“I’m pretty sure the label were ready to drop us when we told them the fourth time that it still wasn’t right and we’d have to give it another going over,” reveals Felix Bushe, guitarist and main man of London’s Gengahr, as he racks his brains over the trials and tribulations of their decision to co-produce their fast approaching debut, A Dream Outside.
Heralded as the finest purveyors of hazy, psychedelic pop right now, Gengahr have risen fast and high above their contemporaries, with tracks like ‘Fill My Gums With Blood’, ‘Powder’ and ‘She’s A Witch’ raining from the stereo in here on loop.
When asked about the band’s most personal lyric on the album, before we dive into his own musical psyche below, Felix cites ‘Lonely As A Shark’s verse of, “All I ask is just one more chance. If I grew horns and fins, at least I’d get to start again. And speak in tongues just like it all began. Somewhere underneath the sea are teeth the size of you and me.”
Going on to explain, “I normally try to disguise myself in the songs with fictional narrative but ‘Lonely As A Shark’ in particular is a song full of my own emotions. I wrote this at a time when I had moved to the suburbs of London and rarely saw any of my friends. I was working full time and I had tried to go back to university because I felt my life lacked direction. The song is basically about my isolation and solitude at that time.”
Check out Felix’s nine most personal albums below, but first hear their eerie new cover rendition of Fugazi’s ‘I’m So Tired’. Not many have managed to pull off covering one of the finest band’s in history.
My gateway album is…
The Argument – Fugazi
Whenever you put on a Fugazi record it just makes you feel cool, and that’s a big part of being at college and school.
The album my fans might not expect me to like is…
Mechanical Animals – Marylin Manson
I love this album, I swapped it for a Slipknot album with a friend at school and even now if I put it on it still sounds great. Some dope tunes on this one.
When I’m angry at the world, this album fires me up!
Around The Fur – Deftones
If it wasn’t Fugazi then I was probably listening to Deftones as the backing music to my school days.
A record I absolutely despise is…
Any album by Ed Sheeran.
He has no soul!
An album for Sunday chilling is…
Halcyon Digest – Deerhunter
These guys are maybe my favorite band and I could have named any of their albums really but this is one I’ve been listening to most recently.
An album to dance your ass off to is…
Hello Nasty – Beastie Boys
These guys bridge the gap between rock, hip hop and dance so effortlessly. I was blown away by the Beastie Boys during the whole MTV2 years.
The album I’d like to see live, in its entirety, back to back is…
3 Feet High and Rising – De La Soul
I feel like I don’t get to see enough Hip Hop music when we are playing festivals or whatever but this album would be amazing to see in it’s entirety.
The album that evokes a specific memory is…
Devotion – Beach House
This record reminds me of my first flat after moving out from mum and dad. My flat mate used to play it all the time and its a really beautiful record.
If the world was ending, the last album I’d want to hear is…
Transformer – Lou Reed
One of my all time favourite albums. Featuring two of my all time favourite guys, Lou Reed and David Bowie. This is maybe the closet thing to a perfect record in my eyes so it’s fitting that it would be the last thing I ever hear.
Gengahr’s ‘A Dream Outside’ is due June 15th via Transgressive.
Fist City