“Last summer I spent a month fighting with myself about where I was, where I had been and where I was going,” Luke G Joyce, of I Build Collapsible Mountains reveals about the origin of his one-man band’s recordings on previous introductory Burning Buildings Recordings EP and new eleven song full length The Spectator & The Act. “I had spent most of my life bottling up my emotions and hiding that bottle away in a sturdy cupboard. But that bottle was at breaking point. There was no rhyme or reason. A blast from my past was possibly the spark that set the whole thing in motion. For a month I wrote nonstop.”
I Build Collapsible Mountains is Scottish musician Joyce. Yet his self-produced The Spectator & The Act sounds as if it could have been made by a bravely confessional and literate lad from anywhere (say, the American Pacific NW), and any place basement bards have written out their hearts and practiced hard enough on beloved instruments to please anyone’s ears. Joyce's vivid songs about sailors and deeply unrequited love were started soon after he graduated art school where he studied fine art photography. Joyce has photographed many bands and artists such as Mogwai, Ian Rankin, Franz Fedinand, and RM Hubbert, and also shoots music videos and short films. “I suffer quite badly from dyslexia and find it hard to read so most of what I do is a visual media.”
TSATA contains songs simmering and soothing such as “Burn,” “Face Of Thunder Grin,” and “The Wrong Way” that are broken in sequence by a couple of artful and blissful instrumentals, necessary for material which summons painful longing. Overall, its catharsis should be as effective for its audience as its creator. It places the Edinburgh singer-songwriter in a similarly bucolic-sounding environment, namely his bedroom, where he learned to write and express himself within a restricted childhood.
“One day I decided to pickup a Spanish guitar that belonged to my grandmother which was always around the house somewhere,” Joyce says. “From that day on I hid myself away and taught myself how to play until my fingers literally bled. I didn’t have many music cassettes, so I would learn the theme tunes to TV shows. To this day I don’t really know how to play anything accept my own music.”
Working inside his own world of music, Joyce has toured extensively and happily throughout the UK and Europe recording many live in-studio sessions and his songs are receiving significant airplay. You can hear in ICBM the same qualities (keenly romantic, emotionally vulnerable, and openly intelligent), as bands from his own Scotland around the world to the Pacific Northwest.
“I haven’t really experienced other musical communities apart from my own. My peers are all local and the community is very incestuous. Everybody in the music scene here knows everyone. Literally. The one thing about the Scottish music scene is that there is a lot of honesty in the music and lyrics that bands play. We don’t have any reservations about relating our experiences and thoughts in their most raw guise.”
Joyce hesitates listing any overt influences on his own work. “I actually shy away from listening to too many other bands and artists. I have a great awareness that I want what I write to be as true to myself as possible, and not, even subconsciously, a nod to any other writers.” That said, “I guess the most influential musician in my life has been Billy Corgan. This may be somewhat of a surprise for listeners of my music. I also enjoy listening to the work of PJ Harvey whom I have great respect for. Listening to her music allows me to leave reality for a moment and dive into great daydreams, which is something I hope people get from my music.
“When I sit down to write I usually write quite quickly and in quick succession. I have a small box-room in my flat, which I have set up as a small studio. I lock myself away in there and just write for days. The album was written and recorded within the space of about two weeks.
The original EP was first released by a Scottish music blog in October 2010. It contains eight tracks and a further 15 tracks were available for download online. “BBR heard this EP and asked if I would like to rerelease it with them. The track listing was streamlined so as to not smother the new listeners with too many new songs. A new song, ‘Where We Go Tomorrow’, was also added to the EP as an exclusive to the U.S.” Joyce admits…“my confidence grew (since then) and I see this coming through in the songs which made it onto the TSATA.”
The singer-songwriter says the outcome of his work reflects the rumination that goes into it. “My writing is always influenced by mood. I often suffer with depression and cliché as it may be, these times are usually when I am inspired the most to put my feelings and thoughts into song."
Mostly-guitar “Instrumental #1” opens with a poem of Joyce’s recited into a recorder by his friend Katie. “The poem is something I wrote after the album was written. I had this instrumental track that I thought would sound nice with some spoken word in unison with it. Katie is pretty much responsible for IBCM being where it is now in America. She stumbled upon my music as a result of following various Scottish music blogs. After contacting me she shared the music with her friends and that led to BBR hearing it.
As far as I Build Collapsible Mountains playing live, “I only play alone because the songs are very personal to me. I find it quite uncomfortable when other musicians become involved with them.” There are plans for IBCM to play the U.S. soon.
|
"His music is what I like to listen to when I'm come home from a mad day's
work. It's sincere and radiates an assuring warmth." - The Guardian UK
"…a raw, emotional, and genuine record." - Putabirdonitmusic
"This isn’t just another acoustic artist; I Build Collapsible Mountains is
like fire on a landscape. Joyce’s vocals have the most exquisite gravel to
them that is not only melancholy delight, but you almost fall in love
through listening" - Glasgow Podcart
"Bittersweet and thought provoking. Each song tells a story that you wish
would never end and Luke’s voice emits a gravelly sweetness which is sure to
lure in listeners." - Favourite Son
"Emotive and Thematic" - Totally Crushed Out Mag
"... Often little more than acoustic guitar and vocals, other sparse instrumentation is intended merely to compliment Luke Joyce's superb voice which remains the main focal point of the music throughout... Probably best listened to with headphones in the dark, A Month Of Lost Memories is one I'll be going back to listen to again and again for a long while yet. An excellent collection of intimate, beautiful laments."
- Peenko
"It's the kind of music that you can imagine playing behind the scene in an indie movie where the geek and the girl realise they are perfect for each other. At least that's what happens in my head. It has a little of the James Yorkston about it, but is certainly in the area of Jose Gonzalez/Iron and Wine/Bon Iver. If you like acoustic troubadours who sound as if their life is in their boots then this is for you. Trust me on this one, it's a thing of beauty. Have a listen to the first track Rails which gives a good indication of the whole..."
- Scots Whay Hae!
|
