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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 artist Shelter Calm to find out more…

Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I started playing guitar when I was 16, after hearing Pink Floyd. I then played in various bands as a guitarist, but always had an urge to write, so gradually started to learn my way around the music software and the skills required to do this. As I was recording entire demos by myself, I ended up learning bass guitar and piano/keyboards as well.

I further honed my songwriting skills in a synth-pop/rock duo and after that ended, I decided to release something that was all mine, just to see if I could. This led me to finally releasing music of my own as Time in Antarctica in 2014, originally as a solo project, but that has since expanded into a band.

Shelter Calm started at the end of 2020, as a reaction to lockdown and not being able to meet with the rest of Time in Antarctica. Having that satisfied my need to release music, but I was aware that there was a lot of music still on my hard drive that didn’t fit Time in Antarctica. In particular I felt I had enough material to put together an electronic album. With lockdown, I had the opportunity to work these ideas up. Once I started, I was also inspired to write some new music specifically for this project.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
Pink Floyd and Smashing Pumpkins have always been a massive influence in my life, and on my music especially. Electronic artists such as Orbital, Autechre, Jean Michele Jarre and Vangelis have all been influences for Shelter Calm. I remember hearing Jarre being played on the news at about the time of the Docklands concert in 1988, and my ears pricked up. This was one of the first artists I got into by myself. I then was introduced to Pink Floyd, and got into guitar music for a while, before discovering electronica (particularly Aphex Twin) whilst at university.

Art of Noise and Jan Hammer’s Miami Vice soundtracks are also some early influences but I guess my sense of melody comes from loving David Gilmour’s (Pink Floyd) phrasing on his solos – that’s my idea of a guitar player – one who leans into the requirements of the song, rather than just showing off their technical prowess.

How would you describe your sound?
The sound of the isolation of lockdown expressed through electronica – brooding basslines, majestic pads and soaring synth leads take the listener on a journey that aims to move their hearts and minds as much as their feet.

That’s the tagline at least! I’d say it’s electronica that’s as inspired by soundtrack music, particularly Vangelis, as it is by Orbital and early Warp releases.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
My current release is my debut album Initial and it was released on the 30th July. When I first fell in love with music, it was with albums. Spotify didn’t exist, so if I wanted to listen to music, it meant going and buying an album, and sitting down and listening to the whole thing. So I always knew I wanted to make an album, but the focus these days, at least for Spotify, seems to be about singles, or one off tracks, so I’d done it that way with Time in Antarctica. But lockdown gave me the time to work through my library of musical sketches and work on some of the electronic pieces I had lying around, and work on an album.

What’s your local music scene like?
Good – we have a good range of venues from small rooms to an arena, which I hope is still the case after lockdown. It’s perhaps a little too focussed on singer/songwriters though. I actually ran an Electric Music Open Mic night before lockdown which was a typical open mic night format, but for electronic artists.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
The album was released 30th July 2021, and there will be one more single release after that. Then potentially a collection of alternate versions or outtakes from the album. The immediate focus will be getting my live set ready and then playing live. I have an album launch show on the 5th August at the Chameleon in Nottingham, and I’ll be trying to line up some more gigs for after that.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
I’d love to have Rival Consoles or Orbital remix one of my songs! But it’s the production side of things I’d most be interested to collaborate with someone on – if we’re staying local, maybe Lone – a Notts based electronica artist.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
I played a venue in Manchester that had a lift up to the venue which broke down after the gig leaving one of my bandmates trapped! Any other stories probably involve me and too much alcohol!

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
Just my music really!

You can find out more about Shelter Calm via Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.