Warm Brains is the warped imaginings of London-based DIY producer Rory Attwell. Having burst onto the scene in 2004 as one third of short-lived dance punk provocateurs Test Icicles, Attwell subsequently played in a raft of other notable bands, goth-punks Kasms and Rat:Att:Agg among them, but more recently has made his name as east London producer du jour, recording upcoming UK bands such as Male Bonding, Fair Ohs, Teeth!!!, S.C.U.M, Veronica Falls, Weird Dreams, Please, Not Cool, Holy State and countless others.

Last year, under the moniker Warm Brains, Attwell decided it was time to start work on pulling his own ideas together, the result being the just-released single “Old Volcanoes” and an album of the same due for release in early July on Marshall Teller Records.
Dazed caught up with Attwell to talk Hannibal Lecter and the new video for “Old Volcanoes”, directed by Ferry Gouw.

Dazed Digital: Did you get the idea of naming your band after watching Hannibal?
Rory Atwell: I've never actually seen Hannibal, it probably subconsciously had more to do with Indiana Jones eating chilled monkey brains in the Temple of Doom and I figured Warm Brains was a better name than “big rolling balls”.

DD: There's always a strong visual concept to each band you've been in. How do you see Warm Brains aesthetically?
Rory Atwell: I've definitely had a theme with each band. With Test Icicles I was referencing graphic novels and Pettibon-esque 80s punk covers. With Rat:Att:Agg there was a collage theme and with Kasms the idea was to use photography throughout the artwork. The theme so far with Warm Brains has been a bit more vague but generally there's a colour theme running through everything so far, opaque layers of deep reds, purples and yellows blending together. Like lava.

DD: What's the idea behind the “Old Volcanoes” video? Was this a collaborative process between you and director Ferry Gouw?
Rory Atwell: The idea behind the video was for it to have an aesthetic akin to the single cover artwork, again using the same colour scheme and blending layers to give a hazy, mulched effect. It was intentionally a simple idea, what with budget/time constraints etc. We kinda had to make the best of what we had available to us. The initial concept was mine and the kaleidoscope at the end was an idea I put forward, but after I gave Ferry the rough idea I just let him go to town on it. He's one of the most talented, imaginative people I know so I had plenty of faith in what he'd conjure up.

DD: Is it healthy to be in a one-person band? Does it ever get lonely?
Roray Atwell: It can be quite laborious writing/recording by yourself. I have ideas for songs, riffs and melodies all the time but it's a darn sight easier to get things done when you have two or three other people to jam with. I have a band now though [Joe Ryan of Fair Ohs on drums, and Anna Jones on bass], so thankfully I'm out of my fortress of solitude and making a racket with friends. I’ll soon be put back in my cage to record album number two though, so I better enjoy the sun while it's out.

'Old Volcanoes' by Warm Brains from warm brains on Vimeo.