Ahead of their new release, which will be hitting the shelves this Friday, we caught up with one of Dublin’s top acts Croupier to talk about the new EP ‘Visor’, writing the new tunes and touring.
The first thing that hits you about the new EP is the brand new shiny synth that kicks in for track two, Power Up. For anyone familiar with the band’s debut album, this development may come as a bit of a shock, but where did this synth come from? Croupier’s Charlie made it quite clear what happened on that front: “Well, Harry bought a synth…” However, Harry had something to add on this front. “Since the album, we’ve kinda gotten into more electronic stuff. We got Ableton, and a lot of music production stuff. Basically, we found that the synth kinda worked on it! It was always on the cards. Something we’d always talked about was moving in that direction.”
The riff is a powerful tool for any band; a good riff can mean the difference between mediocrity and real recognition, and it would appear that they guys from Croupier have realised this. ‘Visor’ is filled to the brim with top quality riffs, and a fine example is to be found in the opening to the track Chandelier. The lads spoke a little about this influence in their new EP, mentioning a big influence in one of Ireland’s best talents, The Cast of Cheers. “Well, Columns and Chandelier were both written side by side, and we were definitely listening to a lot of the new Cast of Cheers album at the time. There’s no doubt that they’re a big influence of ours.” But how was the layered, and almost math-rock sound achieved? For some bands, it’s metronomes and mathematics, for some it’s free-wheeling. Croupier explain their process. “It was always just jamming. We never really think anything through too technically. When it comes down to ideas though, it’s all just talked out. We don’t sit back and talk about the harmonies or anything like that.”
One thing noteworthy about ‘Visor’ is some of the big rhythms at work throughout it, giving almost a raw, tribal element to parts of the EP. How did the guys come to include such elements in this release, or was it intentional at all? Ever the jokers, Oisin quips in with “I suppose we have to be indebted to Vampire Weekend for inventing African Music in 2008.” But there’s no denying that Croupier have certainly assimilated the important influences around them. So had they taken another route of composition and writing, for example following the path of the likes of Bon Iver, and shutting themselves away far from people, music, the internet or any other disturbances, what do they think they would have produced? “If you went back and listened to our first demo from five years ago, that’d be the answer to that question. That was the result of five guys getting together with no influences and no knowledge of the scene. The music we were making then, listening back to it, we were dead set on making the sort of music that we were into back then, and it sounded nothing like any music that we enjoyed or listened to! Everything was falsetto as well, it’s insane. It was like Mika! I guess we’ve totally grown as a band by being part of the scene in Dublin. Everyone in this scene has definitely influenced us in some way, some more than others.”
The guys mention how the European tour they did with band Enemies changed the EP, including putting what was a cast aside track Myriad back on the record. “I think it brought us to a place we’d never been before in terms of tightness. We’ve never played so much, consistently. We were playing the same songs every night, and they were new songs to us as well, so we were fully enjoying them. We also had to justify ourselves on a nightly basis to whoever was listening to us. It was Enemies fans who were coming to these gigs. We were received really well everywhere except Antwerp, and we really don’t know why the Flemish didn’t like us!”
So how do the lads think ‘Visor’ is set to do after its release on Friday? “It’s definitely appealing to a wider audience. I know some people haven’t liked what we’ve done. It wasn’t conscious really, but most of the songs on ‘Visor’ are written in a major key – they’re much brighter, whereas the majority of the album is kinda dark and minor. I think ‘Visor’ is more fun. As long as you’re having fun, and we took this major change, and we’re really enjoying playing the songs.
It looks like ‘Visor’ is set to call in a new era for Croupier. With the keyword ‘fun’ being centre stage for this release, it’s looking like we can expect some very entertaining shows and future developments from the lads in Croupier. They’re enthusiastic, dedicated and hard-working, and that shows in their music, which is becoming more and more perfected and polished with every live show, and is certain to continue to do so with further releases. ‘Visor’ will be released this Friday September 27th – when will you be picking up your copy?