Can you start by telling us what’s the story behind the name Signature Gold?
The name has been around for longer than we have as a trio. Both Jordan and I used to play shows in our teenage years in our hometown of Norwich under the name, before we moved to Brighton and became the outfit we are now. We stuck with it because we liked the fact that it doesn’t really suggest any particular genre or sound, it gives us the freedom to make the music we want without any pre judgment.
Congratulations on the release of “Antibodies”! Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the track?
The song came to me (Milo) after going out to this last minute house party. I didn’t know many people there and the mood was off from the very start. By halfway through the night I had witnessed two separate relationships break apart, catching parts of the varying narratives that were being spread quickly across the room and online. I left soon after and thought to myself, have we in today’s age of constant overstimulation and comparison, lost sight of what makes true love valid; to love and want to love someone. Even during tougher times. Ultimately, Antibodies is a tale of how we seem to have chosen to accept an unrealistic and unhealthy image of true love out of convenience. In my eyes love should never be something convenient or disposable like short form content, love is a story to be written and read from cover to cover.
This track marks a departure from your previous songs. What prompted this shift in sound and lyrical focus?
Two main things really. Lyrically, I wanted to take a more introspective approach, without pedaling a narrative of self pity or struggle. I want this band to be a reaction to the toils of life that doesn’t demand sympathy but instead invites you to celebrate in spite of what you may face. Sonically, we started to experiment with a lot of different tunings, something that initially I used to overcome writer’s block. Before our sound was very direct but to me it aged quickly. For this track I wanted to not simply sound like a guitar, bass and drums but use more effects and lower tunings to add some spice to the mix. Also at the time I was listening to a lot of Joy Division and wanted to make something that I could see Ian Curtis dancing manically to.
Your live performance at Green Door Store in Brighton must have been exhilarating. How did it feel to debut “Antibodies” in front of a live audience?
It was honestly incredible. Not the biggest show of our entire career but possibly the most impactful personally. I feel as a band we have really put in some elbow grease in the practice rooms and played at a standard that we have never come close to before. Ironically, during load in one of my amps completely blew up much to the sound tech’s amusement. Greendoor as well is such a fantastic venue, it’s absolutely at the beating heart of the Brighton scene. So many of the bands that I look up to such as Belmondo or Projector have so much history within it. And to be able to take the stage with two of our favourite local acts Mindframe and Modessa, was the absolute icing on the cake for us, my ears are still ringing !
As a trio, how do you navigate the dynamics of creativity and collaboration within the group?
I think we are really lucky that in the band we are so tightly knit and everyone contributes whenever they are needed most,without question. A lot of our friends compare us to the original Top Gear trio and If you know us that’s scarily accurate. In terms of creativity, I write the vast majority of the music however it’s the suggestions and tweaking that Jordan (drums) and Nathan (bass) bring that take them from ideas into songs we are all proud of. Jordan handles all of our live stuff, he is a bit of a wizard when it comes to making transitions and feeling out the pace of a setlist. To which we owe a lot of the positive reception and kind words we get whenever we play shows. Nathan is our mouthpiece and secret weapon, he has such a gift for being able to network and strike up a conversation with everyone he meets not to mention he can seriously crunch numbers and take hold of the logistics.
Looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations for Signature Gold in the coming year? Any upcoming projects or tours we can look forward to?
We want this year to be ours. Antibodies is just a warning shot and definitely not the last of our plans for the year. There is an awful lot more music coming in the following months. Live wise we are setting ourselves up for a ridiculous summer, currently in the process of booking up and applying for festivals and tours in the UK, Europe and wherever else may take us. It can be hard to do so as there are a lot of plates spinning already, but keep an eye on this space. We are setting up a series of chain reactions that are going to set off one hell of an explosion off when we are done.
