AGCS Interviews Screaming Maldini

It is AGCS’s humble opinion that Screaming Maldini are one of the most exciting bands around at the moment. The EPs they’ve released so far have been ridiculously over the top prog-pop affairs which have showcased more imaginative ideas than most bands can muster in a lifetime, and with a new album on it’s way 2012 could well be their year. In November last year I was lucky enough to catch up with frontman Nick Maldini, fresh from the studio, at the album launch of label mates Johnny Foreigner. Here he tells us more about the record.

You’ve just finished recording your first album at Sandhills Studio in Liverpool, what made you choose to record it there?

It’s getting mixed at the moment. There was a producer that the label suggested to us, a guy named Al Groves, who’s sort of up and coming, and he’s been in the running for some big albums in the last couple of years. He’s recently finished work with Pandas And People who were first on tonight. The studio’s really industrial, on the docks in Liverpool, in a basement. But he was suggested to us and we listened to some of the stuff he’d done and it sounded really, really good.

Well the Pandas And People album sounds great

Yeah, he put so much work into it and it just sounds incredible. So we thought he’s the guy to go for. And he understood the music and he was really keen to work with us and develop songs, so we went and worked with him.

It was quite a short recording period because we were all working, so we had ten days tracking, which ended up being 12 days, and we did 170 hours in that time. So it was really long days and we all forgot what day it was, forgot what time of day it was and went a little bit crazy by the end, but we’ve ended up with ten tracks recorded.

And did you end up recording much new material for the record?

It’s a mixture of old stuff and new stuff, so we played Change tonight which is led by Gina, that’s a new one that’s going to be on the album, and we’ve had demos of a couple which we haven’t released that we’ve put on their as well. And then some of the old hits are on there as well, re-recorded and given a new lease of life, so Secret Sounds is on there, and The Albatross has been recorded in quite a new version which is going to sound really cool. It was a really exciting time because before it was all recorded in my bedroom basically, and then I just sat around fiddling with volume levels and stuff for weeks, but this was really intense and we were all playing together and it was just a really nice way to do it.

So is the songwriting still something you generally take care of then, or is it a group process?

Well to an extent it was me when it started, there’s been a bit more collaboration since and I think from hereon in there’s going to be a lot more collaboration, Gina’s writing a lot. She’s got another band actually called Twins who are awesome, so we’ll be doing more writing together. And we’ve just got a new drummer and a new keyboardist so we’re going to get creative with the new people, and it’s exciting.

Will the album be coming out soon?

We’ve got a provisional date of springtime, March or April, with a single preceding it. And that’s going to be a new single, a demo that’s been around a while but we’ve reworked it and changed the structure around. I heard a mix of it last night and it sounded really good.

What have your highlights of the past year been? Any tips for the future?

Three Trapped Tigers, I saw them three times this year and they were amazing at all of them. I’m not sure they’ll be bothering mainstream radio any time soon though, more for the musos. Johnny Foreigner’s new album sounds awesome. I fell out of love with Coldplay after the first album but their single Paradise sounds amazing, that’s my mainstream tip for the future. I’ve not heard the whole record yet.

I want to hear their song with Rihanna

She’s done a song with Calvin Harris and Calvin Harris is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, he was like a hero because he’s a bedroom producer.