Gemma Cockrell
Bristol quartet Hypothetics have temporarily abandoned their punk roots for a more emotional and contemplative moment on their latest hip-hop infused single 351, released on 6th August. Gemma Cockrell spoke to the band, which consists of George Bailey (vocals), Dan Pacini (guitar), Jim Wilcox (drums) and Joe Holliday (bass), about the inspirations behind this unexpected shift in sound.
How would you describe your new single 351?
DAN PACINI: 351 is one of the only songs we’ve written with a hook that people can latch onto immediately. It’s essentially a hip-hop track but through the filter of what is a very live band. We like the blend that you hear on shows like NTS Tinydesk, where you get the crossover of a rap artist being backed by live musicians, as opposed to sampled beats.
What inspired you to release a hip-hop ballad?
GEORGE BAILEY: We’ve always ended up drifting between all kinds of genres when writing songs. 351 would never have worked as a punk track, so we just let it develop into something more soulful.
George has always looked up to rappers as lyricists
Were there any other bands or artists who influenced this sound?
JIM WILCOX: It’s hard to pick out individual artists. George has always looked up to rappers as lyricists, and there are loads of soul/indie bands too, but the sound really comes from us. We wanted to get the band to support the groove like with a hip-hop track but without losing any of the feel of the instruments. I’d say ‘Sour Soul’ by BADBADNOTGOOD and Ghostface Killah is a project that really achieves this.
What is the track about lyrically?
GB: The song is about creative frustration, feeling like you’re caught in a loop. I was looking through my book of lyrics after a year of filling it and couldn’t help but feel like I was stuck on repeat.
What is the story behind the B-side, Say Nothing?
JW: Say Nothing is a song straight out of Dan’s bedroom, about an unsuccessful love story. It’s just him completely solo but it’s gone down so well live in the past and we decided it would make a perfect B-side. We’ve got a cheeky little video coming for that soon too.
Have you got any plans for more new music soon?
JOE HOLLIDAY: We do! It’s been a very slow year release-wise for us, but we’ve got a few new tunes recorded now that we’re excited to get out there. Don’t expect any break in new music from us!
The music we’ve written in the last 18 months has gone in a heavy direction again
What do you predict that your future releases will sound like? Will you continue to experiment with hip-hop?
JH: The music we’ve written in the last 18 months has gone in a heavy direction again – perhaps as a means of release when we couldn’t play live. Punk is only a small section of our inspiration though and we’d like to think we have a lot of unexpected cards up our sleeves.
Have you got any live shows planned in the near future?
DP: Yeah, at the first opportunity to come and play Nottingham we’ll be there. We’ve got a few mates at uni there, and they’ve been relaying good things about the city. As for hometown shows, we’ve got a release party for the new tune planned at Rough Trade in Bristol, and there’ll be plenty more being announced now things have opened up!
Gemma Cockrell
Featured image courtesy of Jonty Fuller. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article images courtesy of @thehypothetics via instagram.com. No changes were made to these images.
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