Lord of the Flies

Sean Cook started off as the bass player in slowcore shoe gazers Spiritualized before fronting the rather more feral Lupine Howl. uk-fusion catches up with the one-time-reluctant lead singer to talk about his new band The Flies, lyrics and the Bristol sound 

Not really, no. It’s not something I ever really contemplated. I’ve never really been one for devising plans for world domination. At the time, I enjoyed playing bass and not being in the foreground too much. When we started Lupine Howl, we were having problems finding a singer. Mike Mooney, the guitarist, just shoved me in front of the mike and said, "Go on, give it a go." After we played a number, he went, "You know, that’s not bad." Our search for a singer was over.

How has your voice developed?

It’s got a lot better. Singing takes practice. I used to be of the impression, before I picked up a mike for the first time, that you can either sing or you can’t. That’s plainly wrong. Your voice develops. I was thrown into doing it live. Usually singers in bands start off playing in front of two men and their dogs in pubs. They have to time to perfect the voice without any pressure. But with Lupine Howl we were playing bigger gigs straightaway, so my voice was put under the spotlight. I’m pretty confident about singing now, though. It feels easy to me.

I saw Lupine Howl play the Garage a few years back. That was a pretty primeval sound you had going on there. Is The Flies more of the same?

The Flies is totally different to that. Most of the new stuff is much mellower. It’s got a filmic, ambient quality to it. When you’ve played psychedelic rock for more than 10 years as I have, a time comes to move on. To progress from the loud-feedback-orientated sound.

Why did Lupine Howl split?

We haven’t really split as such. It became hard to carry on, though, when we lost our record deal with Beggars, what with funds dwindling. We have made a third album. It needs a bit of polishing, but I intend to release it at some point. Also Mike Mooney had a child. There was quite a long period out of action, during which I put a lot more time into The Flies. That seems to have taken off more. So, Lupine Howl are on the backburner at the moment. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.

Who’s in your new band then?

It’s me and a couple of producer friends, Tim Norfolk and Bob Locke. They’ve produced Alison Moyet in their time and also done a lot of film music and TV scores. Some of our mates helped out with the recording. I had to recruit the services of a French horn player and violinist, for example. We recorded an album in our own studio, which is scheduled to come out in January, although we’ve got way more than an album’s worth of tracks. The plan is to assemble a band. We’re definitely considering the live angle a big part of it and we’re planning on doing some warm-up gigs in the Bristol area in January before hitting London.
Your official site name-checks William Burroughs. How much of an influence has he been on you lyrically?
I didn’t write that. In the past, I’ve been asked to write those sort of things but I thought this time it would be best coming from somebody’s who’s heard the album but isn’t in the band. I’ve read all of Burroughs’ novels but I’m more influenced by the Marquis de Sade, instance. Or books about serial killers. Or the literature of Herman Hesse. You’ll find bastardized versions of all these sources in my lyrics. Yet I can be inspired by anything. Even a billboard advert.

What effect has living in Bristol had on your sound?

I can’t see it’s had any effect. I’m not from Bristol originally, but am based here now. I don’t agree when people say The Flies have a Bristol sound. It’s definitely not a conscious thing, but I suppose playing with the likes of Massive Attack and Portishead must have rubbed off on me. There’s a laidback trippiness to The Flies, which people will probably associate, with other Bristol bands.

Finally, what’s only kinky the first time?
Golden showers. After that, it‘s just messy, mate.

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