Model Horror - Interview

For 20 something five-piece from Hertfordshire Model Horror, the future looks incredibly bright in the aftermath of debut single “we are here” on This is Fake DIY Records.  With support gigs alongside the likes of Crystal Castles and Late of the Pier and championing from mighty Radio 1 dj’s Steve Lamacq, Zane Lowe and Huw Stevens, (who they recorded a live session for), Model Horrors’  indie dance and pop blend could soon be on playlists everywhere.  

Fronted by Ian Larter (vox/guitar)and Rob Hardy (guitars/vox), with Craig Miller (bass), Simon Smith (drums) and Johnny Flynn (electronics) they fuse indie/dance beats with casio style keys, razor sharp guitars and fierce drums, and their live shows are a frantic dance fest.   Comparisons to bands such as nu-rave pioneers the Klaxons, to art-rockers Foals and even the more alternative elements of Lostprophets have been made, alongside acknowledgments towards the bands own creativity and ingenuity.

Model Horror invited 4ortherecord to watch their show at the Camden Barfly where they were supporting label mates We are the Physics.  The show itself was a brilliantly intense 30 minutes of urgent playing which despite the smaller than usual crowd, put down to the earliness of their slot, was punctuated with dancing and energy.  

We chatted with Rob and Ian afterwards to enquire a little more about Model Horror and their agenda for the remainder of 2008 and a little mention of boxer shorts!!!???

4TR – For people that have never heard your music how would you describe your sound?

Ian - Well every time someone asks us to describe our sound its really hard because we all say something different, like punk, rock or indie or electro, because we take influence from all of those elements and genres. I don’t think we have one particular sound.

4TR – So was it always your intention to sound like this when you first started the band? 

Ian – Well basically we are a rock band that like to listen to other music like dance music outside of the band.  We didn’t set out to follow anything specific just to make music.  But fortunately for us we have been given loads of labels and compared to different bands, like bands which fall into nu-rave for example and we were like that’s cool because they are good for a reason. 

Rob – Yeah we all listen to stuff like Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem, which is influential, but then we try to make our music a bit rawer you know.  I mean it’s very hard to be completely new anymore, but it’s important to have your own identity. 

Ian - We are not trying to not be like anyone else, but at the same time we wont make something and then be like “oh no that sounds like them, so we can’t do that”! Basically as a band if we like it then we will do it.

4TR - How old are you guys?

Rob - [to Ian] Well you’re 13.   Nah we are all 20 apart from Craig who is 21.

Ian - It’s a good age to be at this stage with our music.  We did a lot of groundwork when we thought about how we wanted to sound when we were around 18, and in the last few years have developed and evolved from that.  I think before some people would look at a young band and straight away they think I wonder what he is going to be like.  Whereas now there are so many bands like Late of the Pier or The Kooks when they first broke through who are young, so more people embrace the age thing more and have higher expectations. 

4TR - Your first single release was in March this year on This is Fake DIY Records.  What attracted you to work with them?

Rob – It’s a great label with some great bands on their books, and at the time they were also getting a lot of attention because they were quite a new label, so quite fresh.  They also had the attitude they you are not just a number to them. 

Ian – And I also thought they were just really clean.  I think cleanliness is important, I know that is going to sound really strange but whenI went on their website for instance they had a really nice layout, you knew exactly what was going on and what they were about.  It was to the point [laughing].  And when I say clean I mean they are organised and know what they are doing, that’s what I am trying to get at.

4TR - Are you signed to them on a one single basis?

Ian - Yes it’s this one deal for “we are here” initially.

Rob - It’s an initial contract for the single where they can put it on i-tunes, they basically have the rights for a period of time and there are 500 vinyl’s and ultimately downloads for 3 months to see how it goes.  We have had some good press off of it!

4TR - So does it depend on how “we are here” does before they put out another single.  Or is that already in the bag?  I heard your next single is out in September…..

Ian - I am not sure we are allowed to say actually [laughs]

Rob – well yeah we have got a second single coming out then, but at the moment we are not sure who it is going to be released through.

Ian – yeah we don’t know exactly what’s happening at this stage but its recorded and we are definitely going to release it with someone.  

4TR - Is “Folio”going to be the 2^nd single?

Ian - No. I think we are going to remix that actually.    There is a guy who does some cool Dead Kids remixes and he does a lot of dance stuff and gave us a demo, so we will hopefully do a dance version of it. 

4TR - Are you thinking about doing an album?

Rob – Not yet.  Maybe, as a stocking filler at the end of November, but we are just going to see what happens I guess over the next few months.

4TR - The championing you have received from the likes of Steve Lamacq and Huw Stevens, is a big deal for any band at any stage of their careers! How does that make you feel?

Rob - Its quite surreal hearing your band on the radio. 

Ian - Yeah we did a gig in London for Huw Stevens a while back and on the way back from recording it we were hearing our session on the radio at about 1am in the cab.  That was weird, but amazing. Especially because there are so many bands around at the moment and because Radio 1's “in new music we trust” is all about them saying they have actually gone to see this band they are playing and it’s done with class. We were lucky because we managed to get Steve Lamaq and Huw Stevens to come down to a gig, so the fact that they trust in our music to play it is very cool.

4TR - Have you found since that kind of support youhave seen an increase in your support like at your gigs or on myspace forexample?

Rob - Yeah when we were on the radio we texted everyone in the phone book to tell them we were on.  Well not the real phone book that would have taken to long [laughing], but through being on the radio, or in the press you get people come up to you saying we have heard about you on this or that.

Ian – And some people have said they heard us in Topshop and we didn’t even know we were on it.

4TR - That’s an achievement in itself getting on the Topshop playlist!

Ian - Yeah definitely when you think about how many people go there who could potentially hear you and I thought you had to have a video out for that to be possible so its very cool.

4TR – Any thoughts on doing a video to accompany the single then?

Ian - yeah we tried to do one actually [laughing]

Rob - It was awful, a complete disaster!

Ian - It was in a primary school and we spent a whole day out of our lives to do this video and it was shit.

4TR - Why was it so bad?

Ian - Well basically it was in a school and you know you have like those clay mats, you know when you do clay work you put down like carpet. Do you know what I am talking about?

4TR – No I never did clay work at school.

Ian - Well they had like cat curtains for the clay work to mess about with, so we hung those up on the wall and it just looked dreadful.

[Both laughing]

Ian - The geezer filming had this camera that was apparently used in “Lost”,[to Rob] was it  “Lost”?

Rob - No the film “28 days later”.

Ian - Yeah so we had that camera but it still didn’t work out well and it was scrapped.

4TR - Would you like to be renowned for your live shows more than anything else?

Rob – Yeah definitely.  I would rather someone came and saw a show than go on our Myspace or something like that because it’s a completely different experience and we want people to have a good time. 

Ian - Yeah our live shows are an experience.  We don’t want to just turn up and it be just like a band practice and then go home again.  It’s got to be worth it for us and for the crowd.  I think we are at the stage where some people are curious about what we sound like but they might not actually come to a gig.  So at the moment it’s kind of like a balance, but its quite a cool balance because the people that do come will then message us and say we really liked your sound and enjoyed the show.  We are at that stage now where we just need a mixture with this next single and maybe a few more reviews and stuff, so that people will actually be coming to check us out. 

Rob - It’s a build up basically.

4TR - Do you think the unsigned and underground scene is overlooked?

Rob - No not really, anymore.  I think “unsigned” is the buzzword at the minute isn’t it?  If you go and see 2 bands and 1 has got like a 10 year album deal or something and then the other is someone that has just come out and is fresh, I think people are now starting to focus on the one that is fresh and new, because the other has made it already. 

Ian - I think its great the dj’s out there are a lot more willing to say here is this unknown band and I am just going to play them to you so you can see what you think of them.  There is a lot more of that then there used to be and even if you don’t like them you can text in your opinion but they will still get played in the first place.  I think in terms of the festivals though, the organisers stay more commercial and play it safe.

4TR - Anyone in particular you would like to remix anyof your songs, or producers you would like to work with?

Ian – It would be amazing to get Thin White Duke or MSTRKRFT or Cut Copy to remix one of our songs.  That would be an achievement!

4TR - Finally, are you still selling your boxer shorts at your gigs?

Ian - Haha no but they are world class.    

Rob - We went to Tesco’s basically to buy t-shirts to do some iron on prints, and they had packs of 3 boxers and we had all this money so we bought a load of them and thought lets do it and put the prints on them.

Ian - It turned into a bit of a joke but it was a laugh and now we have sold out!  

Check out Model Horror at

www.myspace.com/modelhorror

You can download single release “we are here” now.

Interview by Francesca Strange

Photography by Gareth Jackson - www.myspace.com/jacksonfoto

rob
Posts: 3

myspace
Reply #3 on : Tue June 10, 2008, 10:33:09

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the myspace address is wrong .com/themodelhorror

coco
Posts: 3

Model Horror
Reply #2 on : Wed June 04, 2008, 21:20:01

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cool interview with a wicked band! think these are going to do very well!!!

keep up the good work!

zack pumpkin
Posts: 3

photos
Reply #1 on : Wed June 04, 2008, 18:25:34

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cool pics Gareth.

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