We Have Band have been around for just a paltry year, have played less than 20 gigs, and are yet to release a single, but nevertheless their demos have stirred up enough interest to get multiple label offers on the table, loads of fans and a place on the next Kitsune Maison compilation released later this summer.  Bloody hell! 

Described as a ‘disco rock trio’ who ‘wear their influences like a flak jacket’ they are Darren Bancroft (vocals, drums, percussion, sampler), Thomas WP (vocals, guitar, bass, programming) and Deborah WP (vocals, percussion, sampler).

Their sound is a hybrid of dark dance, electronic and pop music with 3 different vocals and intuitive sampling, which makes it stand out from the plethora of tripe currently being repackaged as the 80’s revival. 

We caught up with them at The Macbeth in Hoxton after their crowd drawing set as part of the Pure Groove Records night.

We Have Interview…

4TR – How did ‘We Have Band’ start?

Thomas – We all worked together basically but Deborah and I were also a couple and then got married. The 3 of us chose to make some music about mid 2007 and it just started from there.

Darren – We were at a party and these 2 were like giggling saying they had started a band and I was like oh yeah really and asked what it was called and they said We Have Band, so basically on the strength of the name I was like right I’m in [laughing]

4TR - Before ‘We Have Band’ were each of you musicians or songwriters or in other bands?

Darren – Not really, Deborah had never even stepped on stage before gig number 1.

Deborah – And I never wanted to either [laughing]

4TR – In that case what’s changed?

Deborah – Nothing, I still don’t.  haha I’m only joking. No I had never done anything musical before, but I think since we started it’s been a bit of a snowball effect.

Darren – That is literally what it was, we started recording and then we were like oh shit now we have to do this live. Then at gig one someone came up to us and we booked another 2 gigs literally straight away and it’s gone from there.

Thomas – I think this could be one of those boring press stories that everyone talks about that no-one thinks is real.

4TR – Yeah, loads of those stories are made up.

Darren – But this one is real, and now we’ve all quit our jobs and its like fuck we are actually doing this!

4TR – How would you describe your sound?

Thomas – Well we all like dark music and that's quite important to the band, something that is maybe a bit difficult but has got a pop sensibility, something you can dance to but not something that is too obvious.

Darren – We never really discussed the sound, I think that’s another thing that makes us unique.  There’s a lot of electronic music around now and there is a lot of stuff like that going on in our music but there’s more to it than that.

4TR – You mentioned that there is a lot of electronic music coming out at the moment so has this influenced you in any way?

Darren – No, I think contemporary stuff is kind of harder to take references from because it’s a bit closer to home, it wouldn’t really make sense to me to listen to an album that came out last year and take something from it. I think if you want to take influences you should go much further back.

Thomas – At least a decade back, because you don’t want to be doing what everyone else is doing, what’s the point in that?

Darren – Our music is genuinely a combination of the 3 of us in terms of what we like.  Tom originates most of the music and he does the programming, but then Deborah and I come in and we will just sit in a room together and come up with stuff literally without any thought.

4TR - So you don’t ever sit down with an idea or a plan and think this is what we are going to achieve today?

Thomas – It’s much less premeditated for us, we think alot more uniquely than that.

Darren – Yeah we don’t want to sound like anything so we don’t really need to kind of try to get an original sound, it just is.  I don’t think we are that avant-garde and what we are doing isn’t amazingly new but it is unique to the 3 of us.  If one of us left it wouldn’t sound how it does now and that’s the important thing. You know sometimes when you watch a band you can think this is really great but actually any 4 people could do this.

Thomas – Also if one (pointing at Deborah) of us left it might be a divorce and that would be a bit sad.

[All laughing]

Deborah – We could be like Sonny and Cher and keep going even though we have split up.

Darren – Or Abba, didn’t Abba do that?

Deborah – Abba and Sonny and Cher all carried oneven though they were all splitting up.

4TR - I know that Cher carried on, but Sonny kind of crashed and burned.

Thomas – Well yeah Sonny literally crashed into a tree.   That’s a bit harsh saying that he crashed and burned, he actually skied into a tree.  In fact the only thing he didn’t do was burn because it was freezing due to the snow.

[All laughing again]

4TR - Oh my god I didn’t mean it like that, I meant his singing career.

Darren – Or what about Ike and Tina, but I think Ike Turner died just the other day. Ike’s dead!

[They all burst into ‘what’s love got to do with it?’]

Thomas - That was very fame school that.

Darren – You 2 are nothing like Ike and Tina actually, I have never seen Tom hit Deb for starters..

4TR - So anyway back to We Have Band…..

Thomas - Yeah where were we?

4TR - Alot of people are talking about you right now and it’s fair to say your music has come at a significant time because of the current popularity of electronic music and also the huge 80’s revival that’s going on.  Do you feel it’s a good time for you to start getting your music out alongside the other bands and artists who also embrace this sound?

Thomas – I think it’s a good time but I would also say that it’s a massive coincidence, it’s certainly not premeditated, because that would be sad.   I know what you are saying but I can’t think of another band that makes music like us currently.  I mean in terms of contemporary stuff we love LCD and we quite like Hot Chip.

Darren – We like The Rapture, !!!(Chk Chk Chk), The ESG and Arthur Russell

Thomas – Yeah but these are bands that have been doing this for years, they are not new.  Not that it’s massively relevant, but you know we are not 18 year olds, and over time music does absorb into you.  I think if you have got a slightly broader breadth of influence and references it does help in making stuff that’s more your own because you're not just picking out something that will last a couple of years.

4TR – I think it’s important to say whether things influence you when you are creating something.  It doesn’t mean you are copying someone else it might just be that you like that sound or what it stood for at the time.

Darren – Yeah right, we don’t live in a vacuum you know, no-one does.

Thomas – I think pop is very relevant here because anything pop by definition must take influences from somewhere else because pop culture is all about assimilating things that have gone before and putting them into something that’s your own.

Darren – You are quite lucky if you make pop ‘cos pop doesn’t really have any rules and you can do whatever you want.  

4TR – You have a big fan base already and a lot of people are starting to talk about you and your music, so what about the industry, has anyone been in touch?

Thomas – Yeah there are lots of labels and booking agents and lawyers and people like that around at the moment, which is kind of exciting.

Darren – We have had some really cool stuff happen recently.  There is a magazine called Music Week and we had a thing in there and that lands on pretty much everyone in the industry’s desk on a Monday.  We also had a piece in The Guardian and a few other things that have basically opened the door for us.

Deborah – Les Inrock in France did a feature.

Darren – And that is the French kind of Rolling Stone so France is a cool place for us right now.

Deborah – Then we have the compilation in October, ‘Hear it in The Cans’ will be on there.   

Thomas – Yeah the Kitsune Maison 6 compilation, which lots of bands do, like MIA and Klaxons.

Darren – Foals were on it in the early days, I think even Hot Chip have been on it.

4TR – Alot of comparisons between you and Hot Chip and also Talking Heads have been made, is that cool for you?

Deborah – Yeah it’s very nice to be compared like that because people must think you’re good at what you are doing to say that, so it’s a compliment.

Darren – Talking Heads are just amazing, they kind of just take things from everywhere and they have just got something very special.

Thomas – Well I think even Hot Chip would like to be compared to Talking Heads, so for us it’s a very nice comparison.

4TR - You have done some demos what’s next, a single release?

Thomas – We will have a single out in the next sort of 2 or 3 months, but we are not sure which song it will be.

Darren – Well ‘Hear it in the Cans’  is coming out on October 13^th

Thomas – But that’s on a compilation (Kistune Maison 6) so it’s not the same, an actual stand alone single will be out sometime in October or November.  We haven’t decided which track or which label but it will definitely be happening. 

4TR – The music industry has changed massively in the way in which music gets to the listener and also in terms of the major labels having a hard time recently.  This has led to alot more people being offered deals for 1 single for example, do you think that’s a good thing?

Thomas – I think it's good unless it becomes a red herring in that you chase it and nothing happens because they are just throwing tiny bits of money at loads of things and seeing what sticks. It’s nice to get a bit of a commitment and to know that you have got a home that’s going to support you and see you through the next sort of 18 months to 2 years of your life as a musician. 

Darren – We almost want to do things quite classically really.  We are not doing this in our basement and I know for some bands that is their total ethic and they think right we are putting this out ourselves, but we would like a label and a home and we would like to work with people long term.

Deborah - The most important thing is that people can hear our music.

4TR – Any particular producers you would like the opportunity to work with?

Darren – We are hoping we might meet people along the way, we want something again that’s unique.

Thomas –[laughing] It's not really what we are interested in, you know the whole ‘oh what about him he is so hot right now’.

Darren – Yeah the whole thing about we need to get that producer in to do this, like the whole Timbaland thing, I just don't get it.

Thomas – Yeah must get The Neptunes in or Ronson, lets get Ronson in.

4TR - So if The Neptunes or Mark Ronson came along and said guys we would love to remix a track you would say nah your alright?

Darren – I don’t think so; I wouldn’t want Ronson anywhere near it.

4TR - Even if they did an amazing job?

Deborah – Hold on hold on, is it for free?

Thomas – And where is it happening, is it in LA?

4TR - Yeah its free and you will be going to LA for a month.

Thomas – Yeah in that case we will probably give them ashot

Darren –I dunno i'm not sure.

Deborah – Well do we get a get out clause if we don’t likeit?

4TR - Oh yeah if you don’t like it you can scrap it

Darren – I say no to Timbaland, listen Missy Elliott’s album ‘Super Duper Fly’ is amazing but he has been doing that same thing for like 15 years now.

Deborah – Does he have to appear on all the videos?

4TR - No, it's just you guys on the videos

Thomas – Does he have to go uhhhhhhhhh uh uhhhhhhhhhh?

Darren – Yeah I mean he is great but it’s like come on stop with all the uhhhh uhhhhuhhhhs.

4TR - So basically if we put a clause in the contract whereby he wouldn’t do any uhhh’s, wouldn’t appear in the videos, you get to go to LA for a month and that he would hardly be involved…

Darren –[laughing] Fine then we are there

Thomas – If nothing else we will eat well.

4TR – So finally, on ‘You Came Out’  there is alot of whistling, does your technique ever fail you?

Thomas – [laughs] Admittedly, sometimes it doesn’t work. In fact Darren I couldn’t hear you whistle tonight I think you kind of dropped out at the first section.

Darren – Actually I couldn’t hear you I think you dropped out haha.  The most important bit is right at the end when there is nothing else but the whistling and it can go a bit wrong when its just wind and no sound and we think do we keep going or not?

Deborah – I always think if Bryan Ferry can do it then you 2 can do it.

Darren – Alright, alright, someone's swallowed a music encyclopedia tonight haven't they Deborah?

Deborah – Well he does, he does it on ‘Jealous Guy’.

[They all start whistling ‘wind of change’]

Thomas – Wait that’s ‘Wind of Change’ that’s The Scorpions, not Bryan Ferry.

Darren – haha what do we know about music anyway?

www.myspace.com/wehaveband

Interview by Francesca Strange

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

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