Third studio album by Graham Day & The Gaolers! Their first in 14 years!

It’s been a good time recently to be a fan of Graham Day. Last year saw the release of A Little More Time With, a 10” mini LP by The Senior Service, as well as his recent debut solo album, The Master Of None, (released on Acid Jazz). There’s also been a string of hometown reformation gigs with the Prisoners, and a US tour with the Woggles,

And now this! We’re extremely proud to be releasing Reflections In The Glass, a brand new album by Graham Day & The Gaolers. We asked Graham a few questions the new Gaolers album, his writing, playing style, and those recent Prisoners gigs…

This is the third Graham Day & The Gaolers album. It’s been 14 years since the last one, why the long gap?

Blimey, is it that long?

We never “finished” the band, but with Dan living in the USA it’s always been difficult to get together, and we’ve had to rely on touring to make it worthwhile flying him over. I think we were all feeling a bit tired of touring, my ‘day’ job got increasingly intense, and we sort of put it on hold for a while. We were set to record the album in March 2020, but then Covid hit so we lost a couple of years.

How did you first hook up with Dan Electro from the Woggles?

I met Dan in 2000, his band the Woggles were supporting the SolarFlares on two nights of a German tour.  The first night they blew me away, and we went on first the following night, no way I was going to follow that again! We stayed in touch, became great friends. Dan was over in London 2006 ish, I’d just finished playing bass in the Buff Medways, and Dan suggested we start a band together with Buzz the Woggles bass player. I had an album’s worth of material and they flew over and we recorded the first Gaolers’ album in 2007.

One of my favourites on the album is ‘Don’t Hide Away’. What inspired the song?

Covid divided a lot of people, everyone had their own views and different attitudes to risk. Don’t hide away is about those friends and family that were so scared they locked themselves away, some of whom still have never returned to social circles. I just wanted to put it out there that there were alternative views to those being heavily pushed in the media.

There are plenty of other highlights – ‘Step Out of Your Parade’ and ‘Filtered Face’ are getting played loud on the office stereo! But which tracks are you most pleased with?

I like the whole album as a body of work, I think it shows both the soulful and tuneful side of the Gaolers whilst staying really gritty and full of attitude. I’m particularly pleased with ‘Don’t Hide Away’, ‘Step Out of Your Parade’, ‘I Can’t Stop This Feeling’, ‘Mystery Man’ and ‘Narrow Mind’.

Are you the kind of writer that waits for a bolt of inspiration or do you treat it as more of a job/craft that requires the hours to be put it regardless of mood?

If I sat down and tried to write a song it would be like pulling teeth. I have to be inspired or motivated by an approaching tour or album.

I don’t write songs for long periods, I’ve never been one for picking up a guitar at home. But once I get motivated I find that I can’t stop writing songs. Usually a melody comes to me whilst I’m walking the dog, I sing it into my phone and then work out what the chords might be when I get home. Either that or when I’m in bed trying to sleep. I can’t switch my brain off and have a lot of sleepless nights full of tunes until I’m happy I have enough songs for an album.

Then my brain switches off and the melodies stop haunting me…..

The guitar playing on the record is as brilliant as ever. Who are your favourite guitar players and which ones have influenced your playing style?

My first guitar inspiration was Syd Barrett. I loved the sound he made, it was not technical or slick, just raw, and different. I fell in love with Steve Marriott’s guitar playing. Again, not complicated, just tuneful, unusual but powerful in a simple way. I think my style is more about the way I hit the guitar, aggressively but tunefully. I hate playing solos and try to play what’s best for the songs.

You recently got back together with the other three original Prisoners for four shows in Medway, how was that?

That was incredible. I never thought we’d do it again. We had a period in the 90s where we got back together for a while, but it didn’t feel right. We were all in a different place, and for me being a band and having a laugh is the most important thing. Recently we’ve been bumping into each other and getting on well. We did a few impromptu songs together at a friend’s gig as we all happened to be in the same room, and it felt really good, comfortable and natural like the old days.

As it was the 40th anniversary of our first album this year we thought it would be great to do a one-off show to celebrate that. It sold out so quickly we added another date, then had to add a couple more due to demand. People travelled from all over the world to share those special nights with us; there was a lot of emotion and love in the room. It was amazing.

We’re very chuffed to be releasing Reflections In The Glass on CD and of course vinyl LP. It will be a welcome addition to a lot of record collections. If we were to browse through your record collection which items would surprise us the most?

I doubt anyone would be surprised at all by my records. I’m not a collector, don’t think I’ve bought a record since my 20s, and I’m not someone who really listens to music at home. I think my life has been so full of music in my head, at gigs and parties I feel like home is an escape from it.