Building on recent classic singles, the new release from funk rockers End Credits, ‘I Need Time’, sees a maturity from the band both in terms of sound and of lyrical focus. Damian Robinson caught up with End Credits frontman Cameron Young to find out more about the single, upcoming EP and future shows.
Congratulations on the upcoming single. It’s great and has a unique sound, blending rock with funk and psychedelia. Tell us a little bit about the release…
I was in a creative rut for a long period of time last year until a friend of the band, Joe Bradford, started coming around mine where we’d jam together until we came up with the initial idea. One evening, I loaded up Ableton where I was enjoying using the loops recording to expand ideas and before I knew it, I had all the main elements of the song which I then brought to the lads. We then made the structure and their individual parts – and the rest is history.
The single has an interesting sound. In terms of production and recording techniques, what sort of processes did you use to build and master the final sound?
We originally recorded the song in the summer of 2023 at Middlesbrough College Studios and our band member Eddy did some mixing on it. We enjoyed the mix but I wasn’t happy with my vocal performance or the guitar tones, so the song was put on the backburner for a while, during which we focused on releasing ‘Take On Me’ and ‘Outsiders’. The old guitars are still in the final mix, just buried, because they added a nice texture to the new ones which were very clean and articulate. The biggest factor in achieving the aesthetic to this track was layers; there were about 40 tracks in the project, mostly guitars and vocals, which was very time consuming to mix. Eddy spent a while creating the synth parts, which I think add a nice depth and ambience to the track: they’re quite subtle in places but you’d notice if they were taken out. As for cool effects, you can probably pick out the reverse reverb on the vocals in the verses, and some phaser and filter-gate effects on the drums in the bridge.
The lyrics are interesting, talking about the need for time, lying, and dreams. Is there a particular message in the song you’re keen to be heard?
There’s a feeling of chasing time in the track. I never feel I have enough of it, which leads to hardships in life, mainly my relationships with people, combined with what we’re told as we mature in terms of putting our dreams aside to create a ‘normal’ solid career. The chorus says it all really. The main thing to take is to just live in the moment and appreciate life, as time soon passes by.
In terms of the rest of 2024, including the single’s release, what’s next? And what do you hope to achieve?
This single is the first from our upcoming EP, which will be released by the end of the year. We’ve had some fantastic gigs recently so we want this new music to keep the momentum going and see our best year so far, with a collection of songs that we’re extremely proud of.
You can listen to ‘I Need Time’ now on all streaming platforms.
