Three Questions With Mandy, Indiana

Next up in the 3Qs series is English–French noise rock band from Manchester and Berlin, Mandy, Indiana! Guitarist and producer Scott Fair and synth player Simon Catling answer some questions below.

Their second album, URGH, is out now.

Mandy, Indiana by Jackson Ducasse.

Synth History: What is inspiring you the most right now?

Scott Fair: I saw Persona by Ingmar Bergman for the first time recently. It’s from 1966 and seemed more exciting than most modern films I’ve seen of late. The performances are outstanding and the filmmaking is of the highest quality. Everything from set design, to lighting, to sound, it all feels so immersive and intertwined with the themes. It challenged me to question my own humanity and mortality. I’d love to see it in a theatre at some point.

Simon Catling: Kentaro Hayashi's 2021 LP Peculiar; Yuki Kihara's exhibition Darwin in Paradise Camp that was recently shown in Manchester; weightlifting - there's something really peaceful about methodically and incrementally increasing the weight or rep number session-by-session–although I did just injure myself for 6 weeks; Xiu Xiu's live tribute to David Lynch's Eraserhead has stayed with me since seeing it a couple of weeks ago; my partner's roller derby league.

Synth History: What are your go-tos in the studio and/or live right now?

Scott Fair: Last year I bought some second hand V drums and that seems to be the thing I’m interacting with most at the moment ahead of the guitar or synths. I’ve never played drums before and I’ve not been following any specific practices or learning, just seeing what comes naturally. That tends to be my approach to music.

Simon Catling: For the bass and low end live I've been using the Roland SE-02 for a little while now - pushed through a couple of overdrive and reverb FX pedals. It's one of the boutique synth range from Roland and they developed this one with Studio Electronics - it packs a hell of a punch and you can pull out a load more aggression and power from it than you might expect. It's found its way onto a few of URGH's tracks as well - the chuggy sequence on "Cursive" and the kind of dungeon-y squelch that gets involved during the middle of Ist halt so are two particular highlights for me.

I'm a big fan of bands and artists who try to get the most from their own tightly defined parameters or setups, so I'm very rarely looking to use multiple synths in my setup - admittedly this could also be a convenient cover up for my relative lack of knowledge of the synth world. Most patches I take forward with me into either the live set up or to contribute to recording are happy accidents I stumble across while fucking about, there can be an idea in my head of a sound I want to make but it's a process of trial and error to find it.

Synth History: What's one tip for overcoming writer's block?

Scott Fair: A tip for any creative practice is to stay curious. For me it’s always fueled by excitement and that comes from exploring new things. If you’re writing in a different way then you’re challenging yourself and that will likely help you to overcome any potential blocks. Maybe write on a different instrument, or collaborate with another artist. Experimentation is like play when you’re a kid, you’re being mischievous and breaking “rules”.

Simon Catling: Get out and about and go to shows, see what other people are up to. Outside the band I promote a bit around Manchester and I'm frequently inspired by witnessing artists' different approaches to playing. Failing that, a trip to the sauna and steam room always does wonders for emptying my mind.

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Photos by Jackson Ducasse.