Photo courtesy of Brian Sweeney.
The existence of the supergroup Minor Victories is the result of a serendipitous online meeting of Slowdive's Rachel Goswell, Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite and Editors' Justin and James Lockey. Having never met in person, the four managed to release a self-titled LP last year that spurred endless excitement and enthusiasm from fans worldwide—today, the four-piece share their video for "Give Up The Ghost" off their forthcoming album Orchestral Variations, a collection of reworked songs off their debut full-length.In contrast to the raucous, guitar-oriented original, the orchestral interpretation of "Give Up The Ghost" is pensive and somber. Adopting slower, gossamer piano and swelling strings, the track is perfect for delving into meditative thoughts on your daily commute. Check out the video below and our chat with Justin Lockey about the band's creative process below.What made you want to create an orchestral version of the album?
To be honest I was only fucking around to start with, but the more I started playing around, the more it felt like a valid thing to do especially with nature of the band being a collaborative affair it seemed to make sense to present the songs and harmonies in another light.What was your collaboration process like in creating this new album? Who arranged each part?
I did one track first ("Cogs") played to Stuart, Rachel, and James. Then, the band was just cool with me cracking on alone to see where I get to. At that point I just didn't stop until the whole record was re-interpreted.How does composing and arranging Orchestral Variations compare to writing for your self-titled debut?
It's a completely different process in terms of which parts sit on top of the piece, whereas on the debut there's so much fuzz and power in the songs I used this orchestral version to shed some light on some beautiful delicate parts that don't really surface on the debut amongst a billion guitars!Did you all work and collaborate remotely from each other for this album? If so, what was that process like?
When we made the debut we were all over the place, but on this record it was just me a room full of instruments, some mics, a computer and a few long nights.Does everyone in Minor Victories collaborate with James Lockey to produce the visuals for the video?
All the visuals are set up, shot and edited by James, but they stem from collaborative ideas between me and him.Orchestral Variations is out in record stores for Black Friday on Nov 25 and will be out everywhere else in January via Fat Possum Records.Minor Victories Tour Dates:
December 2 - Glasgow, Scotland - The SSE Hydro *
December 3 - Leeds, England - First Direct Arena *
December 5 - Manchester, England - Manchester Arena *
December 6 - Nottingham, England - Motorpoint Arena *
December 8 - Birmingham, England - Barclaycard Arena *
December 10 - Dublin, Ireland - 3Arena *
December 11 - Liverpool, England - The Magnet
December 12 - Newport, England - Newport Centre *
December 13 - Oxford, England - O2 Academy 2 Oxford
December 14 - Brighton, England - Brighton Centre *
December 15 - London, England - Wembly Arena ** with Placebo
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To be honest I was only fucking around to start with, but the more I started playing around, the more it felt like a valid thing to do especially with nature of the band being a collaborative affair it seemed to make sense to present the songs and harmonies in another light.What was your collaboration process like in creating this new album? Who arranged each part?
I did one track first ("Cogs") played to Stuart, Rachel, and James. Then, the band was just cool with me cracking on alone to see where I get to. At that point I just didn't stop until the whole record was re-interpreted.How does composing and arranging Orchestral Variations compare to writing for your self-titled debut?
It's a completely different process in terms of which parts sit on top of the piece, whereas on the debut there's so much fuzz and power in the songs I used this orchestral version to shed some light on some beautiful delicate parts that don't really surface on the debut amongst a billion guitars!
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When we made the debut we were all over the place, but on this record it was just me a room full of instruments, some mics, a computer and a few long nights.Does everyone in Minor Victories collaborate with James Lockey to produce the visuals for the video?
All the visuals are set up, shot and edited by James, but they stem from collaborative ideas between me and him.Orchestral Variations is out in record stores for Black Friday on Nov 25 and will be out everywhere else in January via Fat Possum Records.Minor Victories Tour Dates:
December 2 - Glasgow, Scotland - The SSE Hydro *
December 3 - Leeds, England - First Direct Arena *
December 5 - Manchester, England - Manchester Arena *
December 6 - Nottingham, England - Motorpoint Arena *
December 8 - Birmingham, England - Barclaycard Arena *
December 10 - Dublin, Ireland - 3Arena *
December 11 - Liverpool, England - The Magnet
December 12 - Newport, England - Newport Centre *
December 13 - Oxford, England - O2 Academy 2 Oxford
December 14 - Brighton, England - Brighton Centre *
December 15 - London, England - Wembly Arena ** with Placebo