buster and the pigeons releases 'fictional things to worry about'
Listen to ‘fictional things to worry about’ here
Praise for buster and the pigeons
“buster and the pigeons continues to captivate us with unique soundscapes and introspective lyricism. He pushes the boundaries of conventional music, inviting listeners to reflect on the intricacies of the human condition.” - KALTBLUT
“buster and the pigeons emerges as a compelling new voice, offering a refreshing perspective on life’s intricacies and challenges. With his debut album on the horizon, Buster’s artistic journey is primed to leave an indelible mark on the music landscape.” - PureMzine
London-based singer-songwriter buster and the pigeons today releases his debut album ‘fictional things to worry about’, featuring the cathartic and catchy focus track ‘crying in hawaii’.
On ‘crying in hawaii’ Buster shares:
“crying in hawaii’ is about using escapism to recalibrate after a breakup. Accepting that healing isn’t linear and even though you’re coming to terms with the fact you did everything you could, if someone doesn’t want to accept what you’re trying to offer them it can still ruin a holiday in Hawaii.”
Watch the visualiser for ‘crying in hawaii’ here
To celebrate the occasion, Buster announces details of an intimate album release how which will take place on June 2nd at Servant Jazz Quarters, Dalston. With support from Charlie Wallis, Buster will play his new album live for the first time accompanied by his live band. Tickets available here.
"It’s about celebrating failures and starting to see the world for what it is.” said Essex born artist buster and the pigeons about his debut album. “Nothing sugar-coated, no gloating, no 'hype.' Just a real, authentic feeling through music, video and photos. I want to make music that actually resonates with people who want to feel what they're listening to. The anti-paying for blue tickers, anti-synthetic, pro-sympathetic, have asked themselves big fuck off scary questions and not been happy with their own answers. That's who it's for."
Buster has been incredibly heartbroken a number of times throughout his life. Whilst acknowledging the apparently trivial nature of these occasional events, the feelings of anxiety, depression, jubilation, love and despair that follow are never entirely dampened. Of these moments, Buster reflects: “I process things very quickly, but that also means that I feel two weeks worth of emotions in a day. My brain tries to trick and convince me that what I'm feeling is real. That the world outside me is solely affected by what's happening inside my head, but that's a fallacy: a fictional way of thinking.” So came the inspiration for his debut album of the same name ‘fictional things to worry about’.
About buster and the pigeons
One of the last born in Rochford hospital before it became a psychiatric unit, Buster was raised in the seax county before making the improbable leap to accepting a football scholarship at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. When he wasn’t surfing or exploring the local beaches, Buster indulged his emergent interest in music: “This is where I really started to listen to music and understand it. I had The Velvet Underground and Grateful Dead on repeat, and I fell in love with Blaze Foley.”
Five years later Buster relocated to London after experiencing boring visa issues (he didn’t have one). “I took my sweet time to graduate and stayed longer than I was supposed to because I spent a lot of time surfing and getting stoned on the beach.” Buster returned to the UK, but has continued to travel the world, shooting photography campaigns and music videos, with stints in Australia, Asia and Europe.
It was during his time in Australia that Buster found his knack for songwriting. As a writer, director and photographer he relies on different mediums to express himself. It was after a blockage trying to write a film about hypocrites that he decided to make a song about it instead, which manifested itself into his single 'meaning of life'. Buster’s background in film and photography enriches his songwriting. He explained: “Three of the songs on the album were actually written because I saw a music video for it first. I wanted to write a song that worked for the concept of the video that I wanted to shoot. So it's fun to be able to work backwards in that regard.”
Buster’s professional background in photography and cinematography has allowed him to create all of his own content at an award winning standard, intimately funnelling his creative energy into 360 degrees of storytelling, through his lyrics, performance and visual production. Buster combines conceptual film making, with his thoughtful and emotive lyricism, which gives his listeners a multi-faceted product portraying his life exactly as intended.
“My favourite song ever, and I mean EVER, is called ‘Clay Pigeons’, by a guy called Blaze Foley, so it's kind of a nod to that” is how Buster explains the latter half of his artist name. “It's also the idea that rats can fly. The notion that this real down and out, sad, gritty, disregarded thing is capable of doing something that most other things on earth are not capable of is so beautiful to me.”
Buster admits that at the time of writing his debut album “I didn't really like myself too much, I thought I was a bit shit. So the idea that even the shittest of the shit can fly was a push to myself like, ‘things are gonna be bad mate but there's going to be glimpses where you rise above it' kinda thing.”
Buster and the Pigeons is for fans of The Streets, Blaze Foley, Zach Bryan, Jack Johnson, Lou Reed, Idles, Kae Tempest and Leonard Cohen.
Listen to ‘fictional things to worry about’ here
