Overspill Poets' George Kitching and Tim Taylor released their self-produced debut album, 'Thompson Falls' in autumn 2009. A real independent production, this quality piece of work ended up at Nº 4 on the NME-Europe Top 20 list for 2009. Here's George's reflections on events from the past 12 months.
NME-E: So, how was 2009 from a personal point of view?
OP: By turns exhausting, exhilarating, stressful, blissful, frustrating and rewarding. We started the year by promoting a newly created MySpace page and went on to release our debut album on our own label and now we find it's made the NME-Europe top 10!
NME-E: Why is Thompson Falls such a hit?
OP: Well in commercial terms it's anything but. I think we are firmly in the slow-burn cult-following obscure indie camp. Thank god for Rage Against the Machine as I don't think we were ever in danger of worrying Simon Cowell. However, we have had some fantastic feedback from people who have bought or reviewed the album so artistically it does feel like a success. I think it's an honest album and I hope it goes some way to achieving our aim of forging a sound with the rootsy grit of Americana and US alt rock with the wit and attitude and Britishness of the best indie guitar music from this side of the atlantic.
NME-E: What was your personal top album of the year?
OP: It would be between Super Furry Animals - 'Dark Days / Light Years' and Steve Earle's 'Townes'.
NME-E: Looking ahead, what are your tour plans for 2010? Any chance of a visit to Spain (and more importantly, Murcia)?
OP: Well our plans at this time last year extended little beyond "let's see if we can get anyone to check our MySpace page" so really anything could happen. However, following a recent unplugged radio session, we are thinking about working on a stripped down acoustic set with a view to doing some unplugged gigs. Murcia would be very tempting if we can afford the air fare.
Well, EasyJet usually have some good offers! While you wait for the tour, you can buy 'Thompson Falls' here
. Second released their fourth album, 'Fracciones De Un Segundo' in January. It has been their most critically acclaimed piece of work to date and has seen them develop from promising group to leading artist on the Spanish pop scene. It reached Nº 3 in the NME-Europe Top 20, and is the only non-English language album on the list. They seemed pretty happy about that, here's what drummer Fran Guirao had to say:
Sec: Yeah! 2009 has been a hard working year. In January we released Fracciones de un Segundo, so we did a lot of promo with the media, gigs, festivals... (that meant travelling to many cities around Spain). Therefore, from our personal point of view, we think this has definitely been our best year, because, little by little, we are realizing how the number of fans increases and, at the same time the critics are very positive about our cd and our live shows.
NME-E: Why do you think this album has been so popular?
Sec: I don't know, all we can say is that we composed the songs to the best of our ability, but we never know if people are gonna like it or not.
This time they most certainly did!
NME-E: What was your personal top album of the year?
Sec: There are many great albums, but the last album by Phoenix is my favourite.
NME-E: What are your tour plans for 2010?
Sec: In 2010 we're gonna "rodar" in many cities around Spain, and in February we are going to participate in ARCO, showing people how Second composes a song in 8 hours. At last (but no least) we want to record a new album next summer.
You can purchase 'Fracciones De Un Segundo' here.
So there you have it, at least NME-E made someone happy this year. Many thanks to George and Fran for taking the time to answer my questions. If you haven't heard their music yet, give it a go - both albums would be excellent additions to your music collection.
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