Kev Sherry, lead singer for the cult, critically acclaimed Scottish indie-rock four-piece Attic Lights (Island Records, Elefant Records), and prolific solo musician and graphic novelist now releases his solo single “Everything A Mother Could Want” – the latest single release from his highly-anticipated forthcoming album “Wrath Of Can”: due to land in March 2025. The ‘comic strip-style video for this is something to behold! We had a chat with Kev to chat about the new music, the video concept and much more…
What inspired the lyrics of your new single, “Everything A Mother Could Want”?
The experience of being signed to a major record label. ROck and roll is supposed to be a rebellious cultural force, but major label music is a BIG business and you soon realise that you are expected to conform to certain expectations and behave in certain ways. Some of it makes sense, but a lot of is to do with how people want to shape you and want the market to see you as. I used the metaphor of a good son, trying to achieve all the things his pushy, social climber mother expects of him (good job, good marriage, acceptance by polite society etc…) and applied that to the rock and roll record business. because it’s not that different. That was the inspiration behind the song.
Can you tell us more about the concept behind the video?
The ‘comic strip’ video focuses on a tour I went on with my first band Attic Lights, when we were signed to a major record label. Suddenly there was all this money behind us and all this outside pressure. And the tour became utterly ridiculous as things kept going wrong. Compounded by the fact that we were all really young, dumb and wild as hell. The video details some of the mad incidents that befell us. There was so much more I wanted to add to it but didn’t have time or space. These are actually the tame stories. The really mental stuff would probably get me sued and involves lots of famous people and some pretty crazy incidents. But those stories can wait for another day.
How did you decide to incorporate a comic strip into it?
I’m a published comic writer so I wanted to combine my loves of music and comics. I learned to draw last year using this amazing book called ‘Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain’ with the intention of making comic strip videos for my songs. I love creating and I love music and comics, so it was just a natural thing to go in that direction.
Were there any challenges you faced while creating the video?
I also used to work as a video editor at Scottish Television so I’ve a bit of experience editing videos. However, this was a whole new thing to me. The pacing is different, You have to plan for ‘viewer reading time’ and you have to construct the story knowing it has to finish at the same time as the song finished. It was actually really hard and involved a lot of redrawing, re-writing and re-editing. Hopefully I’ve now got that hang of it and I’ll be able to do it faster the more comic videos I release.
What message do you hope listeners take away from the track/ visuals?
The message of the song is that in life we face different cultural and social pressures to conform to expectations, whether that’s the expectations a parent will have for a child, or the expectations the major label music business has towards its artists. Other people’s expectations and society’s pressures can be a straightjacket. So be mindful of that, and question everything – even if your dreams are on the table.
What can fans expect from your upcoming album, “Wrath Of Can”? When is it out?
It’s out on March 14th. It contains the best lyrics I’ve written yet and subjects include, weird coincidences, social pressures, relationship expectations, rightwing strongman leaders, ego-driven misogynists, tales of childhood and my relationship with my wife. it’s basically a hodge podge of everything going on in my head at the time. Imagine you’re making a big stew, and the ingredients are all the deep and weird thoughts you have about life. Throw them all in the post, set it to simmer, garnish it with some cool guitar sounds and catchy melodies, then keep your fingers crossed that the flavour is both unique and enticing. Wrath of Can is a stew. A stew about having a ‘can do’ attitude in a time of madness and weirdness.
How does “Wrath Of Can” differ from your previous solo work?
It’s definitely a lot more focussed. My first solo album was just the songs I happened to have lying around at the time. This album is far more lyrically dense and written with purpose and deeper meaning. I feel like I’ve hit a real stride with my songwriting and Wrath of Can was the point where it kicked off. (Also the point where I met my wife – so you could say she was the inspiration behind my newfound songwriting style. )
What themes or stories does the album explore?
Like any good stew, it has big chunks of goodness to bite down on. The overarching theme is definitely about how we behave, how we fit into social expectations… be that a wanna misogynist womaniser with a desperate need for male approval (Sexual Genius Of The Western World) the absurdity of wannabe ‘strongmen’ voting for ‘stronger men’, thus automatically defining yourself as weaker (Sun Of A Beach), childhood pressures to ‘be a man’ and kill a wounded animal (Pfeilstorch), the pressures of big money record labels (Everything A Mother Could Want) to the pressures of religious belief (Young Presbyterians) and the pressures of a relationship (Particles Of Light). You need a powerful ‘can do’ attitude to get through these things. An almost ‘wrathful’ attitude. Also, the name of the album came from a joke when I almost convinced my wife that I had a bit part as a child in the Star Trek movie Wrath of Khan. I don’t know why I did that. It seemed funny to me at the time. And to be honest… she found it pretty funny as well. (To this day there is a little seed of doubt in her mind that it may actually have happened)
What motivated you to transition from being in a band to pursuing a solo career?
I loved my band Attic Lights. But it’s very hard to do anything in the band because we are a democracy so all have to agree on things. And the guys all have other priorities in their life. So Attic Lights only really do things every so often these days. While my creative muse is kinda on fire right now and won’t leave me alone. So I’m compelled to release stuff.
How has your experience with Attic Lights influenced your solo music?
It’s made me a better writer, arranger and performer. You learn from the people around you, and the guys in Attic Lights are extremely talented guys. They’re my Brothers In Rock! And always will be. In terms of the music, it’s made me confident as a writer and given me the courage not to conform to industry expectations. These days I follow the Muse, not the business plan.
Can you tell us about any upcoming projects or collaborations outside of music?
I’ve got a busy year next year with Disco Mary releasing a pretty constant stream of singles and playing festivals. Outside of music, I’m developing more comic ideas both as a writer with other artists involved and as both writer and artist. But it’s too soon to know how those are going to pan out.
I should really get involved in more collaborations now that you mention it!!!!!!!
What has been the most rewarding part of your career so far?
The fact that I keep getting to do it. That music publishers and people in the independent music industry have enough faith in me that they ask me to make music they can release. That’s the base line. If you can get in this situation, it’s a privilege, so just work as hard as you can to make good work.
That and the fact that my music connects with people. There’s nothing better than people telling you how much a song you wrote meant to them. Because that moment of communication and contact is the whole point of putting your art out there in the world.
How do you stay inspired and continue to evolve as an artist?
Life inspires me. And my brain NEVER RESTS. Both a blessing and a curse. You’ve got to create for yourself. And if other people like it, then fine. But you’ve gotta like it first. (I guess that makes me a rampant egotist!!!) And I’m easily bored so I never like repeating myself.
Where can we find you online?
On all the streaming platforms (for good or ill). And at my website https://kevsherry.com/ (which is due an upgrade shortly)
GET THE SINGLE: https://kevsherry.ffm.to/everythingamothercouldwant
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
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