The Dreaming Spires are the living embodiment of 60s psychedelic rock scene - and tomorrow they showcase their sound with a hometown show. The band's Robin Bennett tells Tim Hughes 'what goes on...'

IF ever a band was made for the summer, it is The Dreaming Spires.

Brothers Robin and Joe Bennett's soulful country-rock outfit radiate a laid-back shimmer, leaving their listeners basking in a lazy sunshiny glow.

The band are synonymous with festivals –they've already done one this year, playing their own eco-friendly Wood festival, among the trees at Braziers Park, near Wallingford.

But that was only an appetizer. Over the next few months, they'll be in action at fields across t

he land, from Truck festival in Steventon – another gathering the pair set up (in this case as a birthday party for Robin), to Glastonbury - where the lads join the dreamy St Etienne.

Tomorrow though, they bring their blissful brand of Americana inside, for a show at the Cornerstone arts centre in Didcot.

For both brothers it is practically a hometown show: Robin lives in Dorchester and Joe is in Steventon, where the pair grew up.

The show gives them a chance to air songs from their new EP Paisley Overground.

The record's title is a nod at the Southern California's 80s alternative rock scene which inspired them – bands like Green on Red, The Bangles, Long Ryders, The Dream Syndicate and Rain Parade – themselves taking their cue from the psychedelic bands of the 60s and 70s, such as The Byrds and Love.

It features four new Dreaming Spires songs – their first since the acclaimed album Searching for the Supertruth – with tunes by guest artists Sid Griffin (of The Long Ryders), Joe's other band Co-Pilgrim, The Hanging Stars and The Raving Beauties on the other side.

Three of our songs were recorded at the legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis, home of their heroes, Big Star. Another, Silverlake Sky was written right on Sunset Strip, the heart of the original Paisley Underground, but recorded at the boys' own Truck studio, in Steventon.

"Paisley Overground was a throwaway phrase that almost demanded some kind of scene to be built around it," says Robin.

"Much as the Paisley Underground was mostly LA bands reconstructing The Byrds’ sound with some modern attitudes, this is our British version in 2016. We had also worked with Sid Griffin on a gig showcasing the songs of David Crosby a couple of years ago, which was a really fun experience.

"Tony Poole, who worked on our last album and mixed the first two tracks on this EP, had actually worked up a track with Sid called Tell Her All The Time, which is on side two. Rich from The Hanging Stars is an old friend, The Raving Beauties are on our manager’s label, and of course Co-Pilgrim is Joe’s excellent other band.

"The proof of concept is that side two hangs together really well – it almost sounds like a Buffalo Springfield album, but with different singers."

So how did the south Oxfordshire lads come to be in Memphis?

"We were in the US for AmericanaFest last September," says Robin, "But we slightly extended our stay to fit in a visit to Memphis.

"Our fans will know we had never been there before. It was viable to record for nearly a whole day at Ardent Studios, so we made sure we had rehearsed some material and cut it mostly live. When we got home, we added some overdubs to some of them, including Joe’s recently purchased pedal steel, finishing three tracks."

The studio is run by Big Star drummer Jody Stephens – one of Robin's heroes.

"Big Star were a formative influence for The Dreaming Spires’ sound," he says. "When our previous band Goldrush were in the US, we were introduced to Big Star via The Ballad of El Goodo, which I learned to play before I even knew who it was by. It became a really special song for us.

"Soon enough we got into all the Big Star albums. For me, Memphis is the place where the music we love came together, whether it’s Chuck Berry, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Otis Redding, Stax… All of that is hinted at in the music of Big Star, and their style is accessible for us because they were trying to emulate British groups."

And they loved the experience.

"Memphis has a very different style to Nashville," he says. "There’s more of an edge. It’s the melting pot of American music. All kinds of stuff has been recorded at Ardent, including REM’s Green, which was another formative album for us as teenagers. It’s a very well equipped studio, where you can set up and record live – which is what we did.

"The room we used was actually designed for ZZ Top! Jody Stephens is the studio manager. We thought perhaps he might drop by, and he did, even singing some backing vocals on a version of Dusty in Memphis, which we recorded the same day."

The lads were joined by their former drummer Jamie Dawson, who now lives in California.

"We kept teasing Jamie that Jody would have to step in if he didn’t play the songs right. Are we really that mean? Maybe that’s why he emigrated!"

He adds: "At the end, we jammed a version of The Ballad of El Goodo with Jody and it was almost too much. I slightly collapsed afterwards."

He says he is looking forward to playing the tunes in Didcot, after a hectic few months, which have seen them play everywhere from Manchester to Mallorca, playing tunes inspired by the jangly guitar rock he grew up with.

"Ever since I heard Turn! Turn! Turn! And A Hard Day’s Night as a kid, I’ve instinctively loved the sound. You can hear it on some songs from the Goldrush catalogue too," he says.

"I think there’s something about a 12-string guitar, where you have two strings for each note, which creates an automatic, psychedelically-enhanced effect. You get a drone from the low strings in octaves, and the high E and B strings are the same pitch, but tuned slightly differently. A lot of music from different cultures uses drones and resonant strings, and a 12-string guitar has a bit of that.

"Growing up, we also loved the jangle of early Stone Roses, REM, and Ride. We backed Mark Gardener from Ride between 2003-2006, including several US tours, and I usually played his Rickenbacker 12-string, a custom John Lennon version I believe, so we weren’t the first Oxford band to like them."

"I think this EP is my sign-off from jangle. But I’m probably wrong…"

* Paisley Overground is out on At The Helm Records on June 10 on coloured 12in vinyl and download.

* The Dreaming Spires play the Cornerstone Didcot, tomorrow. Tickets from cornerstone-arts.org