Although the term ‘residency’ may throw up more glamorous musical connotations, synonymous with eras of music that saw the likes of The Doors head up Hollywood’s Whisky a Go Go and Television’s frequent appearances in New York’s CBGB, Whistlejacket’s stint at Hoxton gig hub The Macbeth was something of a spectacle in its own right. Announcing themselves on a circuit that would see them become part of the furniture of certain East London haunts, Whistlejacket have since released two acclaimed singles digitally and are looking to spread their entrancing blend of ethereal guitar work and droning rhythm further afield.

New single Melt, a product of extensive playing in their subterranean soon-to-be-a-makeshift-venue rehearsal space, continues where they left off with their acclaimed debut digital offering of March Hare. More soaring riffs as the rhythm section fuzzes on, making for a pretty infectious listen.

Attention to the recording process and creation of sound is where frontman George Matheou draws his inspiration and it has to be said, there’s more to Whistlejacket’s intricacies than a guitar and an amp.

Matthew Liam Fogg: With your second single, Melt, now available digitally, are there any plans for a physical release?
George Matheou: As far as I know, we don’t have any plans for a physical release for melt. It’d be cool to do something, as it’s easy for a song to get lost in the internet. Physical copies are nice to have, but they cost money to make, which we don’t have. I don’t want to rule it out though; maybe someone will pay for us. That’d be nice.

Matthew Liam Fogg: It’s the second time you’ve given away a track free, is there any particular reason you give your music away?
George Matheou: I don’t know if people would listen if they had to pay. There’s so much free music out there and the music that isn’t supposed to be free is available for free regardless. So what’s the point in charging outrageous prices? I’m constantly surprised that people listen at all, and I don’t think that people want to pay for a song by a band they don’t know too well. The main idea is that people listen to songs. That’s what we want.

Matthew Liam Fogg: You’re being tipped as one to watch out for in 2014, by a number of sources. Do you feel any pressure from this, or is it business as usual this year?
George Matheou: There’s no pressure at all really. It’s nice for blogs and people to say nice things but it doesn’t mean anything. We just plan to carry on doing what we’re doing.

Matthew Liam Fogg: Rather unconventionally, the age gap between the youngest and oldest member of Whistlejacket is 17 years. What’s the story behind this?
George Matheou: The story is, simply, that Yob was born a few years before the rest of us. We’ve never really felt the age gap. Danny was working at a postproduction place, or something like that, that Yob worked for and that’s’ how they met. We were looking for a drummer and he was looking for a band, we just sort of came together. As soon as we heard him drum we were blown away. We bought him a pint and that was that, really.

Matthew Liam Fogg: You’ve had a few line-up changes early on in Whistlejacket’s career, is the final incarnation of the band?
George Matheou: I hope so! As long as everyone’s happy, then there’s no reason to change and I think everyone’s happy.

Matthew Liam Fogg: With some of your core members working in other areas of music and studying at Goldsmiths, did starting a band just make sense given that? Or was it always your intention?
George Matheou: Well, Mickey Doug and Danny are all at Goldsmiths, but not me or Yob. I always wanted to be in a band though; it’s all I’ve ever wanted. When I finished school I took a year off, which was was three years ago. I never got back on.

Matthew Liam Fogg: Your sound strikes as a hypnotic form of shoegaze. Was this conceived through getting together and jamming? Or is there a more direct route to the writing of your songs?
George Matheou: We spend a lot of time improvising. If we do even have a ‘sound,’ it’s constantly open to change. Each of us has our own way of playing. I could record a guitar part one way and Doug will play the same song, same notes, inexplicably differently and visa versa. When it comes to writing a song it’s a bit more direct, but we all have our own ideas on what sounds better, so even if the song has been written one way it might change. The sounds are definitely not pre-conceived regardless of whether we’re improvising together or whether one of us has an idea that’s already finished. We didn’t set out to make music that sounded like a particular genre, or even a mix of genres. We just do what we do, and that’s how it sounds.

Matthew Liam Fogg: Why do you think shoegaze, as well as its associated sub-genres, is experiencing such longevity given it’s not in the mainstream? Slowdive have recently sold out a London date…
George Matheou: I don’t really know a lot about shoegaze, actually. I’d never claim to be an expert. I was kind of introduced to it as a result of writing the songs that sound like they do. We were told we sound like this band, or that band and so we’d listen afterwards. I think the main reason that it seems to be having a renaissance at the moment is just that good music is timeless regardless of what genre it is. I guess it’s also a fashion statement at the moment which is a good thing and a bad thing, It cant be bad to draw attention to something great even if it’s for the wrong reasons. Souvlaki is a great album and I’m glad that it’s getting the recognition it deserves. I wouldn’t describe us as a shoegaze band though, I’m just not very good a looking up. That’s what my mum says.

Matthew Liam Fogg: Are there any other genres, musicians or anything else in particular that Whistlejacket draws inspiration from?
George Matheou: We’re inspired by all kinds of things. Doug had never played the electric guitar before he was in the band. In fact, he didn’t really play guitar at all. Shoegaze bands have very little to do with inspiring us, I’m more interested in how they record and create the sounds that they do. I think Kevin Shields’ refusal to do anything he doesn’t want to is inspiring. At least that’s how he comes across to me. I really respect that. I also love Phil Spector’s production and I like big noises, but I also love simple production. We all agree on Nirvana, that might be one of the only bands we all love. Yob has more knowledge about music than anyone i know, I couldn’t even begin to tell you what inspires him.

Matthew Liam Fogg:  Last year you supported the likes of Splashh and Yuck, as well as headlining a residency at Hoxton’s musical hub The Macbeth. Any other tricks up your sleeve for this year?
George Matheou: We’re booked to play Liverpool Psych Fest this year, which is so exciting. We can’t wait for that. We’ve been really lucky to have supported those bands, as well as others that we’ve played with. We love Bare Pale, we’ve played together a few times and they just keep getting better. I don’t know so much about tricks, but we’ve got a couple of ideas.

Matthew Liam Fogg: It’s hard to name a venue you haven’t played in East London. Any plans to go further afield? Or is there something that keeps drawing you in?
George Matheou: The reason we keep going to back to those venues is because that’s where the offers are coming from. We’ll play wherever they’ll have us. One idea for this year is that we’re going to invite people down to Danny’s basement, as well as a couple of other places. We spent ages turning the basement into our rehearsal space and now we want to share that with whoever wants to be there, there’s not too much space but we’re going fit in as many people as possible. It gets stale playing the same places all the time and we’ve put so much care into creating a space that’s an exciting place for us to be and play and, like I said, we want to share our excitement with anyone who wants to be there.

Visit Whistlejacket’s Soundcloud and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr