Pearl Diver
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Pearl Diver

Oxford, United Kingdom | Established. Jan 01, 2019 | SELF

Oxford, United Kingdom | SELF
Established on Jan, 2019
Band Alternative Rock

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"The Oxford Times"

Hey Pearl Diver, how is it going? some of our readers might not be familiar with your project, how would you describe yourself, in a few words?

We are essentially a three-piece classic rock line-up of bass, drums and guitar.  That's the foundation, the holy trinity, but some songs might require a little augmentation on top: harmonies, Hammond, harpsichord. 

The three of us have been playing music together for seven years now.  The last record we made, as Art Theefe, I had begun before we got together.  It had started out as a solo adventure, to which I then recruited Josh and Joel.  It's only in the last couple of years that we have really become a band, and this is reflected in the name change, but also in the sound.  The whole thing is much more coherent - we've pretty much done our 10,000 hours now - and I wanted to honour that by launching these new songs as an entirely new project, which it is.


Your current work is the result of a long journey; What first drew you to making music?

I've been in bands and into music since my teens.  Despite learning the recorder at school - like every other wretched child of the 1970s (torture for all concerned) - it wasn't until the age of 11 that I got my first real initiation into music.
 
One evening, at my Grandma's house, I chanced upon an original copy of the Beatles' White Album that had previously belonged to my Dad.  I took it home, wired together an old record player that was gathering dust in a cupboard, plugged in some headphones and that was it for me.  
 
I was up until dawn, utterly transfixed, awe-struck, terrified, elated.    This incredible music filling every recess of my young, open mind.  That night absolutely changed my life - I became completely obsessed: I had to find out for myself how to make music, and I'm still trying to figure it out.
 
I spent my twenties as a guitar slinger in a band, playing every student union and festival in the land several times over (our manager was a well established London booking agent). I/It was a well-spent youth.
 
When that band came to an end, in the Autumn of 1994, my band-mates went on to form Faithless, and I moved onto a boat on the Oxford Canal, just north of Jericho, began writing songs on an acoustic guitar, and started looking for somewhere creative to call home. 
 
When I was living in London, in between tours, we all used to hang out at a weekly, unplugged session at the Troubadour in Earl's court, run by the band Miro.  It was a fantastic atmosphere amid a thriving, vibrant, creative community.
 
Upon arriving in Oxford, I immediately went in search of something similar, but, unable to find it, I hired the snug of the Vicky Arms in Jericho, put a few posters up around the place, told my neighbours on the boats, and the Catweazle Club was born.
 
It was a great vibe from that very first session: just a handful of poets and players, passing a guitar around and taking turns to share their wares with the room.  No mic.  All ears.  Within a few weeks, the room was so packed, we had to take the bigger room upstairs.  And on and on and on we went, until Covid came to call.  2020 would have been our 26th year.

What would be your dream collaboration?

Keith Moon on drums, Nina SImone on piano, Elvis on bass.

You recently released You Can Bring Your Darkness. Can you tell us how that project came about?

The subject matter for this song came about after talking with my wife about the importance of allowing all the shameful, difficult aspects of ourselves into a relationship.  She was having a tough time and wasn't sure if it was ok to share it with me, while I happened to be starting to write this song.  We both just got into it after that. 
 
Trusting the other to be able to hold all of whoever you are, rather than having to hide any 'unlovable' aspects of ourselves as we maybe had been raised to do, is the cornerstone of a deep and loving relationship.  This is very liberating, and I don't think it is possible to have a lasting or fulfilling relationship without being able to be 100% yourself.  You Can Bring Your Darkness is about welcoming all of the other, with all of their shadows and shameful secrecies.

And I think that in order to cultivate the capacity to fully hold the darkness in the other, we have to own and acknowledge and hold it in ourselves.  So many of the world's problems stem from our refusal to do this.  We project our un-owned shadow on to others, making them 'bad'.
We recorded it pre-lockdown at a studio in London, and in a remote Welsh cottage I was renting that year. I shot the video on my phone last summer in Majorca.


What inspires your songwriting work?

I love nowt more than tinkering with a melody, or a turn of phrase, playing with words, savouring their vibration. Inspiration is the inhalation of all things Life. Exhalation is the creative endeavour. But I always need to remind myself: only a fool tries to capture Beauty.

I have some sort of OCD, or maybe I am just a creative person.  Either way, I can't sit still for long and thankfully, I have this outlet which is song writing. I love losing myself to that woozy, trance-like dream-state, the landing of melodies and lyrics, which I can then leisurely fashion into a finished form.  What a thing it is, to create something like a song, such a diaphanous fellow.  You can't touch it or taste it or smell it or see it, but it lasts forever, and can be so deeply affecting to the human psyche.  Such a nifty wee device, is a song.


We are all missing live music at the moment. Once on the other side, which music venue would you choose for your first gig?

A small, packed, sweaty room, anywhere, with a well-stocked bar and a wicked sound system.


What's your band strategy in terms of music promotion? Direct-2-fans or via the "big dogs"?



Finally, what are your plans for the future? (releases, gigs etc.)

This is the first single, of around 20 new pieces, all of which were written over the last couple of years. You Can Bring Your Darkness is the first of several we will release this year, with an album to follow once everything's finished.

I feel pretty damn lucky getting to play music with these guys.  Chemistry is everything in a creative collaboration, and we have had that, in greedy, drunken doses, from day one.  One of the things the three of us have all missed most during the past year, is simply getting into a room together, plugging in, and taking off.  Playing together in a room, just the three of us, is our medicine: it's how we get to feel free. 

As for playing live…who knows? - Front Cover


"Backseat Mafia"

Oxford trio Pearl Driver, aka Mat Sage on vocals and guitar, Josh Rigal on bass and drummer Joel Bassuk have changed things up from their days as Art Theefe, and have just released their new single You Can Bring Your Darkness, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere the video right here on Backseat Mafia today.

Of the song, the band say “This song explores what it might be like when we dare to bring all of ourselves in relationship: to lovers, to friends or to family. All of the shadowy, dark and ‘unlovable’ parts. To be fully wanted and welcome as we truly are.It is released on the Spring Equinox, just in time to bring our darkness into the light.”

Soaked in sun and draped in this hazy hue, You Can Bring You’re Darkness is this beautiful slice of pop music that skirts both indie and elements of soul, but manages to twang your heartstrings with these harmonies and brushes of guitar, and a chorus that sings straight to you.

Check it, and the beautifully shot accompanying video, here - You Can Bring Your Darkness


"Music-News.com"

This is the first single from Pearl Diver and a sumptuous jazz and soul tinged number it is too. Hints of the Style Council maybe.

But there is a deep side to the song as it explores the concept of bringing all of the hidden sides and aspects of ourselves to our relationships – whether that be to lovers, family or friendships.

Matt Sage’s vocals are tender and sweet (I love the way he sings with an English accent rather than trying to sound American) with a gorgeous conga backbeat and classic ‘sha la la’s in the backing vocals as he entreats a lover/friend/etc to ‘Bring Their Darkness’. The whole band are clearly experienced and play to a high standard.

Beautifully recorded and played, it works on many levels. Delightful. - You Can Bring Your Darkness


"The Other Side Reviews"

Following their critically acclaimed project Art Theefe, Mat Sage (vocals and guitar), Josh Rigal (bass) and Joel Bassuk (drums) are forging ahead with a new group called Pearl Diver. Noting their influence as “sunshine after rain”, the Oxford-based trio began playing together in 2019. Already gaining a loyal following from their success as Art Theefe, the new project is making waves with their unique sound. We bring you their debut single ‘You Can Bring Your Darkness’.


Recorded across Wales, London and Oxford, ‘You Can Bring Your Darkness’ is a soothing swirl of sound. Following the uncertainty of existence in a pandemic, Pearl Diver’s soft serenade is truly welcome. Combining evocative guitars, steady drums and Sage’s dulcet vocals, ‘You Can Bring Your Darkness’ is a languid and enchanting single.

“This song explores what it might be like when we dare to bring all of ourselves in relationship to lovers, to friends or to family. All of the shadowy, dark and unlovable parts. To be fully wanted and welcome as we truly are.” – Pearl Diver on ‘You Can Bring Your Darkness’

While the melody is calm and flowing, it is Sage’s rich vocals that win my heart. Using a personal narrative, Sage engages with a listener in a laidback, chilled out way. Reflective and slightly nostalgic with a lingering sense of optimism, ‘You Can Bring Your Darkness’ is a serene sonic representation of the good in life. The incorporation of Sage’s daughters as backing vocals also adds a serene element to the track giving you goosebumps with their hushed “la la la”.

Serene and sophisticated with brutal honesty throughout, Pearl Diver effortlessly places you on a cloud drifting away to that happier place. I began the day slightly tense and frustrated, however, all that tension disappears when I listen to ‘You Can Bring Your Darkness’. It really is sunshine after rain. - You Can Bring Your Darkness


Discography

You Can Bring Your Darkness, released 21.03.21

Photos

Bio

Pearl Diver are a three piece band from Oxford, England, put together by singer and guitarist, Matt Sage. 

“A great artist” – Gilles Peterson; 

“Seriously gorgeous sounds” – Mike Scott, The Waterboys, 

“Sublime”, Nightshift Magazine
 
When his first band came to an end - with the other founder members going on to form Faithless – Matt Sage moved onto a boat on the Oxford Canal and founded the City’s now legendary weekly performance night, The Catweazle Club, for singers, poets, storytellers, musicians and performers of every imaginable hue, still going strong today.

“Magical” – BBC Radio 4

“An Essential Cultural Interlude” – The Guardian

“Britain’s Most Intimate Performance Space” – The Times.


Catweazle has been the springboard for literally thousands of artists since it began in 1994, including first performances from the likes of Stornoway and Foals.


While drawing huge rewards from having been at the axis of such a vibrant scene for well over two decades, Sage still uses the Club to keep his own game razor sharp.  A relentlessly prolific artist and song writer, his songs have such broad appeal that they have been played on Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6 and as both a solo artist and song writing mentor, he has appeared at festivals throughout the world, including Glastonbury, WOMAD, Secret Garden Party, Bestival, etc. 

Pearl Diver are:

Matt Sage – guitar, vocals

Josh Rigal – bass

Joel Bassuk - drums
 
They are consummate creators of classic music: truly great songs, played by a quintessential trio of bass, drums and guitar, but one which also belies a rare versatility.
 
With the intense emotion of The Swell Season’s Glen Hansard or Jeff Buckley, the layered guitars of Fleetwood Mac and the heartfelt soul of Van Morrison.  The broken-hearted keening of John Martyn to the ragged mastery of the Stones at their peak: theirs is a thrilling confluence of influences.  


They released their debut single as Pearl Diver - You Can Bring Your Darkness - on 21.03.21.


Of the band, and the record, singer-guitarist, Matt Sage, says: “The three of us have been playing music together for seven years now.  The last record we made, as Art Theefe, I had begun before we got together.  It had started out as a solo adventure, to which I then recruited Josh and Joel.  It's only in the last couple of years that we have really become a band, and this is reflected in the name change, but also in the sound.  The whole thing is much more coherent - we've pretty much done our 10,000 hours now - and I wanted to honour that by launching these new songs as an entirely new project, which it is. 

The subject matter for this song came about after talking with my wife about the importance of allowing all the shameful, difficult aspects of ourselves into a relationship.  She was having a tough time and wasn't sure if it was ok to share it with me, while I happened to be starting to write this song.  We both just got into it after that. 

Trusting the other to be able to hold all of whoever you are, rather than having to hide any 'unlovable' aspects of ourselves as we maybe had been raised to do, is the cornerstone of a deep and loving relationship.  This is very liberating, and I don't think it is possible to have a lasting or fulfilling relationship without being able to be 100% yourself.  You Can Bring Your Darkness is about welcoming all of the other, with all of their shadows and shameful secrecies.

And I think that in order to cultivate the capacity to fully hold the darkness in the other, we have to own and acknowledge and hold it in ourselves.  So many of the world's problems stem from our refusal to do this.  We project our un-owned shadow on to others, making them ‘bad'.

We recorded the song pre-lockdown at a studio in London, and in a remote Welsh cottage I was renting at the time.  I shot the video on my phone last summer in Majorca.  This is the first release of a whole batch of new songs that we will putting out over the coming months.”

Band Members