After initially establishing themselves with a pair of offerings 'Start' and 'When You're Around' in 2019, Irish duo Twin Diver now return with their long-awaited third effort 'Television'.
Matching the same dark intensity as Fontaines DC, 'Television' sees the pair return in stellar form. Filled with grizzled hooks, pulsing rhythm, and some superbly brooding atmosphere, be prepared to be hearing a lot more from these two in the months to come.
So with the new single available now, we sat down with them to find out more about their origins and what has been inspiring them over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Ben - I played the piano a bit as a child but it was when I started playing guitar that I really began to find my love of playing. Maybe it’s just an easier instrument to play, but I loved how easy it was to get something that sounded like what I was listening to out of it.
Jon - I started on a spanish acoustic at 8 and to be honest the neck on those things are huge and I could never hold a chord. My music tutor gave me his bass to try out and I loved how quickly I could move around the neck, I have been playing ever since.
What kind of music did you love as a teenager?
Ben - Title Fight had a huge impact on me as a teenager. When I was 15 I would listen to their first album Shed start to finish a couple of times a week. To this day I still love how noisy and heartfelt it is. The Smiths, particularly Johnny Marr’s guitar playing, also piqued my interest early on. I can still remember hearing the opening guitar line of “What Difference Does It Make?” for the first time on the radio and getting goosebumps, that song still feels special to me.
Jon - I started listening to bands like Guns n Roses & Nirvana at a young age. Around 15 I got into bands like Biffy Clyro and My Chemical Romance. The Cure is probably the main artist I listened to as a teen and still do to this day.
What was the first album you remember owning?
Ben - for all my sins, it was American Idiot by Green Day. I have an older sister and an older cousin that introduced me to a lot of music as a child, I remember a lot of kids being very into Green Day at that time.
Jon - Favourite Worst Nightmare - The Arctic Monkeys. I was handed pocket money on a family holiday and bought it in a Tesco near Thorpe Park.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
Ben - This Is The Day by The The. I've yet to hear any lyric summarise existential dread and needless worry as well as “you didn’t wake up this morning cause you didn’t go to bed, you were watching the whites of your eyes turn red”. The song as a whole feels so bittersweet.
Jon - Foals - Spanish Sahara. It's just a beautifully written song.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Ben - I usually have a couple of small riff ideas in rotation that I mess about with for a few weeks, I sometimes write sentences on scraps of paper and forget about them until I need them again. The hardest part is getting all of those ideas together into one piece that works and feels like it could be a good song, that’s the part I struggle with the most. There’s a constant push-pull between me half-writing songs, convincing myself they’re terrible and wanting to scrap them versus Jonathan having faith and wanting to keep them. There would be no music released without him.
Jon - Ben has a talent for songwriting so usually by the time I hear a song he is working on there is very little to add or change. I try to add some fills or passing notes where it suits but other than that it's just general feedback.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Ben - Savages, Aphex Twin, Dry Cleaning, Altered Hours, J Dilla. Shame’s newest album is also really great.
Jon - Dry Cleaning, Mount Kimbie, Alexandra Savior, Holograms. Revisiting Wolf Alice’s First Album a lot at the moment.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Ben - My Bloody Valentine. I’m sure I’d crack under the pressure of playing before them, but they’re one of my all time favorite bands and I’d love to see one of their shows.
Jon - The Cure.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Ben - I think there’s a natural sense of pride in releasing anything into the world, especially something creative. It’s nice to have something out there that you can call your own.
Jon - I would agree with Ben that there is pride, especially in releasing any form of expression but for me it has to be playing live, there is nothing else like it.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Ben - for me it’s convincing myself that I haven’t made something that’s total shit. A lot of the writing process is spent overanalyzing every part of the song and convincing myself that it isn’t worth putting out. You sometimes have to remind yourself that no one else is going to be as critical of your work as you are, and it’s meant to be fun.
Jon - Trying to ignore the doubts, and not getting fair rates of pay from Spotify.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Ben - I’m not sure if it counts as advice, but a guy in his 50s in a pub once told me that he thought The Jesus and Mary Chain were awful, and that he “just didn’t get it”. It annoyed me in a funny way. I love The Jesus and Mary Chain, but him saying that made me realise that not everyone is going to like your music, and they don’t have to. It doesn’t matter that some people won’t “get it”, because someone else might love it.
Jon - “Life, Laugh, Love”.
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Twin Diver's new single 'Television' is available to stream and download now. Have a listen to it in the player below.