Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Ride The Morning Glass, the fourth studio album from UK indie duo CHAMPS – brothers Michael and David Champion – is out now via BMG. The Isle of Wight duo have clear influences of radio-friendly California pop-rock. After having just dropped the album, David took a few moments to speak with TGEFM about their US influences, their family’s ties to the Titanic and what’s next for the duo.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Congrats in advance on the upcoming Ride The Morning Glass. For our readers not yet familiar with you, what can you tell us about the band and your sound?
CHAMPS is a band comprising myself and my brother Michael. We started the band nearly a decade ago after both being in bands beforehand. Mike fronted a band called The Shutes, which I then joined in its latter stages before we started CHAMPS as a new project.
It started life as a pretty folky experiment before being picked up by PIAS Recordings. We then completed a full album, Down Like Gold, recorded at Studio Humbug on the Isle of Wight (where we’re from). The first album was quite acoustic, introspective, atmospheric and at times, somewhat haunting. It was on this first album that we established our vocal harmony-led style, which has continued throughout our discography.
We then recorded our second album, Vamala, in London with Dimitri Tikovoi. This album was a little more sonically expansive, with a few radio-friendly bangers while still retaining the thread of folk and vocal harmonies. If I could change one thing about this album, it would be the time we had to record it. We were on a super tight deadline and tracked the entire thing in 10 days.
For our third album we returned to the Isle of Wight and recorded at the incredible Chale Abbey Studios. This album was produced by Sean Oakley and was far poppier and direct than anything that had come before. We had an amazing time recording this album and all lived at the studio for the process.
Our new album was strangely recorded over a period of around 6 years, with some of these recordings predating the recording of our third album. This album is probably the closest to our true sound, with slightly more organic instrumentation and production. The producer, James Thorpe has an incredible collection of amps, synths and guitars from all eras, so we were able to experiment with these for a long time to really capture the sound we were hearing in our heads. Also, because this studio was a 5 minute walk from where we were living at the time, we were afforded the luxury of being able to drop by and work on what became the album over a period of several years.
If I were to describe our overall sound it would be something like ‘alternative pop/rock led by vocal harmonies.’
What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do” Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?
We were lucky enough to have two world-class music festivals on our doorstep growing up, in the form of The Isle of Wight Festival and Bestival. I think that attending those festivals throughout our teens gave us both an incredible level of exposure to live music and showed us that it’s something you can do as a career. Over the years we saw pretty much every band you could possibly want to see, so I think the cumulative effect of that was a big thing for both of us.
There’s barely any public transport on the Isle of Wight, so growing up we spent a lot of time being driven around by our parents. Those car rides were soundtracked by early REM, The Beatles, The Kinks, Neil Young and Bob Dylan among others, and I think listening to the Beatles personally sparked my interest in the power of vocal harmony.
In terms of singles that blew me away, I remember buying OK Computer when it came out and being completely transported by the “for a minute there, I lost myself” section of Karma Police. I can still remember where we were in the car when I first heard it. It was an epiphany.
Rumor has it, your great-grandfather was part of the Royal Philharmonic and was supposed to be a violinist on the Titanic but was saved by a good friend and better booze. Obviously music has strong roots in your family tree, how does that musical lineage play into your youth? Was your family supportive of the artistic pursuits?
Yes, that’s true! He was a fiddle player known as Fiddler Rivron. We owe our lives to his proclivity for inebriation. Our Nan was also a truly incredible singer, but she never sang publicly. She used to sing while she did the housework and she sounded like a mix between a female Roy Orbison and Edith Piaf. Our parents wouldn’t consider themselves ‘musical’ people and neither play an instrument, but they’re both secretly really good singers and both have fantastic taste in music. Dad was heavily into hi-fi systems in his youth, and we always say that mum would be the best A&R of all time – her ability to call a hit a hit is unparalleled.
We both picked up music of our own volition. Our parents were unconditionally supportive of us pursuing it and genuinely couldn’t have done more to help us, be that by paying for guitar lessons, buying instruments, or driving us to and from gigs. There is truly nothing more they could have done to support us.
Growing up on the Isle of Wight, there were plenty of bands from the region that you could have emulated but instead there is a distinct classic California rock feel to your records. Was there a conscious effort to avoid the tropes of Brit-rock or was there an organic predilection toward the classic Cali-rock sound?
Yeah, I don’t think there was ever a conscious decision to avoid sounding a certain way or to imitate anything either. It seems to just be the way it came out. The best way I could describe our music is that it’s the sound we hear in our heads – on tape. It’s definitely influenced by the melancholy beauty of where we grew up and its expansive and at times, lonely landscapes. It’s a very seasonal place swamped by tourists in the summer and completely barren in the winter, so there’s always something atmospheric and sad about these places that essentially hibernate for half of the year.
In terms of the Californian vibe, the Isle of Wight is quite far south and the area we grew up in has its own semi-tropical microclimate in the summer, so it definitely feels pretty Californian at times.
The world has been going through some shit over the last few years. What affect, if any, have the cultural and political landscapes of the past few years had on your music?
Our music is quite mood-driven and is lyrically quite thematic rather than literal. I think the context of the world at the moment has definitely influenced the music thematically, and the feelings of desperation we’ve both felt at times about the situation has definitely filtered through to the recordings.
Where do you see the future of the music industry headed in the wake of pandemics, lockdowns and the proliferation of social media?
I think social media has completely upended the music industry and has completely transformed the expectations that are placed on artists. There are so many things that artists are expected to do now that aren’t anything to do with music, and I personally find it quite depressing. Social media platforms are no longer a means to amplify art, they are now shaping the very nature of the art on a fundamental level, and I really worry about what the end point is.
One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should know about?
There’s a London band called Feet which are really great. I’m sure your listeners are aware of her already but I’m a big fan of an artist from New Zealand called Aldous Harding. A band called Dirty Nice are just breaking through and they’ve got some real beauties.
Beyond the album release, what’s next for the members of CHAMPS?
Hopefully we’ll be able to get out and play live again and then we’ll probably start laying down new music at some point. We’re both writing all the time so there’s a lot of material ready to go!
Thank you so much for your time. Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
I think you covered it all! Thanks so much for your incredibly well-researched and insightful questions.
All the best, Dave
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
