It is painstakingly difficult to be an instrumental act and to succeed within the popular music sphere. Many listeners tend to shun purely instrumental music, perhaps finding it less relatable or stimulating in comparison to a good old fashioned pop song. The instrumental acts that do triumph tend to have something undeniable about them – a way of speaking without words. There’s not many better sonic conversationalists than GoGo Penguin.
The Manchester-native trio, consisting of pianist Chris Illingworth, double bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Jon Scott, are amongst the most impressive instrumental acts in the scene. With music that continuously surprises, evokes and challenges, there seems to be limitless creative output from the band who progress their unique style with each passing release. Over a decade deep in releasing, the group have drawn startling critical acclaim from peers, audiences and critics, drawing largely on classical, jazz and minimalist influences to devise a sound that they define as “acoustic-electronica”.
The Mercury Prize nominated act have announced the release of their forthcoming album, Everything Is Going to Be OK, set for release on 14th April. An album born out of a arduous time of grief and uncertainty for the band, the project became a cathartic release of emotion, with the time spent creating in the studio a break from the strife of reality. We’ve so far been treated to four singles from the upcoming body of work; most recently, we became enveloped in the word of “Parasite”, a track that tells a vivid story of hope and prosperity through pain in its intricate instrumental eminence and musical narration.
Ahead of the release of Everything Is Going to Be OK, we caught up with the trio to discuss the upcoming album and its emotional importance, creating depth in their compositions, and how their sound has developed over the years.
Listen to “Parasite”…
Read the full interview below…
After finding your love for creativity and music, how did that manifest into wanting to make a career out of it?
Nick: I think when I first really discovered listening to and playing music, it had such a profound impact on my life that it became an all-encompassing obsession. I didn’t really want to talk about or think about anything else. I think that when something hits you with such a profound, life changing impact, you’re not really thinking in terms of a career but more just a sense of not wanting to do anything else and trying to somehow make it work as a lifestyle. As soon as I picked up a bass, I knew that we were on a journey together.
Chris: I started playing piano quite early, around the age of 8, and after seeing a classical piano concert with my parents I apparently said to them ‘that’s what I want to do when I’m older’. I wasn’t really thinking about a career in music at that age, it was just a dream as a kid like saying you want to be a spaceman or a ninja or whatever, but as I kept learning and becoming more obsessed with music it became a real career goal and I knew there was nothing else I’d rather do.
How did you first form as a group?
Chris: We’d all known each other and played together in various groups for a good few years before we started GoGo Penguin. Manchester is a great city for music and creativity in general, it’s big enough that there’s plenty going on and space for everyone to do their thing but small enough that you get to know people, get to know what’s going on and feel part of a community. We recognised that we were similar minded in what we wanted to say and try to create as musicians and when we first started working together we knew there was something good going on, it just felt right.
What would you say have been the defining moments of your career to date?
Nick: Undoubtedly the Mercury Prize nomination back in 2014 was a huge moment for us and it brought us to a lot more people’s attention. Signing to Blue Note Records shortly afterwards is something that we’re hugely proud of. Then there have been other important markers along the way that just feel personally very important such as our first gig in New York. I was blown away that there were people queuing down the street in the snow in January for our very first ever gig there. Headlining our own show at the Royal Albert Hall is also something I’ll never forget.
How would you describe the essence of your sound?
Chris: We get asked this a lot and it’s tricky to answer. It’s not something we really think about that much, when we write we just go with what feels good in the moment, we tap into what we’re going through and experiencing at that moment in time and use those feelings, ideas and emotions in the music. At it’s core our music is acoustic – piano, bass and drums – but there has always been a big electronic music influence in there and for many years now there have been electronic elements in the band, more so than ever on our latest record. We always work closely together on new music, it’s never just the product of one person, and that combination of the three of us becomes something different, like an entity of its own that grows as we keep growing.
Your sound feels almost indefinable by normal industry standards – does standing out come naturally to you?
Nick: It certainly wasn’t some sort of clever marketing idea. I think there’s just a general interest within our group in incorporating what could be viewed as quite disparate styles into one place. It’s only because something has inspired us, and we’re not so interested in adhering to boundaries. The music industry still seems obsessed with categorisation, but I love the fact that Chris can talk to me with the same level of enthusiasm about Martha Argerich’s classical piano pieces as he does Dizzee Rascal’s freestyle rap flow and meter. I think you can find inspiration in all kinds of places and if you find it somewhere, then why not try to incorporate it. Maybe standing out musically does come naturally to us. Outside of music, we don’t really stand out particularly. We were lucky enough to do an NPR Tiny Desk Concert a few years ago and a few people often remind us that one of the top comments on YouTube is something like ‘looks like three guys from a laptop repair shop taking a break from work’ which of course is pretty funny.
Sonically, there is so much depth to your compositions. What is your usual creative process?
Chris: It tends to differ depending on the track. Usually one of us will come up with a small idea – could be a beat, a fragment of melody, a short chord sequence or sometimes something more abstract like trying to create a synth-like arpeggiator on the bass or making the piano sound like a kora – and then we develop it together. It’s often a laborious process of trying as many versions and permutations of an idea as possible but over the years the process has developed, particularly on this latest record.
How has the approach changed with time?
Nick: After Rob left the band, the composition process changed and it became a lot more collaborative between Chris and I. Chris always wrote a lot for the group but often, it was on his own and the ideas were quite fully formed before we started working on them. For this album, there were some pre-formed ideas but usually they were in a much more embryonic stage, and we worked on everything together. The other nice thing that came out of this album was more spontaneous jams that turned into tracks. In the past we’ve been a lot more laborious and everything is heavily considered when composing but the tracks “Friday Film Special” and “Glow” both just seemed to almost come out of nowhere in real time.
The new album Everything Is Going to Be OK is a stunning collection of tracks. How do you feel about it entering into the world?
Nick: Both a sense of excitement and a little trepidation. There’s no doubt that this is a hugely meaningful record for us both. It came out of a time of great uncertainty and we’re hugely proud of it. It’s also quite a lot different in places to anything that we’ve done before. However, when you’re writing a record, you have to go with the things that you like and stand by the decisions that you make. If other people like it then that’s incredible, but first and foremost you have to make sure you’re satisfying yourself with those creative decisions. We’re really looking forward to playing a lot of the new tracks and hopefully people will enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.
What has your sound developed since your last record?
Chris: I think we’ve really pushed our sound and explored a lot of new ideas as a band on the latest album. It’s not completely different, you can still hear it’s GoGo Penguin but I think we took a much bigger leap forward than we have done in the past. We were more confident in taking risks, trusting that if we felt good about where the music was going then that was the right direction to go in. We added more electronic elements than we have in the past (such as my Eurorack modular setup and Nick’s Moog Grandmother) and these quickly found their natural places within the acoustic core of the band. There’s also more of a hip-hop influence than we’ve explored in the past, particularly the instrumental hip-hop of artists like DJ Shadow, Aim and DJ Krush whose music Nick and I have listened to and been fans of since we were kids. We’ve always drawn from our personal lives and experiences but I think this record is a lot more personal, open and honest than the last one.
Talk me through the emotions you felt during the making of the album?
Nick: The last track on the album is called ‘Sanctuary’ and that’s because the studio became a sanctuary for us whilst writing this record. There was a ton of stuff happening in our lives at the time, Chris lost his grandmother, I lost my brother to cancer. We were still feeling the impact of recently losing a band member after Rob, our previous drummer, had left, but at the same time there were some beautiful things happening too. Chris had a son. Jon Scott joined the band as our new drummer. We felt a new sense of purpose and optimism. I think there are a lot of emotions wrapped up in the record. On one hand, it’s incredibly positive and uplifting but there are also the slightly darker more introspective moments also. Just the same as in life.
The album feels like a new chapter in your artistic and personal development. Has making it been a cathartic experience?
Nick: Yes, it has been cathartic. As I’ve already mentioned, it came out of a difficult and uncertain time. It was important for us to remember how to have fun when making music but also to not be afraid to try new things out. I think in the past, we’d possibly started to become a little too self-conscious and overly considered with every decision that we made. There are still compositions on the album that were intensely laboured over like always, but we had a much stronger sense of what we did and didn’t want and an attitude of feeling freer to do what we wanted rather than what we think people expect from us.
What do you want listeners to take away from the body of work?
Chris: Obviously we hope people enjoy the music we make but to be honest I think we just want people to feel something when they hear our record. Musical tastes are very individual and the experience of listening is very personal, two people might feel completely different emotions listening to the same track. It’s been a really tough few years but making this album has been an incredible experience and immensely enjoyable and hopefully now it will share that feeling with those who listen to it.
You’ve already achieved so much, but what are your remaining career goals?
Chris: To write a soundtrack for a computer game, to play Red Rocks in Colorado, and to keep playing and enjoying music until I’m an old man. I’m sure other goals will pop up over time but that feels like plenty to do for now.
What else is to come from you this year?
Nick: We’re touring a lot after the album comes out. We’ve got a few UK dates including New Century Hall in Manchester and The Roundhouse in London but first we’re heading to the US and Canada. We haven’t been back to the US since before Covid times so we’re definitely excited to get back out there to play some gigs. We’re also heading out to Japan for Fuji Rock Festival in the summer, which is another thing that we’re very excited about. In the meantime, we’re just working on a few new ideas and getting ready for touring the new album.