Did having your own studio make a difference?
Yeah, I mean we made our first album in our record label’s converted garage, so it was a tiny little room and we were very much just left to it. On this album we just shut ourselves off. It’s not a proper studio, it’s not soundproof; we’ve got patient neighbours. It’s a room with some equipment in it and Jamie engineered it so we could just be insular, but maybe too insular, so we kind of let people in and it was healthy to do that.
What music did you listen to while you were making the album?
We were all listening to different music and had different tastes and that’s what makes the music what it is. It has all come from a slightly different place. Oliver and I really listened to Sade on this album. Just kind of became a bit obsessed in a teenage way. We thought she was the coolest woman. We were influenced by dance music. We haven’t made a dance album but we really enjoyed listening to house music and disco.
Do you prefer festivals or more intimate concerts?
They’re so different, I think. The first gigs we played in a couple of years were in London at a 100 person venue and it was actually really terrifying because we could see everyone’s faces. Then all of a sudden we were at festivals, a very different experience with thousands of people and these massive sound systems. A lot of people listen to our music at home on headphones and have an intimate experience with it. Then we’re at this festival and it’s huge, there are loads of people wasted and you think, ‘what’s this going to be like?’ It takes on a life of its own. I didn’t think we were a clapping-along band and we’ve got all these people clapping. At our live shows people are more still and concentrated. They’re listening and it can be almost eerie sometimes. I enjoy it.
If you weren’t making music what would you be doing?
I never really thought I would be making music. I never was a musical child. I think it’s something that happened quite accidentally, but I’ve always liked graphics and photography. I was studying that at school and I was going to go to university to do that. So I was really involved in the artwork for this album. It’s really good to have the opportunity to be creative on that side. We’re definitely control freaks [laughs].
What’s your favourite place that you’ve toured?
I really enjoyed Melbourne, I felt like that was somewhere I’d like to spend some more time. Something appealed to me about that. That’s one of my favourite places I’ve been actually. I had a little walk and I was like, ‘I really wanna come back’, on a holiday or something.
What do on tour when you’re not playing?
Rest and speak to people back home. I like to keep in touch and the internet is a good source for that. And just find new music, I find that’s something that keeps me happy. I started DJing at the end of the last tour just for fun, it’s a different kind of thing to Jamie. He’s a superstar DJ and very technical and very skilled, but for me I’ve always loved making people mixed CDs and choosing the songs. I would spend a long time finding new music to play out and that whole process is what I enjoy.
Where do you find new music?
A lot of YouTube. The kind of thing late at night when you kind of click, click, click and then you have no idea how you found the song and it’s amazing. That’s my favourite, when you find something by mistake.
What’s your favourite part of making an album?
When all the pieces come together and it’s a moment when you know that you’re done on that song. We always just work song by song so when we finish one song we move onto the next one. I love it on this album when we’ve been more collaborative, like on a song called ‘Chained’, Oliver and I wrote it in a room together on keyboard on bass and played it to Jamie after that and he just started playing along and put a beat on it that I would never have thought of but loved. It was that kind of moment of like, I’m so happy that he took it there, I could never have done that myself.
Do you get nervous when you release new music?
Yeah, I mean the first time we had no expectations, we just put it out. This time round I am nervous but I’m excited. I know that we’ve tried our best and we really pushed ourselves.
Was it difficult to adapt to being a three-piece?
It wasn’t actually, because on the first album we wrote mainly as a three-piece. Baria was more part of the live show and so when it came down to us three again, it didn’t feel hugely different.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Lots of gigs, we’re going to do some shows and festivals up until our album comes out in September, and then we start just playing our own gigs and going on a tour bus. Having a little bit more sleep; I’m looking forward to that.
Coexist is out in September. for more info visit xx-xx.co.uk/
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