INTERVIEW W/ GANS: "We hope the album means as much to them as it does to us"!

Ferocious Black Country duo GANS are gearing up for their debut album 'GOOD FOR THE SOUL', out on September 19th via Peter Doherty’s Strap Originals label. On the face of it, the album is a menacing one, filled with gritty Electro-Rock instrumentals and angst-fuelled lyrics that capture the raw realities of their industrial, working-class surroundings just as the album's lead single 'IT'S JUST LIFE' suggests. However, there is a hopeful optimism that forces its way to the top of their music and the more you listen the more you find this optimism wash over you. The album manages to balance this uneasy realism with horizon-chasing escapism quite beautifully.

We sat down with them to chat about the upcoming record, how their hometown has shaped them and the battle for hope that arises within their lyrics...

Photo credit: Benji Charles

Q. Given the title of your debut album, what do you want listeners to take away from the record? Do you want their souls to be healed? 

A. “GANS want the listeners of 'GOOD FOR THE SOUL' to take away a connection. We believe that anyone who has taken the time to invest in listening to it has invested time into us and our message, one of love and unity. We hope the album means as much to them as it does to us”.

Q. Would you say the album has more of a lasting negativity or hopefulness? 

A. “Hopefulness, definitely.  The world is bleak enough”.

Q. What would you say are the overarching lyrical themes on the album? 

A. “'GOOD FOR THE SOUL' aims to connect with the listener through shared understanding of grief and strife but from that comes an aggressive desperation for wellbeing. We hope that anyone who resonates with the lyrics have also been through the same thoughts and feelings that we have, and it’s beautiful”.

Q. You're from Birmingham but recorded the album in rural Wales - how much do you feel your surroundings impact your songwriting and creative output?

A. “In rural Wales, we found ourselves removed from all distractions and everyday influence, be that surroundings or people, so it became easy for the pair of us to view it all through an objective lens. It can be easy to be distracted but when you have nothing to distract yourself with, you’re only left with each other and the ideas that come from it”.

]Q. If so, how did these two contrasting locations impact you during the album-making process, particularly your upbringing in Birmingham? 

A. “We took the noise from Birmingham and made sense of it in Wales”.

Q. Are there any current artists who have influenced your sound on this record? 

A. “GANS love all music. If you can hear an influence in the music, you’re correct”.

Q. If you had to describe the stereotypical person who'll like this album how would you describe them?

A. “Kind”.

Q. What kind of films do you think people that enjoy this album would watch?

A. “Pornographic ones”.

Q. Which track on the album do you feel defines the project and why? 

A. “WELL DONE, it’s our life. 'GOOD FOR THE SOUL' is something that we’ve dreamt of making all our life, it felt right to include that”.