Paytron Saint
Paytron Saint
Interview
Hey Paytron Saint, thank you for joining us! Give us a brief history of how you formed and what your goals were when you first started the band?
The band was originally formed back in 2017 with brothers Nick and Joel Glyn-Davies teaming up with renowned bassist Dave Sturt from Gong.
After meeting at Paytron Saint's first ever gig, Dean Lloyd saw Nick play a solo acoustic gig in their home town of Belper and fully bonded over the mini-keg of beer, Dean had snuck into the venue. When Dave's busy touring schedule meant he had to step back, Dean took over bass duties.
Dan and Dean have played together in more bands than they care to remember over more years than they care (even less) to remember. When it transpired that job commitments meant Joel would be moving away from the area, Dan was the obvious choice to come in on drums. Today, the band exists as a three piece with Nick, Dean & Dan. The goal has, and always will be, to get better, to write the best songs we can and to improve creatively and musically every time we get together, be it in the studio or in front of a crowd.
How did each of you, Dan, Nick & Dean start playing? How old were you when you joined your first band?
Nick - I was 16 when I joined White Town (of 'Your Woman' fame) and played my first real gigs. I still know Jyoti (Mishra) and we hang out occasionally.
Dean - When I was about 16, 2 school friends convinced me to buy a bass and join their band. We had our first gig at my parents' New Year’s Eve party blasting out some Green day and Weezer covers. I really got to grips with playing bass at a late jam night in Derby. I would go down on a Thursday night about 10pm to sometimes 1 in the morning and play with much older musicians who would shout the root notes out for me to play.
Dan – When I was 11 my mum bought an old electric organ, I'm still not sure why! I took lessons for a couple of years but never really got into it. Then I came across a poster at school saying they were going to be getting a drum teacher in and I instantly decided that's what I wanted to do. I was quite lucky that at the same time I discovered drums my younger brother discovered the guitar. Pretty soon we'd started a band and things just progressed. 25 years later that's what I'm still doing!
I'm listening to Mirror right now - great track & tones! Tell us where you recorded it, how you tracked it, and how the song came about?
Mirror, like our last 3 releases, was recorded in The Chicken Coop, our little studio down in Deans garden. We tracked it over a couple of weeks before sending it off to our friends at Snug Recording Co. who mixed it and really brought the track to life. The song was a true collaboration, Nick came in with the guitar parts which we jammed around whilst everyone figured out their parts and the structure fell into place. Lyrically this one is unusual because they were written partly by Joel and outline a conversation between two brothers with vastly different outlooks where one is asking the other to reflect on the way they are living their life.
What are your primary instruments for tracking, and do you use different rigs for your gigs?
Nick uses two G&L guitars, one tuned in standard and the other in open C. He runs this through a pedal board with various effects including, the iconic Rat & Big Muff. We mic up his Fender Blues Junior with a Sennheiser E609 and Shure SM57.
Dean plays a custom RH Guitars bass made locally by a good friend in Idrigehay, Derbyshire. He has various amps in the studio including a Darkglass Microtubes 900, Orange Terror Bass II, but his main unit for now is a Gallien Krueger Fusion 800s. We tend to mic up a 4x12 bass can and DI the bass when we track.
In the studio, Dan uses a Tama superstar in fusion sizes with Remo pinstripe skins on the toms and kick and an ambassador on the snare. These are all tuned to a medium pitch so there is a good amount of tone but no annoying ringing. Cymbals are a combination of Meinl Custom Alloys, Soundcasters and Classic Darks with oversized crashes (18” and 19”) and ride (22”). He uses Wincent 5BXL sticks which are basically tree trunks with the knobbly bits trimmed off. To save lugging the full kit up and down Deans garden he uses a second shell pack and hardware for live shows. These are very similar sizes and tunings.
Have you guys done any co-writing with people outside of your band? If so, how did it go?
Not yet, we are recording an EP over the next couple of months and we have a few ideas about this though.
How did the COVID lockdown affect your efforts - what did you guys do during that time?
Covid was tough as we obviously had to put a halt on doing things together in person. The positives that came from it were great though. Dean used the time to build a studio, named The Chicken Coop, which we’ve used for all of our rehearsals and recording since we were allowed back together. It also put Dean and Dan back in touch in a musical sense, with Dean recording bass lines for some of Dan's solo tracks. This eventually led to Dan becoming part of the Paytron Saint story. Nick used the time to write a lot of new material - so much in fact, that we're still working through it as a band.
You've recently been through a line-up change - which is hard on any band. How are you guys doing with it, and what possibilities/opportunities to see coming from it?
A line up change in any band is hard as you connect on so many levels through the process of making music. However, it was something we’ve been preparing for and the reason for getting Dan in on drums early on before Joel eventually had to step out. Carrying on as a three piece has its benefits though, more room in the van & easier to organise everyone for rehearsals, recording and gigging. It also frees us up to play further afield as the three of us are self employed and can be very flexible with travelling to gigs.
If you had the opportunity to place "Mirror" into any TV show, or movie, what would it be and why?
Nick - Any hit Netflix show! Hasn't done Kate Bush any harm…
Dan – I'm a huge horror fan and I quite like the idea of putting it in a really dark scene where something terrible is happening and Nick is belting out 'And I hope that you feel better' in the background.
What musical guilty pleasure do each of you have? ;) (Mine is the Spice Girls, sorry, not sorry.)
Nick - Well, speaking of the Spice Girls, me and my nine year old daughter are currently learning Bryan Adams and Mel C's 'When You're Gone' to sing together, so I'll go with that.
Dean - The first album I ever bought was All Saints self titled album, which I still stand by, the embarrassing part is I later thought the Red Hot Chilli Peppers had covered Under The Bridge.
Dan – When I was a little kid I cried a lot and was a terrible sleeper. The only thing that would calm me down was the Housemartins song Caravan Of Love, I still love that song but I always get told it's terrible.
What excites you about the music industry today, and what pisses you off the most?
Nick - The thing that excites me the most is the same thing that pisses me off: Anybody can release their own music, anytime. That's great in theory - and often in practice - until you realise that 90% of what gets released is dross.
Dean - The exciting part is it’s so easy to connect with people anywhere in the world but at the same time with so much music being created and shared all the time it’s getting harder to push through the crowd.
Dan – The fact that there are no 'gatekeepers' any more is very exciting. You no longer need a label or expensive distributors to get your music out there and the developments in technology that allow us to record from the Chicken Coop is brilliant. It pisses me off that there are still people out there trying to financially exploit musicians that are just out to make music.
Have any of you toured over here in the States before? If so, what was your experience like? If not, where would you like to experience?
We haven’t played in the States but if you fancy hooking us up with some shows let’s do it!
How are the London crowds versus crowds in smaller towns? Who's more receptive?
Traditionally, London crowds can be hard work, but we were really surprised how receptive people were at our first show there at The Finsbury recently. We were playing alongside three great acoustic acts and half expected the room to empty when we turned the amps on but folks stayed and took the time to talk to us after. We're really looking forward to our next London show at The Gunners on the 28th April.
If you could play any venue in the UK, what would it be? Same thing for the US, Australia and South America.
We love any venue with a receptive crowd and we'd play ANYWHERE in those countries that'd have us! We'd love to get out of the UK to play! There are a bunch of great festivals around the world we would love to play, Glastonbury/Reading here in the UK, South By SouthWest in the States, Big Day Out in Australia and Rock In Rio in South America.
What's been the best gig you've been a part of and why?
Nick - Playing our local favourite venue - Dubrek Studios, Derby - to a packed, sweaty, appreciative audience
Dan - We played a relatively local festival called Y Not last year where friends of ours were running the stage and a ton of our friends from bands were playing. The atmosphere was fantastic and it was a proper local musician reunion.
Tell us one of your funny / horror stories from a gig - something that other musicians can relate to.;)
Dean - We played an outdoor community event in Derby last year, all powered off a generator. My amp decided intermittently through the set that there was not enough power and decided to sit quietly. This kept happening at the big chorus moments coinciding with everyone else’s distortion and fuzz pedals coming on. We muddled through the set and as the last chord rang out the heavens opened and torrential rain soaked everything. In the haste to get our gear into the dry Dan dropped and bent a cymbal. We had another gig that evening so there was a lot of frantic high dryer action. A day we do not want to repeat. (Dan: to make it all worse, I'd been to a gig at the Olympic Park in London the night before and on the way back every road we needed was closed so I got in at around 7am before having to get up and sort my gear at at 10am)
Dan – A few years back I headlined a festival with a band I used to be in that was all run off the back of a lorry. We played great and the crowd was really into it but when I stepped off my drum riser at the end, I put my foot down funny and ended up spraining my groin muscle. I couldn't walk for weeks and it is still the most painful injury I've ever had!
If you could be a mentor to a teen-age rock band, what would you work with them on - how could you help them?
Nick - I kind of do this already - I'm a drum teacher and I work with quite a few teenagers who are often just starting out in bands. Other than drum stuff, I sometimes help with songwriting advice.
Dean - I would encourage them to enjoy the song writing process and each other's company, you spend so much time hanging about together outside of playing you really need to connect. I’d also say it’s important to be up front about everyone’s ambitions and wants for the band to make sure they’re starting out on the same journey. We’ve all been in too many bands where friction comes from people wanting to really push forward and others who just want to play for a bit of a hobby.
Dan – What the other two said but also, there are more 'business' style things we've learned over the years and from personal experience, like how to come across as more professional when gigging, having a plan for your releases and using social media in a way that promotes your music but also represents you as people. There's a lot of mistakes I've made that it would be nice to help other people avoid.
How have your musical goals changed from when you started this band, to where it is now?
Nick- They haven't really, I still just want to create great music. Something relatable for whoever chooses to listen. I mean, we're a noisy, grungey rock band but we love beautiful melodies so hopefully that all comes across.
Dan – I've always been in bands for the sake of playing and making music and that hasn't changed since I started doing this. I think as I've grown up I've realised the importance of putting time into the management and business side of things, especially when taking a slightly more DIY approach like we are at the moment.
Who do each of you think the greatest representative for your particular instrument? Not the best musician, per se, but the best representative of it?
Nick - Well since he's on my mind at the moment (sadly, for obvious reasons) I'm gonna say Tom Verlaine. What an amazing, innovative guitarist. I just saw a TikTok where Nels Cline from Wilco breaks down some of Tom's playing on Marquee Moon. It's goddamn mesmerising!
Dean - Victor Wooten on bass. Although the guy is a genius on the instrument I love how in many interviews he talks about the importance of playing to the song and not your ego. Keeping bass lines simple to fit the groove and taking those moments to add some flourish when it fits the song.
Dan – I would say drummers like Thomas Lang, Benny Greb and Anika Niles who are insanely good but know the importance of supporting the song. The fact they want to pass on their knowledge of their instrument is also a reflection of how great they are as both musicians and people.
Where can we find you on the interwebs, what are your socials?
Best place to go is www.paytronsaint.co.uk from here you will be linked to all of our socials. We’re mostly active on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Any clue as to why "hot chicken" is a thing here in Nashville? Seriously, it's awful. Why anyone would choose to do that to their body is beyond us. Any help you could give would be most appreciated.
Nick - I'm assuming that's just spicy chicken, right? That doesn't seem so bad! (I'll google it, maybe I'll change my mind)
Dean - I cannot handle spice so I’m with you. Some people do find pleasure in pain though, each to their own I suppose but I’ll pass
Thanks mate, Dan
Thanks for your time, guys! I’m definitely out of the loop with respect to booking tours these days (been too long), but if you need a place to stay in Nashville let me know! You’re on your own with Hot Chicken, though.