Buy Pop Songs for the Disenchanted now!
£8.00
What, Why, Where?
Dark, bittersweet, paranoid and honest moments of doubt, and glimpses of happiness, from the North of England, UK. Isolated reality wondering 'what the hell is This about.'
Line Up
The Tripping Cherubs is a tag given to the solo work of Andrew Middleton.
"I don't like the idea of being a solo 'artist'. It just doesn't fit with the way I think about myself and my music. The sound in my head is not the sound of a spot-lit prima donna - it's the sound of guitars and voices. Plenty of them. So the Tripping Cherubs is a band."
The Tripping Cherubs have been recording since 1984 and the size of its line up does occasionally expand. "I'm a very collaborative person by nature, so I've been in plenty of bands with real people too! Still am in fact. Just at the moment it's hard getting people together - especially given the spontaneous way I'm working now."
Sound
Instrumentation always includes guitars. Usually there are many guitars, at least one bass and often drums. Glockenspiel, tambourine, violin and even keyboards.
Songs
Pop songs: usually between 2 and 5 minutes in length, usually with about 3 verses, a chorus, an intro, an outro and a middle bit or two. But not always. Melody is important, especially in the choruses. Chord sequences are often classic and often simple.
So if the songs are so simple, what's special about them?
"Their simplicity! When I look at my favourite bands and favourite songs everything is simple so that the 'special' can emerge from that. It was the way I painted too - an identicle philosophy: structure and arrange everything clearly so when there is colour it really sings. That's the plan!
It's just like people. At first glance we're made from a simple set of features. People start to get interesting when, from that simple outline, the character and the quirkiness starts to emerge."