The Music
You can’t have The Big O without The Music. The 2009 Big O tour, which kicks off later in the month, will herald the return to Australia of UK indie-rock foursome, The Music. Sophie Jeliba spoke with bassist Stuart Coleman on the eve of the bands own orientation to Australia’s unis.
Q: What did you guys think when you were asked to join The Big O tour?
A: We were very honoured, really. Obviously, we love Australia, we always love touring there and playing to the Australian people. It’s good with any tour, it’s a big honour for us. And we’re hopefully playing for some people that haven’t seen us before, so it’s good.
Q: University kids across the country are going to be treated to some really impressive music on this tour, what acts are you particularly looking forward to playing alongside?
A: The Fratellis.
Q: Did any of you guys go to university? You started the band at such a young age, but did any of you have a chance to go?
A: Uhhh no…(laughs) I don’t think any of us wanted to go to uni, I didn’t want to go to uni. After A-Levels we came straight out with the band so it wasn’t something any of us thought much about.
Q: Strength in Numbers is the new album, how would you describe your creative progression from the last album, ‘Welcome to the North’, to where you stand now?
A: I think our experiences as people have influenced us a lot, a few ups and downs and pulling each other together, getting a grip of ourselves and growing up. It’s more of a focus on the music instead of just jamming along, we’re actually sitting down and writing, getting ideas and starting things from sounds. From where it starts, it’s a lot more focussed and meaningful.
Q: After four years apart it seems like there would be a bit of pressure in sitting down for the first time and starting all over again, how did it feel?
A: A little bit weird, it’s quite inspiring because a lot of our old fans are still with us and still interested in what we’re doing. It seemed quite comfortable for us to come back, we were a bit worried about it at first because we didn’t know how the new songs would fit in with the old songs and how easy it would be to tour again. But it seemed to go quite smoothly, actually.
Q: What kick-started you out of the hiatus?
A: Once we got ourselves sorted out again, and learnt how to talk to each other properly, and the fact that we’d been dropped as well that kind of gave us a big boot up the backside. It said, ‘Look, you know, you’ve got to take this a bit more seriously, and really pull your finger out if you want to carry on doing it.’ So that’s what we had to do- crack on and write some decent songs. It was a good thing.
Q: What does it feel like after such a relatively long absence to be so enthusiastically welcomed back by not just old fans, but new ones who have fallen in love with Strength in Numbers?
A: Yeah it is exciting, we always knew we wanted to do the album that would get some new fans involved, and we weren’t sure if we’d keep the old fans. But everyone seems to have welcomed us back and enjoy what we’re doing. It’s the best feeling in the world, really.
Q: Has the next album started to take shape? What can you tell us about it?
A: We’ve just started writing and getting full songs together, it’s sort of coming together. We don’t want to be away for such a long time like we were last time, so we made a start last year and carried on into this year. Once we’ve done Australia, we’ll carry on writing again.
Q: What are your picks, what do you think will be worth listening to in 2009?
A: I’m not actually sure what’s coming out! I just got Dukes of Windsor’s new album before the New Year, which I really like.
