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Photo Credit:
Ren Faulkner
June 19, 2024|FEATURES

“That moment of discovery has always stayed with me through my whole life ” – EYE chat songwriting, Wrexham and debut album Dark Light

Off the back of their gloomy debut album Dark Light we caught up with EYE frontwoman Jessica Ball to discuss the journey from her first inspiration to the final album.

After almost a decade as the vocalist of North Wales-based psychedelic doom band MWWB (formerly Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard), Ball forged her own path with EYE gothy, synth-infused mix of moody atmospheres, fuzzed-out riffs, and ethereal melodies. Forming EYE as a trio alongside her partner and drummer Gid Goundrey, Ball used the project as a creative outlet and escape during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

On hearing Dark Light it’s obvious that Ball was channeling an entirely different set of influences to those heard in MWWB with a more intensely personal, introspective feel than the sci-fi tinged doom of her previous project. To really examine the story behind the album, Ball revealed her first early explorations in music by saying “I think the things that I’ve been influenced by have sort of snowballed as I’ve gone along. I started doing actual music when I was thirteen, that’s starting from learning folk on an acoustic guitar and then I studied contemporary jazz guitar for three years so that was a different world of influence and emotion from that.” From there she explains “in my teens I started getting into heavier music and that moment of discovery has always stayed with me through my whole life while other influences have come and gone. Then being in Mammoth Weed [Wizard Bastard] was sort of the heavier end of the spectrum for me and Eye was sort of reflective, emotive side of that heaviness.”

EYE is the first project where Ball has been able to lead a band as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter; shedding light on the differences working in Eye and MWWB she says “So with Mammoth Weed, which is what I like to abbreviate it to, there’s a different dynamic, Dave [Paul Michael Davis] the guitarist would write the riffs and structure and I would put my vocals over the top, that band was more of a collaborative effort,” whereas she explains that in EYE “it’s been my songs that I’ve written and collected over the years and then the other members have come in and put their parts over that”.

Being in Mammoth Weed [Wizard Bastard] was sort of the heavier end of the spectrum for me and Eye was sort of reflective, emotive side of that heaviness

Expanding on the role that she played as guitarist and songwriter as part of a trio in Eye, Ball explains “I like that EYE gives me some space when it comes to songwriting, when you’re just writing a song on guitar you don’t just play the same chords for ages and nothing happens, when you have other people adding parts it gives you that freedom to have these big gaps and spaces which you would actually like to have in a song”. Touching on the formation of the band and the roles the two other members play Ball reminisces “I was thinking about this the other day, I’ve always been surrounded by these amazing musicians but it was the introduction of Gid [Goundrey, drummer] and Jonny [keys], when we started playing together it wasn’t with the intention of starting this band, we just started jamming in lockdown. I kind of realised these could be the two people, the chosen ones, to help me achieve this dream”.

Related: EYE – Dark Light | Album Review

Despite playing for multiple different bands in the past, EYE was drummer Gid Goundrey’s first project on drums, Ball explains “it all sort of happened by accident, we were at our friend’s house who had an electronic drum kit and, from a different room, I heard somebody playing drums but there weren’t any drummers there, I was like “who the hell is that?”I went in and he was playing and I said to him “you need to get a drum kit”. I bought him an electronic drum kit to basically take him and make him my drummer”. She goes on to shake off any apprehension about having a new drummer saying “Our songs aren’t too complex and the point of the style is to be kind of laid back and slow so I think this whole combination works really well for the kind of songs I wanted to make.”

I kind of realised these could be the two people, the chosen ones, to help me achieve this dream

Since moving to the UK from South Africa in 2010, Jessica Ball has spent most of her time living in Wrexham in North Wales, only moving to Cardiff, where EYE were formed just before the COVID-19 pandemic and recently relocating back to Wrexham. On the differences between the cities she says, “Wrexham’s such a random place on a map, it’s obviously known for the football now but it’s not really known for anything else. It’s just an old market town, it has this weird effect because it’s quite rural if you go in basically any direction, so anybody who wants to be around similar, like minded people comes to Wrexham. It’s kind of bred this really raw music scene which kind of exists without trying to be anything,” whereas down in the south “a lot of people go to Cardiff to try and be successful. It makes sense because it is the capital of Wales and it’s got some absolutely amazing venues and an amazing music scene so you get people coming in with a bit more intention so it’s a bit less rough around the edges […] I absolutely love both and neither is a criticism at all, they’re both amazing in their own rights.”

Now that Wrexham has had international attention through actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s popular documentary series following their purchase of the town’s football team Ball discusses whether Wrexham’s music scene could see similar attention saying “the biggest thing that Wrexham has as a musical export is a festival called FOCUS Wales which is a bit of an industry festival which takes over the town for a long weekend. Every venue is full of gigs, it’s the best! So whether that gets involved with the football somehow, maybe through an endorsement or something.” Ball isn’t getting her hopes up too much though, joking “I can’t imagine Rob and Ryan coming to The Royal Oak on a Thursday to watch the open mic just yet but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

Dark Light is out now via New Heavy Sounds. Purchase the record here. 

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