Focusing on guitar and keyboards as lead instruments U.K. based project Playwriter will release their brilliant new E.P. “Everyday” on Friday January 16th.
I caught up with Playwriter lead vocalist/guitarist Leo Cunningham, keyboadist Tom Parker, drummer Norman Buchan and bassist
Jon Fazal to talk about their early musical experiences, how the project got together and the making of the new record.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you all as kids and what artist or band did you all enjoy the most?
Leo (guitar, vocals): As a young kid it was probably the debut Gorillaz album. But as a teenager it was all about early Modest Mouse – especially ‘This Is a Long Drive…’ and opening track ‘Dramamine’ – they were the first band that I was properly obsessed with with my best friend. It’s still up there as one of my all-time favourite albums.
Tom (keys): I remember hearing ‘Hymn Of The Big Wheel’ by Massive Attack at a very young age and being totally blown away by it. I think I just really liked the beat.
Norman (drums): I still have a strong memory of hearing Less Than Jake for the first time. It was exciting to think that music could be funny, playful and chaotic after years of listening to punk music like it was something seriously important. It had all the same politics but also made me laugh.
Jon (bass): Sorry to be a basic bitch, but it was The Beatles.
CMM-How did Playwriter form and start writing songs and developing your own sound?
Leo: Tom and I had become friends through our solo ambient projects, but we both missed playing with other people and we liked the idea of a 70s-inspired band set-up with keys and guitar as leading instruments. The project slowly took shape from me sharing all sorts of demos with Tom. It started off as instrumental jazz songs but quickly moved into the kind of style we’re at now once I’d recorded a demo of ‘Still There’, which felt like the first Playwriter song. The project really transformed into the band with Norman joining on drums in the summer of 2024 and Jon joining on bass in early 2025.
Our sound is still developing as the band continues to become more collaborative, but at our core I’d describe us as melodic and understated, at times melancholic, but with an underlying stream of playfulness and optimism that runs throughout.
CMM-The group are set to release an E.P. called “Everyday” on January 16th. What was the writing and recording process like for it and were there any particular pieces of gear you all used to get the sound you were looking for?
Leo:I had written and recorded the songs as home demos, and we developed them in the practice room together with the intention of recording them at a studio. We wanted the songs to be recorded live, with minimal overdubs and effects – to be as simple as possible, and to be an honest documentation of how we sounded as a band at that moment in time.
Alfie from Blue Satsuma Studios totally understood what we were going for and he really embraced the songs and challenge of recording us live with minimal bleed from amps. He was a joy to work with, and the studio was such a nice space to record in.
Tom played a Fender Rhodes on ‘Is This It’ and ‘Still There’ and his Nord keyboard for the Wurlitzer sounds on ‘Melt’ and ‘Me and You’. I used my 2008 Fender Mustang guitar. Both keys and guitar were recorded through valve amps with ribbon mics: The keys into a Fender Hot Rod with a Golden Age Project R1; and guitar through my Fender Excelsior Pro with a Reslo RB. We love valve amps and ribbon mics. And Fender apparently…
For my vocals, I also used the Golden Age Project R1. I picked it up for pretty cheap when recording the demos at home and I just fell in love with the warmth of it. We used a C414 for an extra option but went with the R1. A big shout out to Norman’s sizzle on the ride cymbal, too. We really love the sizzle.
CMM-If the band could do a score for any film director, who would it be and what would the film be about?
Leo:I think it would be cool to go in a different direction and lean into ambient and more experimental stuff as a group. Maybe an animated film of an Ursula Le Guin novel – she is my favourite author. I can imagine ‘The Word for World is Forest’ or ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ would offer a lot of opportunities for interesting and weird sounds. Can we bring back René Laloux to direct and animate? That would be really cool.
CMM-Anything coming up?
Leo:The EP releases on the 16th January, followed by a show on 24th at a record shop called 12 Bar in Exeter. We’re planning on making some ‘Everyday’ CDs with a bonus-track demo called ‘Halfway’ that Tom, Norman and I recorded at the practice room in late 2024 – it was intended to be the fifth track on the EP, so it feels nice to include a version of it exclusive to physical copies and Bandcamp. Looking further ahead – and aside from playing some more shows – our goals for 2026 is to record another EP or a full-length album and to get on the road for a UK tour in September, so if you’re a promoter in the UK reading this… get in touch!
