band called The Meadows, which we formed at school when we were all 15 or 16. We were all super shy to start with in terms of writing songs (it took us a good few weeks to get away from covering Wonderwall!) but eventually we established ourselves on the Sheffield indie scene and played some really fun gigs over the next 4 years. Earlier on this year, the three of us decided we’d like to start a fresh project, characterised by more emotive, mature song topics and a self-produced, poppier sound. So we’ve been going at it for a while really, but starting again has shown us that we still really get on as musicians and that there are lots more ideas to come!
"One of the lovely things about playing music together is that it feels very organic and grounded around the place we grew up..."
So far you have released two singles, ‘Good Old Days’ and ‘Separation’, how would you describe your music?
As a summary, I’d describe our music as ‘bittersweet indie pop’, and I think the main binding feature of the tracks is a combination of really honest, emotional song topics and musical feel, and then a contemporary self-produced vibe. We are a bit hard to pin down sometimes because the sound can vary quite a lot from song to song! I’ve always liked to keep the sound fresh and write different-sounding songs to mirror different emotions, and some of the tunes we have waiting in the wings are much more stripped back and inspired by indie-folk and jazz. I think we just about fall under the ‘indie pop’ umbrella, but really just we’re aiming to make songs which have real human warmth, and represent our wide-ranging musical interests.
‘Separation’ is your latest single released back in early November, it’s quite a different sound from your previous single and I love the intro. What can you tell us about the meaning behind the song?
Yes, it is a different vibe! ‘Separation’ is an autumnal song, so it’s a bit darker than ‘Good Old Days’ which was lighter and summery in feel and meaning. I wrote the tune last year, when COVID restrictions were really closing in again and I was facing my longest ever time away from my home, my family and my girlfriend. There were a lot of long days and nights to be left overthinking and really missing being able to physically see important people. I’ve always felt that songwriting is a sort of therapy for me really, and so that’s how I approached writing the song – it’s quite confessional and helped me get out a lot of tricky emotions. Really glad you enjoyed the intro – Tobias and I spent ages trying to make that synth sound distinctive and full-bodied, so it’s much appreciated!
Could you tell us a bit about how you write music as a band? Do you have a designated writer, or do you tend to write collaboratively?
I will usually come up with lyrics and initial chords and structures, and then bring these to the band and we’ll develop them together. We’ve had to get good at doing this remotely over the last few years given how difficult it is to meet in person! Adam has always had a real knack of picking up beats quickly and putting loads of personality into the percussion, and Tobias’ knowledge of production as well as being a great player means that he brings so much life to the tunes through arrangement and effects. In future, it would be great to write more songs altogether when we’re closer to one another.
What are your plans for the rest of 2021, will you be releasing any follow up singles or a potential EP?
We’ve got a couple live shows coming up – one in London on 10th December and then a support show in Sheffield on the 29th, so they should both be great fun! On the release front there’s an EP in the works which builds on the tracks we have already put out – that’s likely to drop in early 2022, so stay tuned...
What advice would you give to someone who may want to pursue a career in music or start a band?
I don’t know if we are really qualified to answer this! I guess the principle I try to live by when making and releasing music is to make sure that I’m doing stuff I truly enjoy. That might sound really obvious, but I think if you’re going to really commit to music, you have got to have some love for your own music and process, even if it’s hard to feel confident in it sometimes. We’re only early on in our journey, but at the moment the fact that we’re so free to write and perform in any way we want to is really liberating.
As a band, what is the best advice you have received?
To embrace your quirks as musicians, because that’s often what makes you interesting. I always used to worry that our songs didn’t sound like everyone else’s, but now I always think it feels quite nice if someone thinks you’re a bit different.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!
Thanks so much for this interview – big love!
Check out 'Good Old Days' and 'Separation' by Cloud Caravan in the links above or hear the songs on my Spotify Featured Artists Playlist (link in bio).
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