Amelia’s Magazine | We Have Band – Interview

We Have Band could be the most interesting group I have ever interviewed for the sole reason that every question results in the three members talking over each other, medications treat telling jokes and generally launching into their own internal debate. This is hardly surprising when you consider that two of the members of the band are married to each other and the third member has unwittingly become part of that relationship. Regardless, viagra the London-based three piece are always hilarious and charming in equal measure.

The group has already been tipped by numerous music critics as the band to watch in 2010 and have their songs have been remixed by Bloc Party, site Carl Craig and DJ Mujava. It seems inevitable that We Have Band’s debut album, WHB, will thrust them into the limelight with the same feverish hysteria that surrounded Hot Chip’s The Warning, as their dance floor friendly electro pop is already getting some heavy rotation by some of the world’s biggest DJs.

Amelia’s sat down with Darren, Thomas and Dede to find out more about their debut album and the unlikely way the band came together.

Howdy, guys. How was the band formed?
Dede: Thomas was making music and he wasn’t feeling very inspired so I offered to make music with him. I came up with a concept name for the band and mentioned it to Darren. He liked the name and asked if he could join. He came round for dinner and then we formed the band.
Darren: Thomas and Dede are married so I am like the third member of the marriage. It’s quite weird because we don’t really know each other but we just experimented. On the first night we wrote WHB and that’s why we called the album WHB.

How long have you been together?
Dede: Just over two years. That first dinner was in late 2007 and then we spent about 6 or 7 months writing songs. Then everything just went crazy.

Why did you choose to work with producer Gareth Jones (Grizzly Bear, Interpol) on this album?
Thomas: He actually just did additional production and mixing. We had done most of the production ourselves so we just needed someone to help us take it to that next level. We didn’t want to stray too far from what we had originally done but we wanted to give it that shine. He understood that. We wanted someone who would tailor themselves to the band rather than try to change things. We basically tried to capture the energy of the live shows.

You seem very polite and welcoming on stage. How true is this in real life?
Darren: It’s all a huge lie!
Thomas: Dede gets excited.
Dede: If everyone is enjoying themselves then you start enjoying yourself and you start getting excited by the atmosphere. We are quite relaxed.
Thomas: We all have our quirks but we are quite happy in each other’s company. As Darren mentioned, Dede and I are married so there is always something bigger than the band.
Dede: We all just go and have a cup of tea and a bag of crisps after a show.

Painting by John Lee Bird

What are you noticing about each other as you tour together and immerse yourselves in each other’s company?
Thomas: Darren has a laptop addiction.
Dede: He is also addicted to eggs

That can’t be very pleasant on a tour bus!
Darren: No, it isn’t! I tend to avoid Thomas and Dede until they have had a coffee in the morning.
Thomas: We can all be a bit short with each other but that’s fine. For the first hour of each day we just don’t speak and then after that we are fine!

You have been referred to as “part Hot Chip, part Talking Heads”. What do you think about this?
Thomas: Dede is banned from reading reviews but we’re fine with that.
Dede: That’s fine. It’s just not what we are.
Thomas: Yeah, it’s not what we are. Talking Heads were obviously an amazing band and we have only released a couple of singles so far but we will let them just say that and take it.

Piano is a very misleading first song on the album as it is nothing like the rest of the record. Did you have a theme or is the album just a bunch of songs that you were happy with?
Thomas: We were aware that they were quite stylistically diverse but they are all us. They are all produced in the same way with the same equipment. Plus, lots of bands have one, maybe two songwriters but all three of us contribute equally to the songs. We didn’t want to hide Piano at the end of the album just because it was a little different.

Categories ,david mcnamara, ,interview, ,london, ,piano, ,We Have Band, ,whb

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Amelia’s Magazine | Music Listings

Monday 20th

Slow Club is a duo formed by Charles and Rebecca, this web buy information pills who both come from Sheffield. He does the singing and plays the guitar; she deals with the drums and all sorts of weird instruments, from bottles of water to wooden chairs. The result? You can go hear for yourself tonight at Barfly.
7pm. £5.

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Slow Club

Tuesday 21th

We Fell To Earth and special guests at the ICA theatre. Richard File (UNKLE) and PJ Harvey-ish singer/bassist Wendy Rae doing something that they call “sinister and kind of arousing rock music”.
8pm. £10.

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We Fell To Earth

Wednesday 22th
Vessels will be at Buffalo Bar this Wednesday launching “Retreat”, a collection of songs including a single, some remixes and an unreleased track by this Leeds five-piece.
8pm. £6.

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Vessels

Thursday 23th
Camera Obscura make a come back with “My Maudlin Career”, the band’s fourth studio album that is coming out today.
All their sweet freshness that you could feel from the first single out entitled “French Navy” will be performed on the stage of Shepherds Bush Empire next Thursday.
7pm. £13.50.

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Camera Obscura

Friday 24th

Je Suis Animal single launch party for the upcoming release ‘The Mystery of Marie Roget’ 7″ at The Victoria. Support comes from Betty and The Werewolves and Hong Kong In The 60s. People from Twee as F*** also promise free cupcakes for earlybirds so that is a Friday night out you can not miss.
9pm. £6/ 5 concessions.

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Je Suis Animal

Saturday 25th

The Camden Crawl Festival brings the best of Indie to town. Line up for Saturday looks like great performances will be on stage. The Maccabees, Little Boots, Marina And The Diamonds and The Golden Silvers are only a few to be named.
12pm. £32.50 (Saturday only).

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The Golden Silvers

Sunday 26th
Due to the Casiotone for the Painfully Alone‘s sell-out London show on 27th April, a new show has been added on Sunday 26th April – also at The Luminaire. Releasing their fifth album, Vs. Children, the band succeeded to make a record that feels just as warm and intimate as the first.
7:30pm. £8.50, adv £8.

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Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

Categories ,Camden Crawl, ,Camera Obscura, ,Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, ,Je Suis Animal, ,Live, ,London, ,Music Listings, ,Slow Club, ,Vessels, ,We Fell to Earth

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Amelia’s Magazine | Music Listings November 16th – 22nd

Monday 16th November, price 30 Seconds to Mars and We Fell To Earth, KOKO

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The planets collide as We Fell To Earth support 30 Seconds to Mars tonight at KOKO. After this London visit, Air require WFTE for support which shall take them to distant dreamy lands in Europe where they are sure to continue to spellbind audiences with tracks from their mesmerising self titled debut album.
The single “Deaf” is out today and album available now.

Tuesday 17th November, Plastiscines, Barfly, Camden

The Parisian pretties sail across The Channel to perform at Camden, Barfly. The quirky quartet, who can count Iggy Pop amongst their fans, formed at high school not knowing how to play their instruments. They taught themselves, became friends with Nylon magazine, Supported Little Boots and have recently featured on Gossip Girl aptly with sassy single “Bitch”, which is sure to be a significant crowd pleaser on the set list.

Wednesday 18th November, Scott Matthews and Vijay Kishore, Shepherds Bush Empire

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Blues-Folkster Scott Matthews followed up debut “Passing Stranger” earlier this year with the more rock inspired “Elsewhere” on which Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plants helps him out. Helping him out tonight is Vijay Kishore whose bluesy vocals are just as likely to melt you.

Thursday 19th November, Build An Ark, Cargo

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This Los Angeles based improv jazz act are lovers not fighters. The troop who formed in the aftermath of 9/11 as promoters of peace shall be filling Cargo with their soulful sounds as part of the London Jazz festival that’s happening this week.

Friday 20th November, Piney Gir, Orange Yard

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Kansas born now London based, Piney Gir is launching new single “Say I’m Sorry” at Borderline, Orangeyard. The single is from album “The Yearling” on which she merged all-American country girl and electronic elements amid woodwinds with horns thrown in for good measure. “Say I’m Sorry” is out November 23rd.

Saturday 21st November, God Save the Girl and Pocketbooks, 100 Club

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God Save The Girl is the storytelling side project from Belle & Sebastian’s leading lad Stuart Murdoch. Coming up with songs that he felt required female vocals, singers were scouted in a very modern manner, via social networking sites. Three of the ladies that were cast shall be sharing centre stage this evening. Fellow indie pop treasures Pocketbooks also perform tonight. Pocketbooks feature on Rough Trade Records Indiepop 09 compilation, which is out Monday November 16th.

Sunday 22nd November, Tortoise and Cluster,

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Closing the London Jazz Festival with An American-German exchange are. Tortoise and Cluster who come together for a one off special performance. It’s a shame that it’s a one off because I quite like the way that their names together sound like a pair of rascals that should be on a CBBC show. Having both released much over due albums this summer they are required to showcase this separately. Electronic act Cluster shall do so with tracks from “Qua” whilst Tortoise shall perform tracks from “Beacons of Ancestorship” that was released this summer.

Categories ,30 Seconds to Mars, ,album, ,Belle&Sebastian, ,Build An Ark, ,Cluster, ,folk, ,gig, ,God Help The Girl, ,Indie, ,live, ,london, ,music, ,Piney Gir, ,Plastiscine, ,Pocketbooks, ,pop, ,Robert Plants, ,rock, ,Scott Matthews, ,Tortoise, ,Vijay Kishore, ,We Fell to Earth

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