The Melancholic Folk Collective are a project headed by Tom Vernel, consisting on this album of Vernel (Guitars, Bass, Percussion and Main Vocals), Dani Romo (Guitars, Bass, Drum Effects), Corina Gonzalez and Nuria Lopez (Accompanying Vocals). The current, and first Album is titled "Welcome To Melancholia". It was recorded at El Mejillon Studio, Talavera de la Reina, Spain, but some earlier recordings from Glasshouse Studio in Glasgow, Scotland, were used and recycled, featuring the help of Adam Millar, Kenneth Thomson, Darren Erkul and Michael Kenneth (All Guitars), Cameron Leckie (Bass) and Daniel McNiell (Drums). The Album was produced and mastered by Dani Romo, original stems from Glasgow were produced by Lewis Glass.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hello The Melancholic Folk Collective. What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
I wouldn't even pretend to be a great musician, I didn't begin to learn to play guitar till I was ahem, quite mature, and I still regard myself as an intermediate learner. I do however believe in my songs, and I would be extremely proud to see someone else cover them, that' really my kind of goal, an achievement if you like, should it ever happen. So I suppose you could say my strength would be belief in my tunes and words.
Who inspired you to make music?
I've always had tunes in my head, even since long ago when I was a kid, I even sang for a kind of part time band in the 1980s in Glasgow, where I wrote some lyrics to tunes that they already had. Ten years ago after saying every year that I regretted never learning to play guitar, my partner bought me my first acoustic, on which I self taught for 15 months, picking up bad habits, before finally seeking tuition. After a few years of Saturday sessions I first formed the original project that became the Collective, bringing my songs to my fellow students and rehearsing them. My musical inspirations range from Bowie, Neil Young, The Beatles, The Byrds and anything in the acoustic spectrum.
Your latest release is 'Welcome To Melancholia'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
The album is the result of a project I had planned since I first began to write songs with my guitar. The first six songs were recorded in Glasgow with my friends and colleagues from the music class. All learners together, with the help of our tutor and a hired drummer. I've since redone the songs from the original sessions, leaving some stems, removing others due to having too much instrumentation on them, also some vocal tracks were corrupted so I redone them in Spain with new backing vocalists. The rest of the album was done from scratch in Spain. The theme of the album is mostly about affairs of the mind, insecurity, depression, longing etc, but ultimately hope, when all is lost. The clue is in the title Welcome To Melancholia.
Can you shortly describe each of the tracks that are on the album?
I Can't Go On is self explanatory really, about a relationship that has reached a crisis point.
Standing On The Edge Of The Ocean is about feeling hopeless and without a future, being in a bad place, but always, always there is an offer of a helping hand.
Lament For Lost Youth is just as it says on the tin, the subject of the song laments that his days of being young and carefree are over.
Lose It emphasises the fragile state of the mind, and how easy it is for someone to feel lost, backed into a corner and losing your mind, or your temper.
Leaden Sky, the lyrics are an analogy for things being bad, your mood id low, but maybe something will change and things will look up.
Ride The Wave is a forlorn longing for someone special in the life of the subject, has she left him, or perhaps she has died, it's open to interpretation.
Trip, is a short song about unrequited love for someone who is oblivious to your desires.
Train is a song about decisions to be made, that will affect the rest of your life, and the conflict in your mind.
Colony is a song about the advance of man, technically and culturally from the past to an unknown future, to what ends, no one knows.
Santa Cruz is a movie in my head, about a guy on the run facing his demise in Santa Cruz, California because I liked the name of the town, he's not a good guy, just misguided, but he knows time is up.
Home is the end of the album, for when you feel as if you've stretched too far away from your roots, and now the time has come to consider going back.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest musical trends?
I like most forms of music, I like genres now since I started playing and recording, that I never liked before, but to say I keep up with trends would be a stretch.
What makes you different from others?
I'm not essentially different from others, just a bit off the straight and narrow, a bit left field, I say I'm a Folk / Rock artist but I don't know if I am, I say I'm an acoustic artist but the first five tracks on the album don't really say that. I do genuinely think I sound a bit different to a lot of new artists, I try for a complete live scenario in the studio, three takes and go, although that's not always possible.
What’s an average day like for you?
An average day for me is just whiling away the hours, try to perfect some tunes on my guitar, look after my Galgo Espanol, and currently, starting planning my next album which will be called Virtual Travelogue, I have 12 songs planned for this project.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
Ha ha, I don't know, because as far as I know, I don't have any fans. I have people who support me, like a couple of friends here in Talavera de la Reina, and my partner of course. My family in Scotland probably aren't quite grasping yet that I'm making music with a view to critical and financial success. If I had fans, I'd love to meet them.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Just do it, just have a go, who fucking cares if you aren't Neil Young or Frank Zappa or Lou Reed or John Lennon, someone somewhere will get what you're doing. If I can get plays on Spotify, although not as many as I would like, anyone can.
What are your plans for the future?
I plan to make music as long as people are happy to indulge me, I have a catalogue of almost 100 songs, three quarters have yet to be recorded, and I'm still writing more, but I need to concentrate on one at a time, that's a real fault with me, oh I also plan to keep breathing for a long time to come.