'Like the cool older brother who shows you the world from your dreary bedroom', Laura Mallinson interviews Beans on Toast following his tenth LP
Sticking to his firm tradition, Beans on Toast brings us husky sounds of truth painted by Alt-Folk tones steeped in soul searching social satire in his tenth annual album A Bird in the Hand. Like the cool older brother who shows you the world from your dreary bedroom, Jay McAllister, the creative behind it all, has brought more soothing riffs and authenticity to the eager ears of fans. Straight from Paul Epworth’s legendary Church Studios, could Beans be set to follow in the studio’s footsteps of Bob Dylan and Radiohead? A Bird in the Hand marks the celebration of a decade of albums, making this Beans’ most anticipated release to date as he galvanizes his increased listenership to consider the themes of love, family and the mad world we live in.
Beans’ outlook on life hasn’t lost its cutting-edge honesty, from the cynicism of 'Alexa' to the celebration of life heralded in 'Magic', wherein McAllister celebrates becoming a first-time father. Speaking with Beans in Rough Trade, he tells me how the majority of the album was written in the ‘new born bubble’, in those first couple of days with his daughter at home; full of love, hope and magic. Yet, the album isn’t just a celebration of his daughter, an idea Beans admits crossed his mind, as the way of the world still needed commenting on, stepping up to the role to become our generations Billy Bragg. During his stripped back performance of A Bird in the Hand, Beans jokingly tells the intimate crowd that ‘it’s 2018 and the world still needs a protest song, so here I am’. From homelessness to the NHS, Beans doesn’t shy away from the big questions of today’s world as he asks listeners to find compassion in our hectic, capitalism driven lives – never failing to simply tell it how it is.
Always touring, always writing, always speaking his mind; Beans on Toast has become an iconic source of reality in the modern music scene and his charming nature doesn’t stop with his songs. I sat down with Jay before the gig to find out a little bit more about the making of A Bird in the Hand…
Firstly, Happy Birthday for yesterday and congratulations on your tenth album, what did you do to celebrate the occasion?
'The album launch party in Nuneaton was the main thing. I realized I’d only ever done album launches in London and thought that was silly because I’d always been so proud of touring right across the UK, so why restrict launches to just London? So, that got me thinking how can we change this and we came up with the idea of launching the album in The Queens Hall in Nuneaton, as it worked out as the closest venue to being slap bang in the middle of the country, making it fair for everyone to come to. It was one of those events which had the potential to fall flat on its fucking face or be really magical, and thankfully it was a success! There was a great mood in the air and a sense that everyone had travelled and come together for one thing which I really appreciated.'
As a tenth album, it’s a pretty big milestone for you, did you feel any added pressure when making ‘A Bird in the Hand’ because of this?
'Not when it came to writing, it’s one of those things which is never going to happen when it’s pressured, or if you’re constantly thinking it’s got to be better than the last one. If anything, I felt more pressure around the album launch thinking we’ve really got to pull this out of the bag; but this was equally as important with albums nine and eleven so they don’t get left by the wayside. The main thing for album ten was going back into the studio with Ben Lovett, to come full circle as he produced the first one, and although he’s the busiest man in the world he was up for it.'
How did you find working with Ben for the second time around?
'What he can bring to the table this time around with studio and equipment was massive, working in Church Studio was incredible. When we got in there, everything was set up as Mumford were half way through recording themselves, so there was no faffing around and Ben just said to use anything. He’s got a lot to give and we could experiment together meaning that Ben could bring a lot to the album musically speaking. To be fair, Ben knew his shit the first time around when we recorded it in his mum’s house, and he still does.'
Within the album, you explore very personal themes of family and the birth of your daughter, and then go onto commenting on global themes of social and environmental issues. How did you find bringing these two worlds together?
'My daughter was born in January, and most of the record was written in that bubble when we first brought her home, this precious little bundle, and all that mattered was this new responsibility. There was a time when the whole album was going to be about becoming a father and family, but I’ve never been a massive fan of concept albums, and slowly the rest of the world came back into focus and there was just too much to comment on to not put some of it into the album. So, there’s almost two sides to the album of songs which were written inside the bubble and ones that were written on the way out.'
So, do you think becoming a father has changed your approach to music?
'Yeah – I think evolved is probably a better word than changed. Fundamentally, I’m still the same person but this is just the next step in life, and that’s definitely going to seep into my music.'
Are you finding it tough to be touring so much? Miss You Like Crazy really put being a musician and a father into perspective.
'It is and it isn’t. It’s a very brutal way of life, because when I’m gone it’s for quite a long time, but also when I’m there I’m fully there with her. I was able to take three months off when she was born and there’s not many jobs where you can do that; and we took her on tour for the first month before she was so mobile, she just sort of slept in the van all day. That was cool.'
The title, ‘A Bird in the Hand’, is there any significance behind that?
'We named our daughter Ren, so it’s mainly linked to that, but also linking to the saying and being appreciative of what you have.'
You’re a very candid writer, but as you’re becoming more well know are you finding this honesty of calling people out more difficult? Have you had any angry emails from Amazon yet?
'Ahh no! That certainly wouldn’t shut me up, if you’re getting people’s attention like that then you’re doing something right. I definitely don’t feel like holding back. With song writing that’s not a good place for creativity, I’m not setting out to annoy anyone, I’m just here to pass comment. I’m yet to get any direct response, but we did try and see about getting on one of Amazon’s playlist but I’m pretty sure that plea was completely ignored.'
As someone who tells it as it is, do you have any advice for students graduating into this weird world we live in?
'Just be yourself and be nice. It’s the simple ones which ring true to me, just treat everyone as you’d want to be treated; that’s what we’re going to teach our daughter and that’s what’s important. Oh, and always have a laugh. The world is obviously in a strange place and needs saving, but you have to remember what’s worth saving. There’s still a lot of good here.'
You’re no stranger to Bristol, any funny behind the scenes stories or stand out moments from previous Bristol gigs?
'We played SWX this time last year, and I have a song called Jamie and Lilly which I wrote as a love song to these two girls, and it’s just the song what keeps on giving. So, when playing at SWX there’s like this royal box just above the crowd, and I was joking with the light technician about there never being any exciting lights at a Beans on Toast show and he said he could do the ‘royal spin’ towards the box which is quite cool – now I knew Jamie and Lilly were going to come to the show so I managed to put the two together. I got a friend to pull Jamie and Lilly out of the crowd just towards the end of the gig and get them in this box. Then before they knew it the crowd were cheering them as they danced to their love song in the royal spot light. That was a special moment.'
Bean’s on Toast tenth annual album, A Bird in the Hand is out now. Catch him on tour at Thekla on February 21st 2019.
Featured Images: Laura Mallinson/ Epigram
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