by Andi Edwards
Swathed in a gauze of Dream Pop ethereality, Gulp are the precious creation of Super Furry Animals bassist Guto Pryce and former Leven Siren Lindsey Leven. To date they have released the graceful floating lilt of 7" single 'Game Love'/'Diamonds In The Sky' and played a number of dates including a recent support with Scottish angular Psychsters Django Django. Through a misty haze of sensuous voices and bubbling electronics, Gulp are a gift to be treasured, caressing the senses and hypnotising the soul.
Leven explains "The creation of Gulp came about very easily. Myself and Guto were both working on some solo stuff and it quickly became obvious that we should join forces. We have a shared love for the same kind of sounds so the tunes we've been creating for Gulp have come around really naturally". And the influences that inspire their exquisite vision? "Travel and landscapes. We’ve been writing in the deserts of California, the highlands of Scotland and the west coast of Wales – these places definitely have an influence on our sounds. We both have a love for old psych and folk records, Californian pop, synths and film soundtracks too". Within her previous work with Leven, I had always detected a strong folk influence at work and wondered if this was still a particular concern within the world of Gulp. "My musical loves are really varied. Maybe because I was a solo female vocalist with a guitar it was easy to brand what I was doing as folk music, but now I’m collaborating I’m really enjoying exploring my other influences more too. I grew up listening to the likes of Incredible String Band, Sandy Denny and Silly Wizard so I reckon folk music will always influence what I write for sure but I’m influenced by many different sounds".
Considering his vast pedigree within the mighty SFA, I was interested how much of Pryce's influence informed everything? "We pretty much write 50/50. It's very much a collaborative thing, one will write a song and the other will take it apart and reconstruct until we're both happy and we both get involved with bleeps and thuds" And the lyrical inspirations? "Landscapes, people and animals, places, life."
Within the magical sway of single 'Game Love', the distinct ethereal pop quality was something I found uniquely singular on it's release. Was this a concious thing I ask? "'Game Love' was very much the start of Gulp exploring our sound and so really there was no vision so to speak, it just kind of came out that way". How has the response been to the release? "It’s been really great thanks. We couldn't have hoped for a better response really, considering we've self released and had no press agent etc. We've done a lot off the back of the 'Game Love' release too, including the recent tour with Django Django. Looking forward to our next single now!" The future seems to be suitably harmonious... "We’re currently working on an album that we hope will be released in the Spring, and there will be hopefully a pile of more gigs around that time too".
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