The Uncarved Block
The Magazine dedicated to Unsigned
and Independent-Label bands
Interview
Interview with "Mellow Beast" (Paul Scott)
Released: 5th March 2023
ANDY: Thank you for agreeing to answer some of our questions. Your songs and albums are full of imagination and creativity as you tell us stories set in your fantastical world of Hyperion. Please give us a background as to where you are based and what first inspired you?
PAUL: Alright, so I'm from Northern Ireland, originally from very near the Giants Causeway. I work as a software engineer (pretty dull) so music is a nice escape. I've been interested in writing songs from a very early age and I think I've always had some kind of song book that I'd be writing away in. When I was younger my Mum would always be telling stories about Trolls or Fairies and that sort of thing, I think its kind of been ingrained in me. When I started getting into concept albums I noticed a distinct lack of high fantasy in the genre, or at least on the level where you can follow the story like a film/book and thought it would be cool to try and create something like that
ANDY: You have certainly hit a unique niche in your work. How did you progress on your journey to where you are now, writing and recording all your own work?
PAUL: I grew up listening to a lot of 70s rock and a lot of 90s pop punk (thanks to my older siblings). I first started playing guitar when I was around 8 and was never very good, but I enjoyed playing chords and singing along and it kind of naturally lead into writing songs. (I actually have a really old song from when I was 8 or 9 that my dad recorded with me about a spotty green monster, boy is it embarrassing)
When I was in my teens, I was listening to a lot of folky music (Roy Harper and the likes) and getting more interested in 60s psychedelic rock. I stumbled on the film Frank where they were making some really out there music and it just clicked. It didn't have to be hard, I could just start making weird sounds and see where it went. I actually initially sat down with one of my friends to try to teach him to play keyboard in the hopes we would make some of this music together but I eventually ended up going down the solo path. But a lot of the Hyperion ground work came from those days
ANDY: That brilliant psychedelic 60s sound really comes through in your work. What is your usual process when writing new material?
PAUL: The key is motivation really. I noodle on guitar a bit, and try to record any nice chords progressions and ideas on my phone. Ultimately I get an urge to record every now and then and I'll just get absorbed in it for a few weeks and go really hard recording and listening back until something comes out the other end. When I was younger it was easier with more free time but it's all about finding a balance that works I guess.
ANDY: How do you come up with ideas for the next project? Do you begin with the story idea first, or write the music and then adapt the lyrics around that?
PAUL: It's a bit of a mix of all of these. Quite a few of the Hyperion albums are actually re-hashes of older stuff that's out there on Soundcloud. Sorcerers Sword was one where I just had this idea for a story and wanted to write something that was like one giant song with really nice transitions. I had never worried much about transitions between songs and this album kinda changed my entire workflow. I definitely find it easier when I have no idea what I want to do, there's no expectation and anything that appears is a nice surprise
ANDY: Now, we have established that you write and record everything yourself, so what technology and equipment do you use?
PAUL: For a long time I was using Logic Pro on a super old mac book pro with a guitar USB cable for bass/guitar and a USB microphone... I've since upgraded quite a bit! Still running logic pro but I have a pretty nice interface for Mic/guitar/bass and a nice little midi keyboard. Sometimes I'll record my guitar pedals right in but it usually is more hassle than its worth when it comes to mixing. I do all of the recording at home, though it would be cool to venture to a studio some day.
In terms of time scales, it's getting longer and longer since I started caring more about how the songs sound - generally the recording of the songs is pretty short, maybe a week or 2. I usually have logic open while I'm working from home and listen through my tracks during the day taking note of what I want to change etc, and then in the evening I'll make edits. Similar process for mixing. Something like Sorcerers Sword took maybe like 2 weeks all in all vs Waiting Room which was sitting around for about a year
ANDY: And when it comes to the various instruments, are you a multi-instrumentalist, or a really good MIDI programmer?
PAUL: I play everything except the drums, Logic Pro has a great AI drummer and once you get comfortable playing with it, it starts to sound very convincing! I'm still ironing out the kinks in mixing it properly but I think it's starting to sound a lot more natural on my tracks
ANDY: With all your talents, have you ever considered collaborating and recording with other musicians and artists?
PAUL: I actually have an album in the works with a band from USA called Leisure Shores - very cool guys. Really excited for that one to come out. But yeah I would love to collaborate with more artists, I'm just very bad at reaching out and pitching ideas
ANDY: That sounds exciting, as those guys seem to have a similar musical mentality to yourself. Do you get to play any of the Mellow Beast songs live?
PAUL: I do not - I've been in some small bands over the years but nothing serious. It would be very cool to get a band together and do some kind of small tour but it's hard to find people and put the time aside to do it. At the end of the day for me, writing and recording is just a hobby and my goal is to just teach myself how to play better and how to mix better
ANDY: That's completely understandable. From your perspective, then, what would you say are the benefits and downfalls of working alone compared to being with a full band?
PAUL: The biggest benefit without a doubt is the speed you can work at; you can't get frustrated because you're waiting for someone to record their parts when you do it all yourself. The draw back is that everything is your style, it doesn't feel as loose and dynamic and its very hard to do kind of improv' jam stuff because you have to do it all in stages, it can't just organically appear. I feel like a lot of my stuff is pretty 1-Dimensional in that regard: you can tell I've done the drums, looped a bass riff and noodled some random guitar lines and glued it all together
ANDY: That is overly self-critical, as your songs flow beautifully. But how do you feel your music and writing style has changed over the years?
PAUL: I'm not really sure, but I can say my approach has probably changed. It's easy to get in your own head about the quality etc of what you are making. When I was younger this was easier to overcome and at the end of the day its silly because I'm not making music for anyone but myself really (and maybe my brother sometimes, and of course my mum. She's my biggest fan). I think my songs are becoming more straight forward or focused. Some of my really old tracks are wild. Maybe not in a good way. I need to get some of that back though now I have the knowledge to tame it a little
ANDY: Well, you have demonstrated a more experimental psychedelic/sonic jamming side in your latest (and very good, by the way!) album "Mind Worm." But seeing as the bulk of your work is based on the world of Hyperion, have you ever considered writing your ideas into fantasy novel, to accompany the albums?
PAUL: I have, I think a children's book would be very cool - but I am not an artist nor a writer so I don't think it'll ever really come together. I hate to admit it but I also don't have the whole plot of the world planned out either. I have some ideas of where I want to go but nothing super set in stone
ANDY: Well at least that leaves the Hyperion world open for new material. Speaking of which, do you have more planned for the future?
PAUL: There is definitely more Hyperion coming - I have a few album ideas I want to explore and I had one somewhat recorded but it sounds really bad and needs a big rework. I have I think 3 albums in somewhat finished states and I'm taking a break from writing to try and finish those out. One is Hyperion related for sure, the other 2 not really. In the near future there will be an EP coming, not a total solo record. My brother and I wrote and recorded it for my mum's birthday a year or two ago. It might not make a lot of sense to the wider world - but it has some cool sounds and I wanted to put it out there so I'm just tidying up the mix.
There might be new worlds coming, but they'll always be in the same universe.
ANDY: That is an exciting prospect, which I look forward to hearing. I will be keeping a watch for the next chapter in the Hyperion universe. So, thank you for taking the time to answer some questions and best of luck in the future.
(Click on the underlined links to enter into the fantastical world of Mellow Beast's Hyperion)