Musical artist BANNERS chatted about his new EP “I Wish I Was Flawless, I’m Not” and the digital age.
How did you approach the song selection process for your new EP?
Hello! Well most of these songs were written during the pandemic so they were mainly written on Zoom. Which is not an ideal way to do it obviously but was such a lifeline when all the lockdowns were happening. I don’t know anyone who really did it like that before the pandemic but pretty soon everyone was doing it and it meant that you had the opportunity to write with anyone anywhere in the world without leaving your house.
I wrote absolutely loads of songs during that time and had loads to choose from. With that many songs sitting in a file on your computer it’s easy to get swamped with melodies and chord progressions and lose any sense of what’s good and what’s not. In the end, I just went with songs that moved me. I tried to give myself a break from them for as long as I could and then come to it as a new listener, that way you can rely on your instinct.
That was something I really stuck to. There were a number of songs that other people really liked but just didn’t make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I think that’s a really important principle. If it doesn’t move you how can you expect it to move anyone else?
What is your personal favorite song on there?
“In Your Universe.” I wrote it with my friends Todd, Carly and Jason in one of the first Zoom sessions I did in very early 2020. They were in separate houses in Nashville and I was in Toronto. It was the first Zoom writing session that really worked and gave some hope that the pandemic wasn’t going to completely derail my career! There’s a bit in the song that’s just a backing vocal that my friend Todd came up with that sounds like falling in love.
I don’t really know how, it just does to me. There’s this ethereal, cautious euphoria to it. I don’t know, it’s probably not useful to overthink why you feel something but I’ve loved this song ever since he did that. The other thing about it is that because it was written three years ago it’s given me the chance to play it live loads of times. You really find out about songs when you play them to people.
Sometimes you’re feeling good about a song and then you play it live and it just doesn’t do it. I think probably because you’re assessing it more from an audience’s perspective and you’re getting instant feedback too I suppose. I’ve really loved playing this one live so it’s passed that test!
What inspires your music and songwriting?
At first you’re just desperate for this to be your job and clinging on with your fingernails. You make music relatively selfishly I suppose. But pretty quickly you get to see the positive effect it’s having on people.
Particularly in the Internet age. People send messages every day or videos of them singing my songs, things like that. You play shows and meet people afterwards and they tell you their stories, their little journeys with the songs.
You realize you’ve got this opportunity to make people’s days just a little bit better with your music. What an amazing thing that is. Making music has given me such faith in humanity because I’ve met so many lovely, beautiful people and now I just want to be involved in their days being better.
I just want to go to sleep at night knowing I’ve done that really because I think if we all do that then everything will be alright.
How does it feel to be an artist in the digital age? (now with streaming and technology being so prevalent)
I don’t have any experience of being an artist before the digital age to be honest so I’m obviously not a great person to ask. This is my absolute dream job and I get to do it at the moment so I can only be so critical of it I suppose.
With the availability of good, affordable home recording equipment you can make a song at home and upload it that day and do your own publicity on social media. I know it’s not quite as simple as that but I think it at least gives more people the opportunity to have a go.
To feel like they’re creating something and giving it a chance. There’s a democracy to that because before the internet the only way you could do any of that stuff is if a record company happened to sign you. I struggle a little with social media to be honest.
I’m not the sort of person that goes around shouting “hey everyone, look at me!” and I suppose social media feels a little like that to me. It is, however, such a great way to feel connected to the people you’re making music for.
I did a lot of Instagram lives during the pandemic and they really kept me going. Just to have some communication with an audience. Even a fleeting one. I had a song called Someone to you that did pretty well whilst I was locked down on my own. It’s a pretty weird way to experience a song being popular. Just numbers on a computer, lines going up. I tried to imagine that every one of those streams was a small connection to someone, a tiny little way I’d made their day better. So I suppose one of the main positives to being an artist in the digital age is that you can stay connected with people. You just have to do it in a way where you can switch off if you need to because the internet never does and the demands can become overwhelming if you let them.
Which artists would you like to someday do a dream collab with?
I moved back home to Liverpool from Toronto at the end of 2020 because being so far from my friends and family just got a bit much. So now I make music with my friends and now that I’ve gotten somewhere with music as a career I just want to do that with them too.
To bring them along with me. So I already do have my dream collabs! My best friends Mack, Olly and Sam play in my band on stage, I make a lot of my videos with my friend Nick, my friends Ed, Paddy and Joe have all flown out to the US and Canada to help out on tour and my sister has even done a load of artwork for me.
Loads of my friends are such talented artists they just haven’t had their break yet. If I could somehow help to facilitate that it’d make me the happiest lad in the world. I’ve got loads of new songs coming out this year but there’s one in particular that I wrote with two of my friends. If I could pick one song to do, well, it’d be that one for them.
What do your plans for the future include?
I have got so much new music ready to go that I’m really excited about. I don’t normally get excited, I’m more a cautious optimism kinda fella but I’m really proud of all these new ones. They all move me so I’ve got faith they’ll move other people. I’m planning loads of live shows that’ll be great.
Particularly because I’ve decided to not play the guitar as much on stage. I’m rubbish at the guitar. Other than that I’m planning on being around my friends and family and taking a minute to breathe it all in because who knows what’s round the corner and how much longer I’ll get to do my dream job.
What would you like to tell our readers about your new music? (what’s the one thing you want them to get out of it)
I suppose that I really mean it all and that I’m really trying my best. It’s an amazing thing when you release music because it goes from being entirely your own (before anyone else has heard it) to being everybody else’s. It goes on a thousand little journeys were it’s the soundtrack to someone’s break from work, or a break-up, or a road trip, or a wedding or a funeral.
It’s such a special thing and such a privilege to get to be a part of people’s lives in some small way. I’d like people to know that I’m very grateful they’re listening and I hope they like it.
“I Wish I Was Flawless, I’m Not” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about BANNERS, follow him on Instagram.
