Brighton date as Worthing-based Sel Balamir goes on the road with Amplifier

Sel Balamir – the Worthing-based half of duo Amplifier – absolutely loves the Worthing vibe.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspaper. It's lovely

00:07to speak to Sal from the duo Amplifier. Now Sal, you are based in Worthing, a place that

00:13you love, and it's exciting times. You are just about, well it's out, your new album,

00:18your eighth album I believe, Gargantuan. But the curious thing is, it's not quite as gargantuan

00:24as it was going to be, is it?

00:27It's not quite as gargantuan as the three hours that we had originally earmarked for

00:33the release, so sometimes self-editing is worthwhile.

00:39And you've got it down to about an hour. And what's happening on the album? What makes

00:42it an appealing album, do you think?

00:47Do you know, it's quite an expansive wall of sound, that's like Amplifier's trademark,

00:56and coming from Worthing and Sussex, it soaks up a lot of the vista of the sea, and hopefully

01:06the big blue skies that we all get in summertime over our lucky little corner of the woods

01:13that we've got down here.

01:14Absolutely, and this is, let's remember, an ex-Londoner talking, I'm used to that.

01:20I'm a mancunian, I've lived in a lot of cities, and for me, Sussex is probably the most beautiful

01:28part of the country that I've ever been in. I'm certainly not going anywhere from here.

01:33This is where people come and stay, not passing through.

01:38Right, and what is it about it then that you love so much? Clearly, for you, the sea is

01:43a big, big thing.

01:44The sea is a big thing, but you know, the sea has an effect on the people that live

01:49around the sea, you know, and I find, compared to the other kind of urban places that I've

01:58lived in the country, there's like a sense of kind of easygoing, you know, just getting

02:09on with life, you know, watching the seagulls, you know, picking up the litter from the street

02:15in front of the house and putting it in the bin, you know, it's just, it's little things

02:18like that, that basically give us the flavour of life.

02:23You were saying it's a little bit like how London was when you were growing up there.

02:27Yeah, I kind of knew everyone on my street then, you know, and I know everyone on my

02:32street now, but it hasn't been like that in other kind of cities that I've lived in.

02:38I really appreciate, you know, Worthing. It's a great deal. Yeah, love it. It's got a good,

02:46it's got a vibrant alternative kind of counterculture there.

02:50Fantastic. Russell, lovely to speak to you. Congratulations on the new album from Amplifier,

02:55the eighth studio album, Gargantuan. Thank you.

02:58Thanks, Bill.