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Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with unsigned Lancing electronic musician and producer Amongst The Pigeons to find out more…

Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I live in Lancing, West Sussex. A small coastal village nestled between Worthing and Brighton.

I got into music at quite a young age, I was always playing the records my parents had but it was really around the age of 12 I properly got into music of my own accord and started to listen to specialist radio shows.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
I had a really broad range of musical influences when I was growing up. I think the starting point would have to be John Peel as his radio show covered so many different styles of music and he really did just play everything. Continuing on the radio theme it would later become Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley and their evening session show.

In terms of the actual artists it was a split between rock and dance acts. So on one hand there would be bands like Nirvana and Radiohead and on the other side acts like Orbital, Leftfield, Chemical Brothers etc.

I don’t really have any specific influences now. I tend to listen out for production styles rather than actual acts but there is still a load of great new music which is forever expanding my ears. That said there are a few musicians who continue to amaze me and inspire me with the sounds they make. Thom Yorke for example.

How would you describe your sound?
This is perhaps the hardest question for me to answer and it’s easier to say all the things that it is not!

Amongst The Pigeons in the purest sense is ‘Electronica’. There are a lot of sub genres when it comes to dance and electronic music and I really can’t find one that my music sits in. There are times when it can be a bit like House, with Jazzy Vibes, it touches psychedelia, contains samples and often has guest vocalists.

I do pride myself on having a fairly unique sound and always try to do something unexpected. A colleague recently listened to my new album and said it rarely does what you would expect and that is the best compliment I can have.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
In November I am releasing my third album called ‘Those Stolen Moments’ which is my first album after a six year break from doing Amongst The Pigeons. I never really planned to make the album, it just happened.

My life is pretty busy these days with a young family, full time job and not having much spare time. The album was made in pockets of time that don’t really exist unless you are able to find them which is where the album title came from. I tend to work on my music very late at night when most people are asleep.

In terms of the influence it is a natural progression from my earlier releases but definitely feels like this is a new beginning, ATP2.0 if you will. I tried this time round to make the songs more upbeat and have given more consideration around how they would work when I come to playing them live.

‘The 25th Hour’ is the first single to come from the album and sets the tone for what follows. Again the title throws back to a stolen moment which shouldn’t really exist and the song was made last year on the night the clocks went back – giving me that 25th hour in the day.

What’s your local music scene like?
I live between Brighton and Worthing. As you can imagine Brighton is heaving with loads of bands and venues but sometimes that makes it more difficult to play shows. Worthing is a real hidden gem. There are some great venues and it really does feel like there is a new scene starting to grow there with some great young artists starting to push through.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months? Any albums or festivals?
The album is out on 15 November and I am currently in the middle of applying to festivals for summer 2020. I already have a few confirmed but can’t give details until the lines ups are released. 2020 as a whole will be about getting out and playing shows as much as possible and it’s highly likely another new release will be out next year.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
I’ve been lucky over the years to collaborate with some really great musicians. A lot of my older releases had guest vocalists but the new album doesn’t feature any guests. There are 100s of people I would love to collaborate with. Lorde, Bjork, Thom Yorke, Damon Albarn, Nick Cave and some of the newer artists that I liken to like Tusks and Ezra Furman. I find you learn so much from working with other people and would love to do more.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
This is a good question. I can’t really think of any funny stories. Because I am called Amongst The Pigeons I make ‘pigeon masks’ for the crowd so that they can wear them and I really can be amongst the pigeons. This always seems to go down well. I also tell the audience facts and stories about pigeons between the songs.

I am waiting for the day when I have enough budget to release a flock of homing pigeons from the stage and watch as they all fly home.

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
I actually really do love Pigeons. They really are incredibly smart animals and are very misunderstood and beautiful.

If I can be cheeky and have two things I’d like people to know the other one would be that I do everything on my own. I make the music, book my shows, do my press and it can be incredibly hard work. If people want to support me please do follow me on social media and things like Spotify – it really does help.

You can find out more about Amongst The Pigeons on his website or via Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.