As North East alt-rock outfit, Abnorm, release their new single, Kuba Lewandowski catches up with lead singer Abbie Rose to find out what we can expect.
You’ve previously mentioned a fair few bands as your influences. Can you pinpoint a specific way that these have shown themselves in your new song, ‘Good Riddance’?
Oooh, let me think. I wrote ‘Good Riddance’ originally as a sea shanty – because I’m originally from Hartlepool and I was missing the sea – so I’m not sure if any of the normal influences came through in that particular song. It was more the Hartlepool sea shanties that influenced ‘Good Riddance’.
How do you approach your songwriting?
I usually think of a melody and write it down or record it on my phone. Then I try to put chords around it. Later, I take it to the band and we work on it altogether, so that is then more like collaboration.
How is that transferred into production?
Alex McArthur produces for us, and he is the drummer as well. So Alex knows the song, knows the drums and then we produce it together; though he did most of the production work at Blast Recording Studios in Newcastle. But the production was a final touch because we already had such a good song already, so it only needed that final push.
How did you start in music and how did that take you to where you are now?
I’ve actually got a Masters in music. So I came from quite a classical background: I’ve been singing since I was really small, around four. And then I can also play piano – and I’ve just recently picked up the bass. But with Abnorm, we’re just developing a style together.
What can we expect at an Abnorm gig?
It’s just us playing our favourite songs by us. We shuffle the set-list around every time as we’re just trying to see what works and sounds best for us. And it’s also an opportunity to play new material, to play new songs to new people. And then also as a performance, well, it’s heavy rock, which you don’t really see that many people doing at the minute.
Looking ahead, where do you see Abnorm going?
In the next year, we’d love to do a headline gig. We’d love to do festivals once we build our fan base as well and, of course, we’ll be releasing new music. It’s going to be a very busy year for us.
You can listen to ‘Good Riddance’ now on all major streaming platforms.
