Sadly, shortly after Small World Experience recorded the video for their song "Crash Crush", the star of the show, a one-and-a half-eyed cat named Mr. Kitly passed away.But judging by the video Mr. Kitly lived a pretty chilled life roaming around a house and yard and sniffing the occasional croissant.Taken from Soft Knocks, an upcoming LP on Tenth Court, the song highlights the laid back pop talents of songwriter/guitarist Pat Ridgewell. The on-again-off-again three-piece who formed in the late 80s and consist of bassist Julian Patterson (Minimum Chips, The Ancients) and drummer Ian Wadley (Minimum Chips, Bird Blobs) produce effortless and breezy pop that hint at sombre moments.After a long hibernation, SWE are back and their new release has become highly anticipated by fans of tidy and breezy pop.Watch the video below and read a brief interview with Pat.Noisey: What happened to Mr Kitly's eye?
Pat Ridgewell: I think he got the bung eye from getting hit by a car years ago. It was Julian's cat. He was very old, 18 or more. Making a video with a dishevelled old cat that's a bit disfigured and isn't doing anything much seemed like a good idea. Now it's kind of a memorial.The video also offers a candid and intimate look at a home too. Where is it?
Julian and his partner Bree have a shop/gallery called, not coincidentally, Mr Kitly. And Mr. Kitly was the part-time groggy shop cat. Half of the footage is taken in the living space out the back and the rest is at their place out of town. I don't have croissants at my place.Your songs are often described as 'effortless' but do they come easy to you?
Well it's guitar-driven songwriting, I make up the chords and singing melodies first and that's the easy part. Lyrics are a hassle. I don't have the knack of turning what I'm thinking about into song lyrics so usually if I think of a phrase or line that fits the melody I just take it from there, not writing about anything in particular, going by only the sound of it - rhymes, rhythm etc - to come up with more until hopefully a theme appears. It's very slow and flukey. But the results are…..interesting?What's it like to be playing and writing again?
It's all good. Hopefully we can churn out another album in the er, current era. Meanwhile I'm curious to see how Soft Knocks goes over.'Soft Knocks' is available June 23 through Tenth Court.
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Pat Ridgewell: I think he got the bung eye from getting hit by a car years ago. It was Julian's cat. He was very old, 18 or more. Making a video with a dishevelled old cat that's a bit disfigured and isn't doing anything much seemed like a good idea. Now it's kind of a memorial.The video also offers a candid and intimate look at a home too. Where is it?
Julian and his partner Bree have a shop/gallery called, not coincidentally, Mr Kitly. And Mr. Kitly was the part-time groggy shop cat. Half of the footage is taken in the living space out the back and the rest is at their place out of town. I don't have croissants at my place.Your songs are often described as 'effortless' but do they come easy to you?
Well it's guitar-driven songwriting, I make up the chords and singing melodies first and that's the easy part. Lyrics are a hassle. I don't have the knack of turning what I'm thinking about into song lyrics so usually if I think of a phrase or line that fits the melody I just take it from there, not writing about anything in particular, going by only the sound of it - rhymes, rhythm etc - to come up with more until hopefully a theme appears. It's very slow and flukey. But the results are…..interesting?What's it like to be playing and writing again?
It's all good. Hopefully we can churn out another album in the er, current era. Meanwhile I'm curious to see how Soft Knocks goes over.'Soft Knocks' is available June 23 through Tenth Court.