ON OUR RADAR: PLASTIC BARRICADES
With a brand new album recently released, Plastic Barricades discuss living in a world full of instant gratification.
Introduce yourselves!
We are Dan, Elina and Paul. I am Paul. We are also Plastic Barricades.
How would you describe your music to a potential listener?
Kinda like the Beta Band!
Since being a band, do you feel it has grown in the direction you hoped for, or has there been any setbacks?
I joined two years ago and I don’t even live in the same country anymore. I was at least expecting to still be living in London by the time we finished the album, but why should anything go to plan? Creating in a group is always a negotiation. That’s the beauty of it. A new thing none of us expected to exist is created because more than one person can never always agree.
Which tracks are you most proud of to date and why?
Optimist. It has that wavy Jimi Hendrix thing going. Blurry things are good. I’m a big fan of Weightless and Great Unknown on the new album. I think Dan’s writing is getting better and better.
Where do you feel your band fit in in an ever changing and demanding music scene?
I don’t think we do fit in. There are zero songs about butts on this album. We use guitars. We make music for us, we make everything in house: even the videos and artwork. We record, produce and mix ourselves. Sooo… we’re just having fun seeing as the only person making money in the ‘music scene’ is Daniel Ek. We want positivity, optimism and team work to be our driving forces. We don’t care if that’s cool. Buy a t-shirt if you wanna help us out.
Do you have any tips for keeping your mental health in check throughout this period of time?
We’ve been having mimosa and pancake Whatsapp brunches every Saturday by video-calling friends and family. It’s amazing how ‘sharing’ the same meal makes it more intimate. That’s helped us. Your mileage may vary. My mental health is not in check.
What issues are important to you? How do you use your music and platform to communicate these?
I think we need to get everyone off Facebook and Instagram. I’m done with the constant competition for status. It seems like life has become a contest for who can eat the cleanest, work out the most, work the longest hours, have the best ass and can promote faceless conglomerates the most. There’s a lot of good there, it’s great that we’re all learning so much but god we’ve become so dull. Remember hobbies? They were fun. Remember reading books? Remember talking about your own ideas instead of sharing memes? We need people to actually talk to their politicians instead of posting out to your bubble. Even before the pandemic we had become a society of astronauts in spaceships sending little messages and never really touching each other. We need to reconsider our connection to each other.
We also need to educate people about what they’re worth and what they demand. For example: Spotify needs musicians, not the other way around. The music industry existed before streaming and it will continue to exist afterwards. We cannot spend our lives making sub-par cookie cutter music for a billionaire who doesn’t care about us. Who does that serve? What is that for? Unplug and make beautiful things for people.
What are your top three albums at the moment?
The Golden Echo by Kimbra, The Distance between Zero and One by Nerve and Plantasia by Mort Garson.
What’s one song you wish you could have written?
Ultralight Beam by Kanye West. What an incredible song. I love how each voice carries a different feel and flavour and reflects the voices in our minds in times of existential crisis. We are all each other and we all think with several minds. It’s so powerful and fragile. A friend described it as a tower of matchsticks. Kanye is an interesting guy. It’s a pity that success has unleashed his worst demons.
If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?
Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl is my spirit animal.
What should your fans be expecting from your band in the near future?
Our new album Self Theories is out now! We’re gonna see about some remixes too.
Stream their latest album Self Theories on Spotify below.