Bagging Area Interview: Eyes Of Others (And Remix EP)

Back in May I saw Eyes Of Others play at The Castle in Manchester, a memorable night in a small venue. Eyes Of Others make (self described) 'post- pub couldn't get in the club' music- synths and drum machines, bits of guitar, sing song vocals, occasional bursts of acid, music that draws on the space of dub, the pioneering electronic sound of early New Order, psychedelic in the way The Beta Band were,  with some sideways on lyrics. The self titled album came out in May on Heavenly, one of my favourites from 2023. Since then John has been on tour playing small gigs and festivals throughout the summer. Through a short series of connections John, who is Eyes Of Others, agreed to do an interview, the second Bagging Area interview this year/ ever (after the one with Duncan Gray of Tici Taci earlier this year). Thanks to Dan for being the fixer in this instance. 

Bagging Area: You’ve been on the road recently playing venues across the country (I saw you play at the Castle in Manchester and really enjoyed it) and some festivals. How’s it been? How have the gigs gone?

Eyes Of Others: It’s been a fun trip. We’ve played lots of different types of venue from Churches to old Legions to record stores over the last few months or so. Had a really good one with Optimo Espacio just there too. The best bit has been chatting to folk after the gig, around the bar or at the merch stand. That’s when you get a good sense of how the tunes are hitting, what’s working and what’s not.

Bagging Area: Heavenly Records have a such a strong history and varied back catalogue. It feels like a good fit for your music and outlook. How does it feel to be on the label?

Eyes Of Others: I’ve been a fan of Heavenly’s artists since I was a kid so they have always been on my radar when I started to make my own music. I think I first heard of Heavenly after hearing they released the Manic’s Motown Junk. So it feels right to be working with them - good bunch of people. The roster is pretty diverse in sound at the moment so from my point view I feel kinda free to make the music I want, as there no box or genre that I’m expected to slot into. That’s what you want as an artist.

Bagging Area: I hear some early New Order in your sound and there’s a strong dub feel to the album, lots of echo and space along with the synths and keys. Is dub a big influence?

Eyes Of Others: Yeah of course. A lot of the dub influences came through Stuart Evans, who mixed and co-produced the album. He introduced me to a lot of dub a number of years ago when we worked together at Green Door Studio in Glasgow. Stu uses the Roland Space Echo like an instrument, inspired by the likes of King Tubby or Scratch Perry. I kinda wrote the tracks with his creative flair for dub in mind. It adds a wildness to everything as he makes the most of the Space Echo’s predictable unpredictability.

Bagging Area: There are a lot of animals in your songs- a psychedelic cow on the cover of the album, a song sung from the perspective of a cow at an abattoir, a photo of you with an owl on your wrist, single art with sloths, dogs and pigs, lyrics about filling up your birdfeeder. Where does the strong connection with animals come from?

Eyes Of Others: Hmmm, I grew up on a farm so cows, dogs, birds etc were just part of my everyday. I think we look around at all the bullshit we have created as humans and then  we look at animals and realise something lost. Their lives seem much simpler. But who am I to say? We’re kinda lucky in the UK. No poisonous snake is gonna bite you (yes there’s the adder but come’on) or lion gonna dismember you. So I maybe have a rose-tinted view of animals because of that. …They’re probably bastards just like us aren’t they! There was talk of reintroducing wolves to Scotland. I’m up for that. That would give rambling an edge. Also I love dogs, really want one as a pet. But it’s weird isn’t it having a pet, when you start thinking deeply about it. Really weird dynamic; playing fetch, picking up poo, talking to it as one would a baby.

Anyway, still want one.

Bagging Area: What’s your favourite song about an animal?

Eyes Of Others: Tom Waits - Dog Door

Bagging Area: This blog is a big fan of Andrew Weatherall. His remix of I See You In The Shrubs was pretty out there even by his standards, weird, meandering dub. How did the remix come about? What did you make of it when you first heard it?

Eyes Of Others: My friend Davie had known Andrew for many years and passed him the track hoping he’d play it at shows, on NTS etc. Andrew then came back with a question: ‘Weatherall remix?’. So that was a bit of a surprise. The deal was in return I’d remix one of his tracks in the future…so I’m still due him one. When I first heard it I couldn’t really get my head around. It wasn’t what I was expecting. But that was Andrew Weatherall, he gave you what you didn’t yet know you wanted and it was marvellous. 

Bagging Area: Is there anyone else you’d like to remix your songs?

Eyes Of Others: African Head Charge, Beatfoot, Callum Easter.

Bagging Area: I love the structure of the album, the ebb and flow, all leading up to Big Companies, Large Tentacles and the 303 acid squiggle explosion two thirds of the way through that song. It feels like a proper album and all done in 41 minutes. What’s next for Eyes of Others? 

Eyes Of Others: Thanks, that’s great to hear. I have a remix EP that has just been released featuring Ana Helder, Decius, The Orielles and Fantastic Man. I love all that they did. I’m also writing some new tracks for an EP and will be announcing some shows for autumn soon. 

Bagging Area: Thanks John. An African Head Charge remix would be a treat, looking forward to hearing the new songs. 

The remix EP is out now, four new takes on songs from the album. You can get it here. The Ana Helder remix of New Hair New Me adds some hefty kick drum and a synth soundscape to John's original, the bassline breaking through before it takes off in different directions, synths and sequencers bouncing here and there. 

Decius, no strangers to fast and hammering beats take Safehouse and do just that to it, piling the thump factor up for a minute or two, then a bleep and a wailing vocal before John's voice fades in near three minutes. In a basement club, in a dark and sweaty room, this could cause pandemonium. 

The Orielles remix of Once, Twice, Thrice is in the vein of last year's album, twitchy, experimental and unpredictable, a glitchy reimagining of the song, with John's voice fed through filters and FXed, the synth melodies gradually working through to the fore. 

The fourth remix on the EP comes from Fantastic Man, a remix of Big Companies Large Tentacles is aimed at the floor, sleek techno rhythms and Eyes Of Others squiggly acid album closer. 

Once Twice Thrice

Two Heavenly Records acts played live in Manchester on Tuesday night, both bands surely ones that will go on to play bigger venues than the small but perfectly formed back room of a Victorian pub. The Castle Hotel is on Oldham Street, a long standing Northern Quarter favourite. The back room is a wooden panelled gig venue that has a capacity of eighty people (although that would be uncomfortably full). There were fewer than that number present lat night to see Revival Season and Eyes Of Others (whose debut album comes out tomorrow after a series of single releases since 2017 including an Andrew Weatherall remix back then and two sublime releases this year in the shape of New Hair New Me and Big Companies Large Tentacles). 

We were there for Eyes Of Others and Revival Season, about whom I knew nothing pre- gig, were something of a surprise- two men, Jonah Swilley shaven headed and playing machinery, the other Brandan 'Bez' Evans, dreadlocked and rapping. 

They burst into life from the stage, attacking the gig as if they were playing to a much larger crowd, Brandon's rapid fire raps and stream of rhymes fired out as he prowls the stage, eyeballing the front row and hollering. Not a man who reels his performance in for a small venue and small crowd, this is full on and exhilarating stuff. Behind him, bent over a small table with a synth, drum machine and sampler and a mic for occasional backing vox, Jonah keeps a barrage of beats, dub FX and noises, looping bits of vocal and prodding the pads to fire samples out. At one point Jonah finishes a song as Bez has wound up his vocals by adding simply, 'we're from Georgia'. Their excursions into dub add an extra layer to their hip hop and they were hugely impressive. This track, Chop, a slower jam than some of their set, came out a few days ago. 

Eyes Of Others is John Bryden, an Edinburgh musician who makes 'post club music for people who can't get into clubs'. Synths and drum machine rhythms, swirly psychedelia with detours into 808 acid house, bits of guitar, handclaps and lyrics that suggest an underlying sense of disquiet and unease, the sense that living through late stage capitalism hasn't quite lived up to the promise. Tonight John is centre stage, a Korg synth and microphone with mate/ musical partner to his left on FX pedals, boxes, synth and occasional acoustic guitar.

The set is lovely, songs played and sung with only a few elements but fully realised and affecting, lots of space, slightly trippy, melodic and affecting. John is a little like a more subdued David Byrne, dancing on the spot and caught up in the act of performing, using different singing voices and catching you unaware at times- there are shades of early Beta Band on show too. One song is sung from the perspective of a cow waiting in line at an abattoir. New Hair New Me is deceptively simple, carried along by a funky bass riff, some catchy synth melodies and John's voice.

Once Twice Thrice is introduced as a song about deodorant- skittering drumbeat, rising and falling synth line and doleful vocals, an exercise in twitchy, dubby hypnosis. 

Eyes Of Others finish with Big Companies Large Tentacles, a song I posted back in March and one which is a beaut, lyrics about being told he belongs on 'Freud's chaise longue', powered by an insistent drum pattern and with a sudden hit of acid house and 808 madness that definitely pops in recorded form and positively explodes on stage. 

The tour concludes at Leeds tomorrow night, they play a weekender in Totnes at the end of the month and are then back in Edinburgh for a gig in early August. The self titled debut album is out on Heavenly on Friday too. Go see them while they're playing the small stages. 

Big Companies, Large Tentacles

This is new from Edinburgh's Eyes Of Others, a one man outfit making music he describes as 'post- pub couldn't get tin the club'. It's definitely leftfield enough although the thump of the kick drum and the 303 acid squiggle both hint that there are clubs where this could be played. Big Companies, Large Tentacles is doomy and unsettling with a vocal suggesting a man at the end of his tether, with screaming and squealing in the background and mutterings about love and Freud's chaise longue. Organ from a horror film cuts in before the acid goes off at the three minute mark. The video does little to lessen the general unease,  existential dread and rising anxiety either. Happy Friday!

You can buy Big COmpanies, Large Tentacles, together with an instrumental version and Fantastic Man remix, at Bandcamp. Eyes Of Others album is due in May on Heavenly. 

Bewitched By The Flames

This came out last October, I missed it until December and then only really recognised its peculiar brilliance very late on at the tail end of last week/ last year. Eyes Of Others are Edinburgh based and recently signed to Heavenly. This 10", now sold out, is led by Well Thumbed Letters, a fast paced, leftfield rhythmic piece of music, post- pub music for people who couldn't get into the club (as Eyes Of Others describe their music). 

Buy the digital EP at Bandcamp and take a look at Elevenses from May 2021 too- highly recommended, atmospheric, melancholic and catchy too, drum machines, dub basslines, post- punk keyboards and synths and doleful vocals- think early New Order, Fun Boy 3 and The Beta Band with Sherwood at the controls. 

NYE: A Mix For Dancing

New Year's Eve- I'm not sure what we're going to do tonight. New Year's Eve is a strange night at the best of times (unless you're young and in a club where all that happens is that the countdown to midnight is a brief interruption to a night of dancing). The reflective, verging on maudlin, aspects of it are too easily summoned at the moment but celebrating it feels odd too. Caught in no man's land.

But, still, Happy New Year to everyone who comes here for the music and the words, thank you for your comments and support, it means a lot. I hope you're having a good time tonight whether you're choosing to do something or nothing. See you all in 2023 for more of the same. 

This is a mix I put together of tracks from 2022, made for dancing to. It's what I'd want to hear as the clock ticked towards midnight, if happened to find myself in a sweaty basement with a good sound system and a strobe light tonight- you never know, it could happen. Sean Johnston's work features heavily, turning up on four of the tracks. There are a couple of transitions where things are a little skewwhiff (one of them skewwhiff in a way I quite like, the beats and noises piling up messily and then clearing) and the BPMs may be a little out but I think the track selection is good enough. A bunch of dance records sequenced together for an hour and a quarter, with a slow spaced out ambient start, a dubby ending and plenty of dancers in between. Happy new year.

NYE 2022 Dance Mix

• Space Ghost: 4 AM
• Long Range Desert Group: Adjustment Notice
• Rude Audio: Big Heat
• The Summerisle Six: This Is Something (Dub Mix)
• Peak High: Was That All It Was (Hardway Bros Bleep Dub)
• David Holmes: It's Over, If We Run Out Of Love (Hardway Bros Remix)
• Unloved: Turn Of The Screw (Erol Alkan Rework)
• The Orielles: Darkened Corners (Eyes Of Others Remix)
• Phil Kieran and Green Velvet: Enjoy The Day (Hardway Bros Meet Monkton Downtown Remix)
• Matt Gunn: Disko Drohne
• Cantoma ft. Quinn Lamont Luke: Alive (Conrad's Vacant Lot Remix)
• 10:40: Hawaii (Big Wave Dub)

Darkened Corners

The Orielles latest album, Tableau, is a multi- faceted feats of ideas and styles, stretching out in all kinds of directions while feeling completely whole too. The Halifax three piece, now based in Manchester, go way beyond what you might have thought were their limits and delve into spoken word pieces, dreamlike sketches, weird dark disco, dissonant Sonic Youth guitar parts, jazzy and/ or 60s sounding drums, poppy krautrock, Saint Etienne- esque indie pop, some ambient, some shoegaze. It's innovative, experimental and immersive with a song based indie- pop heart, and while some of the songs have a tendency to wash over you a little, the album as an hour's listen is genuinely impressive. 

They released three remixes last week, courtesy of Eyes Of Others, Shy One and Space Afrika. The Eyes Of Others one is the pick for me currently, a remix of Darkened Corners that sees the Edinburgh outfit send them into a lovely space with pattering drums and cymbals, pulsing rhythms, chopped up vocals, repeating patterns, stuttering sci fi synths and wobbly toplines. Intense but with an overarching sense of glee and abandon. All three remixes are available to be bought here and the album  Tableau is here. 

I See You In The Shrubs

Back in the middle of May I posted Eyes Of Others recent single Lust Unrequited, a top notch release featuring a fine pair of remixes, one each from Sordid Sound System and Mugwump. Now, fresh off the shelf at Paradise Palms headquarters in Edinburgh, comes a remix of a 2017 Eyes Of Others song by Andrew Weatherall, a seriously dubbed out affair with live sounding drums and melodica, on a journey into time and space.

How Can I Keep My Feelings At Bay?

This track is from an ep that came out last month, is really good but is also likely to freak you out if played through headphones late at night. Eyes Of Others is an Edinburgh based musician/producer and remixed here by Sordid Sound System, dubbed out post-club music with backwards, slurred, reverb drenched vocals and a ton of bass.



The Geoffroy Mugwump version is worth a look too, a bit more direct and aimed at the floor of a Belgian indie-disco. The beat and looped vocals work really well alongside the Vangelis Bladerunner style synths.