After making his mark with a string of fresh and exciting delights in recent years, South London-based artist Gecko is back on the grind once again to deliver his vibrant new album 'The Big Picture'.
Bringing back more of that broad and immersive genre-blurring aesthetic he is known for, 'The Big Picture' makes for an incredibly rich and riveting return for him. With its bold and enigmatic textures, shimmering atmosphere, and his own wondrous vocals at the helm, he is certainly looking to turn plenty of heads with this one.
So with the new LP available to stream now, we sat down with him to find out more about his origins and what has been inspiring him most lately.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
In year 5, my primary school teacher Mr Rodman taught acoustic guitar during lunch break. The lessons consisted of us playing simplified 3 chord versions of Beatles songs and I honestly can’t think of a better place to start. Cheating ‘G’ was a favourite chord as you only had to put one finger on the third fret. I had a £30 tiny guitar for my little hands and haven’t looked back since.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Alongside the Beatles, family car journeys were soundtracked by Paul Simon’s Graceland, Dylan’s Blood on the tracks and my answer to the next question.
What was the first album you remember owning?
Smurfs go pop. On cassette tape. Absolute wall to wall classics. Can’t fault it. Included Smurf versions of Mr Bombastic (Mr Smurf tastic obvs) , Bjork’s ‘it’s oh so quiet’ (Noisy Smurf) and then some originals including if I remember right the SmurfTown Olympics-a really enlightening and inspiring event for the smurfs by the sounds of it.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
‘God only knows’ by the Beach Boys is perfect writing I think. It’s hard to believe someone wrote that. Feels like it was discovered deep in the rock somewhere.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
One thing I love about writing music is that it’s never the same. Quite a bit of the new record was written on the piano which I find inspiring because it’s not my main instrument. Because I know it less well it takes me to new places. Also the way a piano is laid out you can find really interesting chords by just messing around with where the bass notes go. Another thing I found fun on the album was starting with a sample and building the tune from there. In logic (the software not the concept) now the sampler is really intuitive and easy to use. You can chop up a sample and pitch it and transform it into something totally new. I particularly like chopping up voice notes such as my niece’s little toddler voice which can be heard on opener ‘Geology’.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Recently I’ve been really enjoying folk artist Chris Wood’s storytelling. I was shown his stuff at a songwriting retreat I went on last year. There’s a song called ‘one in a million’ we were played one morning before heading off to write for the day. The whole room was stopped in our tracks . It’s an epic adaptation of a classic folk song and everyone was bawling our eyes out by the end of it.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Randy Newman all day long. His songwriting is the biggest influence on my music. He totally opened my eyes to the possibilities of how you can write. A lot of the time he writes in character and I didn’t know that that was something you were allowed to do.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Curating a communal moment at a gig where it feels like for a little time at least you can make the world what you want it to be. Sharing laughter and tears and the whole emotional gamut in between.
And what is the most frustrating part?
How all encompassing it is. I’m a one man operation so it can be hard to switch off from it. I think I’m getting better at balancing that though.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
That most of the best opportunities you’ll get in this music life are from the friends you make along the way. Look after and cultivate your community of peers. Celebrate their wins and whenever you get the chance uplift others. Music isn’t a sport mate, charts pitting artists against each other was a construct made by some rich dudes who only care about notes if they’ve got dollar signs on them. We’ve been singing together since before we even invented bread or decided to give countries names. Get together with musicians and share songs with each other as often as you can.
With that in mind here’s some artists I heartily recommend : Sansha, Daisy Veacock, Lewis Bootle and The Halfway Kid.
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Gecko's new album 'The Big Picture' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.