Chicago – If you’re an avid YouTuber, chances are you’ve seen Until The Ribbon Breaks ’ amazing, self-made music videos. If not, you’ve got some YouTubing to do!
The U.K. band started as Pete Lawrie Winfield’s solo project a little over two years ago but grew into a trio with the addition of drummer Elliot Wall and bassist and keyboardist James Gordon. During the creation of their debut album, the threesome bunkered down in a studio with a projector, drum machine, piano, and microphone and flashed silent clips from movies on the walls as inspiration, as if they were re-scoring their favorite films, while blending various genres to create dark, avant-garde electro-pop. Not surprising seeing as Winfield studied film while at university. Luckily for us, he realized he’d rather make music over films.
In anticipation for the release of Until The Ribbon Breaks’ first full-length A Lesson Unlearnt, Best New Bands chatted with the multi-instrumentalist about his music, collaborating with Run the Jewels, lessons learnt and unlearnt from touring, and one of the best presents he ever received from his good old pops.
Let’s start with “Pressure,” as it’s the song that pretty much started your UTRB career. Besides the images you used, what inspired this song?
That song, although it sounds like a song about relationships, it’s actually a song about…umm…there were some riots in London – just about the time I left the UK actually – and it’s a song about how the media in the U.K. dealt with the riots and dealt with the youth. It’s a song about kind of falling out of love with the culture of the society you live in.
There’s a lot of sadness in “2025,” and it feels very post-apocalyptic. Was the song inspired by a particular event, Stephen King’s The Running Man, or is it simply social commentary?
It’s a bit of social commentary. That whole record, when I listen to it now… well, I try not to, too much actually. (laughs) Not that I don’t like it; it’s just I’ve heard those songs a fair number of times. (laughs) It’s social commentary, but I’m also fascinated by that topic. All my thought process over the last few years seems to be about that. I was also watching True Detective at the time. I was reading a Stephen King book called The Stand… I was also sleeping on the floor of the recording studio without hardly any light. (laughs) All of that combined probably created a very post-apocalyptic mood in my head, but I’m hoping the next album will be a lot cheerier!
Your latest single, “Revolution Indifference,” features Run the Jewels.
Another “post-apocalyptic feeling” song! (laughs)
You just can’t get away from it! (laughs) You were also featured on RTJ’s “Job Well Done.” How did you end up working with El-P and Killer Mike?
I was working with a rapper called Mr. MFN eXquire, in Brooklyn, and he asked me what my favorite…ugh…he was surprised that I’m such a big fan of hip-hop. Probably because I’m white and from Wales. (laughs) He asked me what my favorite records were. He was slightly amused by the fact that I was making hip-hop beats for rappers and that I loved hip-hop so much. I told him my favorite rapper was El-P growing up… He said he was friends with El-P, and I was like, “Oh my god, oh my god, can you please send him some of my music?” So I sent him “Pressure.” I didn’t hear anything. Then a couple of months later I just randomly got an email from El-P saying, “We’ve got this track. We really want you to do the hook, but you’ve only got 24 hours to do it.” When the time came around for us to make another album, I guess I pulled in the favor. (laughs)
And what was the collaboration process like on that end for your song?
They were really amazing because they recorded while in different places. El-P was between LA and New York, and Killer Mike was in Atlanta. By the time they sent it to me, I had written new lyrics, which were a completely different thing. So I had to sit down and brace myself and prepare to throw in another favor and ask if they could do it again. Which they did. They were complete gentlemen about it. And then they came to LA and shot the music video with us. That was quite fun. They’re amazing guys!
Who are some of your other favorite hip-hop artists?
Well, you know I seem to be rather lucky because another one of my favorite rappers I managed to talk into doing something for us. There’s a rapper called Homeboy who is also on the record. I guess initially I grew up listening to The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest, and that kind of stuff.
You’ve been compared to Massive Attack and James Blake. Are you a fan of Tricky and James? And how do you feel about this comparison?
Yeah, I just saw James do a live show. He was amazing! I’m a big fan. I’m a fan of anyone who has a sense of innovation and I feel is pushing something forward, adding something new to contemporary music, rather than just sort of doing what’s been done before. And I’m a fan of Massive Attack. If I get compared to those two, it’s an honor. They’re both great artists.
I had a chance to listen to A Lesson Unlearnt. I love how you effortlessly mixed so many different genres, but especially hip-hop and R&B, into songs that tug at your emotions while making you move to some sick beats. Tell me about the making of this album and locking yourself away.
It was the same thing as always, finding a lot of inspiration from writing to film. I think it’s important to be locked away to a degree. You can’t take on too many outside projects and you can’t start making compromises. Until it’s not yours anymore, until you release it, I think it has to be an incredibly personal thing because that’s how it will connect with other people. It has to be a communication from you to someone or you to yourself, you know as long as it’s true, personal, and honest. I think that’s important.
You’ve toured with Lorde and Phantogram, and you’ll soon be touring with London Grammar. What do you enjoy most about touring?
It’s just so amazing, especially in America. Touring is such an amazing way to see so many places in such a short space of time. Which is inspiring in terms of writing, whether it’s during winter or from the bus watching through the window or just walking around a new place.
What’s a lesson you’ve learned from touring?
Take enough pairs of clean socks.
And was there anything you had to unlearn because of touring?
(laughs) Thinking you’ve got enough socks!
Your name Until The Ribbon Breaks came from the idea of making mixtapes for friends or loves you were trying to impress and playing the cassette over and over until the tape breaks. Do you have a special memory of giving or receiving a tape?
I don’t have a special memory of a [mixtape]… but I’ll tell you I do have a memory of an album that I listened to most of my life, Paul Simon’s Graceland… It was the only cassette my parents had in the car. When we went on a drive for a holiday, because it was the only cassette, it got played relentlessly. Your favorite music I think has as much to do with the memory you associate it with, and so [that album] creates nostalgia for me. And last year, I think it was, my dad gave me, as a present, the original cassette… Now that was amazing!
A Lesson Unlearnt is amazing, too! It’s set for release on January 20 and is available for pre-order on iTunes.
Until the Ribbon Breaks’ North American tour with London Grammar begins January 21. They’ll also be playing a few headlining shows.
Photo By Jessie DeFlorio
Sarah Hess
After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.
You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.
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