Ride’s Steve Queralt tells us how Vangelis, Sonic Youth & more influenced his debut solo album

As singers and guitarists, Andy Bell and Mark Gardner get most of the attention in Ride, but let’s not forget bassist Steve Queralt and drummer Loz Colbert—arguably the most awesome rhythm section of the original UK shoegaze scene. Steve takes a bit of the spotlight here with his first-ever solo album, Swallow, which features collaborations with Emma Anderson (Lush) and Verity Susman (Electrelane / MEMORIALS), and some very cool instrumentals that fall somewhere between post-rock and downtempo electronics.

For more on Swallow, Steve was nice enough to tell us about a few of the influences behind it, including Sonic Youth, Vangelis, and more. Read his list and commentary, and listen to Swallow, below.

Swallow by Steve Queralt

RIDE’S STEVE QUERALT – 5 INFLUENCES FOR ‘SWALLOW’

Vangelis

When I was very young, I listened to a lot of pre-Blade Runner Vangelis. Mask, Opera Sauvage and especially L’apocalypse des Animaux. There are many tracks from this period that sound completely relevant to me today. My pick from these albums would be “Création du Monde.” It’s a 10-minute brooding, reverb-soaked ambient monolith. I especially love the way each chord hangs before drifting into the next one. It’s beautiful, long, dark and moving. I think this track in particular is probably the reason I’m drawn to those colours and textures when creating my own music.

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Mark Pritchard – The Four Worlds and Under The Sun

When I was thinking about making an album and resigned to the fact that I wouldn’t be singing on any of the tracks, it was Mark’s two albums that I took inspiration from in terms of the way they are constructed. Both albums are a mix of instrumental, spoken word and vocal tracks, which helped lay the framework for my own approach and vision. I originally thought I could produce a fully instrumental record, then decided that some of the demos weren’t interesting enough on their own. Which is why I approached Emma Anderson and Verity Susman for their help.

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Ladytron – “Animals” / Stereolab – “French Disko”

Two perfect songs, both with loads of energy and big-sounding production. I especially love the layered vocals and the prominence of the harmonies that counter the lead on both tracks. I think we managed to channel some of what is great about these two songs into “Lonely Town” and “Messengers.” I was so impressed and moved when Verity sent me her first go at “Messengers.” It seems she wasn’t content with just sketching out a few parts, instead going for an almost finished song complete with full-on backing vocals.

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Sonic Youth – “Providence”

I’ve loved Providence for 30 years and always wanted Ride to try and emulate it at some point. Again, I’m drawn to the darkness of this track, the deep growl of what sounds like guitar amps slowly dying and the lonely piano picking out strands of a melody before Thurston’s answer-phone messages kick in. It’s pure New York cool, atmospheric, unnerving and literally cosmic sounding.

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Mokadelic – “Doomed to Live”

Occasionally, you hear a track that makes you think “I could do that.” Not in any disrespectful way, but in that it makes you want to immediately get to work on making some music. I first heard “Doom to Live” watching the TV series Gomorrah. The soundtrack sits perfectly behind the drama, giving it an unsettling atmosphere which you wouldn’t normally associate with a show about the mafia. It was a brave choice to use what is essentially a post-rock soundtrack, but it is a genius choice. Like me, they must have heard of Mogwai.

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Swallow is out now on Sonic Cathedral.

Steve will be signing copies of Swallow at the Sonic Cathedral stall at Independent Label Market Nottingham, UK, on Sunday, June 15 (12 – 6 PM). Afterwards, Steve will be joined by his labelmate Simon Scott (Slowdive / Three Quarter Skies and ) to DJ at the Sungazing party at Nottingham’s The King Billy.

There’s also a ‘Swallow’ listening party at London’s The Social on Wednesday, June 18 (6 – 9 PM). Steve and Nat from Sonic Cathedral will be djing.