We spoke to EmberTree back in 2020 and were super-excited by their EP and lead track Chill Tomorrow. Where the hell have they got to…?

THE JOURNALIX: How did you all arrive at this point in time?

EMBERTREE: We started making music together in lockdown. Josh, Lewis & I [Joe] have been mates for years but recently got Elijah in due to our shared music tastes and we all just wanted to get into the whole band thing as soon as we could.

PASSION

THE J: Who inspired you all to be musicians?

LEWIS: I’ve always had a passion for music since I was young, so that just built up over time until I realised that it was the one thing I’m pretty decent at.

JOE: I’d say it wasn’t really a specific person or anything. I just knew that music was sick and the only thing I’d really taken much interest in.

ELIJAH: I wrote poems when I was depressed and they eventually turned into songs.

JOSH: It wasn’t a person, I just always had a passion for music.

THE MYSTICAL EMBERTREE (S)

THE J: Where does the name come from? Does it have ANYTHING to do with Zelda…?

EMBERTREE: There’s an ember tree in the woods near where Joe and Lewis live which we go to a lot, especially during lockdown, as it’s a nice escape and peaceful out there. We just thought it sounded cool, nothing really to do with Zelda but coincidentally I’m [Joe] replaying Ocarina of Time at the moment, bangin’ game.

THE J: Are you gamers?

EMBERTREE: Not really, but we [Joe, Josh, Elijah] love Skate 3 and Lewis likes Call of Duty.

EMBERTREE LOCKDOWN

THE J: Is it true that you formed during lockdown?

EMBERTREE: Yes, we’d had the idea of making music together for ages but always produced on our own. All of us originally being producers became an advantage as it meant we didn’t have to rely on the whole jamming and gigging thing when forming the band (which couldn’t have been done anyway). We can perfect that stuff later on!

THE J: You wrote and produced Chill Tomorrow – is that how it will be now going forward or can we expect collaborations?

EMBERTREE: We’re aiming to do collaborations soon as we want to show people what we’re capable of, but it’s such an early stage for us at the moment so there’s nothing official planned yet. We will be collaborating with other artists and producers soon though.

THE CHILL PACK by EMBERTREE

THE J: What should we expect from your EP?

EMBERTREE: Just a mix of sick songs that prove what we can do as a group which hopefully people will rate. We’ve got a lot of bangin’ ideas planned for it so we’re proper excited.

THE J: The music sounds like a real mix of genres… Which section would we find your CD in at HMV?

EMBERTREE: I guess probably indie music, but we don’t really like being put under that category as it has such a restricted outlook on it & we take from so many genres it’s hard to narrow us not. You see more and more artists doing it at the moment and we think it’s sick.


MANCHESTER

THE J: What have your experiences of Manchester been so far?

EMBERTREE: None of us have actually been there yet, but it’s obviously the cultural hub for the indie/rock scene. We’d be lying if we didn’t say a massive chunk of their bands inspired us (Joy Division, The 1975, The Stone Roses). They’re on a different level them Mancunians.

AS RECOMMENDED

THE J: Can you recommend a film, a book and some music that has informed your sound?

EMBERTREE: Akira comes to mind for a film, not really sure about a book to be honest. Music wise, we’re all into loads of different stuff. We love the rap scene; artists such as Kanye, Tyler the Creator, Mac Miller. But also bands like Joy Division, Rage Against the Machine, Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, The Smiths, Sticky Fingers. Then proper OGs like James Brown and Marvin Gaye. We really rate dance and electronic too! We released a remix EP of our first single (Chill Tomorrow) called ‘The Chill Pack’, it’s pretty cool so it’s stuff we want to go further with. But yeah we like a lot of music haha.

THE J: What does the future hold for EmberTree?

EMBERTREE: Wembley, 5 nights at Alexandra Palace, Reading, Glastonbury, Boomtown, the whole lot haha! We just want to take it as far as it can go and show people what we’re capable of as a band.

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