Spotlight On... Poster Paints
Following the release of their eponymous debut album, we catch up with Carla J Easton and shine a spotlight on Poster Paints
TeenCanteen’s Carla J Easton and Frightened Rabbit’s Simon Liddell met before the pandemic, almost by accident. Introduced by mutual friends, Liddell asked Easton if she would contribute to a piece he was writing for a short film; misunderstanding the brief, she ended up writing an entire song. It became very quickly apparent that the pair had musical chemistry, and so they continued collaborating, and in May 2021 their first single as Poster Paints, Number One, was released.
Following the release of their eponymous debut album last Friday, and ahead of their sold out album launch show at The Glad Cafe this Saturday, we catch up with Easton to find out more about Poster Paints, the album and what's next for the pair.
Firstly, can you tell us how you landed on the name Poster Paints?
It was my brother who suggested it! We’d been struggling to come up with a name for ages. It seems like a much easier process when you are younger and starting out – let’s face it, we’ve been around a while. Band names are harder to come up with by now! I asked my brother for suggestions and he started listing things which quite quickly revealed he was sitting in his kids' playroom late at night on a Tim’s Listening Party having a beer and saying what he could see. We both liked Poster Paints. I think it was suggested as a joke but we loved it.
I love the story behind the two of you coming together to make music. I need to know, did the entire song that you wrote by accident end up on the album? If so, which song is it?
It’s the song called Rupture.
The way that song came about – Simon sending you the music to write lyrics for – is that how all Poster Paints songs have been pulled together? Or did that change once lockdown restrictions lifted a bit?
Pretty much. We had a chance to play around with Blood Orange from our EP in a rehearsal room as a band, which was great, but we still began the process of that song by sending initial ideas back and forth. There are lots of ways you can co-write. For now the process that seems to work for us is Si starting with a composition which makes its way to me to start writing lyrics and vocal melodies too, arranging harmonies, sometimes move the structure about, then it goes back to Si who starts producing it, and then other people become involved.
There’s a real hopeful warmth across the whole record that I love. Can you tell us about some of the themes explored on your debut?
I’d say a lot of the themes are based on memory. Reflecting on the past to make sense of the present. Some memories are joyful and some are painful. They all go hand in hand and almost balance each other out. Because of love, there is loss and so on.
It’s easy to assume it’s just the two of you involved in the making of the record, but there’s a whole host of musical talent to be found across Poster Paints, from CHVRCHES’ Jonny Scott on drums to Lomond Campbell, Graeme Smillie, Susan Bear and more all featured. How did you end up getting so many people involved in the record? It sounds like it must’ve taken some work to coordinate?
It actually wasn’t too hard to coordinate because everyone was – pretty much – guaranteed to be at home during the recording process. Everyone who features on the album is a working musician but all of a sudden none of us were on tour because of lockdown restrictions. We didn’t set ourselves a deadline to complete the project either (which I think helped) so there was no ‘red light fever’ or watching the clock. This also meant we could involve RVBY MY DEAR, Laura Hickli and Andrew Jin Chung based in the USA and Canada. All of a sudden being in different time zones wasn’t an issue. You could send a track one day and the next morning wake up to beautiful string arrangements sitting in your inbox.
It's your album launch this weekend at The Glad Cafe. What can people expect on the night? Will there be any surprises at all?
We’re really looking forward to playing our album and EP in full. Lomond Campbell is coming down from Fort William to perform the song Ribbons with us and I’m really excited to finally be able to sing that with him, in person, for the first ever time.
Beyond the album launch, what’s next for Poster Paints?
Hopefully in the new year we can do a small UK tour. We just need to see how things go in the current economic climate. For a band our size it’s hard to plan/navigate the costs of doing that right now.
Poster Paints is out now via Ernest Jenning Record Co. and Olive Grove Records; Poster Paints play The Glad Cafe, Glasgow, 22 Oct