The Probes bring a new meaning to psychedelic, with epic tracks and dynamic soundscapes, who recently hit the road as supports for Echo and The Bunnymen. We recently caught up with Jack Greene, singer/guitarist, to chat about the tour, and 2017 plans.
How would you best summarise your sound in ten words or less?
Often polarised, between euphoric beauty and disturbation. Also, quite loud.
Name three of your most influential albums?
An extremely difficult question. Captain Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica, because it completely turned my general notion of what music was on its head, in a good way. It’s almost impossible to quantify The Beatles‘ influence on us down to a single album, so I will just say Sgt. Pepper…. Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker album had one of the most profound effects any album has ever had on me. It’s melancholic, in a curiously uplifting way, so that’s on the list!
Your hyper-long tracks and rollicking jams are definitely reminiscent of bands like King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard. How does your songwriting process work, to write such epic tracks?
Our song-writing process is extremely organic, a lot of the time. We don’t have a fixed pattern. Sometimes Ray or myself will have ideas for riffs that we will share during practices and the songs will be molded around that. However, a lot of our songs are a result of jamming, recording, dissecting the recording, jamming with the most notable parts of the original jam, recording again etc. And only when we have a potent batch of parts will we start implementing a structure. It doesn’t really sound organic when put like that…but it is.
Who are the people in your band, what do they play, and what are their secret (nonmusical) talents?
Justin Freedman plays the bass guitar. I don’t know his secret talent because it’s a secret, but I do know that he was a dandy footballer back in his day.
Ray Smudger is the lead guitarist whom is also a great artist, whose sketches are very, very funny.
Elliot Saragossa is the drum machine that is also a national sailing champion.
Jack P. Green is the singer/guitarist who secretly tends a three acre vegetable patch.
You recently toured with Echo and the Bunnymen – these guys have been around for a lot longer than you – how did you get this gig?
Our managers at Porcupine also manage Echo and the Bunnymen, so they could put in a good word.
Tell us about your tour highlights so far?
We had a lot of fun playing Bristol. It was quite an intimate gig with a lot of energy in the room.
What are your plans for 2017?
We are moving into a new practice space in the new year so we will be hunkering down to keep writing and writing and writing. Some new releases shan’t be too far away, I’m sure.
Where can we find your music?
On Soundcloud, possibly on Spotify and Deezer? Links are posted on our Facebook page also.
For more details, visit The Probes’ official website HERE.
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