SolarCircles is the brainchild of London based musician Tom Bird, who’s latest release “SolarCircles II” is a mix of psychedelia, space rock, and shoegaze.
I caught up with Tom to talk about his early musical experiences, how he started writing songs and the making of the new E.P.
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?
Tom-“I really started getting into music in the mid 90’s when Oasis, The Verve, Ocean Colour Scene, The Charlatans, Manic Street Preachers and The Stone Roses all had a massive impact on me and made me want to play a guitar.”
CMM-How did SolarCircles get together and start writing songs and developing your own sound?
Tom-I started Solarcircles in 2023 when the last band I was in had disbanded about a year before. We were making similar music to what I’m doing now, I’d written a lot of the songs in that band and with the way the band ended I felt like it was left unfinished.
I had a few ideas/tracks that we never got to work on so decided to start on my own.
CMM-You recently released an album called “SolarCircles 2”. What was the writing and recording process like and were there any particular pieces of gear you used to get the sound you were looking for?
Tom-Any ideas I have normally start with a guitar riff or chord pattern, usually something that’s been going round in my head, then I’ll have to roughly record it on guitar so I don’t forget.
I do most of the proper recording in my home studio, apart from the vocals which I usually do at a studio near to where I live.
As far as equipment goes my Gretsch G5622T semi hollow body guitar is the go to for most of the tracks.
The effects I mainly used on the record were a Fender ‘63 reverb pedal, Boss Digital delay, Stack FX ‘Fuzz Gazer’ , Acid Fuzz ‘Repeater’ and an Orange Crush reverb combo amp.
CMM-If the band could do a score for any film director, who would it be and what would the film be about?
Tom-I’m a big fan of John Carpenter films and love the soundtracks he creates.
If I could do a score for one of he’s films that would be good. Not sure what the film would be about, I’d leave that up to John Carpenter I think.
CMM-Anything coming up?
Tom-I’ve got a cassette release for an extended version of ‘Solarcircles II’ coming out soon through ‘Weird Beard’ records.
Im starting work on a full length album this year as well.
