![\"\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/c27c69c5dde00d60a033b2ba8a5de3b0\/tumblr_inline_nuojoyww4K1t3m09q_540.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Well this has been a long time coming, hasn\u2019t it? We were lucky enough to sit down with Paul Russell of Axes<\/b> and Human Pyramids after an absolutely superb Human Pyramids<\/b> set at this year\u2019s 2000 Trees festival<\/b>, but the resulting interview has been held in limbo since for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n
An orchestral project that burst into life just two years ago, Human Pyramids<\/b> have taken post-rock in a direction we rarely see it take and despite the grand scale of the Axes frontman\u2019s vision, the results have been superb, with debut album ‘Planet Shhh!’<\/i> released back in 2013 and a slew of great live showings since. As Russell\u2019s orchestral project ends their summer on a fantastic high, however, we\u2019re finally able to turn loose the chat we had backstage at one of the best festivals in the country with one of Scotland\u2019s most talented musicians and composers. <\/p>\n
AH: So after a fantastic opening set to the day on the main stage, how have Human Pyramids found the first 2000 Trees Festival?<\/b>
Paul: It\u2019s been absolutely magic! 2000 Trees Festival was the first festival I ever played, which was with Axes two years ago and we were feeling a bit nervous and apprehensive, we were quite a new band but it was packed, we had an absolutely amazing time. It was kind of rare to see everybody who was working the festival \u2013 the sound crew, artist liaison, all the staff \u2013 weren\u2019t bastards? Everyone was super friendly, the crowd were amazing and we sold lots of merch, it was kind of the turning point where we said \u201chang on, festivals are what we want to do\u201d! So it was really the first time I fell in love with a festival, so to be playing here with Human Pyramids is like a dream come true and we\u2019ve loved it.<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: How does your approach to a festival compare with Human Pyramids to the ones you\u2019ve done with Axes?<\/b>
Paul: We tend to approach it the exact same way, the only difference is that the stages are bigger! So instead of having to watch where the head of your guitar is going to go, you\u2019re enjoying the space and there\u2019s a lot more room to move about, everyone\u2019s more fresh faced\u2026 it\u2019s not a case of approaching it different, but it does tend to be a lot more enjoyable.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
AH: With the amount of kit that you have to take on stage and the amount of people backing you up, does that make it hard to consider things like conventional touring?<\/b>
Paul: I guess the difference between Human Pyramids and Axes is that Axes can conventionally tour, whereas a band like Human Pyramids can\u2019t, so unfortunately it can\u2019t happen with Human Pyramids, which is kind of good and bad, but if Human Pyramids were to do a tour, it would need to be a venue of a big size, as well as a lot of money. Because it\u2019s like sixteen people, and today there\u2019s about ten cars here so to do a tour, you\u2019d need two massive vans which would be very expensive themselves so it can\u2019t really happen unfortunately. But that\u2019s kind of fun as well, because every gig becomes much more magical.<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: We saw you packing down for a long time and there\u2019s obviously a lot of room for stuff to go wrong; with Human Pyramids still a fairly young project, has anything ever not gone to plan?<\/b>
Paul: It\u2019s interesting with Human Pyramids because we don\u2019t really rehearse, simply because you can\u2019t, you have a sixteen piece band and it\u2019s difficult enough getting four people together \u2018cause they\u2019re like \u201coh, I wanna see my girlfriend on Wednesday\u201d or \u201cI work late at Pizza Hut on Thursday\u201d or like \u201cI wanna see this film which has just come out on Friday\u201d. So rehearsing four people is really difficult, rehearsing sixteen people is impossible. So what we do is we have a core band of eight, which is the rock element, and then we have another group of eight doing the brass and strings who both come from all over the place. So quite often we\u2019ll rehearse the rock band, and we\u2019ll rehearse the strings on the day and the first time those sixteen people get together is the concert! So when you ask \u201cdo things go wrong?\u201d the answer is every time! It\u2019s so mad and it\u2019s something that as a composer or an arranger or whatever, at the beginning I used to feel upset that you couldn\u2019t control that, but as we started to play eight or ten gigs you kind of understand that that\u2019s what it is. Things are always gonna go a bit wrong, but that\u2019s kind of what the beauty is and it always works out in the end.<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: With people coming from all over there\u2019s obviously a lot of pressure riding on who\u2019s here; what\u2019s the selection process like for getting these guys together?<\/b>
Paul: Basically, I have what I call a Human Pyramids \u2018A-team\u2019, so they\u2019ll be the people who\u2019ve played on the album, they\u2019re good friends, they\u2019re people who I love. And today I was quite lucky in that it was nearly all the A-team. With sixteen people you\u2019ve always got a couple who can\u2019t make it, but the selection process is always the A-team first, and then I\u2019ve got a B and C-team, so I\u2019ll just go through that in order, so if the main tuba can\u2019t make it, let\u2019s ask the B tuba or the C tuba\u2026 We were lucky, the first gigs we did it was absolutely hellish, having to ask around who knows a violin player or a French horn player, and now I\u2019m in a situation where I know loads of everybody, so it\u2019s much easier to work out.<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: You mentioned back in January that you\u2019ve got new music coming together, there\u2019s another show or two coming up this year as well, do you want to talk about what and where\u2019s next for you?<\/b>
Paul: We\u2019re playing End of the Road Festival in September and then after that, we don\u2019t have a lot planned. I\u2019m planning to write a new album, I\u2019m in the process of recording ideas on my phone and to put things in perspective, the last album took three years to write! So I\u2019m not rushing into anything, obviously besides Human Pyramids I\u2019ve got Axes, and I\u2019m working as a sound engineer and beside that I do film composing, so I\u2019ve got a lot of things happening but in January I\u2019m planning to lock myself away in the Highlands and write the album. That\u2019s my game plan, whether that happens or not is unclear, but I\u2019m a strong believer in not pushing things creatively, I never want to sit down and be like \u201cright, I\u2019m gonna write an album now\u201d, it\u2019s got to come to me. I feel like January will be the time that it starts, and then hopefully by 2016 I\u2019ll release it. I\u2019m also working on a big project with Caroline [Human Pyramids vocalist] so I\u2019m doing a record with her at the moment which will be kind of like Human Pyramids but with more vocals\u2026 there\u2019s quite a lot of different things happening.<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: Well it\u2019s been absolutely fantastic seeing you guys today, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be seeing more of you again very soon, you\u2019ve probably already cleared a whole bunch of hangovers this afternoon!<\/b>
Paul: Absolute pleasure, thanks very much indeed! I\u2019ve got to try and find my band now\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n
We understand that Paul did manage to find the rest of Human Pyramids, and that they absolutely smashed it out of the park at End of the Road Festival last weekend. We look forward to hearing more from them in the coming months.<\/i><\/p>\n
Human Pyramid<\/b>: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n