When we decided to record a second album we set out two conditions.
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We were making for an audience and not just for us as a vanity project
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It had to have a story and a point and not just a pile of meaningless songs.
Three years ago a close friend of the band, who was 18 at the time, came out as gay to his mum and dad with the latter being unable to accept his son's choice. As a consequence the son attempted suicide several times before eventually being sectioned. It struck a chord with The Screens that family could be divided by a choice one member had no control over and the other suddenly felt a compulsion to put their opinions of sexuality ahead of their bond to their own flesh and blood. It became the beginning of a story that The Screens developed and which they also turned in a short novel called The Boy Who Waved At Trains.
The album of songs is a journey of a boy born in post war London who, as a teenager, discovers he is gay and is thrown out by his alcoholic dad. The boys is forced into a life of male prostitution, drugs, seedy sex parties, brutality......Its not a pleasant story but it highlights what life as a gay man during the sixties would have been.
As big fans of Quadrophenia, and Tommy we wanted to write the album so each song, in chronological order, tells a specific stage of the boys life and that might one day be the basis of an interesting film.
The first condition for making the album was that an audience wanted it and it wouldn't be a vanity project for us so we ran a Kickstarter campaign and invite people to pre order the album on vinyl and CD before we made it. We were relieved enough people stumped up the cash and it meant we could make it.
We plan to delay the album being put on Spotify because The Screens think it detracts from sales as well as radio. The Screens will eventually put the entire album on there but after radio stations have the option to play it.
So that's it. The album is out on 31stMarch 2020. We will service radio stations with a WAV or MP3 of The Boy Who Waved At Trains a week before.
If any DJ's want personal idents from the band please message the office at messagethescreens@gmail.com
Thanks
Rick Young
Manager/ The Screens
