Your website describes Summer
Lovers as “a summer soaked love song that hints of
Dylan and Lennon” - would you go along with that?
Yeah that’s right, I forgot about that!
You’ve also got your debut
album coming out at the end of the month, it must be quite
an exciting time for you…
Yeah, it’s good. It’s taken a while but it’s got there, it’s
nice
How long have you been working
on the album?
It’s probably about…well I could have done it in about a year but
I took my time and recorded it in about two years. I recorded most of it at
home so it takes a bit longer.
I recorded it at home because, I’m originally from the four-track school
of thought which is really amateur recording so you do it on the computer and
you work on it at home so you tend to edit things and you’ve got more
time to take over it. We find studios a bit daunting, I think we’re ready
for it now but I think the way we’ve done it is just more fun and more
lo-fi.
How many songs did you record and
have to pick from?
I had a shitload of songs and Neil from Mint Royal, he’s the boss of
the label, he came down and helped us choose. I mean I have quite a big say
in it but they sort of hint at what they think would work. So I had about 17
songs and we got it down to the last 11 or 12 and we changed 2 at the last
minute because if I suddenly write something that I really like then I’ve
got to get it on the album. There’s a track called ‘Little Rock
and Roll Ghost’ which only just made it.
Was it a difficult process?
Very! Luckily, they suggested a running order and that took a lot of work out
of it. That worked, there was an A & R man called Tom who was very good
and he sort of helped a lot with the running order and things. Neil can be
quite harsh, in a good way, when it comes to helping trim a song down so
it’s shorter. I reckon most songs are too long and I like short pop
songs and that’s why all the tracks are about three and a half minutes
which is good.
What has been the highlight for you since developing
the band?
Playing live’s been one of them but I once walked into a bar and watched
somebody dancing to one of my records and that’s definitely the best
feeling you can ever have. It was three drunks and a lot of cool people just
nodding their heads because they were too cool to dance. This one guy was just
so drunk, he had four bottles of beer in his hands and he was just giving it
licks. He was dancing to Summer Lovers actually which was amazing.
You’ve had some excellent
reviews from the music press already, does this mean a
lot to you?
Yeah, it does. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. I mean if they’d
slagged it off I would have ignored them anyway because I’ve had to have
unbelievable self faith in it anyway just to get it done, you know. I was doing
it for no money for a long time so… but yeah, it’s fantastic. The
fact that they like it just confirms it… you shouldn’t really listen
to them but you just do what you think and that’s great that they like
it.
Is there an overall theme for the
album?
Yeah, it’s not really a concept album but there are a few themes - technology
would be one of them - and I like to think there’s a sense of humour,
y’know in things like Rubbish Robots and things like that, and also there’s
love, I’m a big fan of that, and that’s it I guess. Oh yeah, and
obviously things that piss me off like C-list celebrities and things like that,
rubbish DJs… those are the themes really.
How do you find recording compares
to playing live?
I think they’re quite different at first because on the recordings I’m
actually playing a lot of the instruments myself and now I’ve got the
band, that helps me write more up-tempo…actually this next record we’re
working on is a bit more Blondie because it’s just that sort of thing
but it’s quite different yeah. I love them both really, they’re
great.
If your album’s ‘comforting
like a bowl of smash’ (NME), what food type would
you use to describe your live performance?
That’s the best question I’ve ever been asked! We’re big
on food in the band. I’d say performance wise we’re like fish and
chips with mushy peas – you know, a bit of a take out food. The NME Smash
thing was the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about us. Well saying that,
Smash isn’t actually that nice is it but we tend to always be talking
about food a lot in the band, and drink, because every time we place somewhere
we’ll go and try out the local takeaway places and me and Max, we’re
both from the North East so we like chippies anyway – we’re connoisseurs
of rubbish food now.
You’ve got quite a distinctive
music style, how would you describe it?
Lyrically a lot of the press have said it’s very rye and that we’ve
got a good sense of humour which I kind of like and I guess musically, I don’t
know, there’s a few influences in there. There’s a bit of Bowie
and Beatles there and there’s a hint of the French stuff like Air and
Phoenix. I guess we are pop but it’s also got a bit of an edge, I like
to think it’s in the same vein as someone like Simple Kid and people
like that. People have said there’s a bit of Beck in there so I guess
it’s kind of in that area. Not that I’m as good as them but that
sort of bracket you know.
You chose to base yourselves in
Manchester with Faith & Hope was this simply because
they were the best label for you or were there other things
drawing you to stay in the North?
Well I live in the North and I couldn’t leave Manchester because of my
family and I love it. As much as I like it I wouldn’t really want to
move to London. A bigger London label made quite a nice offer but with Faith & Hope
I liked the people a lot more and they seemed to care more and they’re
a good label. I mean not that we were inundated with offers but I’d say
this was the most sensible one to take. And you know, they’re a good
label. They’re a little interesting label. They’ve just signed
a few other small acts and they’re starting to get a lot of interest
for being a kind of quirky trusted little record company now which is good.
The fact that Neil Claxton from Mint Royale is head is quite good because,
it’s like, you really need someone who’s already doing it to give
you advice and the fact that they’re all about 30 years old or late twenties
is good as well.
If someone could only either see
you live or buy your album which would you tell them to
choose?
Buy the record… no offence band!
How have the album tracks been
going down live, has the reaction been good?
Yeah! Technology everyone seems to like and Kill All DJs. There’s a big
divide, the younger cooler kids tend to like the more electrical stuff but
we noticed that the girls dance but the boys’ll just hang off the amps
and nod their head and that kind of thing – so you just hope you’re
doing the right thing!
Do you have something coming up
with Badly Drawn Boy?
That’s actually with Rebelski, that’s The Dove’s guy, it’s
not Beats for Beginners but what happened was I worked with Martin Rebelski,
that’s The Doves’ keyboard player and he just got a deal with Twisted
Nerve for his new solo record which is called “Stickers on Keys” and
I wrote two tracks with him and one of them’s going to be a single but
when he plays live, and he’s supporting Badly Drawn Boy, I’ll be
singing live on those two tracks. I’ve never actually been a massive
fan of Badly Drawn Boy, I like what he does and I liked what he did with the
About a Boy soundtrack – something to talk about and Silent Sigh – brilliant
but he’s more a friend of Martin’s than of us really but he’s
good.
Where did you get your name from?
These are good questions… I used to live with some guys who were very
into DJing and turntables and samplers and through that I, sort of, discovered
samplers. Because I’m from a guitar background, and I was so rubbish,
I used to say ‘I’m just doing Beats for Beginners’ and I
loved that name and decided to stick with that but sometimes people can think
we’re a dance band when we’re not.
Could you run us through the band,
maybe tell us a little bit about each member, backgrounds
etc and how you came to get together?
The first person was Max, the bass player, he’s the tall, Ramonsey looking
one. We call him the punk, of lad. He does his own electrical stuff and he
was in quite a frightening punk band I saw, but I liked it immediately and
we had a mutual friend back in Whitby so I knew who he was. The next person
to join was Spencer who’s our synth player and he’s someone I used
to work with doing sound recording, he’s like a proper boffin, which
is great. And then Lizzie plays piano and … strings on keyboard and she
was playing Ghostbusters at a party one night and we were like “right,
get her in the band” and then Dave, the drummer, is someone I knew from
a previous band from Manchester but he used to be Bonehead’s drummer
from Oasis and he’s just a good drummer.
Kill All DJs – anyone
in mind?
Well Pete Tong would definitely be up there!
http://www.beatsforbeginners.co.uk |
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