TILLERMAN

Q Can you tell us what inspired you to write “Summer of ’96”?

I was working on a track that had quite an ‘Oasis’ type of vibe, guitar tone wise, it sounded a little like ‘Some Might Say’. With the huge reunion tour in full swing, I thought I would ride on that crest of a wave and write a kind of Oasis tribute song. The first iterations became quite silly, I kept the original line, “walking to school when I was 17, listening to ‘Some Might Say’ (The band’s first UK #1) but I managed to name drop another 11 Oasis song titles into the lyrics. That actual line about listening to ‘Some Might Say’ on the way to school was actually autobiographical and encapsulated a defining moment of my youth. That was the year I first joined a band and the start of my musical journey.

Q How did your personal memories from the 90s influence the lyrics?

I was 17 in 1996, just as in the song. For anyone growing up in the mid nineties it was a real ‘time to be alive’, probably something similar to what the culture was like in 1966, youth finding their voices, fashion, The Beatles, Kinks, The Stones, the possibilities of what the future could hold. I was completely immersed in the new BritPop scene which mirrored that British Invasion of the mid 60s. My life’s journey was only just being defined and I think pretty much all of the lyrics to ‘Summer of ‘96’ are based on real accounts and memories of what was on the TV, events and the pop culture of the time.  

Q The lyrics feel very nostalgic—was it difficult to capture that feeling authentically?

People seem to remember periods of their life by significant events, ie, where they were when the twin towers collapsed or when Diana died. It’s the same with my memories of 1996. In the UK we had a huge home football tournament, ‘Euro ‘96’ and I reference an iconic goal that our team’s talisman Paul Gascoigne scored against Scotland in one of the group stage games. The whole nation was glued to their TVs for 4 weeks. I vividly remember what I was wearing and the journey I took as I walked to school listening to ‘Some Might Say’ on my Panasonic Walkman. Meeting up with friends down at the ‘show ground’, getting takeaway pizza, going into town on a Saturday on the train and so on. Any one of my friends from that time would probably all say it was the ‘best days of our lives’.

Q Do you see “Summer of ’96” as a diary of your teenage years or more of a universal experience?

Yes, however there is some creative license there too. Unfortunately, I never had that ‘someone special’ at that time, love was to come a little later but I suppose I pulled on those feelings of innocence and emotion that a ‘first love’ relationship brings and the lingering pangs of sorrow when it leaves you.I think everyone has a similar experience and can relate to the song. It was a narrative that was needed to bring the emotion.

Q The chorus has a strong sense of longing—was that intentional from the start?

No not all, but as I created the narrative of a love story, it helped me build the longing, not just for that first love, but for that period of time, whilst we were carefree, no burdens or worries, the world was your oyster the future was there to be defined by one’s self.

Q Can you describe the process of writing lyrics that mix both nostalgia and emotion?

I confess, historically I’ve been a very ‘verb’ heavy song writer, more about emotions and feelings and trying to squeeze out a tear from the listener (I specifically refer back to one of our track’s ‘Hold Me Haunt Me). However, I’ve always been scared of ‘nouns’, things, places and so on. Maybe it’s because I feel uncomfortable singing about ‘real things’ in my life, or perhaps the clumsy way ‘nouns’ can sound when sung, ‘pizza’, ‘playstation’, ‘Sega’, ‘Nintendo’. I’ve never put so much ‘real ‘touchable’ content into a song before. But I made a real effort to step out of my comfort zone and create a song about reality, a real place in time, real emotions and I think it worked. For me, It’s the best song Tillerman has written to date.

Q Were there any specific songs or artists from the 90s that influenced this track?

Yes, as already mentioned, the driver for this song is one of my favourite songs from the 90s and all time ‘Some Might Say’ by Oasis. It sets the tone from a content perspective, also the mood and memories. Although the sound of the track itself doesn’t sound at all like an Oasis song, only perhaps for the delivery of the vocal in the chorus, it has a ‘Liamesque’ drawl to some of the words.

Q How do you choose which small, everyday details make it into the lyrics?

For me it always depends how things sound and roll off the tongue, but the lyrics all have to make sense and add something to the song’s narrative or have the nicest sound when sung. I love the line ‘Sad songs say so much’ by Elton John. It really flows and uses those sequential ‘S’ words.

Q Was it important for you to include cultural touchstones like gaming consoles and fashion trends?

100%, every teenager or kid from that time was totally obsessed with the latest gaming console or new release. For me I spent most of that year playing Tomb Raider, absolutely next level game play! Once again, powerful memories of a generation. Fashion wise we are now seeing a huge revival of 90s clothing and apparel, 90s music is doing well, probably in part down to the youth of that time now having kids who’d grown up with their parents back catalogue and now embracing it for themselves, just as I did with The Beatles.And with that, comes ‘Bucket Hats’ a popular brand back then was ‘Kangol’ which I name drop along with ‘Kicker’s shoes, another 90s fashion classic.

Q How do you approach writing about growing up and the passage of time in your songs?

I really hone in on the overall summary of that time or feeling. My teenage years although very similar in many ways, fashion, music, hobbies will be quite different on a personal, spiritual and maturity level. So to be able to connect with the listener you have to really focus on the bigger themes that we all enjoyed, experienced or can relate to, ‘first loves’, ‘feelings’, ‘places’, ‘events’ and so on.

Q Did you have a clear story in mind from the beginning or did it evolve while writing?

It evolved, in fact, the song probably had 5 iterations before it became what it is now. The middle 8 lyrics were actually within each chorus, it didn’t sound how it does now, it felt too muddled. I parked those lyrics but called on them again later when I needed content for a middle 8 and they fitted perfectly. Now, you’ve probably already noticed this, it’s pretty obvious, but when I needed a hook line for the chorus,  the song itself actually gave me the title, it was all about the summer of 1996, but it’s a direct countersong to Brian Adam’s ‘Summer of ‘69’, I looked to see if anyone else had bothered to come up with this idea but it seems not, so here we are, the ‘Summer of ‘96. This then gave me the idea to pay tribute to Brian Adams’ hit single and bring back a couple of key characters from his track, ‘Jodie & Jimmy’. Did you spot them?

Q How does working as a core duo with your brother affect your songwriting?

My brother Tom took full control over the engineering and production of this track, the first one we’ve done outside of a commercial studio and he’s done a cracking job. Tom did actually help on some key lines where I needed to get the lyrics right from a narrative perspective. He’s also my sounding board for the band ‘sound’, the multiple harmonies. I am completely useless at picking them out and my melodies try to capture all the harmonies I can hear in my head. Our Tom is the clever one who writes them and in doing so helps transform the sound and direction of the song. In this track it was creating those huge backing vocals as the chorus hits, the ‘call and response’ ones where I used The Beatles ‘Help’ as inspiration, they start before the main lead vocal comes in, I’ve always loved that!

Q The lyrics mention friends and weekend adventures—how important is community in your music?

Funnily enough, it never has been important, our back catalogue is mainly about memories and emotion. But I needed to pull on that sense of ‘the community of youth’ to get across the feeling of this moment in time, it’s a song I wanted everyone who experienced that time to ‘get’ and ‘connect’ with.

Q How do you capture the energy and excitement of youth in a way that feels genuine?

I think you have to try and not second guess yourself when writing, make it come naturally where possible and try to keep a little naivety to the lyrics mentioned, those places, people and so on. Hence the reluctance but necessity to pull on all those ‘nouns’, gaming consoles, TV shows, clothes and so on.

Q Do you think nostalgia is a key part of your musical identity?

Yes, and we’ve always defined our band as Retro-PopRock, in one sense because it sounds like a musical pastiche due to each of our influences and tastes which are founded in 60s, 70s and 90s music. But also because I pull on past experiences and events to power the content of our songs. How you’ve loved and lost, the emotions you felt, it’s universal content that everyone can connect with.

Q How long did it take you to finalize the lyrics for “Summer of ’96”?

3 weeks! The top songwriters say the best songs arrive quickly and fully formed as you’re fishing, and you just have to be in the right place and time to catch one. I’ve had that, I can note ‘My Eden’ and ‘Hold Me Haunt Me’, but ‘Summer of ‘96 was a real ‘shift of a song’, I sweated over this and I had to use all my maturity as a songwriter to ‘work it out’ and get to a place lyrically and melodically that made sense. I’ve said this to friends and family, this is the best song I’ve written to date, and if I don’t write another, I’ll be content knowing it’s a ‘hit’, maybe not in a commercial sense of fame or fortune. The audience as an indie artist will be small, but ‘I KNOW’ this is a great song! And I can admit, I’m proud of it!

Q Was there a particular moment or memory that sparked the main theme of the song?

I was 17, setting off up the long winding road to school on a cloudy October morning wearing a navy blue corduroy zipped jacket, grey corduroy trousers (don’t ask), brown kickers shoes. Satchel bag over the shoulder with the ‘What’s the story morning glory?’ cassette album set to ‘play’ in my walkman. The track playing at that moment was ‘Some might say’. That song, that mood, for me that sums up my teenage sixth form college years. The start of ‘growing up’.

Q Do you feel your audience connects more with the cultural references or the emotional storytelling?

I think both, you need references to unlock the memories which unlock the emotions.

Q Are there plans to explore other periods of your life in future songs the same way you did with the 90s?

No deliberate plans, but I think, knowing who I am as a songwriter, it’s inevitable. Keep a look out for the ‘Autumn of ‘86’ or the ‘Winter of ‘99’!