With the band EP ‘Not Until Tomorrow Night’ out now, Backseat Mafia found out a little bit more about the up and commers.
Give us a potted history of NOISE
NOISE began with two young brothers, Luke Doleman (rhythm guitar and vocals) and Evan Doleman (drums and backing vocals) jamming The Smashing Pumpkins in their spare room trying to figure out how to play the guitar and drums on their own.
Fast forward about 10 years, Junior Khawli joined the group when he was at a house party with Evan and in the midst of the party started playing the guitar. What started as Junior playing Oasis renditions for people to sing to, turned into him roaming the house creating jingles on the spot to insult everyone at the party (nothing too offensive). The jingles were superb and the people at the house party didn’t phone the police so Junior was asked to join the brothers and within a few sessions, the first few NOISE tracks were created.
Missing a bass guitarist, we were on the hunt for another member of the band and weirdly, at another house party, Robbie Duncan was recruited after a drunken night. Robbie vividly remembers being shown some crackly, poor quality phone recordings of a couple of early tracks and, in his own words, knowing that if “I didn’t say yes, there was a chance I’d spend a lot of time regretting it”. Since then we’ve played a sold out headline gig at King Tuts, supported Glasgow legends SAINT PHNX to a 1500 strong crowd, and supported various high profile touring bands such as The K’s and Royel Otis.
Who inspired you to start making music
There is quite a mix in terms of how we got started. Robbie’s inspiration to start making music stemmed from observing his friends’ older brothers’ bands performing at a skatepark during his early teenage years. Despite the modest setting, the bands’ performances captivated him, and he envisioned a glamorous life in music.
Luke and Evan were introduced to music by their father, which naturally led them to begin playing music together as they grew older.
Junior’s musical journey was ignited by his mother’s influence. She played a significant role in his initial involvement with music and even pushed him to persevere. From the age of 10 she encouraged (forced) him to pick up some sort of instrument and through school played the tenor horn, playing in the local brass band – sexier than it sounds. Despite hating it she definitely knew that good would come from it and it’s what led him to start playing the guitar at age 16. The unexpected connection between the two instruments shaped Junior’s musical path and contributed to the unique identity of NOISE.
And the one (or maybe two) records that inspired you artistically
Luke: In Rainbows – Radiohead – Just one of the most perfect albums I’ve ever heard!
Evan: Siamese Dream – Smashing Pumpkins – Jimmy Chamberlain is probably my favourite drummer, the guy’s insane. The explosion and dynamics of Geek U.S.A always blows me away!
Junior: Listening to Arctic Monkeys is a rite of passage that so many people go through in their teens and I was no different in that regard. I still remember being in my bedroom listening to Favourite Worst Nightmare for the first time and the memories of listening to that record over and over again, trying to figure out the riffs to Teddy Picker and Old Yellow Bricks whilst I had the music blaring in the background. That feeling of being enamoured by a band and spending hours on YouTube trying to find unseen footage of the band or acoustic renditions on songs from their albums was what made me want to be that person on stage. That definitely drove me to start creating my own music and go jamming with other people, which has played a huge part in playing in NOISE.
Robbie: Such a hard question, if this is an origins question I’m gonna need to let out my inner emo. Probably something like The Used’s self-titled, some Blink 182 or maybe Puzzle by Biffy, that was a huge album for me.
If you’re trying to explain who you sound like to someone that’s never heard you, what do you say
This is always such a hard question to answer without coming across kind of wanky! We usually say alternative / indie rock. We take influence from many great bands, including but not limited to Smashing Pumpkins, Interpol, Arcade Fire and The Strokes. We love creating big sounding songs with dynamic drum beats, driving bass lines and melodic guitar riffs. Listen for yourself and find out!
Tell us about your new EP
Our new Not Until Tomorrow Night EP was recorded over the past couple of years at the illustrious Chem 19 recording studio in Glasgow with Jamie Savage, with the exception of One Year which was recorded with Jamie Holmes at Castle of Doom in Glasgow. We refuse to work with anyone not named Jamie! Each song has a different story behind it, but the overarching theme is about the struggle of trying to let go of the past, as well as trying to look ahead to better times: “So we take it one day at a time / ‘Cause nothing’s short-sighted like the eye inside
my mind”
Where can we get hold of it
Our EP is now live on all streaming platforms via the Linktree below and will also be available to purchase on Bandcamp. As well as this we will be releasing vinyl of the EP later in the year where we will be doing giveaways for our fans so stay sure to follow our social media platforms!
https://linktr.ee/noiseglasgow
Tell us how you write
It varies a lot from song to song. Most of the time Luke will arrive at the studio and surprise us with the bones of a new track he’s been working on. That’s usually the highlight of everyone’s week as we’re always blown away. But other times it could be Junior playing a new riff he’s come up with or Robbie with a new bassline, then we just develop the music and structure from!
To give you an example, our single Victor was initially very slow and spacey but one day the main riff was played for another song and we ended up repurposing it as the driving riff for Victor. It’s always different and there’s no single way of doing it which is great and allows for everyone to get creative. Lyrically, Luke does everything as he is a wordsmith!
Tell us about your live show and how much did you miss it during lockdown
It has been honed over the years and for us it’s the dream to be doing it every day of our lives. There’s no other feeling that compares to playing your own music in front of fans, hearing them sing your lyrics back at you and the challenge of coming up with new music. This has been something that we’ve relished since returning from lockdown. Watching our enjoyment rub off on the crowd is what it’s all about.
What can we expect from you in the near future
You’ll hopefully see us everywhere. There are hundreds of songs bursting out of us so there will be more music and hopefully four guys handing their bosses their resignation letters! We are also lining up a number of headline shows for the end of the year and looking to be part of the
Tell us your favourite records that are rocking your headphones / tour bus / stereo
At the moment we’re jamming hard to Jungle’s new record, the way they give those disco/funk beats a modern feel could get even the stiffest person’s hips moving. Also the new QOTSA album, an absolute masterpiece again from such an iconic band. Every track is an absolute banger!
Check out the bands track One Year, below:
