Towers – Self-Titled Debut EP Track By Track
"The entire project of Towers is something which vocalist/guitarist Mark openly reveals is rooted in his mental wellbeing: “I went through a tough time last year with personal and mental issues. Music was the only thing that kept me going through it. I started writing these songs during that time, and once I recorded them I had made a lot of progress with myself. It was basically therapy for me!” In fact, all of Towers’ members, who comprise Guitarist Dan, Bassist Matt and Drummer Jamie, share this motivation, as Mark explains “We do it for the love for music, we love playing music, writing music, and we are all best friends. That’s really it! It’s that simple. If we don’t write music we go crazy. Trust me.” The tracks certainly are: anthemic, brimming with emotion, infectious harmonies and an overriding sense of positivity. Easily drawing comparisons to the likes of Deaf Havana, 30 Seconds To Mars and Biffy Clyro, the band cite influences ranging from Jimmy Eat World to Sigur Ros. As they gear up to release the EP on September 30th, the band are pleased to discuss it, track by track…
1) TITAN: This track punches you straight away and is probably the most all round ‘Towers’ track we have done so far. It’s full of energy, with an epic ending. Beginning life as a song Dan wrote, Mark just added vocals. However, Dan was never happy with how the song started, so it has about 5 different intros in demo form. This was one of the 1st songs we wrote, so lyrically it’s all about starting a new band. Like all of the songs, we recorded with Jonny Renshaw, who is also in Devil Sold His Soul, at Bandit Studios. All the songs were mapped out and we slowly added more layers to each song. This features Signals’ Ellie Price, as we wanted something different to this track. Most Towers tracks are meant to be uplifting and there is usually a resolve to a problem stated in the start of each song. As a result of recording with Jonny, each track sounds massive, we are so happy with how they all sound. Especially Ellie’s performance in this track.
2) OTHERSIDE: Originally intended as an acoustic track, this is our rock ballad and probably the most melodic of the 3. It forms a very emotional and honest portrayal of mental illness that Mark has gone through first hand. Taking around 2 weeks to complete, it was borne from a time when he was at his lowest point of depression and anxiety. Living alone in Milton Keynes, he decided to write it as something to look back on, to realize how far he would come, knowing he was about to seek help in dealing with his problems. In his own words “It’s saying everything I was unable to say to anyone at the time.” When it came to tracking, it was a challenge for the rest of the band to get their heads around, as it was their first time hearing it! But it has become a firm favourite amongst some of them now. Live it’s hard to sing, as it’s so deeply personal and packed with layers to consider - but it’s a challenge we love to put into a live setting.
3) COULD HAVE: In short it’s a summery, catchy as f--k rock song! Technically it is the oldest Towers track, written around 2 years old, originally intended for a previous band. Following a refining process, which saw it have 4 chorus ideas before we settled on this one. It was a hard song to get right! Thematically it’s all about dwelling on things you never did and where you may be in your life if you had done them, echoing Mark’s feelings at the time as he dealt with personal issues. We love the harmonies on this track, which were a last minute addition during tracking. We also added a lot of extra instruments to this song, such as shakers and acoustic guitar, so it was great to record. It’s so much fun live - such an upbeat track to play with a lot of varied parts to it.
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