Liam Naughton and The Educators are London based rockers of Irish and Australian descent whose music is an eclectic mix of brutally grungy guitars and effortlessly melodic earworms. With new EP ‘Cut On A Cut’ having just been released, now is the perfect time to get acquainted with Liam Naughton and The Educators..
DGM: What are the origins of the band, and how long have you been playing together?
Liam: We are Liam Naughton and The Educators. I first got The Educators together after my ‘Cornerstone’ EP in 2013. I worked on that EP, just me and producer Jerry Freedman of Jericho Music, here in Perth. I got the band together to support its release. We’ve had a few changes to the line up since then, but once we recorded my ‘Leaning In’ album it’s been quite a settled outfit with Lauren Reece (drums), James Vinciullo (bass) and Cameron Hayes (lead guitar). When I went to London this year to record ‘Cut On a Cut’, Cameron was already there so George Addison Atkinson came on board playing drums. Matt Lepannen (The Animal Farm label), producer of ‘Cut On A Cut’, played bass.
DGM: How did you feel performing your first gig? And how was it?
Liam: Haha… my first gig… oh shit. When I was first taking my songs to the stage on the Perth Open Mic scene, I was doing it solo so there’s nowhere to hide. It’s excruciating to be up there trying to sing into a mic while trying to find the fret board, with only a handful of people in the audience. I was also playing my own stuff (badly); no one knew the songs so not much of a connection going on there. They were the longest half hours of my life. There were a lot more of those to come too. I could tell that the few people there felt sorry for me because I was trying really really hard, but you’ve got to go through that. It’s the only way to improve. When I first got the band out, to be honest, it was pretty together. We were well rehearsed, just more static than usual.
DGM: What should people expect when they check the band out? How would you describe yourselves?
Liam: I’ve started getting chattier between songs, engaging with the audience more and I like a joke. But yeah, I think there’s something in there for everyone. The band sounds great and are really digging the show. You won’t feel short-changed unless you thought you were going to a strip show!
DGM: The new music scene is bursting at the seams with fresh talent. In what ways do you feel a band has to stand out from the others trying to build a name?
Liam: When I was in London I came across a band called Scatterchild and I really like what they’re doing. Very fresh.
DGM: What are you working on at the moment that people can check out?
Liam: I’ve just released my ‘Cut On A Cut’ EP through The Animal Farm label in London (available on all major online outlets), so I’m doing a lot of marketing and promo stuff for that. I made home videos for ‘Promise Cross Your Heart’ and ‘Party Words’ as well during the Corona virus lockdown. Check them out on YouTube. Puppets, mate; they’re great to work with. They do exactly as you say, agree to anything and you can put your finger up their arse! Calm down, calm down – they’re finger puppets!
DGM: What band out there at the moment do you feel that you would be best suited to open for?
Liam: I’d say Post Malone, yeah, he’s due a bit of a run I’d say.
DGM: Who do you feel will be the next band to break out?
Liam: You know, I’m not too sure who’s on the cusp of that right now. I’m not hearing the next Nirvana, Sex Pistols, Rage Against the Machine or anything scene changing or defining coming through. I think the Aussie artist Tash Sultana is really cool and could be on her way to the big time. Oh and probably a band that your kids are told are the best ever, all your friends will have them, and they’ll have them on their phones too with everybody smiling.
DGM: What are your first musical memories? And what was the light bulb moment that made you go “I want to do that!”
Liam: My “get off my arse” moment was when Danny Murphy hit the play button on ‘Harvest Moon’ in the background at work one day. When it finished I shouted “play that again and get me a cigarette”. Nah, only joking – I asked nicely! I was mesmerised at how he put the story across in the lyrics. After years of bullshitting myself I bought a guitar and practiced four hours a night, six hours on weekends, for six months straight. I started writing soon after I moved from Ireland to Perth, Australia in 2004. Neil Young gave me a standard to work towards in my own lyrics, so I try to get there and hopefully at least approach it more often than not, but that’s what I try to do.
DGM: What was the last gig that you attended as a fan?
Liam: My last gig was at The Bedford in London watching Cameron and George (who played on ‘Cut On A Cut’) play with @georgiareedmusic. My last stadium gig was U2 in Perth last November. They’ve still got it!!
DGM: What is the album that you have in your collection or Spotify playlist that would surprise most people?
Liam: Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’.
DGM: What are your plans for the remainder of 2020?
Liam: I had taken a year off my day job to move to the bright lights of London, hook up with Cameron (our lead guitarist) and launch an assault on the Irish and UK music scene. I mean, what better place to test your wares against all of the up and coming acts than in one of the main centres for music. I wasn’t fazed either; I felt that I had some good horses in my stable and was ready to bang some doors down. I’d a bunch of shows lined up across Ireland and the UK so what could possibly go wrong???? Holy fuck, for once I didn’t derail my own train, the Corona virus did it for me. The pandemic showed me that you could get good work done without being in the same country though. To finish off the ‘Cut On A Cut’ EP it was an international collaboration with Cameron Hayes in a London studio, me in a Perth studio (I returned to Perth because of the pandemic), producing and mixing in London by The Animal Farm label and mastering in Sydney. Touring is a bit hard to plan at the moment with this virus still flying around, border closures and God knows what next. I have another album ready to go, so I’ll get a home recording studio and some quality demos done.
DGM: How active are you on social media and where can people connect with you?
Liam: Yeah I’m pretty active, especially as ‘Cut On A Cut’ has just been released. I’ve been uploading homemade videos onto YouTube, promotional posts to social media and yeah, making people aware of all that and hoping they’ll give it a listen. It’s up to them after that I guess. So go on, drop us a like and a share, and hopefully we’ll get to see you when all this Corona virus business calms down.
https://www.instagram.com/liamnaughtonandtheeducators/
https://www.facebook.com/liamnaughtonandtheeducators/
https://www.youtube.com/user/liamnaughtontube
https://www.twitter.com/liam_naughton