Project Description
Interview with
THOMAS EATHERTON
from
IN EARNEST
Interviewer – Dave Bruce
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Introduce yourselves… Who are ‘In Earnest’ and what’s the meaning behind the name?
We are Tom Eatherton (me), Sarah Holburn and Toby Shaer, from Southend-on-Sea in the UK. We write songs about mental health using our own life experiences. We were part of another band called ‘Carousel’ with some other members, but we decided to split off and start a new project, with the intention of being focused on artful songwriting and creating music that was much more candid and emotional than we’d touched upon previously.
How would you describe your sound? Why do you think people resonate with your music?
We’ve been semi-jokingly calling our sound ‘sad indie’ for a while now. We try to create conversation and awareness around mental health through raw, honest songs. I think that our willingness to explore difficult themes is one of the main things that intrigues our audience.
What inspired your message of openness around mental health?
Sarah has suffered with chronic depression and anxiety for the best part of 10 years. I’m her partner of 6 years, and we’ve been on an unrelenting journey – working out how to survive the struggles that ongoing mental illness brings. We recognise that there is such a huge stigma around mental health, so we hope that our honesty around the subject can encourage others to admit that they need help and to be less afraid of asking for it.
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Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today?
We’re very much inspired by artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Big Thief and Noah Gundersen and have had the pleasure of seeing all three of those play live within the last couple of years. We’re real suckers for challenging lyricism and sombre moods – each of those artists definitely bring those things to the table and it can be mind blowing to see those intimate songs and topics still resound so deeply when performed on sizable stages.
Your new single is about to be released! Describe its origin and evolution.
I wrote the song, ‘Come Upstairs’, in a very ‘stream of consciousness’ kind of way. I don’t really like to pre-determine what I’m going to write about when I sit down to be creative. The opening line from the song ‘Come upstairs, my love’ came to me, and I’d had this arpeggiated guitar part that I’d been messing around with at the time that actually reminded me of ascending and descending stairs, so maybe that’s where those words came from!
The lyrics deal with being the partner who always has to be there for support, put on a brave face and keep the morale in the relationship positive, whilst the other is unable to do so. It’s an urging for them to never give up hope for a better future.
What is the importance of the single artwork to you?
When I created the artwork, I tried to depict the haze that I imagine resembles depression at its peak. The image is a photo from Sarah’s perspective, with my arm outstretched, beckoning for Sarah to literally come upstairs and let the day conclude. My face is scribbled out to represent that I sometimes wonder how Sarah sees me when the depression takes hold. It also touches on the topic of identity. How much of yourself can you give away before you no longer know who you are?
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I hear there’s going to be a music video – how did you make it?
When we were planning the campaign around our single releases, we set a challenge for ourselves very early on to design, film and edit a video for each single using some really basic equipment (a smartphone and a laptop). We shot the video for ‘Come Upstairs’ over a period of a couple of months, mostly using spur-of-the-moment ideas for footage and imagery that we captured completely at home. Our housemate is a makeup artist, so we challenged her to try and re-create the scribbled out effect on my face from the artwork, in real life, using face paint.
Is there an EP or Album on the drawing board?
There is indeed! Our debut EP will have 6 tracks (3 of which have been released as singles) and deals with other themes such as identity, adulthood and loneliness.
What advice would you like to give to someone who is struggling with their mental health?
Once you have accepted that you are struggling, we recommend that you get yourself in to see your doctor or GP as soon as possible and to be honest with them about how you are feeling. There are some great ways to educate yourself on mental health including visiting your national mental health services (for example, Mind in the UK – www.mind.org.uk or SANE in Australia – www.sane.org) and browsing their range of articles on self-help and advice – it can be comforting to understanding that the issues that you are experiencing are not unique to you, but shared by many. Approaching your family or friends can be tricky, especially early on, as you yourself won’t really understand your own mental illness. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to include them in the research that you do, and encourage them to learn with you. That way they will be able to attempt to understand and provide the support that you need. One fantastic book to look at is ‘How To Come Alive Again’ by Beth McColl – Sarah told me that she wished that book existed when she was in the early stages of experiencing mental unwellness.
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Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
Artist – The Rocket Summer
Movie – Into The Wild
Place to visit – Brooklyn, NYC
Venue to play – Band On The Wall, Manchester
Food – Pizza
Drink – Whiskey & Ginger Beer
Tattoo – Myself and Sarah both have the same tiny anchor on our wrists, which we got in order to commemorate a friend who took their own life. It’s a reminder to check in on the people that we care about.
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Check out IN EARNEST below
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