With the album being based around ‘a day in the life of’, ‘White Van Man’ finds us joining the day during the drive to work. As such, the track has a definite sense of forward motion to it. Helped in no small part by the addition of bass and a skiffle snare drum, a call back to a 50’s style of folk and blues. Lyrically, the track recalls the various sights seen from behind the wheel of a white van. The lyrics are smart and humorous, ‘Pedestrians distracted by devices they call smart, drinking fancy coffee through a tiny little spout’ and ‘cyclists in Lycra kick the cars and eff and curse’. But underneath the clever word play and little jokes, they also touch on the growing ‘Instagram celebrity’ culture and stereotypes associated with tradesmen and then the omnipresent white van. How, despite their contribution to society through the construction and upkeep of our homes, the white van becomes a canvas for people to project their psychological unconscious bias onto. Brick says ‘I wanted to write something to take back the power, a badge of honour about being the people who keep the country going.’ When it came to record the track, having spent various sessions that failed to capture the feeling Brick was aiming for, he abandoned the recordings, started from scratch and completed the track in an hour.
Brick Turpin’s music comes steeped in tradition both from the 60’s folk artists he draws influence from and from his chosen profession of bricklayer. The two bleed into each other so much that it would be impossible to separate them, especially given that the muse for Brick’s music is his tradesman lifestyle. As Brick began to compose music for his forthcoming album ‘Workday’, the theme he decided to write around was ‘small people, big city’. A collection of songs written by a tradesman for tradesmen, all the while shining a light on the quiet lives of tradesmen that, in no small way, make everyone’s lives possible. The first track to be shared from the record is the new single ‘White Van Man’, serving as the perfect introduction to Brick Turpin and as an entry point to the forthcoming record. Brick’s songwriting vastly focuses on his voice and an acoustic guitar, with a focus on words and storytelling in the true folk tradition. Brick is responsible for writing, performing and recording the track, but turned to punk rock royalty, Rat Scabies of The Damned, to mix the album.
Capturing authenticity and truth are at the heart of Brick’s music. Hidden underneath the jaunty music, and clever lines are a sincere message and one reflective of a life spent serving a nation of people. The symbiotic nature of his music and trade are a unique perspective on the world, even down to the vocabulary his choses to use, Brick says ‘I use earthy and natural words common to describing the world around us rather than cold scientific rational descriptors’. The stories being told here aren’t of orcs or excess, there’s no melodrama for likes, these are the stories of normal, everyday people and the history and traditions of working people. A unique voice, in an otherwise increasingly homogenised landscape.
