Austin Tweddle is "one to watch" this year...

Austin Tweddle is a North-Eastern England solo musician set to make waves in music. After reaching a highly acclaimed status in 2014, this new year is set to be even brighter for him with his honest, formidable and creative indie sound. He talks about not trying to please everyone, how reading books inspires him and the difficulties with making music.

Firstly, I hear you received a nomination – what was it for and how did you find out about it?

I was lucky enough to be nominated for the ‘Best Track’ category in the Best of British unsigned music awards for my track 'Blueprints' and I ended up coming second after roughly 3000 votes were cast. I found out about the show just through the internet as they are the UK's biggest show exclusively dedicated to unsigned British music. I was surprised to even be nominated because 'Blueprints' had been the only track I submitted to the show and it was quite late in the year. It's been a great way of getting people who don't know my music to press play in the first place which is often a problem for an unsigned musician.

So have you been on the music scene long?

I've been writing songs since I was about 14 but it was at 16 when I got my first radio play and from there, I just continued to write and produce my own music and take it quite seriously as something I wanted to do. Recently I've been gaining more recognition which might have as much to do with my songs not being quite as rough as it does with great opportunities like the unsigned music awards. I'd like to be gigging this year as well because I've always enjoyed performing and it will allow me to reach even more people.

You seem to have an indie sound, how would you describe it?

The songs I've released so far are all pretty indie/rock I would say but my unfinished music varies quite a lot in style. I have an EP coming soon that is quite different to anything anyone will have heard from me before and might even divide a few opinions. Ultimately I make the kind of music that I find interesting and exciting to make and I think people respect artists that do that rather than those who try to please the majority.

What’s the hardest part about making music for you?

For me personally, it's the technical side of mixing and mastering that can make the actual creative part seem quite easy at times. I don't claim to have a vast knowledge of music production so I learn as I go along and trust my ears a lot which can involve spending a lot of time adjusting very subtle aspects. That said, I would much rather sit and work through it myself than have someone do it for me. I always have a specific idea of how a song should sound and I don't mind spending a long time getting there, I definitely couldn't afford the equivalent studio time anyway.

Listening to your music, you have a lot of potential. There’s a simplicity to your music and no over complications – is this something you try to achieve?

This is probably true for some of the music I've released currently but not for everything I write. There are some complex moments on the forthcoming EP but it usually just depends on what the song needs rather than a set of rules I stick by. If a song needs to be complex to reach its full potential or sparse enough to give the right elements the impact they deserve then I have no problem taking a step back and trying to act on that. Sometimes the subject matter can reflect the music and so the more complex or ambivalent a certain perspective is within a song, the more intricate the music becomes and so the two can work together to successfully communicate the message of the song. Although 'Blueprints' is essentially comprised of four chords throughout, they are played in a multitude of ways by a multitude of instruments that can at times be hiding within the mix. To me this represents the way in which people can arrive at different conclusions to each other from exposure to the same information. Ambiguity and perception as well as deception play a big part in the lyrics of 'Blueprints' and I think the music reflects this by hiding complexity within simplicity, to deceive the listener and perhaps make them relate to the speaker within the song.

Aside from music, do you have any other interests?

I read quite a lot and I think that probably helps inspire me to write lyrics. When you read novels that play with the reader's perception and writers that lace their narratives with ambiguity and allow for multiple interpretations it makes sense to try and use some of those techniques within any form of creative writing because it's often more interesting.

You’re lyrically very strong – how do you maintain that energy and creativity to write songs?

I've always found that the songs from other artists that I continually go back to and never get bored of are the ones with strong lyrics, with this in mind I didn't want to write music that I as a listener would find boring so the only option was to stay away from lazy lyric writing. That doesn't mean that simple lyrics can't be just as effective, sometimes they can be far more impactful, it's just a case of not cutting corners.

Do you write about what you know or just what sounds good to you?

So far I have always written about what I know, it's often the easiest way to communicate those smaller details that nobody notices until they hear it in a song and can instantly relate to it being true. I'm not sure I would ever write something just because it sounds good, for me there's no meaning in that and so I think the song would have short life expectancy.

What have you got to come this year in terms of EPs or gigs?

I'm quite excited for what is to come this year, my track 'Blueprints' is set to appear on the soundtrack of an independent documentary about sky diving and base jumping called 'Year of The Charge.' I've always been interested in the possibility of getting my music into a soundtrack and so I'm looking forward to the release of that which should be early this year. As well as that, I have my debut EP 'Look Terrified' coming out this year which will give people a better idea of my range and current direction as an artist and I believe it has some of my strongest material yet. A teaser of the EP will be uploaded soon with snippets of four previously unheard tracks as well as 'Blueprints.' The Best of British unsigned show also started my year off by naming me one of the 'one's to watch in 2015' so with the release of this EP and my intention to start gigging hopefully I can continue with the momentum I've found.

Your track ‘Vermillion’ sounds really professional – would you release this as a single?

The mix happened to come out really well on this track but I’m not planning on releasing it as a single. The next single I release will be 'Read Your Lips' which will be on the 'Look Terrified' EP and should be out very soon.

You can check out more of Austin's work by following the links below.

Facebook: Austin Tweddle Music

YouTube: Austin Tweddle

SoundCloud: Austin Tweddle