Interview: The Long Blondes
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The Long Blondes
Screech from The Long Blondes caught up with us to have a chat about the band and their new album ‘Couples’.
Tell us about your new single ‘Century’?
We chose is as the first single ‘cause we feel it’s representative of how we moved forward for this album. As for what it sounds like, isn’t it your job to tell us about it?
How have you progressed with your new album ‘Couples’, are there any major differences since your previous album, ‘Someone to drive you home’?
I think we’ve just progressed in the way any band should between their first and second albums. We’re quiet impatient people and we didn’t want to rest on our laurels or just repeat ourselves. Aesthetically I think we’re still trying to do what we did before, which I see as being to make music that’s both accessible and interesting, we’ve just tried to push it to more extremes in either direction. I think musically there’s a greater diversity of sounds on this record, largely ‘cause of the environment in which we recorded that album.
How did you find the recording and writing of the new album, there’s rumours that it was a more creative progress than the last album, where was your inspiration taken from?
It was a definitely a more creative process, yes. In terms of the writing, I think the fact we’d been touring for such a long time had let us develop so much both as individual players and as a group that we were all much more able to bring stuff to the songs this time. We all have quiet diverse tastes and I think ‘cause the writing process was a bit more open this time and we’re developed such a musical understanding we’ve all been able to get those tastes and ideas into the tracks whilst still being sympathetic to the song itself.
That we had such a creative time in the studio is largely to do with the excellent relationship we had with Erol (Alkan, producer). He’s got so much enthusiasm and energy and he’s got so many ridiculous ideas, and because we had such a good understanding with him and trusted him we were always up for trying them! If he said, ‘why don’t you record the snare drum for this track in the shower’ it seemed like the most logical idea in the world.
Your band is often labelled ‘indie’ but there is a definite sense of punk surrounding your music, how do you feel about the current music scene?
To me ‘indie’ and punk is the same thing, it’s all about doing it yourself and having integrity and conviction, keeping it Fugazi. As for the current music scene, I actually think there is quiet an appetite at the moment for unusual music, which is good. If you look at bands like Klaxons are even newer bands like Late Of The Pier or These New Puritains, the music they make is pretty out-there, but they still manage to get a lot of mainstream attention. I noticed this year that there were two albums, M.I.A. & Battles, that were in both Wire & NME’s top 10 albums of the year, which is the first time in ages I can remember that happening, and then this month you’ve had Wire writing about Hot Chip & NME doing a feature about Burial, so there seems to be a lot of crossover between the mainstream and more experimental types of music, which can only be a good thing.
What bands are you listening to right now, are there any new or unsigned bands that you’ve recently discovered?
I’ve just moved to Leeds so I’ve been getting into the scene there and checking out a lot of new bands. There’s a band called Mucky Sailor who are like nothing I’ve ever heard before, and another band called Dawn Weaver whose album is concept album about the Roald Dahl novels. To some people it might sound awful but it’s actually amazing.
You’ve got plans to tour a lot so far this year (UK tour in March, European tour in April/May) are you excited about touring again? Is it likely you’ll be playing at any festivals this summer?
Very much so! Touring is without doubt my favourite part of being in a band, just being out a playing and seeing all of the places, so I can’t wait to get back into it again. It’s exciting this time ‘cause most of the songs are new to people so it’s going to be really interesting to see what kind of reaction they get.
Rachel Barham
The Long Blondes Official Site
The Long Blondes Myspace
Buy The Long Blondes CDs | Buy The Long Blondes mp3s | Buy The Long Blondes Tickets | Buy The Long Blondes Merch
Screech from The Long Blondes caught up with us to have a chat about the band and their new album ‘Couples’.
Tell us about your new single ‘Century’?
We chose is as the first single ‘cause we feel it’s representative of how we moved forward for this album. As for what it sounds like, isn’t it your job to tell us about it?
How have you progressed with your new album ‘Couples’, are there any major differences since your previous album, ‘Someone to drive you home’?
I think we’ve just progressed in the way any band should between their first and second albums. We’re quiet impatient people and we didn’t want to rest on our laurels or just repeat ourselves. Aesthetically I think we’re still trying to do what we did before, which I see as being to make music that’s both accessible and interesting, we’ve just tried to push it to more extremes in either direction. I think musically there’s a greater diversity of sounds on this record, largely ‘cause of the environment in which we recorded that album.
How did you find the recording and writing of the new album, there’s rumours that it was a more creative progress than the last album, where was your inspiration taken from?
It was a definitely a more creative process, yes. In terms of the writing, I think the fact we’d been touring for such a long time had let us develop so much both as individual players and as a group that we were all much more able to bring stuff to the songs this time. We all have quiet diverse tastes and I think ‘cause the writing process was a bit more open this time and we’re developed such a musical understanding we’ve all been able to get those tastes and ideas into the tracks whilst still being sympathetic to the song itself.
That we had such a creative time in the studio is largely to do with the excellent relationship we had with Erol (Alkan, producer). He’s got so much enthusiasm and energy and he’s got so many ridiculous ideas, and because we had such a good understanding with him and trusted him we were always up for trying them! If he said, ‘why don’t you record the snare drum for this track in the shower’ it seemed like the most logical idea in the world.
Your band is often labelled ‘indie’ but there is a definite sense of punk surrounding your music, how do you feel about the current music scene?
To me ‘indie’ and punk is the same thing, it’s all about doing it yourself and having integrity and conviction, keeping it Fugazi. As for the current music scene, I actually think there is quiet an appetite at the moment for unusual music, which is good. If you look at bands like Klaxons are even newer bands like Late Of The Pier or These New Puritains, the music they make is pretty out-there, but they still manage to get a lot of mainstream attention. I noticed this year that there were two albums, M.I.A. & Battles, that were in both Wire & NME’s top 10 albums of the year, which is the first time in ages I can remember that happening, and then this month you’ve had Wire writing about Hot Chip & NME doing a feature about Burial, so there seems to be a lot of crossover between the mainstream and more experimental types of music, which can only be a good thing.
What bands are you listening to right now, are there any new or unsigned bands that you’ve recently discovered?
I’ve just moved to Leeds so I’ve been getting into the scene there and checking out a lot of new bands. There’s a band called Mucky Sailor who are like nothing I’ve ever heard before, and another band called Dawn Weaver whose album is concept album about the Roald Dahl novels. To some people it might sound awful but it’s actually amazing.
You’ve got plans to tour a lot so far this year (UK tour in March, European tour in April/May) are you excited about touring again? Is it likely you’ll be playing at any festivals this summer?
Very much so! Touring is without doubt my favourite part of being in a band, just being out a playing and seeing all of the places, so I can’t wait to get back into it again. It’s exciting this time ‘cause most of the songs are new to people so it’s going to be really interesting to see what kind of reaction they get.
Rachel Barham
The Long Blondes Official Site
The Long Blondes Myspace
Buy The Long Blondes CDs | Buy The Long Blondes mp3s | Buy The Long Blondes Tickets | Buy The Long Blondes Merch
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