Icebreaker festival's summer edition makes its Southsea debut - with 80-plus acts, including Temples of Youth | Interview

There were plans to introduce a summer version in 2020, but you know: pandemic.

This Saturday, at last, Summer Icebreaker makes its debut with some 80-or-so acts playing across 11 stages, from the Wedgewood Rooms at one end, to The Deco in Elm Grove.

With the acts covering metal, hip-hop, indie, Americana, and many points in between, the Steve Lamacq-approved (check him out gushing over the band on last week’s Round Table section of his 6Music show on the iPlayer) Wedge headliners Hallan are the catch of the day.

But there are plenty of other gems throughout the bill – including the shoegazing post-punks Temples of Youth, who are topping The Wine Vaults’ Stage 1.

Based around the creative nucleus of Jo Carson and Paul Gumma, the pair met in 2016 in the time-honoured fashion after Paul posted an ad looking for a singer.

Over a Zoom call, Paul recalls: ‘Jo replied and sent me a link to something she'd done. I thought she had a great voice, we met up at a pub for a chat, and we were sort of on the same page musically – we went pretty much straight from there into recording.’

Initially just a two-piece, the Winchester-based duo’s early material was rather different to now.

Paul says: ‘Our sound has changed quite a lot. When we started out it was just the two of us, we were relying on a sampler and Jo was playing percussion and I was on guitar – it was quite stripped down and very much more electronic.

Jo adds: ‘A lot of people used to compare it to The XX – I wouldn't 100 per cent agree with that, but I get what they're saying in terms of the stripped-back style. Then we decided we wanted it to a bit more organic with more going on on stage.’

Over time they’ve become less reliant on the keyboards and samples as a live act, with their show embracing a more guitar-based/shoegaze sound.

And drummer Mike Vaughan now joins the pair on stage too, as Jo explains: ‘He’s a great addition to the live show and such a lovely guy.’

With Paul adding: ‘He does so many other things, he's got his own solo music thing going on, he's a music teacher, he does stand-up, and I think he's played with other bands.’

‘Now we're trying to pick up as much possible on instruments with the three of us,’ says Paul, ‘the electronics have died back a bit and it's trying to generate those sounds between us rather than relying on samples.’

Last week they released a thrillingly spikey new single Keen To Be Clean, a track about ‘moral decline, alienation and growing old disgracefully.’

While this track was written by Paul, previous single Sour Peach was Jo’s – the two share songwriting duties.

‘It kind of flip-flops between us,’ says Paul. ‘Jo will come up with a track, and give me a sketch of it. I do the mixing and recording side of things. Jo will come to with me a demo with most of it there, and I'll polish it up, add bits, suggest changes. Equally, I'll come to her and ask, what do you think of this one?’

Jo expands: ‘There have been some tracks that are a bit more collaborative. The song Night Swim we both went through the lyrics and tweaked and changed them, and then when we did our second EP, we tried something where I did a lot of the lyrics, and Paul did more of the music, which was an interesting way of trying it.

‘But this way seems to work best, as we both come up with ideas that are different, but also align and fit in with the project.

‘Paul's lucky now that I give him full sketches, because when we started it was 30 seconds of something!’

With Jo nearing the end of a masters degree in screenwriting, Paul has been writing more lately.

‘We've got loads of ideas,’ says Paul, ‘I think I overloaded while Jo was working on her masters! I went through this period where all of these ideas kept coming. I think there's three or four of them we both like, and Jo had an idea we've both worked on.’

Among them are the next two singles: ‘We've got two planned for release, one of mine and one of Jo's – and they're ready, but we've got a few ideas sitting around to choose from.’

While both are big fans of the album format, they think singles are the way forward for them at the moment.

‘It's very much a singles market now,’ says Jo. ‘It would be nice to do another EP, or even an album, but the reality is that the time and space for it, at this level isn't really there.

‘It's been difficult to get people investing and listening to one song let alone an EP and people being like: "Pfft”,’ she gives a dismissive shrug.

‘Obviously there's people who will put that time in [to listen], but the market is so over-saturated as well, that it's very much a singles market until you get to a higher level.’

This leads into a discussion about the state of the music business right now – how some 60,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify every day, and how even major stars like Florence Welch, Halsey and Charli XCX, are being forced into using social media platform TikTok to market themselves.

How you cut through all that noise is the million dollar question.

Paul says: ‘I think people's attention spans now are very short – you've got things like TikTok where you've got to cram the best part of your song into 30 seconds to try and sell it – it's not even a full track, you get the catchy chorus and the hook.

‘I still like sitting and listening to an album because it can be an experience – it can be a bit of a journey, it can take you somewhere.

‘Listening to singles and playlists is great, but it's a bit of a lost art isn't it, the album? They're still out there, but I don't know if a lot of people have the attention span any more.’

Jo adds: ‘I think it's that generational difference. There's been that stuff in the news about big superstars being told to release TikToks so 14-year-olds know who you are.

‘I don't like the business side of it, or having to think about it, but I guess it's not anyone's favourite part.’

The band are regulars in Portsmouth, welcoming the ‘eclectic and diverse’ scene here, and Jo adds: ‘We've played Icebreaker before – the last one we were at the One Eyed Dog, which was good.

‘This time we're headlining one of The Wine Vaults stages, I wasn't expecting that, we’re looking forward to it.’

Advance tickets are £15, £20 on the day. Go to icebreakerfestival.com/buy-tickets.