Interview withJimmy Big Mouth (vocals) and Charlie Williamson (lead guitar) from Little Beast
LITTLE BEAST are announcing their debut album and building tension while kicking it out one song at a time! Instantly after first few beats you want to listen them on repeat! So, I decided to go a step further and find out why songs are so addictive.
Here is what press says about them: “LITTLE BEAST are not your typical Alt-Rock band. Emerging from the heart of Zagreb with a sound as ferocious as their name suggests, this group blends heavy guitar-driven energy with brutally honest lyrics and a defiant spirit. Their music captures the chaos of modern life in Croatia - the kind of songs that are heavy with lament, but still make you want to sing along”.
Their debut album ‘Whatever’s Clever’ is about heartbreak, self-destruction, and starting over. It chronicles the wreckage of failure with anger, moments of unexpected tenderness and plenty of sonic swagger. Tracks like ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Waiting Again’ burn with frustration and longing, while ‘Big Head’ and ‘Getting Away’ inject humour and venom into an already explosive mix. It’s the kind of record that feels lived-in and unfiltered - because it is. It is a true story of what actually happened rather than a carefully curated account designed to make the author look good.
I’m really impatient to hear the full album but while we are waiting, I’m bringing a surprise to you all! What can be better than to hear it all straight from the mouths of Jimmy and Charlie, the singer and lead guitarist of LITTLE BEAST!
Reflections of Darkness [RoD]: Hi lads, how are you? I heard you just got back from UK yesterday. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules!
Jimmy: It’s really not that busy.
RoD: First thing first, let’s test if you are Croatian or British band, be careful this is tricky one: If you were to cheer, would it be for British or Croatian football team? Hahaha! How would you classify your music?
Jimmy: That’s easy. Croatia. Nothing against England, but I like it here. This country gives me more than England does and I support Croatia. Our drummer is Serbian though so I wouldn’t ask him.
Charlie: England are playing like crap at the moment anyway.
RoD: Tell us story behind the LITTLE BEAST? How it all happened? Did you just wake up one morning and decided to move to Croatia and start a band? How did you start your journey? What is special about music scene here in the central Europe compared to UK? I’m sure Croatian bands dream to do exactly opposite, to create music in UK.
Jimmy: I came to live here and... things didn’t go as planned, let’s put it that way. And I didn’t know anyone, so I was just looking to join a covers band. I got to know someone here who is a fairly well-known musician. He heard some songs I’d written and encouraged me to release them. My producer mate in London, Charlie who runs a recording studio called Audio Bunker, he said the same thing when he heard them. I was sending Charlie my ideas and he started sending them back to me with extras recorded, saying ‘let’s do it like this and release it’. It all just started from there.
Charlie: Jimmy would send me the tracks over with just the acoustic guitar and vocals. I’m no good at writing songs from scratch but I have an ear for hearing the potential in them. I was saying to Jimmy that these songs are cool, but I can make them sound cooler. I wanted to turn them from demos into anthems. I guess that’s more my talent.
RoD: Another tricky one, did you first fell in love with Croatia or with Croatian woman? Which is bigger inspiration for your music? Tell us story behind lyrics of your recent singles: ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Bad Mouth’.
Jimmy: ‘Bad Mouth’ is about a girl I dated in Zagreb last year. She was the nastiest, most obnoxious person I ever dated. She was unbelievably vicious, a real piranha fish. It was an easy song to write. I co-wrote it with my friend Dave who lives in London. ‘Ghosts’ is about me and a different girl called Nikolina. I have nothing bad to say about Nikolina. Most of the songs on the album are about me and Nikolina.
Charlie: Croatian women are very attractive, but I think I really fell in love with the Croatian beer.
RoD: In which phase is your debut album ‘Whatever’s Clever’? My secret sources whispered that you already recorded all songs? What is the timeline?
Jimmy: It’s pretty much finished. We’re just releasing the songs one by one and just adding any last bits as we go along. Charlie keeps wanting to change stuff and I need to replay all the bass parts too.
RoD: With which music influence you would like to grab beer and have small talks, with whom you would like to jam till the morning, and which one’s life is the most inspirational? Your artistic vision? Tell us more about sounds we can expect on the album. If you could choose one band to tour with, which band would it be?
Jimmy: My favourite rock stars are Jeff Lynne, Paul McCartney and Freddie. My favourite Croatian band, after LITTLE BEAST, is ELIZA DUSHKU. I’d go on tour with any of them.
Charlie: John Petrucci is my hero. I saw him with DREAM THEATER in Zagreb last year and I could watch him play for hours. I took a lot of influence from him when I came up with the lead guitar on ‘Ghosts’. The album goes in a lot of different directions. We dive into RadioRock, Post Rock, Britpop, Metal and even Motown. I think there’s a song for everyone on this album.
RoD: You boys wrote hundreds of songs. Where do you see yourself in five years? Would you like to focus on writing songs for others? Or your will keep them all for LITTLE BEAST?
Jimmy: 5 years, I don’t know. We have this album to release this year, and we have already written the second one for next year. We’re going to record that next spring and release it next year. After that, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll start an alpaca farm. Maybe there will be a third album if I don’t annoy Charlie or he doesn’t annoy me.
Charlie: Probably arguing with Jimmy over having my guitars too loud in the mix.
RoD: Which languages do you speak? Do you understand Croatian? Will LITTLE BEAST always sing in English?
Jimmy: I wanted to sing in Croatian at first but most industry people we were speaking to said we should sing in English as it gives us a more global market. Most of the interest we get at the moment is from other countries, Brazil, Germany, UK, USA. We’re a Zagreb band 100%, but it’s possible Croatia will ignore us and the majority of our fan-base will beelsewhere.
RoD: Here is serious one, if you could compare creative process of LITTLE BEAST with food, which dish it would be and why? Ok, ok before they censor me, next: How is LITTLE BEAST’s music created? Which part of the process is the most satisfying to you?
Jimmy: We haven’t got a clue what we’re doing. I write a song and record a basic version, send it to Charlie, he puts some ideas on, then we just work on it from there. Charlie is half of the whole thing. I’m writing them, he’s polishing them into a final product. Often, we get carried away, we’ll spent hours talking about if a bass note is half a second too long.
Charlie: Probably nachos because the process is an absolute mess. There is a lot of back and forth. Hopefully we’ll have a more solid workflow for album number two. My favourite part of the process is putting the final touches on the songs such as ambient synths, sub drops, explosions and other bits of ear candy.
RoD: Do you know that LITTLE BEAST are only four letters from THE BEATLES? Is that a coincidence?
Jimmy: Yes, we couldn’t think of a name and we just thought it sounded humorous.
RoD: What are the biggest challenges of music industry today, compared to the 1960, when Beatles came on scene?
Jimmy: All the social media requirements drive me mad. It’s not very pleasant. I can’t be bothered with it, but we have to do it. We’re “littlebeasthr” on Instagram so we’re always making videos, clips, reels or whatever they are called. And I always do the wrong one and people say ‘oh you should have done a highlight for that one, not a reel, now it’s not on your story’. I haven’t got a clue what they are talking about. I just press the red upload button. You get what you get, and you’re lucky to have that. I spend more time on all that nonsense than I do writing songs.
Charlie: It’s easier than ever to put your music out there but the music industry is very saturated right now because of streaming services. I think the hardest thing is trying to cut through all the noise that’s out there, literally.
RoD: There has been change in LITTLE BEAST line-up recently. There are many who would like to join band, so please tell us what is the best way to reach out? Should musicians send you video of their performance, or they should wait an official competition announcement? Which social media and music platforms do you use?
Jimmy: We have everyone we need right now. They all joined recently. But the line-up has changed about a million times in the last 12 months. Hopefully the guys we have now are the final guys. But there’s no money in it, so you know, some people just run out of steam. They fuck off and get a job in a bakery or something.
RoD: And last but not the least, which question should nobody ask you, haha?
Jimmy: Don’t ask if you can borrow money, you won’t like the answer.
Charlie: Don’t ask me to turn my amp volume down.
RoD: This was fun, let’s chat again soon!
littlebeasthr.github.io
Pictures Jelena Jakovljevic
