Fittingly titled, Waiting Around is the fruits of melodic craftsman, John Stammers’ labour. Arriving no sooner than six years since the release of his 2011 debut; a physically demanding day job and fascination for all things analogue has made way for a record of stark beauty and enduring quality - delayed only by an unyielding sense of intrepid experimentalism.
“Recording to tape is my favourite thing to do and I only get to do it two weeks a year because it’s so expensive,” John explains. “When you’re working to tape you have to rely on favours – stealing bits of time here and there which means you’re at the mercy of other people’s schedules and there could be months between sessions. It’s frustrating, I’m not gonna lie, but I’m in love with tape and what it does to the music. It’s unpredictable in a good way, adding sounds and crunch harmony.”
Just as tape passes between reels, music-making has ebbed and flowed throughout John’s life. Song-writing in Manchester before relocating to London, John, like his grandfather before him, is no stranger to a solid work ethic; Waiting Around’s enchanting mysticism was created around six 10-hour days a week of building and painting to fund the excessive cost of analogue studio time. “The physical and mechanical side of working with your body is a total escape from anything creative,” John says of the contrast to writing in the comfort of his own home.
“Recording to tape is my favourite thing to do and I only get to do it two weeks a year because it’s so expensive,” John explains. “When you’re working to tape you have to rely on favours – stealing bits of time here and there which means you’re at the mercy of other people’s schedules and there could be months between sessions. It’s frustrating, I’m not gonna lie, but I’m in love with tape and what it does to the music. It’s unpredictable in a good way, adding sounds and crunch harmony.”
Just as tape passes between reels, music-making has ebbed and flowed throughout John’s life. Song-writing in Manchester before relocating to London, John, like his grandfather before him, is no stranger to a solid work ethic; Waiting Around’s enchanting mysticism was created around six 10-hour days a week of building and painting to fund the excessive cost of analogue studio time. “The physical and mechanical side of working with your body is a total escape from anything creative,” John says of the contrast to writing in the comfort of his own home.
