A Chat with Paytron Saint (10.08.23)
Beautifully brutal with raw intensity, alternative rock trio Paytron Saint has been compared to Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Queens of the Stone Age and Placebo. Already on our radar, The Other Side Reviews keeps an eye on a group that has become a firm favourite of ours. We speak with drummer Dan about Paytron Saint’s new album Under Scary Houses, AI, the pros and cons of being in a band, and future plans.
OSR: How did Paytron Saint come about and what drew you to music?
Dan: The original version of Paytron Saint was formed in 2017 by Nick, his brother Joel and Dave Sturt from Gong. Nick was originally a drummer but had a load of songs he wanted to work on with a band and this was his outlet. Dave eventually got quite busy with Gong and had to stand down, so Dean came on board after a chance meeting at a local gig. Over the next few years, Dean built them a studio, they released a self-titled EP and a few singles (including award-nominated ‘Boats’). Joel moved over to second guitar and I came in on drums (me and Dean have been friends for a very long time and were looking for another musical project anyway).
At the start of 2023, Joel left as he was moving away for work, so the now three of us decided to double down and went out on a short tour and recorded the new Under Scary Houses EP to really cement how the new lineup was going to work and what sort of musical direction we wanted to head in. We’ve all been playing music for a very long time and have been surrounded by excellent music and musicians all our lives, playing in bands was just a natural progression for each of us and we feel quite lucky that it’s led to this version of Paytron Saint.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
Dan: It’s what the three of us do. As a band it’s how we express ourselves, vent frustrations, celebrate positives and discuss important issues.
OSR: What can you tell us about your new EP Under Scary Houses? Is there a particular theme or backstory?
Dan: It was a bit of a sideways move, everyone in the industry is advising musicians to release singles and not bother with albums / EPs and we’ve been following that advice for a couple of years now. The trouble we had with that release strategy is Nick is a very prolific songwriter, and we were starting to build up quite a collection of material we really wanted to release. An EP seemed like a good compromise between the two concepts.
We were keen to do an album but we quickly realized we had five songs that worked really well together both sonically and lyrically. The tracks we picked for Under Scary Houses seemed to all be around a similar theme, family and how it ties in with an individual’s life, but musically it ranged from high energy rock to a soft folky ballad. It took a lot of work to get everything to flow together nicely.
OSR: We all grow as individuals and the journey can often have an impact on our work. Do you believe Under Scary Houses captures your personality and represents Paytron Saint as it is now?
Dan: Yes, very much so. We recorded the whole thing in-house at our own studio ‘the Chicken Coop’ and I engineered and mixed everything. This allowed us to spend a lot more time focusing on getting everything sounding exactly as we wanted it to and to create the closest representation of what we do as a live band as we could. It also let us experiment a bit with some more ‘out there’ ideas, like an interlude built of different people talking over each other in different languages.
OSR: What do you hope people take from your music, both this EP and in general?
Dan: A little moment of happiness whether that’s at a gig or listening to a recording.
OSR: If you were to introduce a new listener to Paytron Saint’s music, which song would you recommend?
Dan: ‘Tommelise’. It showcases everything we do well. Noisy guitars, dynamics, melodies, energy and meaningful lyrics.
OSR: What are your thoughts on the use of Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the music industry including music videos, songwriting and music production?
Dan: It’s very much a double-edged sword. There are some great time-saving tools, particularly when it comes to content creation and copywriting, but music and art generation tools have the potential to wipe out a whole section of the industry. The whole voice replication thing is scary and some of the images that can be generated at the click of a button look really convincing. I think in the long run, art is about expressing emotion and personality, algorithms just can’t fully replicate that.
OSR: What do you feel are the benefits and drawbacks of being in a band?
Dan: Gigging to a receptive crowd, hanging out with your friends on a regular basis and having a constant creative outlet is a huge benefit. Late nights (particularly for those of us with young children), venues with stairs and the amount of rejection you receive can make it difficult sometimes.
OSR: If this were your last day on Earth, what would you do?
Dan: The sensible answer is to enjoy our last moments with our family. The honest answer is to track down Bob Mould and just worship at his feet for the time we had left.
OSR: Do you have future plans as Paytron Saint?
Dan: Always! We have another single almost ready which is quite likely to turn into a second companion EP. There have been tentative talks of an album but we’ll see, it’s something we all want to do but we want to do it right. There’s a couple of collaborations in the pipeline and we have gigs booked through until November at the time of writing (you can find these on our website).
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Dan: Thank you for visiting this site and taking the time to read about us and the other bands/musicians showcased here. It’s a great way to support independent musicians and helps pacify our egos.
Many thanks to Dan for speaking with us. For more from Paytron Saint, check out their official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
