Words: George Gray, Images: Press Shots
Blue Bayou are slowly being uncovered as another gem amongst the storied Oxfordshire music scene. With the debut single achieving acclaim from indie-folk legends Stornoway, and more music on the way, they’re certainly trekking down the right tracks. So we sat down with the chamber pop newcomers to get to the bottom of their story so far, and what’s to come.
Day one of the story begins in a school history class when Greg and Frank, original group members, formed in their own words, “a pure friendship from the off”. At the centre of this friendship was a love for music, passing on recommendations and trading artist for artist, from Lou Reed to the Kinks.
This sharing soon began to expand their musical horizons, “I’d always loved classical guitar and left-field pop”, Greg admits, “but it was Frank that pushed my taste and even convinced me to buy an electric guitar”. At 14 the pair started producing their own music, but a few years later as uni approached thoughts of a band were put on hiatus. Post-graduation their musical partnership naturally returned, “we didn’t even talk about it, it was always assumed we’d make a band after uni”.
With even more musical discovery under their belt, Frank and Greg began to piece together the band, with Funk, Ska, Chamber Pop, Folk and Indie all added to the melting pot. “I had some more specific ideas as well”, Greg admits, “I knew I wanted a trumpet from the start of the project”, which is where fellow band member Tarun joined the mix.
Before long a couple mates chipped in and the boys found themselves with bass, keys, and guitar – the bones of what Blue Bayou was to become. “Then Momo joined with Violin”, adding the last layer to an already versatile sound. This steady evolution since February 2023 has allowed Blue Bayou to bounce between genres, stretching out from their more prominent Chamber Pop identity.
“I’m not sure I ever imagined it becoming this live thing”, Frank reveals, “more of a duo working in the studio, MGMT or Foxygen kind of thing”. Eventually it was seeing other acts they’d aspired to release albums and play live shows that kickstarted the band though. “It’s been different but very fulfilling”, Frank tells.
What’s kept the project fresh is arguably the breadth of dynamic input from fellow band members. “As we’ve grown everyone’s naturally added their own sounds”, the band’s identity organically developing from Frank and Greg’s producer backbone. It’s perhaps what keeps their live shows so free-flowing, “like when Momo plays keys in a way we may have never thought of, and builds up the sound right in front of us”.
Despite the winding ebb and flow of their live performances, Blue Bayou’s production process is a well oiled machine. “I really want to hear specific arrangements I come up with, whether it’s melodies, bass-lines or guitar and drum parts”, these decisive ideas then workshopped across the band. It’s this combination of this coherence and collaboration that drove their transition towards a more folk sound on recent release December Flowers.
A sonic return for Greg, who first started songwriting at uni after inspiration from the likes of Jackson C. Frank and Paul Simon. That said, it’s clear the frontman has been on a journey when it comes to his songwriting process. Much like a winding folk track, his style has gently grown with experience and time, with the odd alt-pop/indie injection here and there.
“The majority of my writing is purely confessional”, he shares. Whether it’s trying to use painfully specific real-life detail to capture complexity or taking more abstract references from literature and beyond to form narrative tales. “I think characters and storytelling are really useful when it comes to showing your emotions and experience in an intuitive way”, Greg describes.
For Blue Bayou this storytelling makes things so much more personally meaningful, “take Carousel song” the pair converse, maybe hinting at an upcoming release – either way real-life emotion is central to their music.
Just look at December Flowers, the first release on the upcoming album rooted in an ultra-realistic scenario, “to me it’s set in a kitchen on the last day of a tenancy, in which we try and pin specific emotions”. The song bounces off this still-life imagery with poetic licence, following the narrator’s physical and emotional view, creating an ethereal sense much akin to mentors Stornoway’s work.
Although its lyrical meaning was established early, the tune itself developed more substantially once they got in the studio, with an entire rewrite of the middle section. Initially built around a guitar solo and goals of a 60s pop ballad, something wasn’t sitting right with and when the tune began to manifest itself into a dancey track live, change was inevitable.
“We re-wrote the chords for the central 16 bars and work-shopped this back and forth between the trumpet and violin”, capturing the sensibility of the song both in recording and live. “It definitely took some people by surprise, but we got the dynamics right eventually with a big ending”.
When they’re not in the studio or grafting the live circuit, all energy is focused on growing the project, often burning the candle at both ends. “We want to round ourselves off as a full package, adding the finishing details whether it’s artwork, the right merch, or more shows.” A clinical plan from the South Bucks boys, but it’s clear they still have time for the odd side-quest as Frank shows us some of the art pieces he’s working on for a pop-up gallery in his own home.
They’re also eagerly awaiting festival season, “I mean there’s something so cool about festivals”, Frank laughs. “They almost feel medieval, we’ve stopped doing a lot of stuff, but getting a bunch of people celebrating in a field that goes back thousands of years…”.
Looking even further to the future, Frank’s got a pretty clear goal for 5 years time too. “We’ll be touring in Japan doing really weird shit, freak-folk after 2 years of non-stop hallucinogens in a van”. Greg chuckles, but it’s clear there’s a seriousness in their dream-reality. “We started as a project to play songs we’d written live”, he articulates, “there’s no specific genre we’re wedded to, we just want to explore – both musically and geographically”. A powerful mission-statement.
I’m a strong believer that few acts can be defined by genre as the 21st century progresses, but what the band do so well is carefully and clearly demonstrate each genre within their work allowing each element to shine whilst beautifully blending them together. Keep an eye out, as it won’t be long before Blue Bayou start to get their flowers.
Listen to new releases December Flowers and Hide & Seek here!
