Up and Comers: Ali In The Jungle
Print Music Editor Bridie Adams talks to Chris Allen of Ali In The Jungle in the next of her series of interviews with ‘Up and Comers’.
With their new EP out, band Ali In The Jungle have recently been using their Instagram, YouTube and Twitter platforms to gain some publicity. I spoke to Chris Allen, lead guitarist, about the band’s experience with social media and the creative process behind their work.
I really liked your EP on Spotify. What was the process of creating it like?
Chris Allen: All these songs were written at least three years ago and have been shelved or reworked until we finally had the time to record them properly. We decided to pay for recording studio time because we tried home recording and couldn’t get it to sound professional enough. We recorded ‘I Don’t Even Know You’ at MCA Studios because it had a more ’live’, acoustic feel, and then we remastered it when we recorded the rest of the EP at Lost Boys Studio, so all the tracks sounded consistent. It was fun recording, but kind of exhausting from doing the takes and mixing it over a series of sessions. We learnt a lot about the recording process and the sacrifices you make when everybody wants their instrument to be heard! In terms of releasing, we used a distribution site called CD Baby. It was an admin nightmare at the time because rights and royalties are a boring minefield, but it’s worked out okay and means that our music is on most major streaming sites. We worked with friends to create the cover art and design a new logo and we’re in the process of getting music videos released too.
It was fun recording, but kind of exhausting
What are you guys planning next? Is there an album in the works yet?
Allen: We have plenty of songs, more than enough for an album, so we would like to record one, but we’re currently aiming to expand our reach and get more and bigger gigs and increase the fan base. We’d have to fund the recording ourselves so we are trying to contact record labels and get them to show an interest in us, because then they would fund our recording and PR costs.
Since gigs are pretty much impossible to arrange right now, would you say social media has helped you keep interest in the band up during lockdown?
Allen: We have had some gigs rescheduled for later in the year, but, yes, social media is our main thing now. It doesn’t really feel like we’re having more engagement, but we have time to post and create content and people arguably have more time to see it.
Take a look at Ali In The Jungle’s EP on Spotify and their content on YouTube, Twitter (@aliinthejungle_) and Instagram (@aliinthejunglemusic).
