The Maccabees: Q & A: Stoke Sugarmill

Ever since 2007's 'Colour It In,' The Maccabees have become one of those bands that whip indie-kids into a fury every time they come to town. It's plain to see why, their own brand of indie guitar pop about Scalextric and Lego and even wave machines is as clever as it is impressive. Album number two, Wall Of Arms, is out in May and the signs are very good.

Guitarist Felix White talks Wall Of Arms, touring and Matt Horne before show a sell-out Sugarmill crowd that they are well and truly still on form.

4or The Record: Are you pleased to be back on the road after recording?
FW: Yeah really pleased I think. We worked well hard making our record so its nice to be, in a way reaping the rewards of a record we're really proud of to be back.

4TR: How have the new songs been received on this tour so far?
FW: Yeah it's a strange thing doing half a set of new songs that no-ones really used to after being used to people knowing all the songs, but it's gone really well. I think people are just glad to hear them.

4TR: Does this make you more confident for the new records release?
FW: Yeah it does. I think people themselves want to hear them, what it's going to be like, they don't want to hear the same songs we've been doing.

4TR: After the success of Colour It In and how well it was received, are you nervous about following it up?
FW: Not really, we think we could do better than 'Colour It In' to be honest. And I think we have done that, you know? I think the only nervous bit was testing ourselves and doing ourselves justice.

4TR: What was it like working with Markus Drav? (The man behind Neon Bible)
FW: It was great. Obviously we loved Neon Bible, so it was a big thing for us to be working with him. He's just a lovely guy you know, he gives you confidence when you're working with him for three months or whatever, he was really great.

4TR: Did he have a major affect on the sound of the new album?
FW: Yeah he definitely had a vision for it and he reminded us about a few things that he thought were the good things about our band.

4TR: So he influenced the darker style you seem to have now?
FW: Well I don't think we do have a darker sound necessarily, 'No Kinds Words' is definitely the darkest thing we've done but it's not a reflection of the record in that sense. There's definitely some good pop songs and spirited pop moments in the record. He was more involved in getting into every song making sure we got the best out of each one.

4TR: Has anything changed in the band for the newer sound?
FW: Well I think we're just getting a bit better; better players, better songwriters, you know? We were keen to show that we weren't just kids going at it like we were the first time. You've got to set things up a bit and I think we've done that.

4TR: Are you confident come it's release?
FW: I dunno about confident, we're just really happy with it, it's the best we could've done so its all you can do really. You can talk it up as much you want and tell people its great but I've got enough respect for people to let them make their own minds up about it and be able to see. If it's good then people will know and if it's not then its not.

4TR: It was recorded in various cities like Paris and did they shape the album at all, like seeing different bands in different places?
FW: Yeah, we wanted to go away to recreate that gang mentality, it's like with first one was in London so we could go back home or go see our mates but with Paris it was kind of, just one place, like the way you envisage it going on, just as a band going away.

4TR: How does it differ playing places like The Roundhouse to places like The Sugarmill?
FW: It's a really different mindset I think but you're happy to play to anyone who's there to hear it, you know? Its kind of however many people it is, its the people that come to it that make the gig great. We can only really just play our songs and be ourselves but it's what the crowd brings to it.

4TR: You seem to go down well with critics, one magazine said 'should be the biggest band in the world.' Does this heap pressure onto you?
FW: They might have said that but a lot of people write very negative things about us, you know. But if you read all that and believe all that then you're fucked (as a band). It's nice that someone's written that but I cant see that. I think a lot of people see us as nothing more than a sincere group you know, I think we just try, and there's no pretence that we try do anything other than that. We don't do anything but present our different take on the world that's the same whether it's playing live or the records we make or the artwork or anything like that. We just try present ourselves the best we can. If people critically acclaim or slate it it's OK because at least we are being honest, they are our own  songs.

4TR: Is it a busy festival summer for you this year? Your home festival, The Great Escape is a given for you surely?
FW: Yeah, we're doing Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury, T in The Park, Oxegen, yeah so all the big ones. We're doing Europe too this year so it's gonna be a good year. Yeah we've done it (The Great Escape) twice but only in smaller venues, we always have fun there just hanging out with other bands and stuff. But this year we're the Corn Exchange which is the biggest thing there so it will feel really proper.

4TR: Finally, how did you rope in Matt Horne in for No Kind Words?
FW: Matt's a mate of ours who we just know as he's been coming to our shows for two or three years and to be honest with you he kept saying “When can I be in your videos” so that seemed like the perfect opportunity to get him in really.

Words: Jack Phillips

Write a comment

Name:
Email:
Subject:
Comment: *

Security Code: