Virgin

The ground level gaping mouth to the dingy heart of the Camden Underworld is offered by The World’s End, a pub so apocalyptic the toilets are doused in a doomed red, flicked with specks of UV horror. Behind the dinner lady kitchen lies a staircase not out of place in a horror novel which in turn leads to the murky depths of the venue. The World’s End is purgatory where alcohol and dodgy wallpaper while away the time before we are dispatched downstairs. Billy Talent detract from the general gothic doom and gloom. Fresh from playing to 85000 in Germany at the Rock AM Ring festival at the weekend, tonight’s intimate fan show is pretty much the equivalent of Chris Martin playing an acoustic set in a Starbucks. Evidently still riding off such a colossal high, guitarist equipped with one of punk’s most extravagant hair does Ian D’sa and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk take a breather to talk charity work, Billy Talent III and the fad of Ramones t-shirts that’s swept the UK for years…

Josh Holliday: Looking at the punk mentality, having not played here for quite some time Camden seems like the ideal place to stage a tiny club show for the fans- walking around today everyone could be part of a Billy Talent crowd…

Aaron: Whenever we’re here we just try and spend as much time in all the neighbourhoods but Camden’s awesome. Just driving in today brought back a shed load of memories but it’s been an age since we played the Underworld.

Ian: We’ve played here once before, maybe about five years ago in support of the first album so times have changed slightly…

JH: What I find bizarre is that with the genres that you’re often categorised into, the fans that buzz around the bands could maybe be labelled as borderline obsessive. There have been people sat outside today from about three in the afternoon. Why is it that you feel you attract such devoted followers?

Ian: I’m not all that sure myself. The show’s been sold out for a while now and it’s a miniscule venue compared to last time at Brixton Academy so I guess kids want to get up close and intimate when seeing the band live and this is the perfect venue for that.

Aaron: We played Luxembourg last week and I noticed a bunch of people lining up ridiculously early there too so I guess it’s just that they really enjoy seeing us play.

JH: Generically, lumping yourself into a single musical style, how would you describe the sounds of previous albums and indeed next month’s third record?

Ian: Primarily “rock”. The first album was a load heavier than the second and the third, released here on the 22nd July, pretty much returns to our heavy rock roots as well as some of our American grunge roots. The punk influence is still there but we definitely wanted to come up with a more groove-orientated flow.

JH: I think something that’s always been key to the Billy Talent sound and maybe why you’ve stood out in a crowded genre for so many years is the melodic tendency within that always shines through, no matter how screechy the vocals are and how distorted the guitars are. Yet without sounding disrespectful, is it difficult to see other bands fluctuate up and down festival bills for instance whilst you linger in the shadows of mainstream rock?

Ian: If you look at this year’s Reading bill for example, we’ve got a completely different slot to that which we’re used to, headlining the Lock Up tent so that’ll be fun. I feel we’ve always been consistent in where we play at festivals in England.

Aaron: I think it’s because we spend so much time meticulously piecing together our records, rather than simply pumping them out year after year. It’s a lost art form to spend three months on a song instead of spending three months on thirty songs so we really take our time and work on these songs until we’re completely satisfied. I guess that hinders you in the line ups but next year, Reading and Leeds, we’re always searching for the night time shows.

JH: The fan base this side of the pond seems to be both colossal and dedicated as well as maintaining a wide range of people you might not expect to grace the gothic innards of the Underworld. How important are these intimate gigs when compared with the British festival circuit, in which you’ve become more or less an annual staple?

Ian: These club shows are vital. We do them specifically for our fans and so where some of them can’t get to festivals, we try to make up for that by playing clubs that they can get to. The festivals are always amazing too to gain new fans and broaden the base and I think we’ve done that pretty efficiently over the past few years.

Aaron: We’re playing the Lock Up at Reading and Leeds this year as something of a thank you to our fans too though and when we saw the others playing on that stage with us, Anti-Flag and Alexisonfire, we’ve toured extensively with those bands. So when we found out that we could build this phenomenal stage around that, we jumped at the opportunity as it’ll be incredible not only for our fans but for us too.

JH: Reading or Leeds?

Aaron and Ian: [in unison] Reading!

JH: You’ve become renowned for making the odd cameo appearance on stage with those bands and vice versa although not all that many collaborations have been committed to record. How much do you value such artistic gatherings?

Ian: It’s always fun finding yourself in a setting when you never quite know who’s going to be on stage at any one time. It’s the freedom and unity of the punk community.

JH: Particularly compared with the competition demonstrated by nigh on every British indie band, keeping haircut tips to themselves… It’s refreshing to experience a community in which everyone’s pushing each other along supportively rather than down festival billings and NME ratings… However, regarding the image transmitted by punk today, the focus seems to be on how many Black Flag t-shirts you own rather than how many Black Flag records you’ve actually listened to…

Aaron: Definitely. And particularly referring to a younger generation of fans.

Ian: I think it’s a double-edged sword though when you see those t-shirts in Urban Outfitters amongst other stores; I think it’s a great shame that some of these inspirational punk bands have become a fashion statement and that’s the unfortunate part as people who’ve never listened to the records will go and buy the shirts. But on the other hand, people that are actually paying attention will see that shirt and go out and buy a record instead. Creating awareness for bands like that’s awesome and the same happened with The Ramones. Right until those dudes died, they were nowhere near breaking into the mainstream market. But now you see endless Ramones shirts and at least they’ve been given the recognition they deserved, taking to their throne in punk-rock history.

JH: Even though they’re being sold off in TopShop…

Aaron: Yeah, I don’t know how many kids who buy that stuff there buy The Ramones’ records…

JH: I’m not convinced either… They should be demanded to name three albums at least before they’re deemed worthy of getting the t-shirt. Finally, particularly with Aaron being here, I wanted to ask about the charitable side to the band, not only in putting on delightfully intimate fan shows but also in support of MS and African development programmes. Every impact you’ve made on aiding others seems to have been in a tremendously positive light, without the clichés and self-benefit of Bono and other worldwide celebrities. Whilst it’s obviously vital for Aaron, do you see it as something vital for Billy Talent as a single entity and as a collective?

Ian: It’s in almost everything we do. Although we’re obviously not as important as a guy like Bono, I think if you have any power you should utilise it for positive things and that’s what we’ve done. We have the ability to influence a load of people, particularly our fans and so we do as much as we can to raise awareness for worthy causes. We went over to Kenya and filmed a documentary which is going to be shown in high schools across America so all those kids will see it and open up their minds to what’s really going on out there.

JH: Do you feel it would have been so easy to get involved had you not been touched so closely and personally?

Aaron: I think we would have been involved regardless. If we think something is a great cause and we get approached, it’s almost impossible to say no. All our tickets in Canada have a number printed on them so that kids having a hard time can ring it and actually talk to somebody. We know one of the operators and they told us that once we started that scheme, the number of calls went up and kids were starting to actually get stuff off their minds. But it’s really no skin off our backs.

JH: I think it’s particularly inspirational that you can keep up with these three and seem so completely determined to prevent MS from hindAarong your lifestyle. Do you find occasionally that the disability makes touring and other commitments harder than they would otherwise be?

Aaron: I get a lot of rest and base every day around the hour and fifteen minutes that I have to play. So I sleep and then I eat and then I rest. Even if you’re a super-healthy person, touring can really beat you up if you don’t take care of yourself so I’ve just opened my eyes to being as healthy as I possibly can be. And I’m still not as healthy as I can be but I’m having fun. Music’s keeping me healthy! Staying healthy at Download this weekend might be a task- it’s so much fun. Loads of long hair and crazed outfits but a lot of debauchery. There’s nothing like it in England. For heavy music, there’s nothing like it. It’s awesome.

Recently I was fortunate enough to catch up with one of the most genuine guys in the business, Tommy Sparks, just following the release of his second single, She’s Got Me Dancing. We talked about his upcoming debut, self-titled album, his plans for the summer, thoughts on the current music scene, just how important playing live is to him and loads more.

Tom Sowerby: She’s Got Me Dancing has just come out. Is it being well received?
Tommy Sparks: Yeah, I think so. The last show at least we had a lot of people singing along, but I actually don’t keep too much track of it. Obviously you can get a feel for it, by monitoring friend requests and seeing comments, but it’s not something I really think about to be honest. I’ve been involved with music and bands for so long that whatever way it goes doesn’t really matter to me.

TS: I’ve heard your new album; I liked it. How do you feel about it?
TommyS: Oh thank you, I’m so pleased you liked it. As an artist you’re never happy though.

TS: How was it working with Mike Crossey?
TommyS: I’ve got nothing but love for that guy, he’s amazing, and actually at the time I did another session with another producer, who I won’t name his name but it was a complete disaster. We did it abroad, in the Czech Republic actually and came back and it just didn’t work out… at all. We came back to London and it just felt negative. Then we stumbled upon Mike Crossey and had one meeting with him, and I was like “This guy’s so sweet and amazing!” and we did the record in four weeks.

TS: Yeah, now you did the record in four weeks, didn’t you?
TommyS: Well it’s hard to say because modern music making is so different. My mum basically lives in these thousand islands outside of Stockholm and you have to travel there by boat and she basically had a hut outside her house in the forest, it was like a woodcutters lodge and it had electricity, I don’t know why, but it had and a couple of sockets. I went out there at the Vatican DC split and I basically recorded all these songs and programmed some basic stuff and recorded it, and on the record some of the sounds are from there and some are from London. It would be like I’m going to e-mail you a drum pattern and then you e-mail me back. It used to be cool and simple; we wrote our songs there then we all set up in the studio and played but it’s just not like that anymore! Anything goes; I wrote most of it out there, and recorded loads and then kind of re-recorded it back here.

TS: It sounds like a pretty inspirational place; do you think it helped you get in the mind frame?
TommyS: Well I was pretty down at that time, because I put a lot of faith in Vatican DC, but it also taught me to not give a fuck, you know? But it’s like the saying “You haven’t really made it until you’ve failed four times”, and you know, if I fail this time, I’ll be halfway there! Can’t wait for the next two! But it’s true, because you just get over yourself, and get less pretentious and just become more and more honest in what you do, what you create and write about. It’s an important process, for me anyway. A lot of musicians, I think, don’t have that.

TS: Now, is it right that you left school at 13?
TommyS: Yes

TS: Was it for music purposes or…?
TommyS: Well, when I was in school I was bullied, so school wasn’t a good experience. It never was, I never felt protected. So leaving school was a positive thing for me. My dad, he isn’t alive anymore but he was a thespian and I got a lot of cultural education just from being with him at home, and I got a lot of language skills too.

TS: Sorry to hear that. So you left school for other reasons, but what made you decide that music was for you?
TommyS: Well my sister gave me a mix tape of Hip Hop and it really impressed, completely blew my mind. Big Daddy Kane and stuff. And there were still mix tapes around! And Public Enemy as well, all these awesome pop/Hip Hop guys, and the lyrical content and the beat really impressed me. A good beat goes a long way…

TS: Yeah, when did you move to England?
TommyS: I moved in with my sister, pretty much a year after leaving school, but then I’ve also moved back here at times so it’s quite backwards and forwards. It was quite a positive thing for me, leaving Sweden, as even though I love it, it was kind of a life saving experience.

TS: What was the first concert you ever saw live?
TommyS: Trying to think… could have been Kiss actually, I think my mum got some tickets when I was like 6 maybe? They didn’t have make-up on, I don’t know what year it was, but it was quite shit basically, it was like “where’s the make-up!”

TS: Yeah, I can imagine. Did you have a real love for music by that age?
TommyS: Well I didn’t grow up in a hugely musical home; my mum was a TV producer and my dad was an actor, so they didn’t do music, but I suppose arts are all connected really. So there wasn’t really a lot of music going on, but I got my first bass at 14 and it cost me like £50 and I’m so gutted I don’t have it still, because I would love it. I play the drums as well.

TS: Yeah, I know, it seems like you play everything!
TommyS: Well I didn’t play drums on the record- bass is the instrument I can actually play, where I’m not just blagging it, but drums is the instrument I really love. You keep the whole band together and stuff, you’re the one. Front man… fuck you! If the drummer goes, the band is done.

TS: Definitely. Do you think you’ll be confident enough to play drums on future releases?
TommyS: I don’t have to be confident doing it, because you just fake it! On this record I used this guy Tal Amiran, an Israeli drummer in my old band, Vatican DC. We released a record in Vatican DC but it got a bit unpleasant and ended in a horrible way, but I wasn’t going to talk about that actually. But on this record we didn’t use any fake beats or anything and he sounds like a machine.

TS: Yeah, do you think in future you’ll get into more of a band format?
TommyS: Well the members of the band I have now are perfect and it took me ages to find the right ones. It’s got to the point where I almost feel awkward saying that I’m a solo artist now because of them, because of Sam, Tom, Min and Salvador. They’re amazing and really contribute. We’re not a pretentious bunch; We want to fight all that shit; that artist bullshit.

TS: So Tommy Sparks kind of feels more like a band than just you?
TommyS: It’s started to feel that way because we spend so much time together as well. I always try to get one of them with me for the interviews as well but they were all busy today.

TS: What are you mainly listening to at the moment?
TommyS: I got the new Horror’s album, and I fucking love it, and NME actually got it right; it’s fucking awesome. That first single, Sea Within A Sea, blew my mind when I first heard it. Because I love Krautrock, like Can and it’s good music. I just make pop music but I love that shit; one of my favourite bands are Sonic Youth and I love Helmet, this hardcore band- actually get ‘Mean Time’ it’s really good- but yeah, Sea Within A Sea is just excellent, that’s the last album I bought. It might not make any sense as to who I am, but what can you do? The only music I listen to now really is Hip Hop and dance music, band music very rarely gets me. The Horrors album is the first in a long time to get me.

TS: Yeah, and you have a pretty distinctive sound. Do you think your varying influences are the reason behind that?
TommyS: Of course, I never ever went in to make a certain sounding record which I think a lot of people are very good at, like the Horrors, they are great at going for a genre and doing it so well, but I’ve never gone in thinking “I’m going to tap into this”. I just do whatever.

TS: Because the whole dance/electro scene is really big right now, how do you think you fit into it?
TommyS: I don’t think I fit in at all- I think if people see us live they will realise that we are more of a guitar band. Labelling bands is very hard, and I suppose the best label for us would be pop, because that’s pretty much where we’re at, dance or pop. Its more a journalist thing labelling, because you need to sum up our sounds. But I don’t really mind, it’s just there to try to explain to people what it is. I just think sometimes it can work in a negative way because it can narrow it down. I always wanted to write a pop record, but make it interesting. Interesting lyrically and sonically, that was my ambition.

TS: Now, you have a really impressive list of festivals for this summer…
TommyS: Yeah, I think it’s just from people coming to check us out live and I guess the promoters thought “yeah, that will work” and decided to book us up. We’re playing a surf festival in Newquay which for me is the most exciting one of the year because I’m big on surfing too; I’ve been there so much and have friends that live there. We really focus on the live show as where once you would promote your records by going on tours, now you put out a record to promote your tour.

TS: So for you, playing live is making your money?
TommyS: Exactly. I’m not a greedy person obsessed by making money or anything. If I was I would have gone and got a real job, and not fucked about in different bands for so long! But yeah that’s the way it looks now… which I like, because I love the live side, it’s the bit I most enjoy.

TS: Do you think you could have achieved any similar success if you had stayed in Sweden?
TommyS: Erm, I don’t know, probably not; I never settled in Sweden and funnily enough I feel more English at this moment in time. But I feel it was more important for me to move. It could have been anywhere but it was because my sister lived here and it was good moving here, I love London. When you travel and stuff you realise, even though London has its days when it’s like “Ah it’s doing my head in!”, coming back to London is always amazing, and I don’t even know why, because it’s like shit isn’t it! Looks like shit, smells like shit, there’s nothing awesome about it, but there is something about it, there’s a good vibe, good people. I live in Kilburn and I really love it there.

TS: What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?
TommyS: This interview! I don’t really look at it as highlights, I enjoy the moments playing live, every gig we’ve ever done, even the ones that go bad; we’ve always come out of it with something that feels real. I would just say playing live; all kinds of playing live, like the session for Bloc Party, which was possibly the best moment of my life… except for being born, but I don’t remember that. I keep getting Blackberry messages saying that I’m doing well on the iTunes chart, but I haven’t even got an iTunes account.

TS: Ideally, where can you see yourself in five years time?
TommyS: Just hopefully still being creative and happy really, that’s about it, being nice. I don’t know where I’m going to end up; I want to do all of it!

TS: And last question: who out of anyone would you most like to work with?
TommyS: Neil Young’s Harvest is one of my all time favourites. It’s fucking mind-blowing. I saw him a while ago in Finsbury Park and I remember he played Piece of Crap. It’s a newer one and it was when George Bush had been in for around three years and he came out and said “I want to dedicate this next song to the President of the United States of America” and I was just thinking “Oh god, my hero’s just gone in front of my eyes, and he’s going to play one of my favourite songs!” Then he said “This song is called Piece of Crap!” and it was fucking brilliant! I’m going to try and get onstage to see him at Glastonbury. We’re going to have a good time this year; we’ve got our own outfits and we’re doing a couple of covers, like Pets by Porno for Pyros, and the Frankie Knuckles remix of Blind by Hercules and the Love Affair. It’s going to be amazing. I’ll never be able to match his vocals but it should be great, we’re just trying to have fun, I’m over being pretentious. I’m always hanging out in the crowd, it’s so boring back stage, just loads of bands walking around recognising each other but not wanting to talk to each other. We’re just trying to have fun… if anyone gets in our way, we’ll kill them! Put that in the article!

• For more information on Tommy Sparks, visit his MySpace site.

Patrick Wolf (who has just released his latest album - The Bachelor) has never been one for convention. Three minutes before a scheduled interview time, he’s still on the motorway skirting around the sprawling Bristol outskirts. When his blacked-out, ramshackle vehicle finally arrives, he tumbles out and shoots off, later revealing he needed to purchase a guitar for the show. Extravagant? Perhaps. Diva-esque? Certainly. But as he talks of split personas, “the best sex ever” and Little Boots, holding a grudge is utterly implausible.

Josh Holliday: Bandstocks. You’ve just signed for the remaining money to make up £100,000. Has that money gone solely into the production of The Bachelor?

Patrick Wolf: Predominantly, yes. We were about 70% done with the album but it’s been really expensive to make but a load of stuff had been paid for by Universal up until that point and then they cut their ties with us so we needed about forty grand plus to finish the album. We were just in the middle of recording a twelve-piece string section, the gospel choir were coming the next day and there was still all the mixing to do. It’s a huge process. But on top of that, we used the money to fund my UK label Bloody Chamber Music as well as singles, videos, artwork and all of that.

JH: Has it been more expensive than The Magic Position for example?

PW: A load more, yes. The Magic Position was recording mainly in a home studio I set up in Hackney. I lived on the ground floor and then the whole top floor housed my instruments so it was done incredibly cheaply. It was almost finished by the time it came to Universal so it was a very economic album to make which is fortunate because it was almost entirely self-funded really. Having done three albums however that were quite D.I.Y., with this one I wanted to work with great engineers and great studios and do a real Hi-fi, professional record.

JH: Have you found a huge difference in the quality of the album? Do you prefer it?

PW: To be honest, whatever money I have or whatever I do or don’t have at the time I always try my best, making it sound exactly how I want it to so all I know is that it’s a lot more Hi-fi.

JH: In terms of the influences that run through The Bachelor, as every one of your records seems diverse to its predecessor, what was it that inspired this one? Having given it a spin, ‘Battle’ seems dark enough for an Alec Empire record…

PW: I’d never done co-write before, nor a collaboration as deep as it went with Alec really. I really wanted to refresh my brain and my heart and Alec was the perfect person. In a way it was almost like going back to school so he was certainly a great educator in the studio. There are only two songs I’ve ever co-written with anyone and they’re ‘Vulture’ and ‘Battle’ so the heavier, darker side of things. I needed to channel some of my aggression.

JH: An aspect that perhaps has been largely absent from previous Patrick Wolf outings is your Celtic heritage which seems to be pretty evident, particularly in the violin parts throughout The Bachelor. Would you say that’s been more of an influence than previously?

PW: Yeah, maybe because I’ve got such strong Irish roots and I really didn’t want to explore them too much in the first three albums. I was maybe obsessed with England.

JH: Would you say this album’s more open whereas previously you’d been quite protective?

PW: No, I’d say I’m better at articulating myself than I was when I was younger and lyrically I’m more interested in realistic situations rather than the fantasy element that I explored when I was eighteen and nineteen as a writer so it’s not so much unicorns and werewolves any more and it’s more about heartbreak and human reaction.

JH: In terms of the difference between The Bachelor and The Conqueror, where’s the line been drawn between heartbreak and discovering love?

PW: The Bachelor is about a time when there’s no romance either through total loss of love or for instance ‘Damaris’ where you’re going so far beyond romance you can’t even begin to feel anything and I guess it’s all the depression and the dark side of being alone. The Conqueror is about the thickening of skin through being alone for so long and then that reluctance to warm to people and new relationships when they do come along. It’s about breaking down the attitude of “I can do everything on my own” and “I don’t care about romance or dating” and so I had really thick skin that somebody else needed to come and knock down to get me to feel again and I guess that’s the struggle on the second album. It doesn’t open with “I love you so much la la la” but it does get to that point by the closing moments. This relationship with William has been the most major commitment of my whole life and it took a real, brave person to come into my life and see the absolute mess that I was and just try and get me back on my feet again. It’s not an easy ride, the second record.

JH: Yet the Heaven show wasn’t exactly the image of an entirely content self…

PW: The whole point of performance is that you’re channelling the songs and so when I’m playing songs from The Bachelor, even if I’m offstage having the best sex in my life and I’m really happy waking up every morning with a smile on my face, I’m not going to do that on stage when singing those songs. It’s important to me to channel everything, from the outset to the lighting so it’ll never look like I’m walking on sunshine.

JH: There seems to be a fairly dramatic split between you as a person and Patrick Wolf. Do you feel as though you’ve purposefully created ‘Patrick Wolf’ or is it a natural product?

PW: I love the whole idea of the performer. So when we’re sat here doing an interview speaking about life in general, there’s no specific subject matter but when I’m onstage I’ve got to re-enact songs written when I was sixteen up until the last six months and if there’s a song about suicide I have to channel that onstage whereas for ‘The Magic Position’ I have to suddenly flip to that so I guess it can look schizophrenic, especially if you know me offstage. It’s not acting as I’m confessing things that have happened in my life. It’s more channelling rather than acting. I’ve been there, done that with acting but I view my performance as regression therapy.

JH: Can it become quite difficult to channel such emotions? Of course you can pick and choose with setlists but Heaven certainly seemed as though it was the darkest side of Patrick Wolf…

PW: Without blowing my own trumpet, that’s why I’m good at doing what I do because I’ve now spent my whole life learning how to do that. I feel if I couldn’t channel the precise emotion contained within my songs then I shouldn’t really be performing them in the first instance.

JH: Could it be compared with the absorption you experience when reading an enthralling book and what’s contained within fiction affects you? When working on a new record, do you feel that the emotions of those songs transfer onto your personality outside of music?

PW: It certainly does happen that I sometimes become someone else and my personality is altered. Last night I was meant to do this meet and greet thing that had been organised by my management and it was a dark set last night. We’d chosen quite a few heavy songs so afterwards I didn’t really know what to do with myself. I sat down and thought I’m not really in a good place to meet people so I think subconsciously it had affected me. It does affect you every now and again but you do learn how to cope with it without hitting the bottle.

JH: Are the hair extensions here with you tonight?

PW: No, not tonight. My hairdresser’s not with me.

JH: Regarding your billing within the Dot to Dot Festival, how do you feel about being billed beneath the likes of Friendly Fires and Ladyhawke, both of whom have a single album to their name?

PW: I don’t know who they are! The thing is I’m going to be doing this until I’m ninety. These things come and go. Have you seen Little Boots? She’s basically The Magic Position reincarnated by Polydor. I mean it’s just ridiculous but people come and go, it’s flotsam and jetsam. There’s a great Joni Mitchell lyric about how she’s on her sixth or seventh album and she’s watching all these new bands come up and grasp the limelight and she says “there’s too much confetti on my TV set” so these bands are like confetti, just passing through. I’ll be like the cockroach with a greater lifespan and I’ll go up and down bills and that’s fine.

JH: So you’re not looking forward to seeing anyone after your set…

PW: I think I’ll spend time with my boyfriend, William. He comes everywhere on tour with me now.

JH: There was a time when you wouldn’t even share his name with the public! You went on to claim that you didn’t know whether you’re destined to live your life with “a horse, a woman or a man”.

PW: Oh God- that old chestnut! My mum still asks me when I’m bringing the horse home! I’ve actually become very interested in equal rights but we don’t do that whole OK thing and we avoid the paparazzi in London but I think it’s very clear, especially with an album coming out about him, how I feel about him.

And on that hopeful note, the van door slides open, tour managers poke their heads through the blacked-out windows and Wolf departs for the nimble fingers of his make-up artist.

• MySpace

We Have Band, unsigned but seemingly unstoppable. I was able to have a quick phone call with member Darren Bancroft before they take off for a series of shows starting with this Thursday’s London leg of the Stag and Dagger festival. The whole band were in attendance for the interview, but unfortunately, due to two very bad phone signals all I could make out from Thomas and Dede were “Hello” and “Goodbye!”

Tom Sowerby: So how are you guys doing? I hear you’re still unsigned, how are you finding the workload of having to do most things yourself?
Darren Bancroft: Yes, but we’re good at the moment; we’ve got loads of festivals should be a good summer. We entered this Emerging Talent competition for Glastonbury which we won, which has led to a lot of shows like Stag and Dagger, Great Escape and loads of other cool things. So yeah we are unsigned but we have so much going on we don’t think about that kind of thing.

TS: Have you found that not having a label is giving you more space creatively?
DB: Well yeah it certainly means that you’re not answering to anyone where as with a major label you’d maybe have to get things approved before you do things and we’re enjoying getting to do any festivals we want, any gigs we want, or remixes and lie low. Obviously when you get a deal it helps, but we’re right now we’re good as we are. We’re enjoying ourselves and if you’re lucky enough to be doing something you really love which we are now, then you just have to keep going. If you sign a big deal you’re sitting on several hundred thousands of pounds, but doing everything ourselves we have to keep going and we’re liking it.

TS: You mentioned the emerging talent competition, how did that take off for you?
DB: Our manager put up in for it and basically we didn’t know we were in for it. There was a big panel of judges or Michael Eavis, Emily Eavis, someone from Radio One and some Q journalists and a lot of bands and they just picked us! So we went down to the play in front of the panel, and it was quite weird because you had to play quite quickly but we played and they later announced we won. We got to meet them all and it was just a really nice time because these people obviously know a lot about music.

TS: Now, you’re playing Stag and Dagger, is that important to you, being that a couple of you are from London?
DB: It’s a good one, it’s done by the guy who does Field Day and Adventures in the Beetroot Field. He’s been very nice to us; we played for them at the Amersham Arms very early on and they’ve just supported us and given us things here and there. And being a fairly new band we didn’t want to play anything too big really and just take it sensibly

TS: So what other festivals are you most looking forward to?
DB: Oh, well Glastonbury and there’s a festival in Corsica called Calvi on the Rocks which we’re really looking forward to. We did SXSW and that was amazing.

TS: your new single You Came Out is being released in a month, how are you feeling about it?
DB: We’re very excited about it, we actually just did a music video which is really, really fucking cool, it’s like stock frame animation video which is all photographs, there’s no footage, and it’s looking quite exciting. The songs getting a good amount of radio air play, so it’s cool.

TS: Is it right you all started out at EMI, what exactly were you doing there?
DB: It wasn’t very related or helpful to what we’re doing now but I think EMI was really fun; we got to listen to loads of good music and go to a lot of good gigs, which is I think the reason we kind of went there in the first place because we really love music, but I think what we’re doing now is the live side of thing which is great and its been quite an eye opener for us.

TS: You say that the live show is a hugely important thing to you; do you consider it more important than the releases themselves?
Erm, no I wouldn’t say its more important. We’re 100% focussed on the album. We love playing live and it’s important as and it helps, especially financially, but it’s definitely not more important to us than the album. Albums in general mean a lot to us and we want to make a great album. The live side of things is cool and has taken us very far but we feel that’s only one level of us and we won’t feel complete till they’ve got something in their hands. So we take it very seriously.

TS: Yeah, how is the album coming along?
DB: Well, it’s all written and we’re actually just going into the studio soon and we’re deciding if we need anyone to produce it or not because we produced You Came Out ourselves, and our previous single Oh. We’ve enjoyed producing them ourselves but you do wonder if someone might come in the room and just say “Maybe you could try this or…” and that could be good. So yeah, we’re just deciding if we need someone to produce it, someone to mix it.

TS: And where do you record?
DB: At the moment we do it in Thomas and Dede’s flat, which is in Notting Hill. We used to do it in their old house and in my old house, we’ve never really been in a studio, and we’ve certainly never written a song in a studio. But it’s nice we’ll do some writing, then have lunch and write a bit more, then have dinner and write a bit more… so it’s nice! In a studio you could feel a pressure of time, but we’re very comfortable working here.

TS: Are you guys big festival people, will you be sticking around the whole time?
DB: Yeah, we love festivals as long as we have rooms in our diaries we’ll definitely stick around. It’s not always possible; for Latitude we’re playing their on the Friday, then going to Germany for the Saturday and then playing in Istanbul on the Sunday! Glastonbury we were quite adamant from the beginning that we wanted to do it all weekend. We didn’t know we’d be doing four gigs but… we are!

TS: Finally, is it true you describe yourselves as a Disco-Rock trio?
DB: No, it’s not, actually. I think it was the Guardian who first printed it, but we’ve not said that, it’s cool though we want people to make their own minds up about what kind of music we are. I mean every time you make a record that is similar to someone else people will come out and brand you, but it happens.

• To find out more about We Have Band visit their MySpace page.
• For more information on Stag and Dagger visit their Website.
• You Came Out, We Have Band’s new single will be released on June 15th.

I was recently quite chuffed to be able to sit down and have a nice little chat with Victoria Hesketh, better known as Little Boots. Despite being an emerging artist, I was nonetheless stupidly star struck by the synth geek from Blackpool. So after messing with her head by banging on about the almost ridiculous amount of hype and accolades she’s been getting from all and sundry (she got name-checked in our interviews with electro pop heroes Pet Shop Boys and Saint Etienne), I eventually calmed down and let the very laid back Little Boots tell us all a bit about her debut album Hands, why she thinks LA is just like her native Blackpool, how much she wants to work with Brandon Flowers of The Killers, and about her new project (maybe): Coronation Street In Space - The Musical (exclusive!)… watch on…

Just before they took off for the south coast to play The Great Escape festival I was fortunate enough to catch up with Cole Alexander and Jared Swilley of Black Lips. They talk about 200 Million Thousand, plans for the summer, their bizarre and not all pleasant Glastonbury experience, a bunch of weird, far right, homophobic Christians from Singapore and the possibility of including firearms in their stage act…

Tom Sowerby: Hey guys, it’s been three months since 200 Million Thousand came out, how has the response been?

Cole Alexander: For a lot of our old fans it was a kind of return to form, to our roots, which a lot of our old fans really like.

TS: That’s cool, and what have you been up to since its release, a lot playing and promoting?

Jared Swilley: Yeah, well we’ve been on tour for ages. I suppose it all goes back to January 10^th when we flew out from our home town, Atlanta, and we really haven’t been back much since.

TS: About the album, I read that you preferred the whole ‘60s approach to recording music, like all playing the songs together at the same time as opposed to each part individually; did you do that for this album?

Jared: All the basic tracks are just us guys in a room together, we go back and overdub vocals and we have extra instruments which we’ll do separately but the core of the album is all live.

TS: Excellent, and is it right you made this album straight on to vinyl instead of digitally or CD?

Cole: Yeah we did that with this record

Jared: Yeah, it went digital somewhere in the process, I’m sure, but it’s as close as you can get to having a pure medium.

TS: You have an impressive list of influences with bands like the 13^th Floor Elevators and the Lollipop Shoppe, how did you first get in to those kind of bands?

Jared: I don’t know actually…

Cole: I first heard the Lollipop Shoppe on a Pebbles compilation. We used to be on Bomp records and they put out a lot of the Pebbles stuff.

Jared: I guess you like listen to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones because your parents listen to it and then we kind of wanted something a bit more far out and compilations like Pebbles and Nuggets and Back From The Grave.

TS: Yeah, and a lot of your music sounds very reminiscent of that US 60’s psychedelic/garage like the 13^th Floor Elevators, The Seeds and The Monks, is that the sound you’re going for?

Cole: That’s kind of like our roots; that music. We’ll venture out, but that’s always going to be our thing.

Jared: It kick started us a little bit, it’s what we wanted to do.

TS: You guys seem like you’re going to be around here a while and I was wondering if you’ve got any plans for any UK festivals?

Cole: Yeah we’re playing The Isle of White festival

Jared: I know we’re doing Reading and Leeds later this year, we’ve got some more too.

Cole: We’ve got Primavera in Spain too.

Jared: That’s the one I’m most looking forward to. Spanish festivals are always fun and the weathers good.

TS: I heard that you guys don’t want to do Glastonbury again, is that right?

Jared: Well, it’s not that we don’t want to do it again, we’re not knocking it, it’s just we didn’t really understand what it was and that we were staying there. We got there and there was just loads of mud everywhere and we had to sleep in the dirt and didn’t bring sleeping bags or pillows or anything and it kind of felt semi-apocalyptic at one point, we took psychedelic drugs and it took us two hours to find where we were staying. We were sleeping in this Tepee-

Cole: -it was kind of cool!

Jared: Yeah, and I remember at one point we were all sitting around a fire in the Tepee and that was cool but then I woke up and it looked like what I’d imagine Verdun would have looked like; there were just bodies and mud everywhere and it was, it was a rough morning.

Cole: I woke up in the middle of the night and I went in to someone else’s Tepee to see what was going on and they were asleep and their fire was starting to get out of control I had to put it out and it was spreading and this girl wasn’t waking up, and it was getting on her sheet. I started stamping the fire out and she was just like “stop trying to fucking wake me up!” if I didn’t come they would have burned up fast.

Jared: The toilets… I didn’t go to the bathroom while we were there because the toilets were so gross they were just like a giant pit. It was supposed to be a VIP camp but it all looked the same to me, it was kinda medieval.

Cole: I reckon I’d do it again.

Jared: Oh yeah, I’d do it again, but next time we’d be prepared.

New single I’ll Be With You, out 18th May.

TS: You guys have a pretty busy summer and I was wondering; when you go to festivals do you get to hang out for the weekend or do you usually have to head straight off?

Jared: We usually have to head off, it’s nice when we don’t; Primavera we’re going a day early and we have a lot of friends going there so that one will be really fun. At Coachella we got to stay the whole weekend and that was fun; we were there for three days and we only had to play once and just went to pools and golf courses the whole time.

TS: Would you say it’s the best festival you’ve ever been too?

Jared: Yeah. Well either that or ATP Vs Pitchfork that one was fun. They were both very good, but I love the ones in Spain because they do touches like putting Swimming Pools back stage for the bands and that’s always a nice perk.

TS: Yeah, I can imagine! Though you don’t really need a pool here; you have the rain…

Jared: Yeah, the rain could probably fill a swimming pool

TS: I wont talk about the whole India tour too much, because it’s already been spoken about a lot, but would you say it’s put you off going to all these different countries?

Jared: No, not at all, if anything it encourages us; when someone tells me I can’t do something it makes me want to do it more.

Cole: We were just doing our job. Even though we got kicked out, we were just doing a service to the people.

TS: And you guys also did Israel?

Jared: Yeah, that one was a major success and really fun, definitely want to go back there. I think we’re going to China and Thailand. We got invited to Singapore as well but I think we’ll turn that one down, because they’re a bit too conservative for us over there; I don’t want to get caned or anything…

Cole: There was an American kid who spray painted on some cars there and he was in big trouble and got caned and arrested. You can get in trouble for spitting there.

Jared: The main women’s rights group there was like a pseudo progressive organisation and last week there was a coup by these far right conservative Christians who took it over because they didn’t want the next generation to be lesbians. That was actually in the woman’s speech, so if they feel that strongly I don’t think they’d like us very much.

TS: Have you ever been to these countries, heard some of their local music and had it play a part in your influences?

Jared: Well I think Indian music, just because it was so psychedelic and cool and I was disappointed this time because we just heard bad heavy metal bands and alternative rock bands. That was disappointing because in my mind I had this image of a psychedelic train ride with a bunch of sitars and stuff but it was quite the opposite. But there’s a bunch of traditional Brazilian music I like, like Tropicalia music. So yeah sometimes, it makes a difference, but I mainly like American music, and British music.

TS: Is there one band in particular who you really love and hope to emulate?

Cole: 13^th Floor Elevators are pretty high up there.

Jared: Yeah, them and like The Beatles, The Ramones and The Germs are real influential to us, they’re like an LA punk band who inspired me to want to do bad things. Not really bad things, but mischievous things. Oh and The Rolling Stones.

TS: If you want to live up to the 13^th Floor Elevators are you considering getting an Electric Jug player in the band?

Cole: Yeah, we talked about maybe doing that for a song or something. I’ve heard this song by a new band where they do it.

TS: Oh really, awesome. I take it you’re not going to play Heaven again?

Jared: Nope, they accosted our booking agent, a friend of hers, beat me up and, y’know, I survived and stood up for myself but they’re a lot bigger than me and roughed me up pretty well. But shit like that happens everywhere; I’ve had worse in America.

Cole: It’s cool they at least captured it on YouTube, it made a good video.

Jared: Yeah, and you know what; those guys are idiots. If they had just let a few guys get on stage it would have been nothing. But that’s why I hate grown-ups, because they could have avoided all that, and it kinda worked in our favour but they could have avoided any conflict that night if they’d just acted like human beings and not beat up kids.

TS: Yeah, you guys have a pretty unique and controversial stage act, was there much going on before the whole stage invasion incident?

Jared: Well I like when you get a general air of when things are slightly out of control; just before violence breaks and just beyond when things are civil. It’s a fine line and I like being in that area. I like a good time when people are uninhibited and having fun. The best shows I ever went to when I was a kid were the ones when I was scared something was going to happen or I had the freedom to throw something, it just felt like I was doing something loose and I’m always trying to recreate that feeling; like the first time you get high you always want that first high again.

Cole: It’s true.

TS: Yeah, I’m guessing you’re not going to go Arthur Lee on us and fire a gun into the crowd though, right?

Cole: Butthole Surfers did that too, it’s a good one… I’d be open to it, you know.

TS: Awesome! Finally, it’s obviously only been a couple of months since you released 200 Million Thousand and you’ve got a busy summer ahead of you, but are there any plans for a new album?

Jared: Well we got a bit of summer vacation coming up so we’re going to go back to our studio and try to get things ready and see what everyone has, hopefully have an album done by the end of the year. But we also want to go take a vacation somewhere a some point.

TS: I’m guessing not Singapore…

Jared: No way, they’re all way too uptight…

•  To find out more about Black Lips and their upcoming shows and festivals visit their MySpace page.
• Click Here to view the YouTube video of their show at Heaven.

Orlando Weeks - adored, reluctant frontman of the most exciting indie band in the country right now, The Maccabees. We caught up with him to get threatened with hexes and discuss new single Love You Better and album Wall of Arms.

He must be in some trendy bar, living it up and basking in the thrill of releasing a new record, right?

Orlando Weeks: I’m in Eastbourne. I honestly feel like I’m 72, retired and have nothing to do with my life – it’s amazing.

Greg Rose: Are you the youngest person there?

OW: I am. I think I could probably beat most people in a running race, which is rare. Although, I think with age you start enjoying sun more. Today is a glorious day.

GR: The kind of day to listen to Love You Better – did you know it was a single as soon as you wrote it?

OW: When we started recording it, only then did it start making sense. I think it’s one of the best songs we’ve ever written now.

GR: There’s the potential on a lot of the tracks to be hits. Is it intended to write songs that would appeal to the masses?

OW: That’s just how it’s turned out, if it has. We try to write the best songs we can. It would just drive us mental if we thought we had to scrap songs if they didn’t work on the radio. It’s just chance if something sounds radio-able.

GR: What if it does really well though – how big would you want to get?

OW: I don’t think I have to worry about that – I can’t see us getting big enough for it to become an issue.

GR: What’s your favourite track on the album?

OW: Bag of Bones is a brave step for us. I love Kiss and Resolve. It nods to Richard Hawley, which is how I thought this album would go. It’s how I sing best and find it the least embarrassing listening back.

GR: You’re embarrassed by your singing? Do you ever worry that nobody else sings like you?

OW: Erm, I mean, yeah, (Embarrassed laughing) quite a lot. If I could avoid singing, I would. Now that I’m playing guitar on a lot of tracks, when I’m…erm… not feeling well and I can’t sing I enjoy rehearsals much better because I’m not worried about my voice. I’ve stitched myself into the corner with singing now – nobody else will do it.

GR: Don’t you see the positives that you have a unique voice.

OW: I suppose so. I’ve just got, erm, I’ve kinda, I’ve just. Yes, I suppose it’s a good thing.

GR: That self-consciousness comes out onstage. Do you think there’s too much focus on you?

OW: Everyone’s staring at Fe (guitarist Felix) aren’t they? He’s the kind of frontman.

GR: You have such different personas onstage – are you glad it’s turned out like that?

OW: He’s always had this amazing ability to find being onstage the highlight of his life. I envy him for it. I enjoy myself a lot, but I am a lot more self-conscious. I’m just glad he’s got this proper joy. It’s amazing to be next to someone that is so fucking happy. You can feed of Fe and I think everyone does.

GR: Do you see yourself as an anti-frontman?

OW: I just don’t mind if the attention is off me.

GR: So how do you write songs together?

OW: Someone will have the skeleton to a song and then we will play it over and over again. Eventually it takes a form, then we scrap it. We usually come back to it months later. It’s exhausting, but we’re sure by the time something is done that it has earned its place. But also, by the time we let people hear it we’ve heard it so many times that it relies on us to try and enjoy ourselves and change it – which is why we enjoy playing live.

GR: How do you find playing the old songs – are you bored of them?

OW: When we rehearse them, we’re bored of them. But live, everything comes from adrenaline, taking risks and the chance someone might fuck up. That’s why gigs don’t get boring; it’s like Grand Prixs - as much as you don’t want people to crash, it adds something.

GR: Is it fair to say you were going through the motions touring (first album) Colour It In by the end?

OW: I think so. We felt like we had been doing them songs long enough. We felt we were short-changing people that were coming to see us, not giving them anything new. That’s when we knew we had to start writing again and stop touring.

GR: Have there been times on the tour when you’ve played a new song and everyone has looked bored?

OW: Well, we’ve convinced ourselves they’re not bored, they’re concentrating.

GR: Do you think the album will change peoples’ perceptions of you as a band. Will it find you new fans?

OW: I don’t know. People will have a new perception of us? I really hope so. It’s hard to say, hard to say.

GR: What would you change about the album if you could mix it again now?

OW: I wouldn’t change it; we’ve made the best record we could. What everyone is listening to, how competent everyone is, the time we gave ourselves to do it, it’s the best we could do. Everyone’s still proud as punch.

GR: Can you still get better?

OW: If we don’t get better we won’t release anything else. If we didn’t think this was better we wouldn’t have brought it out.

GR: What’s been your main inspiration musically for this album?

OW: Iggy Pop: Lust For Life and Lou Reed: Transformer. Then later, Grizzly Bear, The National, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Interpol and Steve Reich, the composer. Where Animal Collective are at, that’s what I’m concentrating on now. It’s hard work, but when you’re listening to it, you’re really trying to understand it.

GR: Are you becoming more of a scholar of music?

OW: I would never use that word… When you’re in a band, like it or not you listen to stuff in a different way. When I can enjoy an album without thinking, it shows I really love it. If I’m not analysing it, I’m enjoying it.

GR: If you hear your tracks on the radio can you take pleasure in it?

OW: I’m not so good at it. I have a flash of pride and then self-doubt and self-consciousness comes in pretty quick. I try not to listen to, or watch back or read interviews.

GR: I could say anything I want then…

OW: Well, you could, but someone would tell me and then I’ll hex you….No, I won’t hex you, I don’t believe in that.

GR: Thanks, Orlando.

OW: Yeah, aren’t I a good guy.

GR: Indeed. So are you an indie band?

OW: I suppose so. I guess we’re just a band really but, indie would probably, yeah, yeah. Yeah? Yeah. Yes.

GR: What do you think of British indie music at the moment? Is there any of your peers that you are looking up to?

OW: Loads of people. The Mystery Jets are incredible, Jamie T is a massively important artist. I’ll stop there because I don’t want to forget anyone – they’re two examples of bands we hugely admire.

GR: What’s the difference between bands like yourselves and the US acts you’ve been listening too?

OW: It goes in peaks and troughs. Five years ago, UK bands were stealing the show from the Americans, now it’s the other way round, it’s a see-saw thing. I don’t see it like a contest, it does what it does, doesn’t it?

GR: Was there a conscious effort for the new album’s lyrics to be less nostalgic?

OW: No, you just kind of grow up. Because the last album was about childhood and growing up, it needed those nostalgia references. There’s a lot more about right now on this album, so I suppose there’s no need for nostalgia as much. Yeah, good spot, I hadn’t thought of that.

GR: The first album was romantic in an abstract way, but romance is a central theme in Wall of Arms. Do you see that?

OW: It’s an old cliché, but the way Maccabees are, you set your stall out. If it hadn’t happened to me, or someone close to me, I wouldn’t be able to justify writing about it. I wouldn’t be able to explain it if I needed to – not that I want to. It’s for my own wellbeing. If I can justify it, there’s more reason to write it.

GR: You find this difficult don’t you? Do you enjoy speaking about yourself?

OW: No! Not that it’s not nice speaking to you – it’s a compliment that you do research and take time out, so it would be rude for me not to respond in an informative and intelligent way, but I find it awkward. It’s a necessity with the territory. It’s not my favourite thing.

GR: So is the music a release from that?

OW: I even find playing the gigs, quite, quite tricky. I’m getting better at enjoying it. The thing for me is to push myself, I can try and create things, write songs, be in a cooperative. We work as a team – it’s those things I take the real joy from and they keep me satisfied and thrilled with the job I have.

GR: Whatever happened to second albums being difficult? Did it ever cross your mind it would fail?

OW: Most of the time we thought it was going to be awful. But we didn’t settle for mediocre songs. If it bombs, we would be sad, but at least we’d know we were happy with it.

• For more information about The Maccabees visit their MySpace page
• New Maccabees album, Wall of Arms and latest single Love You Better are available now.

Following on from our feature/review of The Panics last week which you can see Here, I managed to catch up with lead singer Jae Laffer before the band start a month long tour of the UK.

Tom Sowerby: Now, over here you are still fairly unknown, but you’ve played with an amazing list of bands, a lot of your favourite bands are from here, how does it feel meeting, playing and chatting with them?

Jae Laffer: It’s been strange, getting to meet so many of my heroes already; we’ve got to rub shoulders with a lot of cool people when bands come over to Australia to play. I think the most notable time was getting to play with Noel Gallagher last year, he was a high school hero of ours, and it was magic. You already feel like you know them, because you listen to all their songs, see all their videos and stuff, it’s really interesting getting to make conversation, it’s nice starting to realise that everyone’s just human.

TS: So how long have you been in England this time around?

JL: Well, it’s been around two and a half months now, we’re based up in Manchester. We have been here four or five times, but only for brief periods, and basically our manager is a guy from Manchester, and a lot of our favourite bands are based in Manchester and now our English label is too. It’s just always been a place where we’ve come and gone from, taken a lot of influence from and played quite a few industry shows there. We love it.

TS: How does it feel for you as a band, because you’ve really established yourself already in Australia and now you’re coming over here, does it feel like you’ve got to do it again, or does it feel quite fresh and exciting?

JL: It’s pretty exciting; because you don’t feel like you’re doing it all again because when you started out, you were younger and hadn’t quite reached your peak. We used those years to work on our sound and do loads of tours in Australia so we come here with the knowledge that we can go to a club, play well and make a good impression, and with all these songs we’ve got, we’re free to mix it up during shows. It’s been a perfect start for us, with the debut single getting some plays on XFM, hopefully people will hear and see the name, maybe come out to see us, and we’ll take it from there, you know.

TS: It’s looking quite good so far, with the airtime you’ve been getting and everything.

JL: It’s going great, I think; I have nothing to measure it against here. It just starts with some radio play, get a good reputation, play live and stuff. I mean there’s almost three times as many people here than there are in Australia but that’s kind of exciting, and if you get to be a national name here, it’s a big deal.

TS: Did you know that Music Week magazine had your small private show last week as their Gig of the Week?

JL: The industry magazine? They showed me that, and I thought it was hilarious just because the place wasn’t even a venue! We just played where the secretary normally invites people in! We’re just stoked to get the attention, so it’s been a good start for us, who knows what’s in store for the future but you come a long way, and you just want people to notice you, and to me the best bit has been getting on the radio. Driving around and suddenly you hear your track on the radio, it’s great.

TS: Has having Gaz Wheelan of the Happy Monday’s as one of your managers helped you in getting your name out there to the right people do you reckon?

JL: Maybe, because I guess when you mention the Monday’s there’s a lot of respect for them, they’re a great band. It may be a talking point, it helps us more because we get to talk to people who have been there.

TS: Have you noticed any major differences between the English and Australian music scenes?

JL: Well, not really, because we’re only kind of at the bottom here at the moment, but I reckon if you asked me in a couple of months I’d be able to give you a better answer. All I can tell you is that there are loads of bands and it’s really competitive. A lot of kids out there are desperate to be famous, and they sound really focussed but also it can sound a bit similar, which is hopefully where we’ll stand out a bit, because we haven’t payed much attention to the sounds of the last couple of years, so hopefully it’ll make an impression.

TS: Now you’re latest album, Cruel Guards, I hear loads of different influences, like Beatles’ Rubber Soul/Revolver era, a bit of The Shins and a little bit of a Crosby, Stills and Nash influence throughout the album. To me, it sounds like you have all these great influences, and it shows on the record, how do you feel about it?

JL: Well, it’s great that you can hear a whole bunch of different stuff in there, you mention groups that have a lot of harmonies and we love that stuff, we love Bob Dylan, and we’ve always loved British bands since High School and that’s stayed with us, bands like The Beatles. We listen to everything, and it’s all influence. We got a nice western flavour to a lot of songs, we love this guy Ennio Marroconi who did a lot of western movies.

TS: You’ve also been working on a new album, and you first released Cruel Guards a year and a half ago, in Australia. Have you had much time to work on the new record or has it been too busy?

JL: Well, when it first came out, it was really busy but it’s good that most of us have always been living together and the others were always near by so it’s made it pretty easy. We’re pretty close now, I’m just getting the last of the lyrics together, then we can book some studio time. It’s nice to release this one here now, and if it does well and people like it, it’s good that the new record will be out pretty soon after.

TS: Can you reveal what we can expect off the new album?

JL: All I can say is that it’s really stomping, there’s a really good energy. It’s making us move a lot more and there’s a lot of good feeling about it. That’s all I can really say because we’re looking to get into the studio, and sometimes that’s where the record really takes shape.

TS: Due to you having all this stuff going on, and you’re getting to work on the album in your spare time, is it important for you that the label isn’t pushing you to get it out, is it having a good effect on the songs?

JL: Well there’s always pressure, more from yourself and the group, we’d like to get it done as soon as we can. There’s not much pressure in choosing the songs because we’ve got a lot to choose from. The only real pressure is choosing the direction you want to go in.

TS: You said you’re living in Manchester at the moment, are you thinking about staying around for long?

JL: Yeah, we’re in a pretty good situation here and we haven’t got return flights. We want to do all we can to get this record going, it’s out in a month now, so we’re just gunna keep working. We eventually want to see the whole world, but right now, this is what we want to do.

TS: Yeah, well if you’re going to be sticking around this summer, can we expect you to be playing at any festivals or even just visiting?

JL: Well we want to if we can, I think we find out this week about some possibilities, the only thing is that because we’re only brand new here, a lot of them will probably be full. We don’t expect to just turn up here and then be playing on stage at Glastonbury or anything, but things have been snowballing pretty well, so it would be great to play some stages at festivals. I’ve never been to one here, but they sound like massive fun. I think everyone all over the world dreams of playing festivals like Glastonbury. We’d definitely like to go see whatever we can, we’ve got a lot of shows in England and Scotland coming up so we’ll just do what we can between touring.

TS: Speaking of festivals, last year you played SXSW, that’s pretty incredible.

JL: Yeah, well it’s a different kind of festival; obviously it’s not one big stage or anything. We were kind of dreading it at the time, to tell you the truth, like twenty million bands trying to impress and get deals and all that, but we had a brilliant time. We just decided to play some shows, have a good time, not think about it too much, and it was excellent. We got to make some new friends, spoke to the Kings of Leon guy, Nathan Followill, who then talked us up to Rolling Stone and that was nice! Texas is a pretty cool place.

TS: Are you planning on heading back to the US any time soon?

Well the albums already out over there, but then we came here to do this, so maybe after here we’ll go there and back some shows up to support it, you can’t really go over their for a week, you’ve got to do a long slog or nothing. But there’s something about England, even English people back home always respond really well with it, and we’ve created this great affinity with England.

• For more information on The Panics and for tour information, visit their Website or MySpace page
• Cruel Guards will be released through Publica Records on 1st June, their single Don’t Fight It will be released on 18th May

Yes, you did read it correctly: Blazin’ Squad have returned. During their five year break, the former group spent a lot of time chasing individual ambitions, but they felt it was time to come back. The new line-up, which contains half of the original members (Kenzie, James, Mus, Lee and Marcel) have a new single Let’s Start Again being released next month.

The most important thing, it seems, is that the new revitalised group want to shake off their old image which blocked their chance of any major success first time round, “I think back in the day we alienated a whole audience, like the older market.” Kenzie stated, “Now we’re older ourselves we’re more mature as people, and in general I think that shows and I think that opens up a whole other door for us, where people can relate to us and maybe they’ll think yeah, we can like them, because they’re not just running around in tracksuits causing mayhem!” Despite this they are keen to stress that they would not change a thing about their past, “We have no regrets, because people should appreciate that you grow up, and people go through different phases, and obviously that was just a phase.”

This time, they are relying only on their own determination and word of mouth. Taking on promotional duties in addition to their normal live shows means that a busy few months await Blazin’ Squad. Mus said, “We’re doing a whole bunch [of shows] up and down the country, plus a bunch of interviews, and promotional things, like radio talks.” Despite this added weight Kenzie insisted it is just what they want “It’s the life we obviously know and missed. It is harder for us, because we’re doing it independently so we haven’t got a major machine behind us, this is just us employing people and stuff, which is a bit more stressful but we’re thinking that the advantages will go through if the single charts well.”

They may have only just got back into action, but it seems that their old faithful clearly never gave up, “We’re getting great feedback, our video’s getting mad hits and the response is like we’ve never left.” The stats speak for themselves; with over 120,000 YouTube hits on their new single already, it is the 27th most discussed music video this month and the 31st most viewed. Though with both feet firmly on the ground, the group seem to be taking a very sensible approach; taking it one step at a time, one country at a time, Kenzie revealed that they think “it’s more about cracking your own country first,” before suggesting that “maybe if we can keep [the positive feedback] we can take it to the Far East, Europe and the United States.”

As for the immediate future, the band seems to have a pretty solid idea of where they are, “We’re looking just to release three or four singles and see how it goes, then focus on getting the album out,”Mus said.”Yeah,” continued Marcel, “we’ve got nine or ten songs but we want to get another fifteen so that we have a big amount of tracks so we can pick out the best ones.” Kenzie assured me that everything was under control; “We’ve got our second and third singles picked, so unless we make something better there’s no pressure there.”

In regards to being independent now, they are all positive it is the best way to go, “The important thing is releasing what we want and not having people telling us what to do,” stated Mus, “you feel more proud of it as well.” James agreed, saying “Sometimes you see labels get a great track and then they just try and push an album through within a month and it just doesn’t work, you just gotta take your time and do it when you’re ready.”

With thoughts to the more distant future, the band know where they’d like to be “Hopefully still writing and creating, but it’s quite fun that we don’t know, you know, we don’t know where we’ll be; we take every day as it comes.”

• For more information on Blazin’ Squad and their upcoming tour dates, visit their MySpace page
• Their new single Let’s Start Again is released on 1st June through NaughtyBoy recordings.
• To view the video to their new single, visit their YouTube page.

I was lucky enough recently to get in an interview with the man of the moment - FrankMusik. After supporting Keane and the Pet Shop Boys on tour, he is apparently going to be co-producing Cheryl Cole’s solo album while she’s ‘on a break’ from Girls Aloud. Watch our exclusive little video now to find out why 80s influenced FrankMusik was formerly known as Mr Mouth and just why he’s set for big things in 2009 (even if he is a Whitney Houston fan)… Oh and keep an eye out for his debut album Complete Me (including singles Better Off As Two and Three Little Words), I’ve nabbed a sampler and it’s very nice indeed…

• FrankMusik’s MySpace

Okay so here’s the promised part two of my interview with the guys and gal from fight popsters Dananananaykroyd. And for your viewing pleasure you can see me narrowly avoid getting beaten up by said band… and I probably deserved it…

Oh and if you missed it, here’s part one of the Dananananaykroyd interview.

This is what happens in economically-challenged times. We pull in our belts, cut back and multi-task like mad multi-limbed, multi-headed mad things doing the jobs of twelvty people in an effort to keep you, our beloved blog viewers, happy and in teh lifestyle to which you are accustomed. Hence, when called upon to interview the many-membered Dananananaykroyd for your very pleasure - I rock up on me tod without a crew in sight, not even a camera holder (or, er… tripod maybe?). Luckily those plucky, enterprising Dananana types are skilled multi-taskers already (how many other bands are each of them in?!) so I manage to convince one of them to do the honours behind the camera…  Then of course it’s up to little old solitary me to edit this film together myself as well, hence it’s about 300 years past their album (Hey Everyone!) and single (Black Wax) release dates, so… okay - yeah, uh great pre-launch PR there then. How slick am I? Not at all. Oh enough of the excuses - just watch the video. I think I did quite well considering…

Part two comes out tomorrow… (I hope).

• MySpace

Today I was fortunate enough to have a chat with the 21-year-old soul/r&b singing sensation that is Laura Izibor. As her four-years-in-the-making debut album is released next month, the Irish soon-to-be-star had time to talk about where she’s going, where she’s been and everything in between before jetting back to the US to continue her tour with India Arie…

Tom Sowerby: So Laura you must be pretty exhausted, you’ve only just arrived back in the UK following several shows.

Laura Izibor: Yeah I came from Milan, I did MTV/TRL and that was the first music TV thing I’ve done, where I’ve been singing, which is weird actually, because normally I go to an interview and I’ll end up singing, but it’s never happened on television, so it was like “this is weird!”

TS: Yeah, and this has been a bit of break for you in the big US tour you’re doing at the moment, right?

LI: Yeah, I was just talking to India [Arie] the other day, and I was like “you are one sneaky cow, working for a week, getting a week off!” But when we go back now on Wednesday that’s it for a whole month. It’s been nice, I think as well for her, because she hasn’t toured in two years, so it’s probably been nice to ease her way back in, because I imagine on a tour, if you haven’t done it in a long time, it could be quite claustrophobic because you see all those dates and there’s no break.

TS: Of course, you’ve been pretty non-stop lately too so how do you find it?

LI: For me it’s still nice, I actually love it, I mean, I don’t get the week off because I’m going to do press and stuff in all parts of the world, I like it though, because it makes it more sweet. And on this tour it’s only me and my guitarist/bass player, just acoustic and I’m really diggin’ doing that; it’s very different than going on tour with a band. So it’s been a nice sort of flip for me and I’ve really enjoyed it and India’s tour and her whole overall energy is really, really good for in here [points to her heart] so this is just like a therapy session for me this tour, and I’m so happy to be exposed to her and her music every night. You have to see her live; she’s coming to Europe in October.

TS: Are you thinking about linking up with her when she comes over here?

LI: Yeah possibly, if our dates don’t collide, but you do need to catch her show!

TS: Will do, and I know you’re back here for a couple of dates in the summer…

LI: Yes, Bestival and the Electric Picnic, which is my favourite one in Ireland because it’s kind of like Woodstock, people just get painted and wear flowers and stuff. It’s not like a hardcore “let’s get drunk” or anything and if you’re from 12-18 I think, you can’t go unsupervised, so you just tend to get people there that really love the bands, and go for the bands.

TS: Yeah, and you’ve already played Electric Picnic before…

LI: …played it twice!

TS: That’s excellent! Do you reckon you’re going to try and keep playing that every year you can?

LI: Yeah, for me you know, it’s home, I always get tickets for family and friends, I get up, do it and then I put my wellies on and see some bands!

TS: Now, you got signed by the US division of Atlantic records, does it feel weird for you; being signed by them instead of the UK division, did you ever expect to take on America before the UK? Usually people do it the other way!

LI: Well kind of yeah, but also no, because when I got to the States, that was where I got all my interests from growing up and I kept going there at like sixteen, and by seventeen I had moved to New York to get started on my album. So I’ve spent 80% of my last four years over there, or maybe 70%. I’ve just been getting the album together, doing shows and then what was weird was coming over here! They said they were going to try and break me in the US and the UK at the same time. I was like “Oh, okay then, cool!” and it was strange being singed to the US and then coming over here and having to introduce myself to everyone, that felt quite weird, and I had a load of new relationships to build and it kind of felt like getting a new contract. So that was weird, because I hadn’t even started to really begin in the US and I was over here, so that was a bit of a head mess-up, but now it’s amazing, because it’s like, I went to Milan and met all the Milan company, went to Paris, met the Paris company. That feels really great, like a worldwide thing, but I think New York will always be the core, like a home.

TS: Does New York feel like home to you now?

LI: Yeah, well, a second home, just because I love New York but I think wherever you spend vast amounts of your time will feel like home and the first place I ever lived will always feel like home, but I spent most of my later teen years in New York, and maybe now even have more friends there than I have at home, so it does feel like a second home, yeah.

TS: Now, how are you feeling about the album, because obviously it’s been four years in the making, do you feel ready to let it go?

LI: Yeah, you know, I’m really excited. It can be hard because some interviewers are like “where is it” and some people are like “I’m so, so, so excited, when is it coming out!” and, don’t get me wrong, I’m so there, but for me it’s like a really internal thing, like climbing a mountain and going [stretches arms out wide] “Ah!”, it’s like a shedding of skin, it’s really nice, it took a long time to begin with after swapping labels and stuff, which took like two years! So there’s been a lot of patience, frustration and just for the release to have a date is great so for me there’s a lot of emotion in this release it’s not just excitement.

TS: It probably feel’s like having a baby or something…!

LI: It does! I’m ready to release it like “Go on, be great… I love you!”

TS: And now there’s only a couple of weeks to wait…

LI: Yeah, it’s actually out in France, went to #7 in iTunes, it’s also out in Italy now, so another strange order that I’m doing it in! It’ll be nice when it’s out everywhere, its out in May here and June in the US.

TS: Yeah, I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty happy; usually we have to wait like two months after things get released in America!

LI: Yeah, well it’s black history month and I’m doing a few things for it so we figured it would be nice to tie it in with that.

TS: Now, you’ve said about your shows in America and in Europe, but I also hear you’re going to be playing Tokyo?

LI: Yes! I’ve never been to Japan, so it’s going to be great, I’m doing like two shows per night for three or four nights, which is tough but I’m so looking forward to it and I’m always amazed how the Japanese always find out stuff, and I never know how they do! I’ve done some interviews and the amount of information they knew, stuff like I’d only ever said once in an online interview, not even a magazine or anything. I’d always just be like how do you know that! It’s incredible.

TS: So you’re looking forward to trying to break that market then?

LI: Yeah, well it’s nice to travel and spread your music and that’s all that really matters. Some people have this obsession with success levels and record sales and being a big superstar. That’s what I like about rock bands, the real ones, not the glossy ones, they really are in it, they don’t give a crap, they just want to rock out whatever they can to who ever. They’re not talking about the sales or downloads or anything and that’s how I feel, and that’s how my bands feel. So to us, it’s like “we get to play there? Sweet”.

TS: Do you always play live with the same band?

LI: Yes

TS: Are they all on the album?

LI: No, actually, I only found them last year, but for the next album, they’ll be on every single one of them.

TS: Well I imagine after four years, you’ll probably take a small break from making albums…?

LI: Erm, actually I’m like bang, ready to go because the last two years I’ve only probably recorded two songs, the main chunk came the two years before that, then came the record companies change and I’m itching to get back into the studio… I’m like “let me in the studio, let me in the studio!”

TS: You co-produced the album, in addition to writing it all, has that been crucial for you, getting the freedom you had?

LI: Well, you know, in honesty it wasn’t all that thought out, I was just writing all the songs and then going in and working with these people and having a bit of attitude… seventeen… I was like “how would the strings sound if they came in there, how about if the beat came in the second verse , actually, no I don’t think we need any beat, just strings and piano.” So then the producer I was working with just said he thought I should co-produce it with him. I didn’t go in there saying “I’m gonna write this whole album, I’m gonna produce it, I want this and that” I think if you look to do that it’s just ego and pride and you’ll hurt your album.

TS: You mentioned your last album, Jive?

LI: Yeah, I signed to Jive when I was 17.

TS: After you won your Meteor award?

LI: Yeah, well actually, that night I’d just flown in from New York, like literally two or three hours before hand and rushed to get my hair done and went to it that night. I’d been in New York showcasing for Jive. It was ten days of continual showcasing from about fifteen different labels, it was bizarre, so intense. I think those ten day period has taught me for this industry. Whenever people say I must be knackered I just think it will never compare to those ten days! My head was just spinning.

TS: You eventually left Jive, were you happier to be at Atlantic?

LI: Well yeah, because my A&R man, who signed me to Jive’s contract was up and he left and went to Atlantic and I wanted to join him, we only had half an album made and I wanted to complete it with him and eventually through negotiations, talks and pleading, I did! It took a long a long time but eventually we got off Jive and could get back to work. It felt more “good” for both me and my A&R guy, I think the label suited us better and it was nice to be with the guy who signed me when I was like fifteen.

TS: Who would you say you’d most like to emulate?

LI: I couldn’t chose one!

TS: I know what you mean, okay then, top three or five?!

LI: Well a lot of male singers actually, more so probably, like Marvin Gaye, who I just love, Otis Redding and Aretha [Franklin] obviously!

TS: Okay, last question, where do you see yourself in couple of years, where would you like to be?

LI: Definitely album two done! Just keep doing what I’m doing, just keep singing every night with amazing musicians and enjoy it. It’s more internal I’d just love to be doing what I’m doing regardless of anything. To still be enjoying it this much and be excited about a new song or a new place, to still appreciate it and be passionate about it. I was going to say maybe children, but that’s more than five years away… maybe in ten or fifteen…!

Make sure you keep an eye out for Laura Izibor’s debut album Let The Truth Be Told released 18th May through Atlantic Records. In addition to being recommended by Rolling Stone magazine, the Dubliner has already had her songs in films like P.S. I Love You, Step Up 2 and The Nanny Diaries and the polite, charming and thoroughly talented singer/songwriter is definitely one to watch.

• For more information visit Laura Izibor’s MySpace page
• If you want to pre-order her debut album here is the Amazon page

Following this week’s surprise announcement of the relatively unknown and unsigned The Leisure Society’s nomination for a prestigous Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically (along with The Last Shadow Puppets and Elbow), Nick Hemming - the writer of the the song in question The Last Of The Melting Snow - was able to sneak out of the factory where he works in order to fill us in on the surreal sequence of events that have occured over the past few days…

Bob Fear: So Nick, what’s happened over the last couple of days!? It’s all gone bonkers for you! Were you even aware that the nomination was on the cards?

Nick Hemming: Yeah, well I was emailed by the a member of the British Guild of Songwriters a couple of months ago asking if I wanted to put forward The Last of the Melting Snow forward for a nomination. It hadn’t crossed my mind at all, but he said the closing date was next week, so if I was going to do it I’d better do it now. So I just sent it off and never thought anymore of it until three weeks ago, when I got a letter through the post saying you’ve been put up for a nomination in the category of Best Song Musically and Lyrically which is the best category at the Ivors. I was completely blown away; I couldn’t believe it was happening really.

So they organised a press conference to announce the nominations at the Ivy yesterday and they sent a car that picked me up, took me to the Ivy and they announced them all, and then handed me over to the press to give interviews. Then I had to get a cab straight back to work! So it was like a weird double life.

BF: This is something you’ve been working towards for how long now?

NH: I’ve been doing music for well over fifteen years now, I’ve not actually been making my own songs as much; I’ve played guitar in a lot of bands, I wrote music but not really lyrics. It’s only in the past three years or so that I’ve started writing seriously for The Leisure Society more as a kind of view to it being a proper pop band type thing. In the last two years we’ve been recording the album and we finished that and released it in March this year, and it’s just gone incredibly well.

The first single which is The Last of the Falling Snow was released in December and as soon as that left the door it started picking up loads of radio play; it was single of the week on Mark Radcliffe’s show. It just sort of snowballed from there.

BF: And you’re still unsigned?

NH: Yeah well basically there’s a group of us called the Willkommen Collective and it’s a load of slightly folky types based in Brighton and London and we all play in each other’s bands. There’s a guy called Will who’s the cellist, who’s common to all the bands, hence Willkommen. So Tom, who’s the hub of all the Willkommen Collective, decided to put a record label together to release his own album for his band Shoreline.

I’ve been recording this album for a while and he said why don’t we put it out on his label, there’ll be no money but it would be a good way to get the album out if you just pay for it yourselves. So we paid and put it out so we’re not signed really, signed no contracts; it’s just some friends who were helping us out, we’re financing it all ourselves. It’s been quite tough getting it together, but obviously it’s more rewarding because you don’t have a record label coming between you and actually getting some money from album sales.

BF: So where’s your head at right now; obviously I’m distracting you at the minute from your day job, how surreal is it waking up in the morning and mentally being in two places at the same time?

NH: It’s absolutely insane, yesterday was just mad all day long. Just getting to the Ivy and realising that there were loads of press waiting to talk to me afterwards. I kind of panicked a little bit, but throughout the day I did so many interviews, by the end it sort of felt like second nature! But I went straight from there to work and then News at Ten came in to do a piece on me whilst I was doing my job.

BF: So they came to the factory?

NH: Yeah, they had a film crew there and filmed me doing my day job, then interviewed me about how it felt to get nominated, and then straight after that BBC News 24 wanted me to go to their studio for a live interview, so I dashed on a tube and a taxi and tried to get there in time and it was all a bit mad. Good fun though, and then I was doing radio interviews all evening, so yeah it’s been crazy and I’m back to my day job today and it’s just really tough because I have hundreds of emails to answer and I could do with a holiday just to get my head around it all really!

BF: What exactly does the day job entail?

NH: I work for a posh fabric and wallpaper company called Osborne and Little and I basically dispatch everything, like exporting stuff to America, weighing things and data entry.

BF: Have you had lots of record label advances yet?

NH: No, I don’t think we’ve had any offers, though I have got this inbox full of emails so maybe we have! Willkommen Records have had loads of publishing companies getting in touch though because obviously this is the first time anyone’s been nominated for an Ivor who haven’t got a publishing deal so there’s been a lot of people in touch but I’m in no hurry to sign anything. It would be great to get out of the day job as soon as possible but I’m not just going to rush out and sign contracts; I’ve been doing this for years and I’m very cynical about the music industry so I’m going to be careful. I like having total creative control over everything we do, though at the same time we want to be a successful band so we may have to include other people at some point.

BF: So what’s your immediate plan over the next couple of days?

NH: Well, we’re sorting out a tour; we’ve just come back off the road from our first tour to promote the album and it was all sold out pretty much and we’re going to sort out another short tour, this time of slightly bigger venues, so hopefully that will go well. In the summer I’m really looking forward to playing some festivals and doing a bit of travelling; we’re going to Barcelona to play with Divine Comedy and we’re doing a festival in Latvia and we’re doing Green Man over here. I think we’re doing Big Chill as well, though that hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it’s looking good.

BF: You’ve been compared to acts like Grizzly Bear, Department of Eagles and Fleet Foxes, which acts do you admire most in that field and maybe aspire to?

NH: Well, I guess the stuff I listen to is 60s pop like The Beech Boys, The Beatles, Love… stuff like that and I love the Divine Comedy, I’m really looking forward to playing alongside them in Barcelona. The album I’m listening to most at the moment is the new Bill Callahan album Smog, which is a great album, that’s my favourite thing at the moment.

I wouldn’t really compare us to anything around at the moment, because although we’ve got  similar instrumentation to Fleet Foxes and we use similar harmonies, ours has a really English sound, where as theirs is obvioulsy more American.

• To find out more about The Leisure Society visit their MySpace page
• For more information on the Ivor Novello award and the full list of nominees, visit here

As they prepare for their UK tour with Friendly Fires, Hockey talk to me about being back here, their upcoming album, thoughts on their success so far and hopes the future. They also mention that they’ve added Glastonbury to their already impressive list of festivals this summer.

Tom: Hey guys, how are you doing? You’ve only been back in England for a few days…

Jerm: Yeah we’ve been here since Sunday, so this is day four. The first day we were zombies we played Saturday night in San Fransicso and didn’t go to sleep we had to be at the airport at 5am on Sunday morning; we flew all day and night and when we got here it was morning again! So we stayed up all day on Sunday here, just totally out of it, we went to the Tate museum and looked at some stuff.

Anthony: That is something I recommend; if you ever have travel delirium where you haven’t slept for three days just go to a surreal art gallery and it’s like you’re on mushrooms or something! Everything started moving it was like ‘Wow, art is wonderful!’

Tom: Hah, you’re meeting up with Friendly Fires over here, aren’t you?

Ben: Yeah, we’re meeting up over here in England for a tour and that’s starts Friday, no Saturday, in Bristol. We played the Cooler in Bristol once before in February with Passion Pit, so already been over there once; it’s really cool actually. I think there’s a University there and that’s where we’re playing, so it’s really exciting.

Tom: So you guys are around here for a month or so, finishing your tour in late May. Are you thinking of going anywhere else with Friendly Fires or is it just going to be the UK?

All: Just UK.

Tom: Ah cool, I know you have The Great Escape festival planned for late May, do you have any other festivals lined up?

Jerm: Yeah we do, we just found out we’re doing Glastonbury. We’re also doing T in the Park, Oxegen, some festivals back in the States, Hove and some in Germany, Sweden and Norway.

Anthony: In the States we’re doing Lollapalooza, Sasquatch and Bonnaroo; Phish are doing a couple of shows there so that’s a massive deal!

Tom: Now, your albums been pushed back, it’s not coming out till August now.

Ben: Yeah, that sounds bad. We’re not sure what to think of that, but it’s probably okay, I think it’s all for the best.

Anthony: I think the dates like August 24^th, they’re not going to put it back again we swear; we’ll trash this place!

Tom: Yeah well it says a lot that you’ve been able to book so many festivals without an official album; I know a lot of festivals are hesitant about using bands until they hear debut albums so it’s good you’ve managed to get so many. If you’re playing Glastonbury, does that mean you’re thinking of sticking around in the UK for some of the summer?

Jerm: Yeah, I think so; I think we’re only going home for one or two shows. One in Portland and then Sasquatch in Washington and then we’re coming back.

Tom: Cool, obviously you did the demo yourself, did you find that any of your creative freedom has been limited since you singed to Capital/Virgin for working on the official release?

Ben: Well no because all we had to do was the remixing from our demo. That was the cool thing when we signed with them, it didn’t feel scary because they wanted the album the way we made it.

Jerm: I mean we recorded some songs at a proper studio in Portland, but we specified that Ben produced the demo and we wanted Ben to produce whatever we did.

Ben: Yeah we learned after that the company was afraid that we were going to make changes.

Jerm: It was a really good situation where we had something that represented what we did. It’s not like there’s a record that doesn’t exist yet and they’re like ‘We want this producer and these arrangements for these songs’ or something like that. A lot is up to us.

Tom: It’s a pretty impressive thing, there aren’t many bands that just recorded an album themselves, put it out and then suddenly catch the attention of some Major’s. How does it make you feel? It must be so surreal.

Ben: Yeah, it’s pretty ideal I guess!

Jerm: I think it’s a new era for music where stuff like recording equipment’s easier and it’s kind of trickled down to people like ourselves where, you know, we just did the record in our basement, in our house in Portland. I think it’s a good testament to having a laptop and Pro-tools set up. It was good you know, because in the studio you’re paying by the hour, by the day, by the week but at home you can totally lose your mind you know, and we did. We spent a week just trying to find the right snare sound; putting a mic all around the room-

Anthony: - that god-damn snare sound!

Jerm: Yeah we did all kinds of things to do the mic; put a sock over it, put anything over it. Most bands can’t wait to rush in to a studio and get it cut within two weeks otherwise its going to cost them their entire budget so that was really cool.

Tom: I’m guessing for when you next work on a record you’re going to try and keep low key and under the radar, like for your first album?

Ben: Yeah we hope it will be the same kind of thing, though maybe with a few more microphones or something.

Tom: Ben and Jerm, it was you two that started the band off in LA, what made you decide to go Washington?

Jerm: We had a friend from college who lived out there, who we initially wanted to have in the band but it didn’t work out. Basically we just wanted to put a band together for what we were doing, which was very stripped down and became kind of theatrical; kind of like some like Hip Hop DJ’s where it’s not as much about the sound but more the attitude, and everyone wanting to have a good time and stuff. I think we wanted to start writing more straight forward songs, things less pent on live energy; songs like Song Away, more straight forward and an easier way of expressing our band.

Tom: Yeah, so what was it that made you decide to leave Washington for Portland if you already had your band together? Was it Portland’s great music scene?

Ben: I think that was definitely part of it, going to a place that had a great alternative scene, very arty and stuff, and we just thought if we could be a part of that then we’d really be making strides because although Washington was a lovely place to live it’s also kind of off the map. So that and we also happened to have one of Anthony’s friends live there and working for a band there and he just said Portland would be a really good place for us, and Portland’s a great place.

Tom: You guys have a huge list of influences, from Fleetwood Mac to MIA, do they play a big role in your sound or do you just try to do your own thing?

Jerm: Yeah, I always say Fleetwood Mac!

Anthony: I think when people ask us what our influences are we each give our own personal influences but that doesn’t really hold much bearing in the direction of the music. You know, Ben does most of the writing and especially production, so when I say I like Phish, you know, it’s kind of a half joke because our band clearly doesn’t sound anything like Phish!

Jerm: Yeah I think it’s also pretty random, I wouldn’t say we set out to sound any specific way, we just fill our heads with all kinds of music; whatever we happen to be into at the time. It’s not necessarily like we’re going to sound like this band or we want do this sort of thing, we’re just sort of throwing everything together and mixing it up in a big pot. I think the albums like that.

Tom: Now in the UK you’re signed to Virgin, do they have a big role whilst you’re over here or is it still mainly run by Capitol?

Ben: Virgin have a pretty hefty role actually –

Jerm: - I’d say more so than Capitol at the moment! When we first signed to Capitol they said at the beginning that they’d love for us to break the UK first, and that sounded so incredible to us, and that’s exactly how its gone. We played a lot of shows here and tried to get as much radio time as possible, so it’s been very UK focussed. Which is great and I think the reaction’s been good.

Anthony: The British people have been awesome. And sometimes when some people talk about Major labels they have this negative connotation of them like a bunch of fat, old white guys in suits but they’re really more like young, cool, awesome people that we like hanging out with and go have beers with.

Ben: Yeah, really good people.

Tom: Pleased to hear it, now you first came to England in December and been a couple of times since, so you’re obviously enjoying it. You’re getting good air time too, has it got to the being spotted in the street level yet or…?!

Jerm: No, no!

Anthony: Sometimes my moustache does, people just sit there talking to my moustache, they don’t realise there’s a person behind it.

Ben: We haven’t been back to the UK since our single got released. Too Fake was released about a week after we last left, so we haven’t had a chance to see if things have changed much, but maybe more people are aware of us now.

Jerm: We did the Jools Holland show last night too. It was awesome! It was like a dream! We played our first song and we were pretty nervous, but the second song was much better. It was the first time we’ve ever done live TV so it’s a really strange head game. It’s like recording a song that’s going to go out to a million people, in one take.

Anthony: Cat Stevens was there! Or Yusuf Islam as he’s now known. We met him after the show, Brian almost fell over his knees. It was incredible; he even said he enjoyed our music!

Brian: I listened to him on the plane ride over I just love his records.

Jerm: He was awesome, he looks just like a kind old man now; I could walk past him a hundred times and I wouldn’t know who he was, but an amazing voice!

Anthony: Speaking of that; I was always surprised with how well Roger Waters aged, I didn’t see that one coming he was kind of a crazy looking twenty-something, and he turned out like a normal dude! But they’re the Floyd, they can look however the fuck they want.

Tom: Would you guys ideally like to be like that; still playing music in your 60s?

Anthony: That’s pretty presumptuous!

Ben: Hah, I guess that’s the way we’d like to think of it, I know we’ve got a lot of ideas of what we want to do, but you know some people do like one record and people like Neil Diamond can keep making them so we’ll see.

Hockey will be kicking off their UK shows by playing The Roundhouse on Friday 24th April as part of the Camden Crawl, before heading to Bristol to start their tour with Friendly Fires.

• For ticket information on their upcoming tour go Here

Hockey’s debut album Mind Chaos will be available from 24th (UK) & 25th April (US)

• For more information on Hockey visit their MySpace page

Legendary DJ and founder of the Bestival festival, Rob Da Bank, takes time out of his busy schedule to speak to me about his talk at the Southbank Centre’s Ether festival this Friday and his book The A-Z of Festivals, coming out May 1st.

Tom Sowerby: Morning Rob, I’m calling because you have your new book coming out The A –Z of Festivals and you have your talk coming up this Friday at the Ether festival, and I was just wondering what exactly we can expect to hear from you?

Rob Da Bank: Good question, I’ve got no idea really! I think it’s going to be a bit of a Q & A to start with, with Miranda Sawyer who’s a really good person to get involved with talking about festivals because she has a lot of opinions about the current state of them. I’ve been reading a lot about her, talking about the costs of Festivals and things, so I think it’s going to be me and her having a bit of a chat about personal festival experiences and talking about festivals that I love or hate! There’ll also be a panel of DJ’s and stuff talking about the future of festivals, like where they’re going. Hopefully it will be entertaining and informative.

TS: Yeah, that sounds great. I also have a few questions about festivals in general. Obviously, with Bestival being a huge success I was wondering what exactly you think makes a great festival?

RDB: Erm, I think a lot of effort really, particularly on the promoters and the crowd I suppose, it’s as simple as that really. I mean obviously you need decent music and ideally a lot of other things to do but you know there are some brilliant festivals out there that are pretty much dependant just on the music offering and that’s fantastic stuff, the people know what they want, and they want to watch some bands, drink some beer and have their festival experience. At the same time there are other festivals like Bestival, Latitude or The Big Chill where it’s a lot more about other things as well as the music, so I think the thing that makes Bestival sort of special is the atmosphere and the magic that’s created by everyone that turns up and makes all the effort to make it a mad experience.

TS: Can we expect anything different this year from Bestival?

RDB: Yeah, I mean obviously we had a wet year for the first time last year and that sort of made us think about the site, so that will be changing a lot in terms of layout. We’re moving the main stage around, so for people who know Bestival well the site will have radically changed, but for those who don’t: there’ll be the usual madness, fun and games and we’ve called 2009 the year of the spectacular, which roughly speaking is to do with making it an amazing show in addition to the music which is what we’ve always wanted to do. We’ve got this thing called Blastival which is a kind of Firework installation, like a theatrical piece, it’s kind of hard to describe but essentially it’s the story of this guy trying to blast himself off to space in his rocket through various means which culminates with me DJ-ing in this rocket on Sunday night just before it blasts off. Hopefully I won’t get lost in space or anything, but yeah there’s going to be a lot interactive stuff as ever with Bestival.

TS: Wow, that sounds unbelievable, I think ‘spectacular’ is the word! I was also wondering do you prefer playing at festivals or is it more enjoyable just going without any of the worries of it?

RDB: Erm, it’s a total mixture actually; I mean I love chilling out; it’s pretty good at Glastonbury, the less work I have to do there the better, because there’s just so much there to see! Though at the same time I’m totally into DJ-ing at festivals; I’ve had some of my best DJ sets at festivals. This year I’m really chuffed I’m going to be DJ-ing at the exit festival in Serbia and it’s another European show, so it’s probably the only way that I’m going to get out to these shows, by DJ-ing and normally it’s really good fun and I enjoy the challenge of getting the crowd going, it’s normally actually easier than a club crowd! They’re always really up for it!

TS: Where are you planning on going this summer for festivals?

RDB: Well obviously Camp Bestival and Bestival! I’m also DJ-ing at Glastonbury and generally going to hang out, Exit in Serbia, hopefully Sziget in Budapest and then as many of the usual suspects as possible, you know; The Big Chill, Latitude or The Green Man. I also like popping up to Reading or V Festival for the day, I really want to see Radiohead at Reading and just some of those highlights of the year really.

TS: Can you think of one particular stand out moment in all the festivals you’ve been to?

RDB: Yeah, probably going to Coachella four years ago in the States and seeing The Cure, Radiohead and Kraftwerk all on the same bill, three of my favourite ever acts, all playing. The whole weekend was amazing, definitely worth the journey.

TS: Yes, it sounds great. I just had one last question: I saw on your MySpace page about your Volkswagen Camper. Do you ever drive that around to festivals?

RDB: Hah, I used to drive to all of them, but now I’ve got two kids I need to be a bit more mobile; they don’t like sitting on the side of the road waiting for the tow truck. So my camper’s consigned to the Isle of White at the moment, I just drive it around there where I can’t get too lost or too far away from home but going away in the camper or going camping full stop is my favourite thing. It’s not quite as relaxing with kids, but yeah, I still love camping!

TS: Excellent, well thanks very much for taking the time out to talk to me about Ether festival and the new book, I hope it all goes well!

RDB: Thanks very much, thanks for your support.

As part of the Ether festival Rob Da Bank is giving a talk at Queen Elizabeth Hall at 8pm, Friday 24th April.

• Go Here to find out more about Rob’s talk and to book tickets.

The A-Z of Festivals, Rob’s new book detailing his personal experiences of festivals all around the world is available through Pan Macmillan from May 1st.

• Go Here to find out more about Rob’s new book.

To find out more about Rob Da Bank visit his MySpace page

Amidt the labyrinth of barren dressing rooms that constitute the fifth floor of London’s Royal Festival Hall Karin Dreijer Andersson (aka the delectable anti-hero of this year, Fever Ray) sits soberly, cross-legged in the dark. Remarkably at ease for a debut UK gig and her fourth show ever under current moniker, the expansive corridors are lined with a veritable Scandinavian electro monarchy, from chart-battering princes and tonight’s headliners Röyksopp to edgy (fringed) Swedish starlet Robyn. The exclusivity of Ether Festival’s Saturday night fever merits a similar level of anticipation to the majority of this year’s summer weekends and with only a handful of dates lined up, Karin stripped down the tribal masks and face paint to talk touring phobia, Guns’n’Roses and a vital update on the future of The Knife.

Josh Holliday: They say you should never meet your heroes. This is one of those moments but here we are anyway. Who would you say were your heroes whilst growing up?

Karin Dreijer Andersson: Cyndi Lauper, she was the most predominant figure for me. I bought her first single when I was about eight. And then a little bit later on I was really into Guns’n’Roses.

JH: I can’t say any noticeable influence has been taken from hair metal…

K: No. But ‘Appetite for Destruction’ was a fantastic album.

JH: Do you feel that the records you’ve fallen in love with have inspired the music you create today as well as that previously conjured up as one half of The Knife?

K: I don’t really know but I think Cyndi Lauper was certainly a very positive artist for a young girl. She expressed herself in an extremely free and open manner. Nowadays if you’re eight years old the music that appeals most revolves almost entirely around the female body as an object. Cyndi Lauper had something else, she focussed on fantasy and creativity.

JH: In terms of the Fever Ray record, who would you cite as the influential artists behind your progression from the goth-trance dulcet ecstasy of ‘Silent Shout’?

K: I would say I’ve probably watched more films during the conception of this record over the last year than I’ve spent time listening to music.

JH: Presumably films fairly distant from the mainstream; the record provides such an intense, minimal experience that it’s at times difficult to completely digest…

K: I spent most of my time watching Spanish and Korean art house films as well as a substantial amount of Jim Jarmusch’s early work. I think the album projects glimpses of these films in its attempts to retell story and fantasy. I like creative outputs that feel detached from Westernization.

JH: In that case do you regard this album as being comparable to a soundtrack?

K: It could well be, yes. It certainly soundtracks the specific time in which I wrote and recorded it. I feel particularly close to it; it took around a year to complete, working all day every day back home in Stockholm.

JH: How do you feel things have changed since working with Olof, creating The Knife’s three records?

K: The only considerable difference I feel is that I no longer work with my brother. The working process is similar but I’ve had to learn how to work on my own. Three different producers helped me out with the final production but I did all the programming singlehandedly.

JH: Having worked so closely with your brother previously, was it difficult to return to music by yourself?

K: Yes it was. I’d been working with him for seven years and it was a very intense period of time so I didn’t really remember what it was like to work without anyone else. At first, I just wanted to see if it worked. I didn’t have any plans regarding this album. Effectively, I just went into the studio to discover for myself what would happen. After a while, I actually started to revel in my solidarity and I think that’s where the soul of this album stems from.

JH: How do you feel your Swedish secluded small town upbringing and backdrop has affected what you’ve done over the years?

K: It took us seven years to venture onto a stage and even then we only ever performed 22 shows, just because we hated the live setting. The idea of a live show in which we’d reproduce an electronic album seemed entirely pointless and I still don’t understand the purpose of playing out programmed music live by hand. I feel it destroys everything but then after about seven years we started to talk to [Swedish artist and director behind music videos of everyone from White Lies to Moby] Andreas Nilsson about the live show and he had a load of creative ideas that really appealed to us. He then talked us into it, enticing us in with graphic projections and colossal screens, saying theoretically we wouldn’t even have to turn up.

JH: So effectively taking the focus away from the music?

K: No, still focussing on the music but taking the importance away from the artists themselves whilst keeping the creative side of things in the foreground. That’s what I find most interesting about live shows.

JH: Perhaps another substantial differentiation between work produced by The Knife and the latest record is the way in which the vocals have been laid down; clarity seems to dominate this time but they’re still all in English. At what point did you decide to write in English rather than Swedish or any other language and how much of a conscientious decision was that?

K: I’ve never written anything in Swedish! I think it’s a completely natural aspect of my music that the lyrics are all in English; there is music in Swedish back home but it’s fairly hopeless.

JH: Focussing on another distancing factor from The Knife, where once your identity was hidden behind Venetian masks and vocoders diverting interest away from the artists behind the music, do you feel your appearance has been altered for this outing?

K: I don’t think so. I’m trying to use myself more in order to disguise myself, using costumes that reflect the music. I believe I’m trying to follow the music symbolically with my body.

JH: Would you say it’s perhaps a more open approach?

K: (the lengthiest pause of the afternoon is incurred, followed by a solemn, cold-blooded, one-word response) No. I think I have a firmer understanding these days of where the line is between Fever Ray and my own privacy. I’m intrigued to discover exactly what I can do with myself, painting my face and concealing myself within elaborate costumes whilst retaining every shard of relevance retained within the music. In short, I don’t think it’s more open, no!

JH: This is your debut UK show. What’s made you decide that maybe it’s ok to get out on the road? There are a fair few dates lined up…

K: I find it far more enjoyable now. I felt that The Knife club tour we did back in 2006 provided a very efficient warm up and I think both Olof and I have become really interested in the performance art side that our music holds. It now feels like a completely revolutionary experience to be collaborating with a band of five or six musicians with whom I’ve rehearsed with since November and Andreas [Nilsson] has been lending a hand with the subdued scenery we’re using so it’s a really creative final production. I found the recording process extremely isolated so it’s exciting to be working with people again!

JH: Do you feel a sense of security touring with Röyksopp, having collaborated with the duo in the past? And both being Scandinavian, of course…

K: Believe it or not, I’d never played with them live before last night. It went well!

JH: Do you think your perceptions of touring differ from the majority of young bands who can afford to record and tour and record and tour until they achieve a top ten album without the sort of foundations in life you’ve established, being a mother of two amongst other things?

K: I certainly feel that touring is a bit of a hassle and I try to cut down on the amount of time I spend away from home but at the same time that’s why doing festivals every other week during the summer offers a solution to that predicament, as I can be at home for the majority of the time. My family in Sweden constitutes the predominant reason we don’t tour for months on end. We’re very exclusive!

JH: So you feel it restricts you in a way…

K: No, it’s a grand production when you’ve taken into account the band, crew, lasers, set design and everything else even when we’re supporting. I don’t want to play if I have to compromise. It’s all or nothing! But it makes it pretty expensive to book us so not all that many can afford us. It’s ok because we don’t have to put on nearly as many shows!

JH: When the summer months roll around the corner, presumably you’ll have to cut down on these extravagant shows…

K: No, they’ll be exactly the same. And we have to play when it’s dark which makes everything more problematic once more, even if it gets us higher up the bill!

JH: Are there plans for any further UK shows or is this a distinct one-off?

K: There’s a more club-oriented European tour in the pipeline for the autumn that’ll be along the lines of The Knife tour in 2006 and maybe a festival appearance or two before then…

JH: Finally, having done your 22 shows under the banner of The Knife, would you say a fine line has been drawn under the future of the greatest cutlery-inspired act since Spoon or are there revelatory plans to be unveiled from the Dreijer siblings?

K: Far from it; Olof and I have been working for a year on both the music as well as the libretto for an opera based on the life of Charles Darwin. He moved to Berlin three years ago which surprisingly made things easier as I visit him for three days and then vice versa as we both have home studios. It will be premiered in September and after that (lowers voice) next winter we’ve talked about making a proper Knife album.

“You have two options when you’re growing up, you can spend a long time getting a job then work that job and get 2 weeks off a year; or you just find a job where you can travel your ass off. We chose that path – that’s rock and roll”.Going by this quote from Ian St. Pe, you might accuse him and fellow band member Jarad Swilley of being a part of Black Lips only for the travel and the glitz. Yet lazily slumping on sofas in a London PR office, far from their native Atlanta and reflecting upon a decade together as a band, it’s clear they wouldn’t have lasted long if it had just been about perks. As Jarad says the band experience has “been one third of my whole life” this band isn’t about pluses - it’s a lifestyle choice.

Perhaps this is why they boys treated the release of their 6th album, Two Million Thousand with a Zen-like calm. It’s yet another day on the road for them. And Black Lips have had plenty of those. Formed in 1999, from the musical background of traditional Southern country, gospel and American rock and roll, Black Lips somehow evolved a wild mix of 70s punk rock and 60s lo-fi psychedelia that’s as modern as it is vintage

These crazy sounds and constant touring meant Black Lips have gained respect and a strong US grass roots fan base from their earliest days. Those fans have stuck with them through the good and bad times. And there have been many bad times for the band: rummaging for food in dumpsters, sleeping on band gear in vans, touring in open top vehicles (“it sucks when it rains” Jarad informs me) and, more seriously, facing the death of original member Ben Eberbaugh  in a car accident in 2002 – a subject still tender enough to be left off the agenda today.

Since those dark times Black Lips have battled on and now they’re riding high, established themselves as one of the hardest working bands on the US indie scene and hit the label jackpot by signing for the uber-cool Vice Records. And this has led to even more perks. Firstly the boys can now use Vice’s media outlets for publicity and artistic expression: “Sometimes you get to write for the magazine and film stuff with them its great” Jarad explains.Then there are the professional bonuses. No longer do the boys have to book their shows themselves. They have proper management. They have a lawyer. They have PR. In short, they have people.

And then there’s the creative freedom space. For Two Million Thousand, Black Lips built their own studio, guaranteeing their own environment to record in and cost-free practice time. And they’ve done things their way. They shunned digital recording techniques and insisted that their new record was recorded in analogue – even insisting it made on vinyl before being transferred onto CD to capture all the cracks and pops of the original.

This extraordinary process Ian explains is partly a wild-eyed fear of technology and a future “like Terminator 2” (presumably by homicidal synthesizers). Yet it’s also about the music being alive and spontaneous; that records are better for their mistakes that give them character then the digital software that make them perfect: “These days everyone tries to fine tune every little thing and it’s not real”.

So what about the album? Well from all accounts it’s more of the same trashy goodness – maybe a little darker Jarad tells me, but on the whole they stick to a tried and tested formula. Rather than getting theoretically complicated or going for walls of sound, Black Lips try to stick to more traditional writing means, Ian laughingly tells me: “We write songs. Girls like songs. I’m appreciative of that. We like girls.”

So a new era of big label perks, esoteric studio manners and… er… girls, seem to be working out well for the band. Yet all these bonuses have caused problems. Some fans have been unhappy with the label move and the supposed back-turning on the band’s roots. And Jarad says things have even turned nasty: “We’ve received some death threats a few times. People say they’re going to come to our show and fuck me up because they think we sold out, like ‘you’re not punk rock any more. I’m going to come to your show and bottle you’”.

That’s even more scary when you consider their situation: “We don’t have health insurance,” Jarad says nervously, “if I get taken out with a bottle or something like that it’s hard to pay for.”

Black Lips try not to take such events to heart, but there’s no denying it’s a messed up state of affairs. But it’s volatile energy that the band to carry with them always. And especially live. Jarad and Ian may seem like typical Americans here on the sofa, but on stage things have been far from regular. The British music press has been uncharacteristically prudish on the matter, but rumours of angry performances involving stage invasions, mad toy car races and even vomiting and urination have circulated.

When grilled about this Ian and Jarad reply with the type of shameful reticence as an alcoholic when asked what they did the night before. But to some degree they’re proud of themselves for what they do and will compete for the worst story. “Cole and me had a fight on stage on time and he hit me with his guitar” Jarad says before Ian trumps that by telling me “I had a bottle go through my hand”, showing me a very nasty-looking scar.

Yet they’re clear that’s not what they want the band should be defined for.  “The shows are always real energetic but we don’t go out of our way just to do circus tricks” Jarad says, before Ian adds “If the crowd’s going crazy we’ll reciprocate”.The Black Lips stay in the UK is a short one. It’s for the best. British sensibility can’t handle too much craziness. But the UK should look forward to the Black Lips when they inevitably return for the summer festivals. Clearly more than most bands out there, they’ve paid their dues and earned their place in the limelight. And if they can write records, pay bills and get perks doing it, even better.

As Jarad tells me, this band has given him the best times of his life “The two coolest times was when I woke up and realised I don’t have to work a regular job anymore. And then the first time I came to Europe, there was this feeling kinda like the first time you smoke pot or when you lose your virginity,” adding “If I could bottle that feeling or put in pill form, that would be awesome”. And who wouldn’t do a job that gave you all that ?! “It’s the best job in the world,” Jarad tells me before briefly reconsidering “well I’m sure there are better jobs - but I’m very happy with mine.”

• MySpace

The critically-acclaimed Siouxsie and the Banshees remasters series continues with extended versions of the classic albums A Kiss In The Dreamhouse, Hyaena, Nocturne and Tinderbox which are finally released this week. All remasters have been overseen by original band member Steven Severin, who very kindly answered some questions that awestruck and slightly intimidated Banshees fan Bob Fear emailed him…

Bob Fear: So fans are dying to know what extras there’ll be on this next lot of remasters. Can you tell us what to expect?

Steven Severin: By now it’s been leaked on the net so all I can say is that it’s similar to the last batch in that it’s very varied. For instance, we had a lot of extras for Kaleidoscope but not for Join Hands. This time it’s Tinderbox that benefits and Hyaena that suffers. There was never any set pattern to the way each album came about. More like each album “reacted” to the previous one so most of the time there just isn’t anything “extra”. Other times quality control kicks in. We have no interest in padding out the running time with any old rubbish like some do.

BF: Did you encounter any particular issues in going back and uncovering potential extras?

SS: Since we did the first batch I’ve relocated to Edinburgh so I couldn’t just pop into the vault this time and look at then listen to things to determine their worth.  I have to try to “spot” things from a vast computer print out then request a scan of the tape box then get a CD-R and of course each part of the process demands I fill out 15 forms in triplicate or rather it feels like that.  It’s a slow torture.

BF: Was there anything you remember which has been lost?

SS: Sore point. The lovely Hamburg branch managed to mislay the Dear Prudence master of all things. On this batch the main one that got away was a 7″ radio mix Bob Rock did of Cities in Dust. It’s completely vanished.

BF: Any surprises or stuff you’d forgotten?

SS: Is my job in all this NOT to forget. For example, I’m sure everyone else had completely forgotten about Chris Kimsey’s 12″ mix of The Sweetest Chill but I didn’t mainly because, back in the day, I flew out to Amsterdam on my own to oversee it.

BF: How did it feel going through the archives after all these years? Has it made you warmly reflective, softly nostalgic… ?

SS: Not in the slightest. I think the vast majority of the material still holds up really well. Obviously some of the actual sounds and production techniques will date it but in essence this was and still is “risky” & “timeless” music.

BF: The Banshees reunited in 2003. How was the Seven Year Itch Tour for you?

SS: I think you could safely describe it as “death of a band by misadventure”.

BF: Have your adventures in the archives given you the temptation to reunite and play these songs again with the rest of the Banshees?

SS: In a word, NO.

BF: Sorry - had to ask!

A Kiss In the Dreamhouse has been hailed by the press in particular as your classic album. Do you agree - is it your favourite?

SS: It’s one of them for sure.  These days I tend to think it lacks just one more track… in particular, a killer single.

BF: What was it about the recording and timing of that album in particular that you think has led it to become so revered?

SS: I think it’s about expectation. It had been a solid 3 years of uphill work getting the band back after the defection of John McKay & Kenny Morris. The new line-up had toured relentlessly, released the mighty beast, Ju Ju and had a string of hits with Happy House, Christine, Israel, Spellbound, Arabian Knights & Fireworks. So the smart money (or rather the UNsmart money as it would transpire) was on a consolidating guitar based album that would see us battling it out with the likes of Big Country and the nascent U2. Well, that’s what the record company wanted. What everybody got instead was an album full of tape loops, recorders, mad giggling and fairground organ interludes. It was critically acclaimed in some quarters whilst others thought we’d lost our minds. Can’t win them all… God forbid.

BF: 1982-84 was a particularly prolific time for you, recording with Robert Smith as The Glove, the Nocturne live album and Hyeana studio album… were you enjoying a creative high or just constantly knackered?

SS: At the time I think we were convinced that we were doing exactly what we wanted to do but in hindsight we were being pulled in lots of different directions by people who had radically opposing agendas. Chris Parry wanted Robert back in The Cure so we had to keep filling the diary so he couldn’t escape :) Our manager Dave Woods was also our booking agent so he had a vested interest in keeping us on the road and Polydor obviously wanted us off the road in the studio cranking them out… The combined result of all this manipulation mean that we never had a moment to really stop and reflect on the real motives. So yes, we were constantly knackered… .and sometimes high.

BF: You were then a relatively long time recording the next album Tinderbox, was that a difficult album to produce in the hangover from the previous couple of years?

SS: It was down to producers and guitarists…  If you look at the lineage of Banshees guitarists whenever there is a change ~ the bar is raised higher. There are more songs to learn and more of the “creative” ground has been covered. I mean seriously, you are the fourth guy in the chain what can you do to make a statement after McKay, McGeoch & Smith? John Carruthers struggled to find a new guitar voice. He got there in the end but we did a lot of routining for Tinderbox. Much more than any other album.  Some of that rehearsal was done with Bob Ezrin who my first choice for a new producer. Tinderbox was the first record we had begun with Geffen on board and they were keen to add a “heavyweight” producer ~ probably as a spy cum stooge. It didn’t work. Consequently, when we were ready to record we could have banged it down in a week.

Unfortunately, we chose to go to Berlin, to the famous Hansa (by the wall) studio with the next new guy, Hugh Jones. The studio was falling apart and that put a lot of pressure on Hugh. It was hard work when it shouldn’t have been and nerves were frayed by the time we came back to London to continue on with overdubs. Hugh hired a small string section to play on one of the tracks without our knowledge let alone our consent. He was dismissed on the spot. Whilst we waited for the next choice, Steve Churchyard to become free we went and recorded “Cities in Dust” initially as a B side.  Woods wanted us out on the road so we released Cities as a single in isolation and embarked on a two month tour of the UK. Barking mad!

We finished the tour with Siouxsie’s leg in plaster and spent Xmas mixing the album desperately trying to get it out fast in the New Year so that all the groundwork that the success of Cities had achieved wouldn’t be wasted…  You see we tried really hard to be a “proper” band but it wasn’t to be… ’twas written in the stars, I believe…

BF: How did that lead you to then record an album of covers?

SS: The idea had come up around the time of Dear Prudence - 4 years earlier - to do a kind of Pin-Ups album but was shelved. When Siouxsie & I had a post-mortem about Tinderbox we felt we could eliminate it’s two stumbling blocks - namely the speed at which the material was written and the choice of producer - by going back to Mike Hedges and doing covers. And it worked. I could care less what the critics or fans think of that decision. It was the right (and healthy) decision for the band and in my opinion, a bloody good album too!

BF: I loved Peepshow as it came out when I was about 16 so I was soon backcombing my hair and wearing second-hand black trenchcoats to school. I know you probably need a break but can I look forward to a Peepshow remaster?

SS: No, I’m ready. Let’s see if Universal can weather the downturn/crunch/recession first!

BF: I remember using Carousel as musical accompaniment to our A-Level drama exam show (please don’t sue me – we were amateurs) and you now work on film and TV scores… was this always a direction you saw your work with The Banshees going?

SS: Absolutely. It is still a mystery to me that the Banshees were never hired to score an entire film. The music is full of drama, tension, dynamics - all essential ingredients for a successful film score. I grew up with bands like Can and Pink Floyd whose second album(s) were film music! I vividly remember during the mixing session for Hong Kong Garden saying to our manager at the time, Nils that I wanted the Banshees 2nd album to be a film score. He laughed at me… It would be another 10 years before I could finally claim to have “done a film score” when I provided the soundtrack to the short film Visions Of Ecstasy.

BF: Your mate Robert Smith has just seen The Cure hailed as godlike geniuses by the NME – do you covet such awards and recognition by the industry?

SS: Oh it’s way too late for all that nonsense.  I don’t think anyone would have the balls actually.  They all know we’d throw it straight back at them.

BF: Polydor unceremoniously dropped The Banshees painfully soon after The Rapture in ’95. What do you think of major label machinations – particularly at this uncertain time for the industry?

SS: Firstly, there is no “ceremony” to any band getting dropped - it’s not like some get a benefit luncheon and a gold watch for services rendered and others don’t. If the accountants say the the columns don’t add up - you’re out, no matter who you are. Polydor really had no choice - they had been negotiated into a cul-de-sac. Our sales focus had shifted from the UK and the rest of Europe to the US and in the States we were licensed to Geffen (who at that time were a separate company) so Polydor were only getting a couple of percentage points from what had now become our biggest market. They couldn’t justify the large advances and recording budget that would have become due on another album so they skulked off. Unfortunately for them “they” still owed Geffen 2 more albums so with some clever manoeuvring we were able to walk away with a nice “handshake”.  Not painful at all.

BF: If they offered to sign the band up now – would you do it?

SS: Do you really expect me to answer that?

BF: Ouch - I deserved that.

Your first gig was at the 100 Club, it is now facing a difficult time and other London venues have been disappearing recently. When playing live is meant to be the key to a band’s career success what do you think needs to change in order to keep artists and their venues in business?

SS: Thankfully, I am so out of that world that my opinion would be, at best, pretty irrelevant and at worse, the ravings of an old fart :)  It’s a question for new(er) bands to ponder over and hopefully fix.  Whether they have the spunk and nous to do so, is another question entirely.

BF: Finally – thank you for dusting off and preserving these albums for us, thank you for The Banshees and thank you for your time!

SS: You are welcome.

• Siouxsie & The Banshees MySpace
• Steven Severin MySpace

Pet Shop Boys = legends. How chuffed was I to bag an interview with the enigmatic Mr Chris Lowe of foresaid duo who have kept electro-pop alive, well and kind of post-modern and ironic for over 25 years now? How on Earth have they managed that? After a storming comeback performance at an otherwise lacklustre Brit Awards this year in the UK, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have now unleashed a new album on the world, Yes, and they’re about to hit the road while also working on a ballet, naturally. Chris here talks me through pink wigs, Girls Aloud, crap music TV, Little Boots, Dusty Springfield, Tchaikovsky, Bay City Rollers and Bono’s make up habits - among other things…

Bob Fear: Your performance at this year’s Brit Awards was fantastic. Brilliant medley of your hits, bizarre dancers, pink wig, Brandon Flowers, Lady Gaga… you’ve come a long way since Neil famously said that he liked proving that you couldn’t cut it live…

Chris Lowe: The Brit Awards took 2 months of planning, we worked with a designer, choreographer, commissioned video projections, producer Stuart Price helped us put together the medley of songs, so it was quite a big team effort and it cost a fortune! So we decided that when we were going to play live we were going to put a lot of effort in to it - make the show interesting, right from the beginning right the way through to the end. I think one of our criticisms of going to concerts was that it was always great when the band came on but then it lulled in the middle until you get to the encores at the end. Whereas we always wanted to keep it interesting all the way through from the beginning. Also initially we couldn’t see how we could be a live act because the way we used to make records in the studio and the way we used to write songs – there was just the two of us putting layer upon layer of musical ideas on top of each other - so we didn’t see how we could replicate that music live.

Eventually we got offered to do some concerts in Japan and we thought we’d have a go, test the waters and if it was a disaster then no-one would really know about it! But even with that we got Derek Jarman involved and we used costumes, dancers and he made several films to be projected on these huge screens. We knew that we wanted to create something very theatrical and very visual from the beginning and since then we’ve become a live act and we’ve always bought people in to collaborate with. We’ve worked with architects like Zaha Hadid and we’ve always tried to keep it exciting and different and keep our own interest level going right the way through the show.

BF: So you have more big gigs lined up?

CL: We’ve sold out our 02 Arena and Manchester Apollo gigs in the UK and we’ve got some European dates this summer. We’re currently looking at dates now for a world tour starting after that and taking in Europe, North, Central and South America and then in the New Year we’re over to South East Asia and Australia. It’s funny, we never imagined ourselves touring and what we really didn’t imagine was becoming a festival act.

BF: It was brilliant to see you guys play the V Festivals in Australia in 2007…

CL: Yeah it was really great, it was the first year of V FestivaI in Australia and they were good people on the bill, the weather was good and it was the first time we’d got to go to Queensland!

BF: Your list of past collaborations is awesome. Dusty Springfield, David Bowie, Liza Minnelli, Robbie Williams, Boy George, Madonna, Tina Turner, Kylie, Elton John – and my personal faves: Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner for Electronic and Suede in ’96. Is there a particular one of these where you felt everything just clicked to make the perfect collaboration?

CL: It was amazing when Dusty Springfield walked in to the studio. We’d heard she was living in Los Angeles but we didn’t know what state her voice was in but she was an absolute hero of ours. We both think she’s the best singer that Britain’s produced and love the records she made, so when she came in to the studio and started to sing that really was a great moment - knowing that she could still be Dusty Springfield. I think Neil learnt a lot from her – the way that she sings and the way she develops the melody throughout the song so that it never repeats. So we learnt a lot from her and also we gave her the biggest hit she ever had in America with What Have I Done To Deserve This? So we bought her back really coz she wasn’t having such a great time in LA, so really it was great turning someone’s career around like that. So that was our greatest honour – working with Dusty Springfield.

BF: And lately you’ve been hanging around with Girls Aloud?

CL: Yeah, we were working with Xenomania on co-writing songs for our album and one of the songs we didn’t think was right for our album. Producer Brian Higgins said ‘Oh great, can I have it for Girls Aloud then?’ We were, of course, over the moon - having a song (The Loving Kind) that Girls Aloud were going to perform and even more so that it became a single, so it was fantastic. They were hanging around the studio while we were there and it was a great atmosphere - all these exciting people hanging around. We’ve always liked contemporary pop music and you certainly got the feeling that you were a part of it there working with Xenomania.

BF: So is there anyone different that you now aspire to work with?

CL: I think if we worked with anyone in the future we’d like to work with some young undiscovered artists. Some non-established people. But that’s just an idea – no plans as yet.

BF: We also interviewed Saint Etienne recently who talked about the resurgence of electro-pop and the crossover in to indie. Who on the current scene gets the Pet Shop Boys seal of approval?

CL: I’m very aware of Little Boots – specifically because she comes from my neck of the woods in Fleetwood! Lady GaGa particularly, MGMT… there’s loads. I think The Killers’ song Human is fantastic. People are dressing up again aren’t they? Which is always a good sign - and wearing make-up. I mean even Bono’s wearing eyeliner.

BF: You’ve certainly sported some outlandish costumes in the past, particularly since David Fielding designed your ’91 Performance tour. Are there any costumes that you look back on and wish you hadn’t worn?

CL: Wearing the costumes that David Fielding made was a fun thing to do. That was in the early 90s at the height of Madchester baggy so to dress in an orange jumpsuit with a pointy hat and row a boat through Battersea Park lake was quite a brave thing to do - or walk through Red Square in Moscow in some demented space cowboy outfit, it’s really amazing. I like dressing up, I don’t dress up in real life - I’m a jeans and t-shirt person, I never wear anything smart but I do like dressing up for videos and TV shows. The more outlandish the better really, I have no problem putting a pink wig on television, I don’t feel embarrassed, I just enjoy the dressing up process and also I enjoy the collaboration of working with a stylist, wig person and makeup artist to get a look together and it’s quite good fun presenting your music in the most exciting way you can.

BF: So Neil started out years ago writing for Smash Hits magazine, and now you’ve outlasted it! Did you ever foresee that…?

CL: Who’d have thought that? We’ve outlasted Top Of The Pops as well! I really miss both of those things. I think Smash Hits was great because I was a student and it worked for everyone, students as well as young girls - it had really good humour.

TOTP was great; you don’t get that now with MTV. All day long – you never see what the artists are really like, you never get that great moment where a new band or artist appears on the scene and you actually see them for the first time. So we miss both of those things.

BF: Is there anything as good around now?

CL: We look at Popjustice because Peter Robinson’s got that Smash Hits sensibility and he’s totally into pop and he’s so funny with it as well. So I think he’s the replacement for Smash Hits. There isn’t a replacement for Top Of The Pops - TV’s turned its back on pop music, and new music in particular. When they do it they do it like a Jools Holland thing and it’s very serious. What you really want is Bay City Rollers performing alongside Showaddywaddy with a load of screaming girls around them. There isn’t really a place for that on TV at the moment. Even the Album Chart Show is more serious. I’d bring back Shang-A-Lang!

BF: You’ve sold over 50 million records worldwide so far and congratulations on your new album, Yes. It’s just debuted at number four in the UK album charts. For anyone who hasn’t yet got a hold of it – what should they expect from this, your 10th ‘proper’ studio album?

CL: When we started writing songs for this album we realised we were writing a lot of really uplifting shiny pop songs and we thought that Xenomania would be the production team to get the best out of these songs. We really wanted to work with them because we loved what they’ve done with Girls Aloud so we approached them and they wanted to work with us. So the first half of this album is just one great pop song after another and then it gets a bit weirder towards the second half but still very uplifting. I think it’s very much of the time, it’s electronic pop music. I think it’s got a place in today’s pop landscape. We’re really happy with it. The songs came out effortlessly.

Coming with it is a special edition ‘Yes etc’ – on the second CD there’s dub mixes of every track plus one new track with Phil Oakey. So it’s worth getting the bonus CD - a good reason to get your hands on CDs while they still exist!

BF: So after your Outstanding Contribution award at the Brits - alongside your numerous other awards, stage shows, film scores - is there any ambition yet unfulfilled?

CL: Our ambition would probably be to have loads more hits!

We’re actually writing a ballet, we’ve written about a third of the music so far. So we’re really looking forward to doing that. What we’re trying to do is tell the story through dance and music whereas contemporary dance doesn’t really tell a story so we’re taking it back towards a more Tchaikovsky ballet - like Swan Lake but doing it with electronic music rather than an orchestra so its quite an old fashioned idea but it’s a very ambitious project. It’s going to involve quite a few people - dancers, set designers, we’re even going to try and bring magic in to it so it’s quite a big thing we’re attempting. The plan is that it’ll be on at Sadler’s Wells in 2011 and then go on a tour around 10 countries or so. We did a workshop for it before Christmas and the pas de deux, as they say, is rather good!

And if you’re going to ask – no, we’re not in it!

BF: Darn it, I’d have paid twice as much to see that…

http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/