Over the past few years Bristol has become a hotspot for a new wave of young avant garde musicians. Whilst often drawing upon similar inspiration points such as the cities rich and storied electronic scene, or the dissonance of both classic British Art-Punk, and New York No-Wave these bands remain remarkably diverse in their styles and sounds. None more so than Bingo Fury, the jazzy no-wave inspired experimental rock group led by Jack Ogborne as the titular crooner. Just a week before the announcement of his debut album Bats Feet For A Widow music editor Devin Birse had a chance to interview Jack over the phone, the discussion offering insight into the new album, his wider creative process and the wider Bristol scene.

I want to ask what some of the core inspirations behind your lyrics are, especially a lot of time, the music seems to almost serve the lyrics and accentuate them.

BF: Yeah, I guess the lyrics are probably the most significant contribution, or most significant part of it for me, I’d say it’s what I get the most from listening to other people’s music, so. I guess David Berman is a good place to start. I haven’t read too many books, but one of the ones I have is David Berman’s book Actual Air. It’s had a very big impact on me. I think what I like about his lyrics, is the accessibility. He doesn’t feel like he’s trying to out intellectualise you. He has a way of using relatively accessible language and not big fancy words. But places them in a way that gives you a new perspective on mundane things.

There’s quite a few people around that period like. Bill Callahan. Vic Chestnutt, as well is quite a big one and quite underrated in that kind of world of songwriters. The first Vic Chestnutt album called Little. It’s just a really stripped back album. There’s lyrics on that, that have inspired this album, like his kind of frankness. A lot of my lyrics comes from experience. So just like conversations or like jokes or whatever. Personal first hand stuff. I guess the way that those experiences are pieced together is inspired by like, David Berman and Vic Chestnutt and people like that.

There’s a big focus in your songs on Bristol, do you consider it as a city integral to bingo fury as a project in any way?

BF: Yeah, absolutely. I guess growing up there and having a lot of those experiences, that inform the lyrics in Bristol, it naturally becomes the backdrop to the kind of settings of songs. Also, musically the people there have inspired the music massively. I have as much direct influence on the songs from the people surrounding me as I do those more classic bands.

Recently, you talked about this desire to lean further into Melody, what’s the motivation behind that?

BF: A lot of the stuff I’ve done before is more dissonant and. In a way it felt like a bigger challenge to make, something that was in line with that style, but without it being quite as jarring. It just felt like a bigger challenge. At times it’s a bigger limitation to not include the atonality in the music. A lot of the music I listen to is very melodic, but I don’t tend to let that influence the Bingo songs. But it felt like a good opportunity with that album to try and incorporate some of that into the world has kind of been set up to this point. I guess a lot of the stuff I was this listening to around that time was more melodic experimental. Music like Laurie Anderson and Robert Wyatt.

At times it’s a bigger limitation to not include the atonality in the music.

Do you find with the rest of the band you share similar ideas and motivations with your work or is it more of a case of differing concepts coming together to define the sound?

BF: Everyone has their own taste and experience.  Even though it’s kind of presented as a person as me, they certainly have an impact on the outcome of the music. They contribute things to the music, and I really cherish that. I would say everyone has a different taste. But where those tastes meet in the middle is where they match with my taste.

Some of the songs will work out together as a group. Some of them, it’s just me and I bring it to the band, but then we work on it together. People will contribute things and then I’ll be the filter of what’s working and what isn’t, based on my taste. It feels like my role in writing and playing the songs is more like producer. In the sense that I’m kind of curating the aesthetic of the music but the other people are also generating it.

So going into your recent work, you’ve been teasing various bits of an upcoming album. Could you give us any clues about sort of what that’s going to entail, like mood, atmosphere wise?

BF: So, the album is called Bats Feet For A Widow and it’s half an hour long. We recorded it in a church in Bristol that wasn’t not usually used as a studio, but me and my pal Joe Jones who’s a brilliant engineer, we set up a studio there. He’s the main engineer at Rockfield Studios, and he’s worked on the last couple Aldous Harding albums, Dry Cleaning, and some other cool stuff. So, it was great to have Joe involved and we’ve gone on to produce stuff other people’s music since, which has been great.

The Bingo album the two of us produced together February this year, at this church called Parish Church. I would say it’s more accessible than anything we’ve done before. Maybe because of those attempts at being slightly more melodic. I mean it’s by no means like poppy, but it’s more palatable. I’m incredibly proud of it. The next singles coming out on the 14th, and it’s called ‘Leather Sky’.

Can you give us a description of the track’s overall atmosphere?

BF: It’s very different. It’s kind of on the other end of the spectrum of the album to ‘Power Drill’. Very melancholic but there’s kind of some humour in it. So hopefully that doesn’t go over people’s heads too much because of all the depressing sh*t, in it. But it’s a song that’s very close to my heart. It closes the album as well.

There’s a quite dense atmosphere to the work you make under Bingo Fury. Do you find that comes naturally or is that something you’ve been like aiming to create since the start with this project?

BF: I don’t know. I think that the project just reflects my taste in music and visuals. I think it comes from an organic place of just the experience of trying to create a fully immersive world. One that can take you somewhere else for a bit.

 I think that the project just reflects my taste in music and visuals. I think it comes from an organic place of just the experience of trying to create a fully immersive world.

With that mention of visual aesthetics, are there any artists beyond the musical realm that you consider big influences on the aesthetic and style of Bingo Fury?

BF: That’s a good question. The artwork for the album cover was like an attempt at kind of photo version of a Edward Hopper painting. I mean, it’s not mimicking a Edward Hopper painting, but it’s very much in that style. That era of his work where it’s like one isolated person in the scene is very powerful to me. That kind of like isolation in his work, is something that I try and mirror in the lyrics and music.

Building on that, do you find when you start a project, there’s like a core narrative or thematic focus?

BF: I think it just unfolds and I’m understanding it as it goes along, in the same way that people are listening and observing and understanding it as it goes along. I like to keep things interesting for myself and for the band and just. Simple and that there’s that momentum and. progression so it doesn’t become stagnant. So, I don’t know about setting out a kind of narrative. I think you just kind of go with your nose and stay open to where it’s going to take you.

It seems like the idea of it taking place in the same world seems to stick to me more than any clear narrative. There is a sense for your writing, and the sound of the band, of this shared surrealist, noirish location that it takes place in.

BF: I guess so. I guess everyone, whether you write songs or make any kind of art or whatever, I think everyone kind of creates or romanticises, their environment. Y’know, everyone’s kind of got a slight main character side to them. I guess Bingo Fury is kind of like me allowing other people into that a bit.

Y’know, everyone’s kind of got a slight main character side to them. I guess Bingo Fury is kind of like me allowing other people into that a bit.

At the moment, you’re part of a very exciting music scene in Bristol, so I wanted to ask if you had any recommendations for our readers of up and coming bands that are worth checking out?

BF: Yeah, absolutely there’s a great band call Quade, who are coming out at the moment. I engineered and kind of Co-produced their album back in February and that’s coming out this month at the end of this month. So, I would definitely say go and listen to Quade’s album.

From Bristol Minor Conflict’s a really great group. Their EP, which is on PRAH records great is one of my favourite things to come out this year. Super interesting lyrics and totally unique sound, I can’t think of another band sounds like Minor Conflict. Same with Quade. They’re both super individual sounding groups. Then there’s another group called Foot Foot who I just recorded an album with over the summer and they haven’t released anything yet, but they are definitely going to do well. They’ve got some great material. So yeah, I think those three people I would recommend.

---

Enjoyed this? You might also enjoy:

Album Review: George Clanton – Ooh Rap I Ya

Redbrick Meets: Jah Wobble