Electro-tinged summertime pop three-piece TV Me are set to release their new single ‘Peppercorn Boy’.
Due out on September 21st via Deltasonic records, the track is the first taken from their ‘in-progress’ debut album.
Ahead of the single release, TV Me’s frontman Thom McConnell talked us through a mix of tracks and acts that influenced the creation of ‘Peppercorn Boy’.
‘The Message’ – Grandmaster Flash
The original idea for ‘Peppercorn Boy’ came after listening to this track by Grandmaster Flash. I love the synth riff with the bouncy echo that runs through it and I wanted to try something similar. It was just an experiment to see if I could replicate the effect but I liked the line I’d come up with and then wrote the bulk of ‘Peppercorn Boy’ around it.
‘Stop’ – Casco Presents BWH
This is an Italian disco record that I was shown by Joe at Deltasonic. The whole vibe of it has really influenced a lot of my tunes, but with Peppercorn Boy it specifically influenced the intro and middle sections. I really wanted to go for a robotic disco thing in those parts to give the song some different flavours and contrast the more jangly/acoustic sound of the verses…
The Beatles
Lyrically, the song is about discovering music through a parent’s record collection as a child and the different formats that it could be found on in the 90’s/pre-download era. In my case, I found Beatles records, CDs and cassettes at the age of 7 and, to this day, they’re the nearest thing I have to a religion. The song is a sort of thank you to them and any record that shapes you when your head is a sponge.
The Beach Boys
I’m really inspired by Brian Wilson’s songwriting techniques. One of the biggest things I’ve picked up from him is his “pocket-symphony” idea that he displays in ‘Good Vibrations’ and other tracks – songs with very different and contrasting sections that somehow flow. That idea really intrigues me and I subtly attempted it with ‘Peppercorn Boy’. I wanted each part to have a slight feel of a separate era of music to fit with the idea of the history of different musical formats.
Roxy Music
Roxy Music are one of my favourite bands, especially their early records. Regardless of what genre they try to go for, their music always goes through a strange, arty, spacey filter inspired by a mix of glam, old Hollywood, and pop culture and it always sounds like Roxy Music. That taught me the importance of having your own unique filter because I love making an eclectic range of styles but it also needs to be unified as a package. They’ve made me focus on what references and ideas are unique to my environment or life to develop a TV ME filter…
You can listen to ‘Peppercorn Boy’ below: