Hmm..well I wouldn’t say one was for the better or worse. The thing about working with young, inexperienced producers is that they’re seemingly bursting with ideas; it feels like they’re doing an apprenticeship. It was Erol’s first record, and so his enthusiasm was really tangible. And when we worked with James, it was only the second record he’d produced.
Listening to your new record, 21, it’s seems a bit more disenchanted than the first....
Disenchanted?
Hmm... I don’t know. I think the songs on this record seem a bit younger and simpler; poppier. I mean, it wasn’t like it was a considered as thinking, ‘right, lets sit down and write a pop record’, much more natural than that, the songs just come from a simpler place. I think we wanted to make a more chizzled, concise record.
Yeah, that’s true but lyrically, for me it seems a little more world weary...
Yeah, I understand what you mean. Henry (Blaine’s dad who was playing and touring with the band, but has taken more of a backseat for this album) wrote a lot of lyrics for it (the first record). We couldn’t write what we’re writing now because...because we’d never really had girlfriends, really. These songs are about falling in love for the first time and having your heartbroken..about growing up, really.
It’s a really beautiful record in that respect. There’s not a lot of age difference between us, so I can really empathise with the concerns.
Yeah, thanks, that’s nice to hear. Success for me isn’t how many records you sell or whatever, it’s about how you effect people. I think that’s why i really love The Smiths...you know their ability to translate quite dark human experience into pop music.
I’m sorry if I’m barking up the wrong tree, but the way you can turn a phrase..there seems to be quite a literary influence...
(Timid laughter) Well, I don’t really read all that much. I know Will (guitarist, lyrical contributor) reads quite a lot. But inspiration for me comes from life and personal experience.
I think what made you stand out from other guitar bands in the emergence in ‘04/’05 was that you sort of wore your rather diverse, obscure influences on your sleeves, in a way sort of ‘created your own universe’...
Yeah, I suppose we’ve never truly felt part of a scene, but then we’ve never purposefully attempted to marginalise ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are some great British guitar bands, we’ve toured with Arctic Monkeys and The Futureheads and I love them. But the idea of trying to emulate those kinds of bands just seems...pointless. Inevitably, what we do is a musical response. We grew up listening to Genesis, ELO, King Crimson...what we do is just a response to what we grew up listening to...
What are you listening to at the moment?
There ‘s a lot of exciting stuff coming out of America at the moment..sort of particularly New York, Brooklyn, specifically. Bands that don’t seem to be making a concerted effort to infiltrate the charts, just doing what comes naturally. I really love Yeasayer, The Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective, stuff like that.
Something a bit more frivolous now, What is the first record you ever bought?
The first single...Don’t Speak by No Doubt. What a song! I bought it on cassette. My sister and I split the price, she ended up keeping it, though! Album... I bought the Eagle Eye Cherry album and an Ace of Base albums on the same day. I can’t remember the names, sorry, I think it will have been about ’96, ’97... (giggles) I’m sorry they aren’t more tasteful!
That’s all right, I remember the first record I bought was that ‘Boom Boom Shake The Room’ thing in about ’96-’97...
Oh, yeah, I remember that! Tune!
You’re playing much smaller venues than I expected you would be on this tour.
Yeah, we had our initial concerns...but it’s nice to play to a group of diehards. I mean, when you play 1500-2000 capacity venues, some of those people might have just hear ‘Young Love’ or something on the radio, and thought ‘Yeah, I like that, I’ll go and see them’. Which is fine, of course, but there’s just something about knowing a group of people in an intimate venue of people will be singing along with every word to the new songs and the old ones....
What about festivals this summer?
We’re doing Reading, Bestival, Glastonbury, Fuji Rock, Summer Sundae, T...but i don’t think that’s quite confirmed yet. Maybe some in Europe
Wow! That’s a busy summer!
Yeah, there’s one weekend we’re playing four festivals!
I read a really charming story about your dad showing you a magazine with Supergrass on the cover, telling you it was evil.
(Laughter) He did, yeah. I suppose when you’re growing up, you’ve got someone who you think is the coolest person in the world, and for me that was my dad. Whatever he said was word, and If he said Supergrass were evil...they were evil. My father’s record collection was just really formative for me. I did buy ‘I Should Coco’ (Supergrass’ debut album) later on though, It’s a brilliant album.
Blaine, thank you very much!
Thank you!
Yeah, that’s true but lyrically, for me it seems a little more world weary...
Yeah, I understand what you mean. Henry (Blaine’s dad who was playing and touring with the band, but has taken more of a backseat for this album) wrote a lot of lyrics for it (the first record). We couldn’t write what we’re writing now because...because we’d never really had girlfriends, really. These songs are about falling in love for the first time and having your heartbroken..about growing up, really.
It’s a really beautiful record in that respect. There’s not a lot of age difference between us, so I can really empathise with the concerns.
Yeah, thanks, that’s nice to hear. Success for me isn’t how many records you sell or whatever, it’s about how you effect people. I think that’s why i really love The Smiths...you know their ability to translate quite dark human experience into pop music.
I’m sorry if I’m barking up the wrong tree, but the way you can turn a phrase..there seems to be quite a literary influence...
(Timid laughter) Well, I don’t really read all that much. I know Will (guitarist, lyrical contributor) reads quite a lot. But inspiration for me comes from life and personal experience.
I think what made you stand out from other guitar bands in the emergence in ‘04/’05 was that you sort of wore your rather diverse, obscure influences on your sleeves, in a way sort of ‘created your own universe’...
Yeah, I suppose we’ve never truly felt part of a scene, but then we’ve never purposefully attempted to marginalise ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are some great British guitar bands, we’ve toured with Arctic Monkeys and The Futureheads and I love them. But the idea of trying to emulate those kinds of bands just seems...pointless. Inevitably, what we do is a musical response. We grew up listening to Genesis, ELO, King Crimson...what we do is just a response to what we grew up listening to...
What are you listening to at the moment?
There ‘s a lot of exciting stuff coming out of America at the moment..sort of particularly New York, Brooklyn, specifically. Bands that don’t seem to be making a concerted effort to infiltrate the charts, just doing what comes naturally. I really love Yeasayer, The Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective, stuff like that.
Something a bit more frivolous now, What is the first record you ever bought?
The first single...Don’t Speak by No Doubt. What a song! I bought it on cassette. My sister and I split the price, she ended up keeping it, though! Album... I bought the Eagle Eye Cherry album and an Ace of Base albums on the same day. I can’t remember the names, sorry, I think it will have been about ’96, ’97... (giggles) I’m sorry they aren’t more tasteful!
That’s all right, I remember the first record I bought was that ‘Boom Boom Shake The Room’ thing in about ’96-’97...
Oh, yeah, I remember that! Tune!
You’re playing much smaller venues than I expected you would be on this tour.
Yeah, we had our initial concerns...but it’s nice to play to a group of diehards. I mean, when you play 1500-2000 capacity venues, some of those people might have just hear ‘Young Love’ or something on the radio, and thought ‘Yeah, I like that, I’ll go and see them’. Which is fine, of course, but there’s just something about knowing a group of people in an intimate venue of people will be singing along with every word to the new songs and the old ones....
What about festivals this summer?
We’re doing Reading, Bestival, Glastonbury, Fuji Rock, Summer Sundae, T...but i don’t think that’s quite confirmed yet. Maybe some in Europe
Wow! That’s a busy summer!
Yeah, there’s one weekend we’re playing four festivals!
I read a really charming story about your dad showing you a magazine with Supergrass on the cover, telling you it was evil.
(Laughter) He did, yeah. I suppose when you’re growing up, you’ve got someone who you think is the coolest person in the world, and for me that was my dad. Whatever he said was word, and If he said Supergrass were evil...they were evil. My father’s record collection was just really formative for me. I did buy ‘I Should Coco’ (Supergrass’ debut album) later on though, It’s a brilliant album.
Blaine, thank you very much!
Thank you!
Ben Lowes-Smith
