Engines Made From Soup
... is a three-piece band originally from Merseyside, UK and their indie pop songs feature strong lead vocals, searing guitar riffs, great keyboard melodies and striking vocal harmonies.
Engines Made From Soup are:
Gareth Cross ‘Crossy’ - Lead Vocals
Gareth Evans ‘Evo’ - Keyboards & Backing Vocals
Stephen Spencer ‘Ste’- Guitars
What's the story behind the song, what was your inspiration?
We all get caught out by the drudgery of our lives at times and, if we’re lucky, realise that we need to make a change in direction before it’s too late.
We wanted to leave the song vague enough so it will speak personally to every listener. For me though, the inspiration was looking back at a time when I made choices to please my beloved Mum and Dad (both now departed).
I wasn’t having a bad time, but the trail I was on led me to the cliff edge like those lemmings we used to try and save in the 1990’s computer game …
When do you decide that a song is ready for a release?
We’re on a journey producing songs for our new album ‘Contact’ which we will release later in 2022. After deliberately releasing three singles in 2021, we had no intention of releasing any more songs before the completion of our album, but when we completed ‘The Lemming Trail’ we just knew and agreed pretty instantly to release it as a single.
When we wrote our 2020 album ‘Again’, we felt the same about our song ‘Vacate’. That should have been released as a single. We all knew it but didn’t express ourselves to each other and just got going on the next song. We won’t make that mistake again!
Stage or Studio .... What do you prefer?
We love both to be honest. We’ve really enjoyed our studio work and producing our album ‘Again’ in 2020 and our new album ‘Contact’ this year. Technology has helped us step away when we need to.
If readers remember studios using very expensive master tapes, this used to put pressure on us to pay for more studio time or the tape itself. Now, with digital technology, we can spend quality time out of the studio reflecting on our work.
We haven’t played on stage since the start of the pandemic as we have been so busy writing and recording, alongside living quite normal lives with our families. We have played on stage many times before, across the UK, and we’re aiming to do so again. There’s nothing like the bond between audience and artist when you’re really hitting the spot and capturing the mood. Some favourite gigs of ours include The Louisiana in Bristol and The Cavern Club in Liverpool.
What was in your opinion the last big "Turning Point" in music history?
There have been many, of course. Obvious ones of new music genre changes and varying city music scenes including Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, London, New York, New Orleans, Nashville, Seattle, Toronto etc but I’m going to go with a specific artist that has inspired the future like Elvis Presley, Rolling Stones, Beatles, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Malcolm McClaren, Roxy Music, REM, Nirvana, Madonna, New Order, Eminem, Radiohead etc all did.
I think the latest artist to inspire a generation is Drake. It’s not necessarily our ‘thang’ but he has had an incredible influence on many of the newest artists of today.
Any chance to see you somewhere live on stage?
We have work to do on our stage set. We have decided to put a 100% live show together. The three of us can’t do everything that feature in our studio work on stage, and we’re not in a position to hire session musicians.
We used to let a midi file player play our synths live but it was a bit ‘karaoke’ - playing along with a pre-defined arrangement. Once the album is out, we’ll work on our live set rearrangements.
I saw Steven Page (ex Barenaked Ladies) in Brighton a few days ago and his 3-piece arrangements confirmed how great I hope we could be. Realistically, we’ll be getting our set together for 2023. Watch this space or, specifically, our website https://linktr.ee/emfs
One of the most underrated songs is ....?
‘How Soon Is Now?’ by The Smiths does something really rare for me. Listening to it for the first time in The Cellar Club at Manchester University it blew me away with the sound and production of Johnny Marr’s guitar.
That alone was enough for me but the songwriting is genius; Morrissey and Marr at their best. Morrissey’s lyrics of a shy, awkward and frustrated nightlife goer, returning home without the love and affection they crave is a masterpiece.
At seven minutes, this song leaves you wanting more (how many songs could do that?) as you travel along the walk home with Morrissey from the city centre nightclub, lamenting, but then moving on to whistling, giving you the hope that love will be found next time around …
What are your "All Time Top 3 Songs" at the moment?
Apart from the aforementioned ’How Soon Is Now?’ by The Smiths, the three I’m choosing today (this will change tomorrow!) are:
‘Young Americans’ by David Bowie - released in 1975 - play it and tell me that it couldn’t stand up as a brand new song in any year since then.
‘Begin The Begin’ by REM - the best first track on any album I have heard - ‘Life’s Rich Pageant’ in this case.
‘Starting Over’ by Chris Stapleton - I think that everyone should have some country music in their lives - this is country at its best
What can we expect from you in the near future and especially from your upcoming Album?
Our album ‘Contact’ is our best work yet. The ‘difficult second album’ has been a real pleasure to work on. Our 2020 album ‘Again’ keeps on giving but in ‘Contact’ we narrow everything down to what’s so special about our alternative / indie pop songs, and our unique sound.
Sometimes quirky, often hitting home, each song is characterised by strong lead vocals, catchy vocal and guitar hooks, some fab guitar riffs and solos, great keyboard melodies and striking vocal harmonies.
.jpeg)