The Tubeheads are the brainchild of Reece Clayton. A seaside native from Blackpool who has been writing music for the last 15 years and recording his own music for the last 7. The inspiration for The Tubeheads has blossomed from Reece’s undying love of the 1960s music scene and most of all the garage rock genre that the era graced our planet with.
With high octane energy and vibrant melodies, the music of The Tubeheads has a nostalgic feel-good factor and paints a summary picture of good days to come.
To those not familiar with you, how would you describe your sound?
Full throttle garage rock goodness; vibrant melodies splashed in nostalgic drips of distortion.
Which three albums have influenced you the most creatively?
The three albums that have influenced me most both sonically and creatively would have to be; The Beatles “Please Please Me”, The Brian Jonestown Massacre “Give It Back” and The Strokes “Is This It”. This was really hard to narrow down as there are so many bands like The Kinks, The Sonics, The Stones etc and some great garage rock revival acts from the 80s (such as The Tell Tale Hearts) but in regards to albums and the sound of The Tubeheads, these are my chosen 3.
Tell us about the key pieces of equipment that you use to define your sound?
For starters, I think the key utensil in creating my sound has to be appointed to my Fender Stratocaster. It has such a diverse range and just a great overall tone that really works for the kind of music that I create. I like to keep things pretty stripped back when recording/performing in order for the finished product to have an honest and raw charm about it, however, I am always equipped with my Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal teamed up with a little Rowin Reverb pedal. These are vital ingredients in the recipe of sound. I have more recently purchased a Wasaphone MKII Microphone being played through Vox mini amp and this is a really interesting little combination, you can create some outstanding vocal tones with a real authentic kind of nostalgic distortion to it.
Is there any “non-musical” ingredient that is essential to crafting your sound?
I think observation would be my non-musical ingredient. My mind very rarely shuts off and I find myself pondering over situations, people, social interactions of not just my own personal experiences but of those I witness on a daily basis. I have always been intrigued by the complexity of people and how we work and find this a prominent tool at hand when writing lyrics.
Studio work and music creation, or performing and interacting with a live audience, which do you prefer?
If I had been asked this some years ago my answer would have definitely been performing live, however over the last 5/6 years I have become much fonder of the creation and recording process. I think this is merited to the fact that I write and record all my own music, and it’s really nice to be completely encapsulated in the creating and production of it all. Doing things yourself offers a whole new kind of freedom in making music as you have complete creative control and aren’t restricted to time limits in which things have to be done, which to me are very attractive attributes allowing you to just dive right in and enjoy the process.
What has been your most memorable performance so far?
The most memorable performance of my musical endeavours so far is without a doubt playing at The Cavern in Liverpool (a dream of mine from being a kid) with a full house. The whole day from start to finish was an experience I’ll never forget and our full coach of home support just made it that much more electric whilst playing at such a historically renowned venue.
And which performance would you prefer to forget?
A long time ago a band I was in at the time played a little venue called The Ship in Preston and the day was of sweltering degrees. Having to be there so early for soundcheck and being too young to appreciate the term “take it easy on the drinks” I got a little carried away on stage stomping and spinning around which resulted in finishing the song (we were currently performing) on my back and there was no possible way of styling it off as a purposeful act. Just a foolish young fellow with a guitar cable wrapped around his leg and a collapsed mic stand mounted on top of him.
Any new or emerging artists on your radar?
I’m a sucker for the music of the 60s so I’m always listening to wonderful relics from way back when, but there have been a few artists recently that have caught my ear. A band called Pottery who have had their latest single ‘Texas Drums’ played on BBC Radio 6 quite a lot, really diggin’ the music they are releasing. There’s a band called Animal House, I found them through SoundCloud and have enjoyed their records, they are well worth checking out. I’ve also been thoroughly enjoying the works of Fountains D.C. of recent too.
If you could collaborate with, or perform alongside any artist, who would it be? And why?
I’d love nothing more than to collaborate with Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre. The guy is a musical genius who combines the best elements of the 60s with an original tonality that manages to make it so relevant and it’s just a pleasure to listen too, so yeah 100% Anton.
If you weren’t a musician what would you be?
If I wasn’t a musician I think I’d be a writer. I’ve always wanted to write a novel and love the idea of socially isolating somewhere tranquil to do so, but all my free time is gladly poured into my music.
Trent Reznor once said “To me, rock music was never meant to be safe. I think there needs to be an element of intrigue, mystery, subversiveness. Your parents should hate it.” What are your thoughts on this statement?
I agree to the last part to an extent. I mean rock music has always derived from and targeted the ‘youth’, so in that respect it will most likely be somewhat out of touch to your parents taste. As for the first half I completely agree. Rock music should never be subdued to ‘safeness’, music of this variety is a social agreement and a collective understanding as much as it is a genre and this should always remain so.
Tell us about any upcoming shows or releases you have in the pipeline.
The latest single ‘Strollin” is out now on Soundcloud and the likes and there will be a very limited pressing available on 7″ if you so wish to get your hands on it. You can keep up-to-date with all updates regarding this via The Tubeheads Facebook page.
Follow The Tubeheads online
