DJ Interviews: Black Cart

 Hello everyone DJ Dizzy here & this is my interview with a band who answer to Black Cart as they shared their musical origins. 

How'd you get started in music?

So in about 1974, Les F (vocals and bass guitar) and Ray (guitars) who had been school chums decided to form a band. We had no musical equipment or knowledge but we loved rock music and thought it would be cool to start a band-we were not the cool kids! We knew a friend who had an electric guitar and who could play a bit, so we co-opted him into our first band. Quickly after that, included in a few personnel changes, John our keyboard player also joined. After playing at school concerts and similar events we started to realise we wanted to take it more seriously, so we set about practicing every Sunday and started to get fairly regular gigs. We’ve never looked back really!

 

Who are your inspirations or influences?

We have a very broad set of influences and have always loved bands like Queen, Pink Floyd, Genesis and Thin Lizzy…however we also love the bluesy sounds of Eric Clapton and BB King as well as The Beatles, Beach Boys and even the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Les P our drummer is the biggest Dream Theatre fan ever!

 

What advice would offer aspiring performers?

Spend time learning your craft-there’s no substitute for the fantastic learning experience of playing live, however big or small the venue. It really builds character and allows you to develop (as well as getting an instant reaction to your material!). Oh, and also, never give up!

 

How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?

We simply try to stay true to our own belief that writing the best songs in a collaborative way and then pushing one another for what we call “incremental improvements” will yield a song we can be proud of. We will often start writing a song with one idea in mind but as we workshop it together, a whole host of different approaches will be brought to bear on it-it’s really important to keep in mind that what counts is “what’s best for the song” rather than any one individual’s preference. We also like to ensure that our songs are accessible-there’s no point in producing over long songs that people can’t get into-we like to make sure that people will hear us once and then look to come back for more!

 

Any new gigs or albums in the future?

We’ve recently launched the band’s debut album Coming Home (available on all streaming platforms and on BandCamp as a beautiful CD!)…but we are working hard remotely at the moment on some cracking new songs that we think people will love, and that will result in some more singles over the summer and hopefully a second album not long after that. In terms of playing live, we’re itching to get back to that as soon as possible once it is safe to do so-be patient, it’ll be worth it!

Special thanks to them for doing this interview & I wish them lots of luck in their music. So until then I'll catch you on The Flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll!