Entertainment
Punk with romance from UK band The Nightingales
Loud and proud, The Nightingales play Róisín Dubh this Monday, May 5. The Birmingham punk band built up a cult following in the 1980s before splitting at the end of that decade. However, they reunited in 2004, with lead singer Robert Lloyd and guitarist Alan Apperly being joined Andreas Schmid on bass and Fliss Kitson on drums.
The Nightingales’ latest release is called For F**k’s Sake and is only available on vinyl, which they sell at their shows. Why have they decided to release the album this way?
“The main thing was we’d been dropped by Cooking Vinyl, which was the fourth consecutive label that had dropped us after making one album,” says Robert. “So we decided to do everything ourselves, and we’ve found at our merch stores at gigs that vinyl has been the most popular thing.
“But we also wanted to have a really beautiful package. We work regularly with an artist called David Yates. We wanted to make a really slick looking gatefold, a bit of a work of art.”
Robert’s lyrics are what set The Nightingales apart, running the gamut from wit to anger, love to despair. Does he respond to the music the band creates or does he give his colleagues words to work around?
“More often I’ll work separately; I’ve got ideas on the go. Then at rehearsal, the three musicians come up with ideas and I’ll say ‘yeah, that’ll work, it’ll go with this thing I have in my head’.
“The main thing was we’d been dropped by Cooking Vinyl, which was the fourth consecutive label that had dropped us after making one album,” says Robert. “So we decided to do everything ourselves, and we’ve found at our merch stores at gigs that vinyl has been the most popular thing.
“But we also wanted to have a really beautiful package. We work regularly with an artist called David Yates. We wanted to make a really slick looking gatefold, a bit of a work of art.”
Robert’s lyrics are what set The Nightingales apart, running the gamut from wit to anger, love to despair. Does he respond to the music the band creates or does he give his colleagues words to work around?
“More often I’ll work separately; I’ve got ideas on the go. Then at rehearsal, the three musicians come up with ideas and I’ll say ‘yeah, that’ll work, it’ll go with this thing I have in my head’.