Formed in March 2014, The Bartells have been prolifically writing and arranging an eclectic mix of original songs with influences right back to the start of rock ‘n roll, through The Jam, U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Britpop to Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters. The Bartells’ carefully crafted dynamic blend of songs, exude emotive lyrics which will capture your imagination.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with The Bartells about the latest music, challenges, technolgy and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
We are five guys from Oswestry, Shropshire, England. We are known for our hooky quirky post modern sound with three part harmony vocals and a combination of electric and acoustic guitars and a thumping backbone from the drums keeping us in check.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
We have all played in different bands and all love music. Many of us have been playing instruments from an early age but have not had the right people around us to motivate us until we formed “the Bartells”. We motivate each other and we each bring different qualities to the table which makes it exciting. This drives us to create new music and we all enjoy what we do.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
The new song “Alibi” was released on 13th August and is a little more hard hitting than our previous releases but it still maintains our personal style with catchy melodies and a foot tapping rhythm. We always strive to make our latest release better than the last, but this is very much down to personal preference, like all art.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
I think one challenge for any musician is how much time everything takes, from learning an instrument, writing and recording a song, promoting a song and being noticed as a serious performer.
Technology has helped the music industry enormously by reducing the time to produce and record music (although it can still take an age). It has opened the doors to musicians who can record their own material in their own “bedroom” studio at a massively reduced cost, rather than going to a professional studio.
It is far easier to get your music “out there” once you have a product.
What was the last song you listened to?
The new single “Alibi”
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I like all formats. Vinyl has that unique warmness, Cd’s the quality is crisp but you still have something tangible to touch and collect, MP3’s are convenient and take up very little storage and nowadays can be listened to on most devices.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
These are all great formats all with different qualities. Spotify and Apple Music have a massive audience, so once your music is on there you have a big chance of being heard but they pay very little to the contributing artists. Bandcamp is a little different where it is probably a little less popular but they contribute a lot more financially to the artist.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music? We are on social media at the following links
https://www.facebook.com/thebartells/
Our music can be downloaded from Spotify, itunes, and Bandcamp.
Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you
