Scanners
Scanners are set to release their second album, Submarine, on February 16th. In the meantime, we caught up with vocalist and bassist Sarah Daly in her London flat, and she told us about "Salvation" (which you can download from today's Music Monday), Bowie, and why she always keeps a couple of saucepans handy.
So how did the band meet?
All of us are from London except for Tom. I've known Matt for years and we started the band together. It originated as a three piece, we had a drummer, but it was kind of a quick thing with him. Then a friend introduced us to Amina, who plays keyboard and guitar. We started talking about films, cause we all really love old films. And we realized we had a lot in common. She's also a huge Beatles fan. Tom auditioned on drums the same week, by a coincidence. It just kind of clicked.
Who are Scanners' musical influences?
Finding David Bowie at an early age really helped me. I stole a copy of Hunky Dory from a neighbor up the block, and it blew my mind. He and Bob Dylan. So it's been all old classics for us, when I met Matt, he was really into Prince. Well, early Prince. I have to say, I don't know what's happened to the old boy now. And Kate Bush, I'm a huge fan of Kate Bush.
Tell us about your new album.
A lot of the second album was done in our living room actually, since studio time is so expensive. The sound is a bit more complicated than our first album, we tried to use all the instruments we play. I play the violin and the cello, as well as the bass so we put those in. Amina used to work at a folk shop, and collected a lot of folk instruments. She has this amazing bandolin, which we used a lot on the record. On the first single, "Salvation," we just used a lot of what we could find. At first I only had a microphone, an acoustic and a couple of saucepans.
Saucepans?
Yeah, you bang them with a stick. We were just using everything we could get our hands on really. Sometimes Matt recorded us all live jamming, and then wrote the song over that. Matt writes most of the lyrics, while I mostly write music and warble. I do whatever I can on top to make some kind of comprehensive melody.
What would you do if you weren't making music?
I wanted to do art when I was younger, I started out making frames. Every time I look at a painting I find I actually look at the frame more than the painting. I suppose that's probably what I would do. I would make frames and find and sell stuff. I used to find stuff on the street and sell it, so I think I can do that! I'm a hoarder. I find and collect things. I don't know what else I can do.—Lucia della Paolera
I wanted to do art when I was younger, I started out making frames. Every time I look at a painting I find I actually look at the frame more than the painting. I suppose that's probably what I would do. I would make frames and find and sell stuff. I used to find stuff on the street and sell it, so I think I can do that! I'm a hoarder. I find and collect things. I don't know what else I can do.—Lucia della Paolera
