Local Reading legends doops release their debut album on Friday 28th of November and celebrate with a show at the Purple Turtle on the 29th!
doops are such a part of the Reading musical furniture it seems bizarre to think they have never actually released a full album before. Andy Bingham kindly answered a few questions about their impending offering.
Reading Indie Life: doops have been making music for at least seven years. Why was now the time for the debut album?
Andy: Crikey is it that long!?
We came out pretty strong with a load of songs when we first started which formed a few initial one off tracks and an EP. There’s actually a few compilations knocking about on tape & cd of those tracks collated which really, I guess, technically, forms a ‘home demo’ type album!
Those early songs though, we either recorded in quite a lo-fi fashion (the home demos) or in a more polished environment (Silver Street Studios in Reading and Abbey Road!).
What we found is that we kinda really want tracks that sounded like a blend of the two environments – with enough clarity on the drums and low end to make things nice and punchy; that you’d get from recording the drums in an isolated setup – but balanced against the benefits of taking your time with experimenting at home with extra layers where the immediate time and financial pressures are less present.
So partly I guess it was finding a nuanced approach that only comes with experience of different methods; to form what we were ultimately after sonically.
All that coupled with the fact that after the pandemic, we had new faces in doops by the way of Roddy Bailey on Drums, and Cameron Smith, for a time, on extra guitar and synth.
It sort of felt like doops 2.0 when they joined, actually that’s also the name of our WhatsApp group! So we wanted the album to really be a solid representation of everything written since the new guys joined – as opposed to the older stuff.
To directly answer your question, it’s taken this long to get round to doing it, as we’ve all got full time jobs and we’re having too much fun gigging and basically procrastinating from getting our idea locked in place in a record!
RIL: Talk us through the process of making it. Was it just you guys or have other people been involved? How long has it taken?
Andy: It’s been the three of us (Andy, Luke and Roddy) at the core of the 10 tracks; with Cameron Smith (of Puma Theory) joining us on about half the album – the first 5 tracks were written whilst Cameron regularly played with us.
The other half is just the three of us, myself on guitar, vocals and the occasional synth, bass, baritone and keyboards. Luke Connor has been a solid staple on the bass with the occasional dabble into guitar duties whilst Roddy has stuck to the drums, percussion and synths / keys.
Beyond that, Spencer Withey (of Ladylike) helped record the backbone of most of the tracks with the majority of the drums recorded with him down in Brighton (Farm Road Studios) along with most of the core instrumentation.
The rest of the album layering has been done at home, in my shed!.
The original stint down in Brighton was almost two years ago now, and it was only meant to be three tracks initially, but we morphed the session into 6 tracks, then followed up with a few more early in the following year. We’ve then taken our time amongst gigging to sit with the tracks and refine layers and parts.
RIL: You have a fascinating mix of styles in your music. How did you arrive at this particular sound?
Andy: I think we have a fairly broad pallet of influences. I always find bands that have a wider range of tracks, flipping between heavier beat laden songs and melancholic introspective proto-ballads, much more interesting. So, I guess in essence with doops anything goes as long as it’s interesting and a little unpredictable.
Truthfully, I’m not sure the array of styles has done us any favours, as I think we have become a bit tougher than others to pigeon-hole genre wise, which I think can matter a little on the circuit. Still, with that being said, even if there is some truth to that, I’m glad our songs aren’t too predictable.
RIL: You have an album launch show at The Purple Turtle on the 29th. Looking forward to it? Any surprises in store?
Andy: We were thinking about inviting some old collaborators/ floating members in! But our calendars are all a bit mad these days. We’ll probably throw in a cover and have a wall of amps!!
But to be honest we’ll keep it quite simple really, just an elongated set with most of the album and a couple of older tunes before we disappear for a while!
The biggest surprise, I think, may actually be that it seems our vinyls will be ready for the launch, and cassettes, of which there’s only a very limited number of both. We recommend anyone wanting one gets down early as they’ll be on a first come first served basis.
Ohh, also we’re going to be ‘soft launching’ a local record label…
RIL: It is getting near to the ‘best of’ lists time. What music have you been enjoying this year?
Andy: For me, my personal favourites have been the new Geese / Cameron Winter albums. Along with DJO’s pop masterpiece the Crux. Have also really enjoyed this Aussie band called Folk Bi*ch Trio.
RIL: Those are some solid picks! Do you have any plans for 2026?
Andy: It’s a fallow year for doops as Roddy, our drummer, is away for 6 months drumming in a few other bands! I think Luke may be on the fringes of getting involved in a new project with some other Reading alumni…. So keep any eye out for a new project from him.
I’m hoping to write a load of new stuff!
RIL: Thanks so much Andy, good luck with the launch show!
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