Slender Pins - Pretty Optimistic Guys
Is it possible to be happy 100% of the time? Surely even by today’s standards of inspirational quotes and toxic positivity, it isn’t reasonable to consider being happy 100% of the time. But what about 90% of the time? Can a person be a 9 out of 10 happy? Slender Pins seem to think so in their new single ‘So Happy (90% Of The Time)’.
Slender Pins. From left to right: Alex Sword, Ash Burt and Ed Skerry.
We previously wrote about Slender Pins back in July 2021 for the release of their single ‘Dancing Mania (I Want To Want To Dance)’, a track detailing the horrors of the dancing plagues of Europe. The four-piece followed this up with a double A-side of ‘Where’s The Money’ and ‘The Algorithms Are On My Side’ earlier in March this year. More recently, bassist Rob Sword left the band, the remaining members of Slender Pins - vocalist Ash Burt, Alex Sword on guitar and drummer Ed Skerry recording and releasing their new single as a three-piece.
‘I’m a pretty optimistic kind of guy, I’m so happy, 90% of the time.’
Filled with riffs that any punk band of the late 70’s wishes they’d written, Alex Sword sets the tone of ‘So Happy (90% Of The Time)’ with a lone, scratchy guitar part punctuated by Ash Burt’s cries of ‘Yes!’ With added tambourine and Ed Skerry jumping in, Slender Pins grab the attention of the listener within fifteen seconds and keep them in their grasp for the song’s total of three minutes.
For this single, Alex also recorded the bass guitar parts, running parallel with his guitar riffs and mixed evenly, ensuring a full blow-out of any speaker set confident enough to take on the band. Laid down at Kent’s Squarehead Recording Studio in Newington, ‘So Happy (90% Of The Time)’ is produced by Jonathan Hucks, for sure a winning formula as Slender Pins have never sounded better.
“But then come the long, dark nights, and a voice from the depths of your subconscious cries, ‘What the FUCK am I doing with my life!?’”
Lyrically, Ash Burt may well have written the sarcastic anthem for life in 2022. With his charisma and passionate vocal, it’s not hard for the brain to fill in an audience singing along to the chorus of ‘So Happy, SO Happy, 90% of the time.’ Banging out a short run of machine gun rolls from Ed, Slender Pins leave us with one final thought about this burst of spiralling emotion:
‘Guess it’s best not to think about it.’
In celebration of their single, Slender Pins are playing two gigs in the coming week. The release day will see them at The Portland Arms in Cambridge, supporting The Extons. Then on the 26th of September, Slender Pins will support Tundra at London’s New Cross Inn, with tickets available on the door.
Continue reading for our Q&A with Slender Pins. The trio tells us about the making of ‘So Happy (90% Of The Time)’, while Alex fills us in on the whereabouts of Rob and the undertaking of the bass parts. Ed tells us about the live situation and we ask Ash about the band’s previous 2022 singles. All this and more below!
1. Slender Pins are back with another banger! Where did the idea begin for 'So Happy (90% Of The Time)'?
Ash: It began with a nice little riff that Alex was born with. The title had come to me in a waking dream, and while walking through Hampstead it became obvious that Keats - who died at twenty five - had to feature. How lucky we are to be alive (90% of the time).
2. You worked on this track with Jonathan Hucks at Squarehead Recording Studio. Firstly, with all the recording facilities in London, what made the band journey to a village in Kent to work on this song?
Alex: Let's say recording outside of London was more...lucrative, I believe is the expression? Squarehead fit our requirements really well. The difficult part was not getting there but getting back - some jokesters blocked the track and we ended up waiting for about an hour in the Kentian wilderness.
3. Ed, tell me about working with Jonathan, what was that experience like?
Ed: Jon’s such a lovely gentleman - he’s so passionate about his craft and really goes above and beyond to get the best out of the song. However, whilst tracking drums he would stand in front of me with a multipack of Salt and Shake crisps. Every time I played a good take, he’d have this intriguing habit of letting me have a packet, that he’d shake for me. Very bizarre but you can hear on the record how it incentivised me to play my heart out.
4. Since we wrote about 'Dancing Mania' back in July 2021, the band have become a trio. Did Rob succumb to the dancing plague?
Alex: He is now based in Weymouth, which is actually where the first case of the (non dancing) Plague was recorded in England, so take from that what you will. Weymouth is a *long* way from London and I think it became too onerous.
I would not rule out seeing Robert involved in the band in some future form, e. financial details of the settlement were not disclosed.
5. In light of this, Alex, you're playing bass on this track. Most would assume it's an easy shift from guitar to bass playing, is that the case here? Was there talk of bringing someone in to play the parts?
Alex: Most likely real bassists can instantly tell that I am a fraud from the recording. My knowledge of the Malthusian Lift is cursory at best, for example.
I actually love the bass though and to me that part is as important to the song as the guitar. As Einstein said: "Guitar is for Show - Bass is for Dough". It is obviously very similar but I did have to practise a hell of a lot to get up to standard on the bass.
We spent quite a lot of time getting the sound of it right, even booking an extra session to redo it on this really cheap bass I own which has the right post punky type sound. During mixing we ended up boosting it massively in volume to what you can hear now - Jon (producer) jokingly called it the "obnoxiously loud" bass part.
6. You're operating a revolving door policy for gigs now where the bass playing is concerned, are you seeking a replacement fourth member?
Ed: A good bassist can make a bad band sound good and a bad bassist can make a good band sound bad - they are integral. Added that bassists are interesting creatures, it has been a challenge to find another. We have a hired gun at the moment, Dan - a trombonist by trade - who has, so far, proved he can hack the absurdity and pain of life as a Slender Pin - will he become a fourth official member? The jury’s still out on that one.
7. Earlier this year, you released a double A-side called 'Where's The Money' backed with 'The Algorithms Are On My Side'. Ash, tell us more about these tracks, what inspired the stories behind these?
Ash: Where's the Money was a phrase that Alex had, probably while queuing at the off-licence. It's inspired by the urban death of The Waste Land and depressingly still relevant. Algorithms on the other hand is about the perverse almost-religious-almost-erotic pleasure of surrendering all your decisions to the computer. Computers are the new sex dolls and the language of algorithms is the new French.
8. But all this aside, is it possible to be happy 100% of the time?
Alex: To be happy even one basis point (0.1%) of the time is an achievement in my view.
Ash: A life without suffering is a life unlived.
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Download and stream the music of Slender Pins at their Bandcamp page.
Follow Slender Pins on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @slenderpins.
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