Interview with People in Planes

Beyond the Horizon with People in Planes – by Mel in Toronto

People in Planes take you beyond the horizon in a ship that is about to plunge down into the abyss of a waterfall. ‘Beyond the Horizon' is the highly anticipated second album of the Welsh quintet People in Planes. Written and produced in seven studios with four different producers, this new masterpiece takes you on an emotional journey in the attempt of finding where to belong, while connecting with new, and reconnecting with familiar places. "Quite a broad spectrum of feelings and emotions have gone into this record," guitarist Peter comments on the album while on the phone from New York.

The five band members hail from Cardiff, Wales, but in 2005, the band's record deal with American independent label Wind-up Records, has literally taken People in Planes beyond the horizon to New York. Ever since the record deal, the band spends a lot of time in North America. People in Planes are Gareth Jones (vocals), Peter Roberts (guitar), Kris Blight (bass), John Maloney (drums), and Ian Russell (keyboard).

Gareth, Peter, Kris, and John are old school friends and previously played in a band called Tetra Splendour. "With People in Planes we decided to get a fifth member, so that Gareth could be more of a front a man," Peter says. Ian, also an old school friend, joined this "tight Welsh unit," as Peter describes the band in his very charming Welsh accent.

After releasing an EP in 2005, the band came out with their first full-length album ‘As Far As the Eye Can See' in 2006. Their very successful single IF YOU TALK TO MUCH (MY HEAD WILL EXPLODE) not only made furore music wise, but also had the fingerprint of Joaquin Phoenix who directed the video.
 
Peter and Gareth are the two songwriters in the band. One of their major influences is Oxford's alternative rock band Supergrass. "Me and Gareth, we were young teens when the first record [I Should Coco] came out," Peter says. "We both discovered them at the same time when it just came out, and so we followed their rise to fame. (…) That was one of the most fruitful moments for me and Gareth to discover this music." As life turns out, Sam Williams, who produced Supergrass' debut album, ended up also producing People in Planes' debut album ‘As Far As the Eye Can See.'

‘Beyond the Horizon' is People in Planes highly anticipated follow-up album. The production of this album was quite a journey in itself. The band recorded in seven studios in America, England, and Wales. "We worked with four production teams. It was very long winded, there was a lot of hair pulling, lots of lost sleep over whether it's going to work or not, but it all tied together beautifully in the end." This uniquely and well produced album contains twelve very diverse songs that truly take you on a journey of album discovery.

People in Planes are currently touring in North America in support of their new album. They put on an incredible live show, which is entertaining, engaging, and just as diverse as their music. When asked about their future, Peter says: "We'd like to achieve playing to lots of people who have seen us several times (…) and play Madison Square Garden."

"In your own words" – ONE on ONE with Mel and Peter

Mel: Who are your influences?

Peter: Jim Morrison, Peter Green, Pete Townsend, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Greenwood, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Bob Dylan. We were really into Bob Dylan and Neil Young, when we were kids, sharing record collections and stuff. That whole Britpop boom happened in 1994, I would have been 12 at that point when Supergrass came out. You know, that whole Supergrass, Super Furry Animals, Oasis, Radiohead, Blur popped, they all came out at one time, a coherent form of new music. Supergrass were kind of the forefront for us, they were young and happening. (…) Me and Gareth, we were young teens when the first record came out. We both discovered them at the same time when it just came out, and so we followed their rise to fame. (…) That was one of the most fruitful moments for me and Gareth to discover this music.

Mel: You got a chance to work with Supergrass' producer Sam Williams. That must have been a dream come true.

Peter: It was totally a dream come true. Negative type of people that we are, we just didn't think that anything would come out of it. He [Sam Williams] was blown away by our demos. He came to meet us for a pint. Most of that conversation was us asking questions about Supergrass (laughs). Once we've gotten over that wonder, then we started talking about the music (…) It was a dream come true. When we first heard the band [Supergrass], we didn't really care who the producer was. Later as a band, we basically looked it up and thought why don't we just aim high and try and work with someone who did this record, so we did and we got Sam Williams. That was great.

Mel: Your new album "Beyond the Horizon" is coming out on September 9th, 2008. How would you describe the difference between "As Far As the Eye Can See" and the upcoming album?

Peter: Well, the first thing that springs to mind is the fact that it took so much longer to record. In terms of broadening the production style, because we've worked with so many different producers. We got the opportunity to come to America and to travel around a bit and meet quite a few different producers. We've always tried to accomplish that with our records, tried to make them a bit more diverse (…) and evolve when you are listening to the whole thing. (…) That's the main difference. We worked with four production teams. It was very long winded, there was a lot of pulling hair out, lots of lost sleep over whether it's going to work or not, but it all tied together beautifully in the end.  The main bulk of the work was done with Dan Austin. He is a producer in the U.K. He is also our friend and is really into a similar vibe and has similar taste. We did a lot of it in my bedroom as well, which was cool, different, you know, the advancing of technology. With a simple home computer you can do a big bulk of the work, more than a couple of years ago. That was great. (…) We did a lot, basically all the vocals, a lot of the overdub stuff and a lot of the programming in my bedroom for a couple of months.

Mel: The production of the album has been quite a journey: seven studios in America, England, and Wales and four different producers. Did you also write the songs in different places?

Peter: We took a break from touring after the first record. We were still trying to figure out where we were in life and where we were living. We were signed in America and Canada. We were in between living in Wales and living in America as well. At that point we flew back home to Wales. A good chunk of the writing came from a batch of six songs that was right after the first record. BEYOND THE HORIZON actually was one of those, the title track of the new record. (…) Gareth and myself, right until the end were writing songs and wanted to rewrite and rewrite, partly about the sensation of being able to fulfil our dreams in respect of going beyond the horizon and go to America. We came from Britain and sort of semi migrated over here and experienced the classic idea that dreams can be achieved.

-end

September 09, 2008 by Mel in Toronto [Melanie Schade]

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