Field Dispatch
Delta High | Matt Connarton Unleashed
Speaker 1: That is called Summer Groove. The project is Delta High,
Speaker 1: and right now, let's get this up here. We've got
Speaker 1: Neil Jackson joining us via WhatsApp from Delta High.
Speaker 2: Hello Neil, Hello, Hello, Thank you for invoing me on
Speaker 2: your show.
Speaker 1: Absolutely yeah, it's good to have you on. We've been
Speaker 1: I don't remember now what the first single was of
Speaker 1: yours that we played on this show, but but it
Speaker 1: seems like we've been playing your music probably for a
Speaker 1: year now. But uh, Summer Grooves. I like that one
Speaker 1: because summer is my favorite time of year. Of course. Uh,
Speaker 1: as we are in the middle of October, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: longing for summer as an as anyone who knows me
Speaker 1: knows I'm not. I'm not a winter guy.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: Fall is nice, you know, the foliage and everything, but
Speaker 1: I prefer summer. So so I like that song a lot.
Speaker 1: But and all of your music though, So tell us
Speaker 1: about what the kind of the mission statement is behind
Speaker 1: Delta High, because everything's kind of uh, you know, it
Speaker 1: sort of takes us back to another time when we
Speaker 1: listen to it. You know, the production is fantastic and
Speaker 1: everything so, but so it's got a very modern sounding production,
Speaker 1: but it's but the vibe is from another time. Shall
Speaker 1: we say, tell us about Delta High.
Speaker 2: Yes, well I created Delta High. I'm the songwriter. I
Speaker 2: do guitars, keyboards and help mix the actual songs. I'm
Speaker 2: signed to a local record label in England in a
Speaker 2: place called Gorwich, and we've been releasing singles since twenty
Speaker 2: sixteen and we've actually got six albums out as well,
Speaker 2: so we've been very busy over the years. I actually
Speaker 2: formed the band. I mean I had a band at
Speaker 2: the age of eighteen when I was still at school
Speaker 2: and we called it School in Great Britain, and I
Speaker 2: just formed a band then because I think I was
Speaker 2: growing up and it was like the punk era and
Speaker 2: sort of indie music. So I absolutely love that stuff.
Speaker 2: But as I've matured, I've also latched onto sixties sunshine pop.
Speaker 2: I'm really into the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and then
Speaker 2: we went to from that to the harmonic stuff like
Speaker 2: Queen and ten CC. But so when I write a song,
Speaker 2: it tends to be a mixture of sixties, seventies and
Speaker 2: up to date indie. That that top of music. So
Speaker 2: if this particular song, some are some are groovy, is
Speaker 2: very very sunshine pop from the sixties.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what is it about that period of music that
Speaker 1: appeals to you so much? That that because obviously that's
Speaker 1: something you gravitate to it. I mean, what is it
Speaker 1: about that?
Speaker 2: Is that?
Speaker 1: The harmonies? I mean, the vocals on that track sound fantastic?
Speaker 1: Is it? Is it? That? Is it? The just the vibe?
Speaker 1: Is it? What? What is it? I mean? Can you
Speaker 1: pinpoint what it is about that music that appeals to
Speaker 1: you so much?
Speaker 2: Well, I've always been a big fan of harmony, so
Speaker 2: obviously I grew up mainly in the eighties, but I'd
Speaker 2: love listening to the Beach Boys, Queen the Beatles harmony,
Speaker 2: So I'm fixated with that. So when I write a song,
Speaker 2: I'm always looking at the harmonies and the tone of
Speaker 2: the vocals. I'm very lucky to associate with a guy
Speaker 2: called Dave Land who plays trumpet. You'll hear the trumpet
Speaker 2: on there, and his sidekick Simon Jarrett as well, So
Speaker 2: I tend to nine times out of ten I got
Speaker 2: brass in the songs, and that gives it that fluidity.
Speaker 2: From the sixties and the seventies, they'd actually played in
Speaker 2: a band and they created a song called Walking on Sunshine.
Speaker 1: Yes, and the Waves yep, that's.
Speaker 2: The ones he actually comes from that band, so he
Speaker 2: sort of he sort of brought that lively, happy, carefree
Speaker 2: brass sound with him. So that's that's why you're hearing that.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I just love all things harm and tuneful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Now, tell me a little bit about the band,
Speaker 1: because in reading about it, I almost get the impression.
Speaker 1: Tell me if I'm right that it's sometimes you hear
Speaker 1: this term collective where it's not necessarily the same musicians
Speaker 1: on every track that you're working with, or at least
Speaker 1: it's different vocalists, right, you work with different singers? Is
Speaker 1: that correct?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? I guess a modern day band that are very famous.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure how famous in the USA they are,
Speaker 2: but it be the Gorillas, Oh you've heard of The
Speaker 2: Gorillas were sort of like that in that that the
Speaker 2: league guy Damien sort of brings in and out different
Speaker 2: people to sing, different people to play on his stuff.
Speaker 2: So I've got a nucleus of people that will actually
Speaker 2: turn up and record the music. But yes, I do
Speaker 2: actually swap vocalists and sometimes people on the guitars.
Speaker 1: When working with Oh go ahead.
Speaker 2: I'm just just gonna say my main singer is is Charlotte,
Speaker 2: and you'll hear a singer on that particular song. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I've probably got about five different vocalists, so it depends
Speaker 2: on what mood I mean and what top of song cad. Right,
Speaker 2: I'll grab a particular vocalist for it.
Speaker 1: Sure, sure, do you ever working that way? It sounds exciting,
Speaker 1: but does it ever get Do you ever have a
Speaker 1: situation where you might choose or ask a particular vocalist,
Speaker 1: for example, to do the song and then it's just
Speaker 1: not working and then you have to say, well, maybe
Speaker 1: well we'll switch to a different person for that. I mean,
Speaker 1: does that ever happen where you have to kind of
Speaker 1: change midstream?
Speaker 2: That's a great call. I've released six albums and I
Speaker 2: reckon I've got five albums that I've actually pushed on
Speaker 2: the wayside because of what you just said. I've sort
Speaker 2: of sat down and I've listened. I thought, actually, it's
Speaker 2: not working. So absolutely it's I do my best to
Speaker 2: choose the right vocalist, but it doesn't always work, and
Speaker 2: you never know once you're in the studio, just don't
Speaker 2: know if it's going to pan out. It normally does,
Speaker 2: and I'm really really happy with what the guys actually
Speaker 2: bring to my songs, but yeah, there are occasions over
Speaker 2: the years where it just doesn't work.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm curious if kind of a variation of that.
Speaker 1: I'm curious too, if you ever find a situation where
Speaker 1: there's something you get into the studio or you know,
Speaker 1: because you have a lot of people kind of contributing
Speaker 1: to the song, does it ever end up something very
Speaker 1: different than what you initially had in mind? But maybe
Speaker 1: in a good way. Maybe it's a happy accident. Maybe
Speaker 1: it comes out even better than what you thought.
Speaker 2: I think mainly the songs I write tend to actually
Speaker 2: sound on record, so to speak, the same as I
Speaker 2: want them to, because we're not put the music out
Speaker 2: there and show the others. Despite my droney tone, I
Speaker 2: do actually sing okay, So I get the guys to
Speaker 2: actually sing the same melodies, etc. As me. But do
Speaker 2: you know what, every now and then you spot on
Speaker 2: even now and then someone will change it and I
Speaker 2: just think, wow, that's so much better. So that does happen,
Speaker 2: and it's probably it probably happened on Summer Groove, you know,
Speaker 2: there's something added to that. I fool. I'm going to
Speaker 2: stick with that that version.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's fun. Yeah yeah, that's that must be
Speaker 1: exciting when when something comes out even better than what
Speaker 1: you had wanted. And now, so what's the live situation
Speaker 1: with this project? Do you play out? Because again I
Speaker 1: would imagine with with the very working with various people
Speaker 1: that that would probably be TRICKI or maybe not. Maybe
Speaker 1: you have a standard band that you play with or
Speaker 1: how does that work well?
Speaker 2: That that's the problem at the moment. For two years,
Speaker 2: I've been trying to create a live band, but a
Speaker 2: lot of the guys I work with they're actually looking
Speaker 2: at other projects and that they're already doing live shows
Speaker 2: with other people. So we haven't got a live band.
Speaker 2: But I do plan to go live next year. So
Speaker 2: that's something I'm working on. But it's not very not
Speaker 2: very easy for the reasons you've actually pinpointed. I did
Speaker 2: have a live I had a prior group before Delta High,
Speaker 2: and I did have a live band then. It was
Speaker 2: so much easier. But we were like schoolmates, you know,
Speaker 2: so none of us were sort of doing anything outside
Speaker 2: that particular band that and that worked, and I really
Speaker 2: do miss that. So I need to to create a
Speaker 2: live band for Delta High.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can see where that would be. That would
Speaker 1: be a challenge. Yeah, what was the previous Was it
Speaker 1: pleasure Device? Was that the previous band that you're in?
Speaker 2: It was, Yes, you've done your homework, so yeah, it
Speaker 2: was it was it was a yeah, it was Pleasure Device.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if you've you spotted it, but
Speaker 2: we supported R E M. We we did a gig
Speaker 2: Notingham in England and Arim we're doing a show and
Speaker 2: that that actually heard about us and they said can
Speaker 2: you come along and support us? And we sort of
Speaker 2: didn't want to say no, so we turned up. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so my claim to fame was from my pre his band.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, what what was that? Kind of was that
Speaker 1: kind of the apex of that band opening for Arim?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, But because we were of an age where we
Speaker 2: weren't sure what we were doing, we didn't sort of
Speaker 2: continue with the band, and people moved away, got married,
Speaker 2: blah blah blah. So the band broke up just at
Speaker 2: the time, just after the time we'd supported R E M.
Speaker 2: So that crushed and burned in a big way, in
Speaker 2: a good way. But now I've got the studio band
Speaker 2: with Delta High. But I really do need to do
Speaker 2: some live stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now what so you're your output with Delta High has
Speaker 1: been been pretty consistent. What what's kind of the future trajectory?
Speaker 1: Obviously Summer Groove is the newest single. Correct?
Speaker 2: Correct, Yes it is?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: What what what's on the horizon?
Speaker 2: Okay, so I've got an album out at the moment.
Speaker 2: I say, we've got an album out at the moment
Speaker 2: called Awesome, which came out in June this year. Yeah.
Speaker 2: That that again, that's I tend to do an eclectic
Speaker 2: mix of music. So it opens up with a surf instrumental,
Speaker 2: believe it or not, But then it progresses to a
Speaker 2: song that I actually wrote after watching The Shining So
Speaker 2: that's a bit of a bit of a horror bit
Speaker 2: of a horror movie type song, and then it goes
Speaker 2: on to you know, my usual sunshine pop and there's
Speaker 2: a few indie tracks on there. Yeah, there's even there's
Speaker 2: even a song called Caribbean, which is very South American SUSA.
Speaker 2: I've even put that one on there. So that's out
Speaker 2: at the moment. But I've literally just completed my next album,
Speaker 2: which will be out January February time, and that's called
Speaker 2: Delta Train. And again it's a it's a mixture of
Speaker 2: sunshine pop. It's got a few indie songs. He's got
Speaker 2: some South American Sauser song, so yeah, I'm mixing it
Speaker 2: up big time.
Speaker 1: Outstanding. Wow, I mean it sounds like you like to
Speaker 1: challenge yourself. I'm getting that vibe you like to see
Speaker 1: you know what you can really see what you can do.
Speaker 2: Right, absolutely, I mean a lot, but a lot of
Speaker 2: the bands I like back in the back in the
Speaker 2: eighties and nineties, I really like their first few hours,
Speaker 2: but then they got Stelle. So I sort of promised
Speaker 2: myself that when when I signed up to this independent label,
Speaker 2: I just promised myself that I'll try and vary stuff
Speaker 2: to keep the excitement going for me, but also to
Speaker 2: keep a variation out there for listeners.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you see it? When? When?
Speaker 2: So?
Speaker 1: How how far into the project did you sign with?
Speaker 1: It's Ashwood Music? Is that the label?
Speaker 2: It is Ashwood Music. They signed me up on twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay eighteen? Yeah, yeah, and you've been with them
Speaker 1: ever since.
Speaker 2: I have been. Yeah, Yeah, I mean how much.
Speaker 1: How much? Because you know, you do like to challenge
Speaker 1: yourself and you like to try different things. I mean
Speaker 1: how much do they I know indie labels are generally
Speaker 1: not as invasive, shall we say, in the creative process essay,
Speaker 1: if you're on a major, but I mean, how much
Speaker 1: input do they have in terms of what you're doing
Speaker 1: as far as the music that you're creating or do
Speaker 1: they let you do your thing?
Speaker 2: They let me do my thing. They actually let me
Speaker 2: create and produce. I mean I sit down with a
Speaker 2: guy called sooss is, the guy that runs the record
Speaker 2: label Music, and it's a free reign. I mean he
Speaker 2: actually helps out on some of the instrumentation as well.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, I'm very lucky that the guy that runs
Speaker 2: the record label, like to say, music actually follow bandses
Speaker 2: me so I get full support from them, obviously on
Speaker 2: the technical side when he's mixing a master and there's
Speaker 2: loads of things that he's taught me that we need
Speaker 2: to do. I've got a free rain is a very
Speaker 2: very very good agreement for me.
Speaker 1: That's excellent. Yeah, that's excellent.
Speaker 2: I think I think the other thing took that really
Speaker 2: ex sites me is we've got a distribution label which
Speaker 2: is Sony in New York. So I'm very lucky that
Speaker 2: although I'm on an independent with distube, the songs are
Speaker 2: distributed by Sony Sony Records. So that's a big tick
Speaker 2: in the boxing that we know the distributions good. It's
Speaker 2: just it's just getting those songs that are going to
Speaker 2: sort of hit home in the commercial market, which we're
Speaker 2: still we're still trying to search for.
Speaker 1: I'm curious and now to imagine that so in the UK, like,
Speaker 1: what what's the situation with radio there? Because I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know, and I don't know what the radio formats
Speaker 1: are there. You know, I know what they are in
Speaker 1: the US obviously because I'm in radio. But I mean,
Speaker 1: where does your music fit in over there on the
Speaker 1: radio or does it because what you're doing is is
Speaker 1: you know, it's unique for its time, certainly.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Yeah, the the commercial radio stations are very
Speaker 2: very limited. Unfortunately, the commercial stations have been buying up
Speaker 2: local radio stations in the the various regions and there
Speaker 2: aren't that many local radio stations left and it's only
Speaker 2: those guys, probably including you, that will play unknown sort
Speaker 2: of local bands. So we've got limited airplane A way. Obviously,
Speaker 2: the trick is to try and get onto the commercial stations.
Speaker 2: But again it's it's almost like a closed shop. There's
Speaker 2: certain people in business that say, well, to these commercial stations,
Speaker 2: they say, well, I only want you to play them
Speaker 2: if these people are in the mix pushing these guys along. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's almost a closed shop and it's really really difficult.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's difficult in the United States too. Fortunately,
Speaker 1: here we have we have college radio and college radio stations. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, it's I always tell people, you know, if
Speaker 1: they like you, they'll play you, simple as that. So
Speaker 1: so a lot of a lot of independent artists come
Speaker 1: up through college radio here in the US. But but yeah,
Speaker 1: but commercial radio just same as there here. It's it's
Speaker 1: it's very very difficult. Yeah, so yeah, that's always a challenge.
Speaker 1: But but what you're doing is great. It should be
Speaker 1: on the radio. So I'm glad you know that we
Speaker 1: can help out on on on this on this side
Speaker 1: of the pond. I'm glad you know if we can
Speaker 1: help help you at all, that's that's I feel good
Speaker 1: about that. So because you know, love what you're doing.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's that's so coining. What about in the USA.
Speaker 2: Is it was it Manchester?
Speaker 1: We are in Manchester, New Hampshire. Yeah, so we're in
Speaker 1: the Northeast.
Speaker 2: In the Northeast, So what's the main sort of music
Speaker 2: vibe in that that particular area.
Speaker 1: Oh? Around here, there's all kinds of stuff because we
Speaker 1: interview so on this show, for example, you know, we
Speaker 1: talk to people from other parts of the country or
Speaker 1: or in this case even other parts of the world,
Speaker 1: but we also have a lot of local talent that
Speaker 1: come in. In fact, on the third hour of the
Speaker 1: show today we have Dad Harrison uh coming in who
Speaker 1: are a New Hampshire band, And there's so much incredible
Speaker 1: talent here. Just like almost anything you could imagine, any
Speaker 1: kind of music, any kind of vibe, somebody's doing it
Speaker 1: and doing it well. I mean that that just that
Speaker 1: because people occasionally will ask us, you know, how do
Speaker 1: you how do you get how do you get find
Speaker 1: these great guests, And it's like, well, it's it's easy.
Speaker 1: There's there's so much talent around you know.
Speaker 2: Good. Yeah, it's good to hear.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely. Oh. By the way, so where does the
Speaker 1: name come from? Delta Hi? What's the significance of the name.
Speaker 2: Well, when I was looking at the band. I was
Speaker 2: sort of thinking, what sort of music do I want
Speaker 2: to do in it? And I thought, well, I actually
Speaker 2: really liked that the California Sunshine pop that that type
Speaker 2: of thing, and for that reason I came up with Delta.
Speaker 2: I don't know why, but Delta felt like it was
Speaker 2: California bound. No idea why, and I thought, right, I
Speaker 2: can't just call it Delta, and it just flipped into
Speaker 2: my head is Delta High. I'll call it Delta High.
Speaker 2: So I called it Delta High. I set up a website,
Speaker 2: obviously for the band, and it's quite funny. The first
Speaker 2: few months, I had so many, so many invites to netball.
Speaker 2: Is it netball you play? Do you play netball in America?
Speaker 1: Netball?
Speaker 2: Is it netball? You play?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: Ladies?
Speaker 1: What is it?
Speaker 2: Ladies? So they are college? Do they play netball?
Speaker 1: Volleyball?
Speaker 2: Sorry, I've got invited to so many volleyball games and
Speaker 2: I was thinking, why are people in America inviting me
Speaker 2: to a volleyball games? Were realized that they were sending
Speaker 2: messages to Delta High, which is a college. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: and it was filtering through to me. I'd love to go,
Speaker 2: but I can't. It's too too expensive to get there.
Speaker 2: That's a story.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. I love it.
Speaker 2: Delta High, it felt it felt sunshine Pop California.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, that's great. That's great. Well, Neil, I've
Speaker 1: really enjoyed our conversation, and uh, you know, obviously we'll
Speaker 1: have you back in the future because you're going to
Speaker 1: keep releasing new music and we'll keep playing it and
Speaker 1: supporting supporting you any way we can, and we'd love
Speaker 1: to have you back. And I was thinking about closing
Speaker 1: out the segment with I Met a Girl, another great track.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: What can you tell us about this song? Anything we
Speaker 1: should know about it?
Speaker 2: Well, basically I wanted to do a sort of a
Speaker 2: more indie flavord song with the head guitars. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: I still wanted to have that sixties film, so it's
Speaker 2: almost like that the vocals and the words would be
Speaker 2: something to come out of Greece, you know, Grease the film, Yeah,
Speaker 2: from fifties and sixties, but it's got the up to date,
Speaker 2: grungy indie sound, so that's it. It's a combination of
Speaker 2: the two.
Speaker 1: Ah yeah, I really yeah, I get that. I really
Speaker 1: really like this. So we're going to hit that in
Speaker 1: a moment, but before we let you go. So, Neil,
Speaker 1: where should people go? Where are the best places to
Speaker 1: go online for our listeners who want to keep up
Speaker 1: with everything that you're doing and everything Delta High is
Speaker 1: up to.
Speaker 2: I've got lots of videos and songs out on YouTube,
Speaker 2: so if you just look at YouTube and look up
Speaker 2: Delta High. Yeah, I've also all my music's on on
Speaker 2: the usual suspects like Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, but there's also
Speaker 2: websites Delta, dot High, dot co, dot uk ye which
Speaker 2: which is basically independent website, but it's it's on the
Speaker 2: all the usual digital channels. You can find the.
Speaker 1: Music yeap, yeap, very easy to find, which is important
Speaker 1: of course. Yeah, but uh, all right, so we're gonna
Speaker 1: hit this track. I met a girl. We will let
Speaker 1: you go. Neil Jackson from Delta High. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining us today and like I said, we'll
Speaker 1: definitely do this again in the future. And love what
Speaker 1: you're doing. And it's been great talking with you.
Speaker 2: Great. Thank you very much for inviting me to the show.
Speaker 2: It means a great deal to us.
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you, all right, we'll talk soon. Thanks Neil,
Speaker 1: Bye bye.
Speaker 2: Bye bye bye bye.
Speaker 1: All right, that was Neil Jackson from Delta High and yeah,
Speaker 1: this is a great song. Check this out. This is
Speaker 1: called I Met a Girl and the band is Delta
Speaker 1: High
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