In addition to The Beatles, John Andrew Fredrick indicates that he is inspired by Lutheran hymns. That may explain The Black Watch’s unique sound: jangle pop, which is a bit dark, sometimes eccentric, but never ordinary. “The Morning Papers Have Given Us the Vapours,” which is brand new, is beautiful and intriguing and sounds contemporary. However, the latter does not appear to have been a deliberate goal in itself. We hear more about this in an exclusive interview with Frederick himself.

Are you consciously adjusting your sound to keep your music modern, or is that not a concern for you?

We rarely, if ever, think in terms of “how will this go down with indie fans.” Not that that is an arrogant or oblivious approach: it’s just that I try to please myself first, thinking “I have impeccable taste; so if it makes me jolly and feel moved somehow, then it MUST be good.” Who knows, though? We never ever chase the current sound, as it were. I think that madness lies that way.

“What’s All This Then” is such a fresh and youthful song. Could you tell me what inspired it?

“What’s All This Then” is a sort of send-up of love songs in general and my own in specific. How many times have we uber-romantics said “I’ve never felt like this about ANYONE!” Knowing full well we’re fooling ourselves. Full fools fooling the fools that are US! Haha.

“There and Here” has a Dark Wave/Post Punk vibe. But when I describe it that way, I wonder if it’s just a typical journalistic observation. What are your thoughts on this?

I forgive writers and punters for categorizing music; if that makes things more palatable, there you go. Notwithstanding that, I am really pleased with the guitar sounds the engineer, Kevin Dippold, got on that one. I do not think of us as a “big guitar sound” sort of band; but we LOVE a lot of those—The Chameleons UK, early U2, The Strokes, et alia.

You make creating music sound effortless in a good way. Do the melodies still come naturally to you?

Well, the melodies I often attribute to two influences: the Beatles and Lutheran hymns. I went to church religiously till I was nineteen. Pun! Haha. I admire really twisty melodies like what Mark Hollis did with the immortal Talk Talk, so perhaps a bit of twistedness twists into my stuff. I like catchy stuff—with a twist. (Sorry: couldn’t resist!).

When I listen to your records, I always feel like I’m part of a journey, rather than being shown an endpoint. Quite poetically worded, don’t you think?

A journey or TRIP (term I prefer) really is among the highest compliments that could be paid one. Heroic Roger Waters opined that “in the finished article, the only thing that matter is if the song MOVES you,” so I reckon you could say that that’s an INTERNAL journey!