INTERVIEW: Patrick Gosling

Image by: Michael Craig

When I picked up Patrick Gosling’s May single Thinkin’ for review in that month’s magazine I was struck by the depth of production on a track that I initially described as slacker rock (admittedly top-tier slacker rock). In amongst the fuzzy melody and de rigueur contagious riff there were clever lyrical themes and lush guitar soloing lower in the mix. “Thinkin’ is a good example of myself and Phil’s [Jackson, engineer] obsession with recording, we both love real attention to detail records. Also, when a song is just a continuous riff you’ve got to make it a bit more interesting – though I do love the riff,” Patrick later told me when we caught up for a chat.

Indeed, The Summit Push EP that Thinkin’ is taken from is six-tracks of pure indie peaks and lo-fi highs. I wondered if Patrick hadn’t been tempted to add a couple more tracks and release it as an album. “When I finished the demoing of the record there were around 11 tracks,” Patrick told me. “But I had to be quite strict with myself and choose, in my opinion, the best six songs. I always like moving forward with my music and working on whatever is exciting me the most, which happened to be those six tracks.” Another track is named Everest, and another Clay Mountain (a big centrepiece ballad) so as a Geography graduate I needed to know more about this alpine theme. “Last year I started getting this real obsession with Mount Everest after I saw a photo of it taken from India – it blew my mind how big it actually is. It led me down this path of finding out all I could about Everest and then K2, Annapurna, the list goes on. I then started learning about the different lingo mountaineers would use and The Summit Push was one that really jumped out at me – as soon as I heard that I knew I had to use it as a title for something.”

I’ve stopped being so awkward about the whole thing and let the lads collaborate on the recordings

Musically, The Summit Push is an eclectic mix of songs, and I wondered how working with two others (Patrick also records with drummer Kyle Cassidy) helped the creative process. “Yeah, we are quite a tight knit group when it comes to the recording process. For the last few years it’s just been me on my own doing all the writing and recording, whereas now I’ve stopped being so awkward about the whole thing and let the lads collaborate on the recordings – though, writing wise it’s almost always me. I have a small DIY studio set up at home which I write and demo everything on before showing the boys.” And Patrick is now signed to Wipeout Music. “Wipeout have been mint! In the past I’ve been really naïve when it comes to releasing songs, I didn’t realise the whole process behind it and what actually goes into it. I’m very fortunate to have a class team of people around me now.”

Continuing the mountainous theme, things certainly seem on the up for Patrick, and with a handful of live dates in late summer/autumn already announced I asked what else he had up his sleeve. “We’re gonna be touring around the UK later this year promoting the record. I’ve just finished writing a batch of new tunes so hopefully I’ll be getting back in the studio to get them all done…”

Patrick Gosling’s EP The Summit Push is released on Friday 22^nd August.