The Guy With A Black Eye is a wonderful new song from Lucifers Beard, the musical project of Shrewsbury-based artist Chris Barnes. It’s a fantastic rock song with a driving rhythm, featuring a killer lead guitar riff that will get inside your head straight away! If you somehow missed the song, you can find a stream below!
By Jane Howkins
You recently released a track titled The Guy With A Black Eye, which we reviewed. What can you tell us about the song?
It’s short and fast, much like the titular character it’s based on! I saw a young guy with a big black eye and a skateboard tucked under his arm! He had a very confident demeanor and didn’t seem phased by his injury at all. My imagination started to kick in, about what kind of person he could be and the consequences of that. Music usually drives the narratives of songs for me, so it was quite refreshing to work things out the other way round and try to find the tight kind of music to go alongside the guy with a black eye!
How has the reception been for The Guy With A Black Eye and where can it be purchased?
I’ve been really chuffed with the reception to be honest! I’m a nobody and it’s really hard to get people to care about your songs as much the writer does! So, to have lots of support in the blog world has really made my month! It’s on all the usual streaming platforms.
Do you plan to release any more singles in the near future?
Yeah! I have a new track called Lady Loser coming out on the 15th December! I hope you guys like it!!! I’ve labelled it as a conceptual follow up single to TGWABE as it’s all about what happened to TGWABE years later! What did he turn into, does he regret? Have hope? Maybe he still holds on to that arrogance that led him to where he is now?!
Are there any plans to release an EP or album?
I’d love to, but I think I’ll stick to singles for now. At the moment I kind of feel that an EP/LP would be a bit self-indulgent on my part. Nobody really knows who I am, so it feels like it makes more sense to keep putting the singles out there. Artistically, I love making EPs and albums, so maybe one day in the future!
The band is the main project of musician Chris Barnes. Why did you decide to produce the project under the name Lucifers Beard, instead of under your own name?
Haha, my names a bit boring! Lucifers Beard was a fictitious band I used to joke about at school with some friends. It’s a quote from a Peter Pan film, I think? Captain Hook curses at Pan… “by lucifer’s beard!” I was struggling to think of a moniker so I intended to use it as a stop gap, but now I think it’s here to stay. It’s quite funny seeing peoples reactions to the name, versus the music… it’s never quite the match up they think. Which is a good thing, I think?
Has the pandemic hindered your work much?
The opposite, probably. Before then, I was recording demos on GarageBand using a Bluetooth speaker. Then I suddenly had more time to begin learning the art of audio engineering and mixing. One thing led to another and now I have a home-made studio in my house!
Your music mixes together many different rock genres, including alt rock and grunge. What/who influences you most as an artist? What have you been listening to recently?
I’d probably have to say the Beatles and Incubus. I have always been drawn to those artists for how eclectic their songs can be. That’s probably why my songs are a bit of a mess genre wise! At the moment I’m quite enjoying Ty Segall and the new Jamie Lenman stuff! There’s also a band called Monster Truck that I saw at a show last month! Good old Southern rock!
You’re based in Shrewsbury. What is the local music scene like?
Not really sure to be honest, I don’t play live anymore unfortunately. I was handed a flyer for a punk night the other day though, I was pretty chuffed that flyers still exist! It’s a quiet place but if there’s a live punk night starting up, maybes there’s hope for little old Shrewsbury yet!
Do you have any UK tour dates lined up?
I wish! I need to find a band first! I really do miss playing gigs, but at the moment I’m quite happy to hide away in my studio and create! I would love to play some of them live one day!
Any last words for the fans?
If I’ve got any, haha! Just a big thanks to anyone that’s taken the plunge and time to have a listen to my little songs. Like the songs or not, it’s just really cool to share with anyone! I’d also like to thank you guys at York Calling! I really appreciate the love that you guys show towards my songs and all the support from the reviews and doing things like this!