Interview with of Ewen Watson of Be Like Pablo.
Steve Lamacq once said “Follow the noise of latter-day power pop and you’ll find Be Like Pablo at the end of it.”. The four piece from Forres have been purveyors of pop ditties for half a decade, and find themselves playing Croft Music on the 4th of July. We caught up with Ewen to reflect on the past 5 years and look to the future…
What has been happening in the world of Be Like Pablo in 2015?
I suppose publicly, we’ve had a fairly low key year so far and haven’t really played an awful lot. However, behind the scenes, its a different story and we’ve been busier than ever. I think you’re the first person we’ve told about this but we’ve been really busy working on new songs and planning what we’re going to do with them.
We will be hitting the recording studio in the summer and then gearing up for some sort of release. We’ve actually got loads of things in the works right now but I can’t commit to a timescale or reveal any of the finer details at the moment.
How important is the deal that you signed with Raygun (an artist driven music company whose clientele also include the the Xcerts and Luke Sital-Singh) for Be Like Pablo?
The deal with Raygun Music is really important to us. Its our biggest opportunity to date and it could really help introduce our music to a wider audience. The team at Raygun have been fans of our music for a while now and have offered us some great advice in the past so its fantastic that we have the chance to work alongside them on this publishing deal.
Over the past year, we’ve been working on improving our band’s infrastructure and this deal with Raygun is the first piece of a larger puzzle. We hope to announce other partnerships soon.
When listening to ‘The New Adventures’, there is an endurability and even contemporary nature to the styling despite the album’s age, is that something that you feel, or is there a temptation to do what is becoming popular with some bands in retiring tracks?
Thank you very much for the kind words. I draw a lot from classic pop music and a lot of those old songs tend to date really well so its nice to hear that you think that shines through in our music. Its funny: I actively try to avoid making music that sounds modern! I’ve always tried to write music of a certain sound and I’ve never felt like I’ve been part of a music scene or movement.
In Be Like Pablo, we’re quite proud of the fact that we just do our own thing and, even though our music is pretty straight forward, its ended up sounding different to anything else that’s kicking about. I’m just waiting for the day when being in a powerpop band from the north of Scotland becomes fashionable and we’re finally considered to be cool.
Regarding our live show, there are definitely some tracks that we don’t perform but ‘retirement’ is such a strong word. We’re very open-minded about the songs we play live and I think we have a decent range of material to chose from so we’re able to tailor our set to different types of audience.
Are there plans for a follow up to ‘The New Adventures’ and if so how easy a process is it to come up with new material for it?
We are definitely going to be releasing new material soon but it won’t be in the form of an album. We’ve actually got a really cool and different idea for what we’re going to do next but we’re not quite ready to reveal it yet. I can confirm that there are new songs and we will be playing them at Croft Music and at all subsequent shows.
Writing songs is a very strange process for me. Sometimes its the easiest thing in the world to do and other times its really tricky. When I write for Be Like Pablo, its sometimes quite hard to find a new angle or a different way to present our sound but, if I’ve got a clear vision about what I want to do or if I’ve got something interesting to write about, it can be a really simple process.
The other band members aren’t afraid to critique anything I write and that really helps to filter out the stuff that isn’t clicking. Thankfully, we’re all very happy with the new songs and we’re excited about playing fresh material. Personally, I think they are the best songs that I’ve ever written.
Are you ever tempted to go with a total re-invention of the band, perhaps Be Like Pablo does death metal?
We love trying to push our sound in different directions as long as we can keep sight of what our music is all about. Its always been my goal to write fun, catchy pop music so we can probably rule out death metal for the time being.
I think being in a metal band would be problematic for me as I’m not very angry and my voice is really girly. But I think the new songs will highlight different sides of Be Like Pablo. They are catchier, less clinical and have more of a narrative focus. Also, we’ve got some pretty pretty awesome riffs this time which should please death metal fans.
You celebrated 5 years of Be Like Pablo earlier this year, how do you think the band has changed in that time and where do you see yourselves in another 5 years time?
Its been a great five years and I’m really grateful for all the cool stuff we’ve been able to achieve. In 2010, we knew what sort of band we wanted to be and five years on, I’m confident that we have become that band. Musically and aesthetically, our lineup change in 2012 was probably the biggest change for us. We haven’t released anything new since Karen and Andrew joined but you’ll get a really good idea about the impact that they’ve had on our sound when the new material is released.
We’re very fortunate to have had five really productive years and I hope we can continue to develop and fine-tune what we do. Its a really interesting time for Be Like Pablo. We’re excited about the publishing deal with Raygun and about showcasing our new songs. If anyone wants a sneak peak at what we’ve been working on, head to Croft Music and say ‘hello’.
Catch Be Like Pablo at Croft Music on the 4th of July, and keep up wit the band via their website.
