Following on from the early success of their second album, ‘World Below’ and a headline slot at TRNSMT’s River Stage, Johnny Madden of Baby Strange shares his thoughts on the infamous Club Sabbath nights, an upcoming European headline tour and more!
Frontman, songwriter, producer. Johnny Madden is at the top of the food chain with his musical endeavours in this hot topic indie scene brewing in Glasgow, with the World Below further cementing Baby Strange’s admirable reputation as inspiring songwriters. The 10 track album leads listeners through a journey in to the World Below with ominous riffs and realist lyrics of a dystopian nature.
The three piece are soon to embark on a European tour topped off with a performance at Glasgow’s very own SWG3 on Friday 2nd December.
The Glasgow trio’s approach to their more recent discography in the ‘Land of Nothing’ EP and World Below album differs from the 2016 ‘Want It Need It’ released through Ignition Records Ltd, and ‘Extended Play’ made available in 2017. Johnny describes the change in process as:
“We’ve been a band for a while now and over the years I’ve made mistakes and learned from them. With our first album it was a bunch of different sessions over a few years compiled into an album. Thankfully we had them mixed by the same person so turned out pretty cohesive! Extended Play was fun to record as it was our first time in the studio for a few weeks without any breaks, we went in with an idea and left with a record. I wish we let loose a bit more, it’s too slick for my liking now.“
From a lyrical point of view, Johnny expresses his inspiration in the form of either past experiences or scenarios made up in his head, stating the latter to be fun, with the real experiences hitting harder, like ‘Viewpoint’ for instance.
October 2021 brought the announcement of signing to Bucks Music Group, which he describes the process as:
“Signing to Bucks has been amazing. The team understand where I’m going and what I want to achieve as a writer. They’ve been putting me in sessions with some really exciting people. I’ve loved every minute of it so far.”
Johnny also shares his years of songwriting insight to bands of all ages across the country at the Castle of Doom Studios alongside producers Chris Marshall and Jamie Holmes. He comments on the importance of chemistry within a creative environment:
“Without chemistry, there’s nothing. It’s super important to click with someone when working alongside them or it can be a bit of an uphill battle. With Chris and Jamie, we understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and respect each other, it’s a great balance. Castle of Doom is next level. It’s a great studio, one of the nicest I’ve been in. The whole building is filled with creative types, there’s a great energy everyday I go in”.
Johnny, Chris and Jamie have a collective producing catalogue of Scottish artists from the likes of Dylan John Thomas, The Dunts, Spyres, Gallus, Voodoos and more. When working wth new and emerging talent, Johnny comments on the creative process involved:
“There’s things I wish I knew when I was starting out that I’ll happily pass down to any band that I’m working with. I’ve got a flow that I’ve developed and it seems to be working for me. I’m always up for listening to an idea, no matter how out there it is. I’m always learning, I love working with new people and seeing how they might do something differently to the way that I’d do it”.
Aswell as recording and producing local bands, Baby Strange provide a hub for music fans to meet for gig after parties and nights out in the form of Club Sabbath in The Priory. These nights have developed a reputation for being welcoming and friendly, whilst also delivering the desired chaos expected from a sell out after party.
“It’s amazing seeing what Sabbath has done. It’s brought a lot of people together and when I find out bands have started from coming to the night it blows my mind. Long may it continue”.
2021 and 2022 has seen the formation of brand new musical talent in Scotland that are already breaking their way through the scene, establishing themselves as forces to be reckoned with. Some advice to fresh outfits from Johnny Madden himself concludes:
“Make sure you rehearse a lot. Don’t rush into playing live until you feel you’re truly ready and don’t get caught up in what other bands are doing, do your own thing and see where it takes you”.
ENDS
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