In this interview spotlight, I chat with Emerald Falls about the latest music, technology, surviving lock downs and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?

Emerald Falls are a 4 piece Country Pop/Rock band from Portsmouth, UK. All 4 of us have studied, worked and gigged in and around Portsmouth for many years before coming together to form Emerald Falls (even all studying at the same college at one point… Without knowing each other). 

Our music incorporates our similar tastes in music, focusing on slick sounding, summery country pop rock tracks that make you feel good! The aim for us is to write ‘feel good’ music that you just want to blast our loud whilst driving to the beach. 

How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?

A quick history lesson… Before Emerald Falls was formed, Joe Sillence (lead vocals and guitar) had his own band: (a not so imaginally named group) The Joe Sillence Band. Whilst they were getting gigs, something wasn’t quite right. In 2019, the band were looking for a new drummer, with Ryan Mounteney being recommended to join. Over a beer, all four of us quickly agreed that with our knowledge, interests and background, we could form something special. Since Ryan joined and Emerald Falls being created, they have had some success with larger scale festivals, expanding their following and releasing their 5 track EP. Whilst it isn’t easy running a band and working 9-5, we love playing, writing and performing together and that buzz on stage is worth the slog! When it comes down to it… We’re 4 musicians who are close friends and simply love composing and recording music together. I think the gents would agree with me that whenever we are together, the laughter never stops. 

How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?

Our 5 track EP was a great starting point for us, setting a good foundation for us to build on. We have honed our skills by playing to one another’s strengths to develop the band: Joe focusing on songwriting whilst the rest of the band help develop his ideas, whilst Ryan focuses on the business and money side. This has really helped in writing, recording and mastering our new singles which we are releasing later in 2022. Whilst composing these new songs, we have focused on streamlining our sound to be more consistent, learning from our previous releases on which tracks were more popular. 

We’re incredibly excited to release our 3 singles later this year.

Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?

We released our 5 track EP 5 months before the pandemic hit. Off the back of our EP we were offered multiple festivals and exciting gigs, to which had to be later cancelled due to the pandemic. For us, this whole pandemic has really pushed us backwards in terms of where we planned to be. Once we were allowed to be in the same room together, we focused on our ‘sound’, resulting in 3 tracks we are incredibly proud of. 

What was the last song you listened to?

Funnily enough, the last song I (Ryan) listened to was our own song ‘Those Big Dreams’. It was the final mix before being sent off to be mastered by the brilliant Katie Travini. 

Excluding our own track, the last song I listened to was 1, 2 Many by Luke Combs. We’re all big Luke Combs, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney fans, and take influence from these artists within our own music. 

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?

Depends who you ask! 

Joe, Dave and Jay: they love Spotify and Apple music, so streaming is their bread and butter and what they use to listen to music on a daily basis.

Ryan on the other hand is a little bit stuck in the 1970 with his vinyl collection. The old school spinning 12” discs is his preferred choice. However, since having a vinyl player on your car dashboard or in your bag doesn’t tend to work… He also has a Spotify account.

Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?

Facebook and Twitter are our main platforms where we share all our latest news, updates and releases: @EmeraldFallsUK. 

Instagram is a more ‘casual’ platform for us, with a more ‘behind the scenes’ approach to the band. So, if you want to see what goes on behind the microphones and cameras… Follow our Instagram account: @EmeraldFallsUK.    

Our tracks are available on all streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Music, so a simple search of ‘Emerald Falls’ will give you all our releases! 

I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off? 

We just want to say a big thank you for giving up your time to listen to us, and we really appreciate your support. 

We hope that yourself and others enjoy our current 5 track EP… And keep an eye out for the new releases later this year!