FEATURE: Youthmovies
- Posted on March 27, 2008 11:58 PM
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Interview by Katie Spain
There's no better place to get up close and personal to a band than in their tour van. Especially when it's an old Royal Mail automobile with a mattress piled in the back. This was the character-packed setting for my chat with three members of British band Youthmovies. Guitarist and lead vocalist Andrew, guitarist Al and trumpet and keyboard master Sam are quick to point out that the thirty centre-metre space between the matress and the dents in the roof are "the sleeping space". Claustrophobic then, they certainly are not.
Something this young band don't lack is talent nor experience. As we pile into the cluttered beast on wheels, Andrew curled up in the driver's seat and the rest of us in the back, we discuss their first musical memories. Sam delves deep in the memory bank and unlocks the classical vault. "I remember my mum jigging me along to the last night of the Proms. Like Jerusalem or something..."
Al too, has his parents to thank. "I think mine was probably The Beatles' Blue and Red compilations at my Mum and Dad's house. They only used to play records on a Sunday." Whereas Andrew looked towards his mates. "I wasn't really a kid who was properly into music but a lot of my friends were in bands and I used to sit with them at their practises and think how nice it would be to be in a band. I never considered that one day I actually would be."
Yet here they are. Smack bang in the middle of a tour supporting The Foals (ironic? music buffs, you decide) and on the brink of one of the last gigs at the Astoria before it's demolished in the name of well, transport. "We actually only just found out that the venue is going to be knocked down. It's a pity - some amazing bands have played here". Like next week's 'Same Difference' gig? I suggest. "Maybe they'll knock it down with them still in there". Enough said
Manufactured music this is not. Youthmovies formed back in 2002, when university students Al English and Andrew Mears used tape decks and delay pedals to fill the gaps. The addition of Graeme Murray, Stephen Hammond and Sam Scott made up the foundations for the wall of sound we hear today. Debut EP, ‘Let’s Get Going… You’re Fracturing Me With This Misery’ emerged, and from the outset the band reeked of individuality. Their devotion to the project is obvious; Mears initially formed and named The Foals because he wanted to put all his energy into Youthmovies. The time was well spent and EP ‘Hurrah!’ was released on label Fierce Panda in 2004. Support slots with Biffy Clyro, Death Cab For Cutie and Mission Of Burma set the pace for a number of impressive festival slots.
Their upcoming tour dates include a series of festival appearances and support slots with Lovvers and are an ideal platform for their new material. In person, the guys are laid back, and happy to share advice about avoiding spicy food before a gig. They are however, a band without pre-gig superstitions - "A few beers... but there's a limit. It's a fine line" Sam tells me. "When we started out I learnt the hard way". There's something about Andrew the girls (and guys) are going to love. Scruffy, lopsided and easy on the eye. Their promo photos show a band of five dashing lads surrounded by stuffed wildlife. A reference to new album 'Good Nature' maybe? It's been a long time in the making, but not the five-drawn out years their press release suggests.
Andrew explains; "The writing of the album only really pre-dated the recording of it by about six months - it just took about five years to be able to afford to record it." Al scratches his mop of blonde locks and looks thoughtful. "It was actually only about three years between Hurrah being released and this one."
New single 'The Naughtiest Girl Is A Monitor' was released on Drowned In Sound Recordings on
March 3rd and the album followed soon after on March 17th. "We've never really been a band who've had the opportunity to do this full time - it just takes a little longer sometimes. If we were sitting around doing nothing all the time then I'm sure we'd have found the time to do this a lot sooner. You've still got to work and do whatever you've got to do to get by."
"We have very patient friends and tour manager. I got him to undo knots in my shoe-laces yesterday! He’s pretty new to it and we’re trying to break him in."
The guys are young and the time between albums has obviously given them time to grow. Listen to it and your ears will be woed by five masters of their instruments. Turn it up loud, dim the lights and let them take your imagination, whip it up and paint the walls with it. The room and the outside world won't ever look the same again. It was produced with Ant Theaker and is a multi-layered wall of professionalism. There's a comparison I could make to fine cheese or wine, but we're talking guitars and intricate Indie harmonies here so we'll stick to the amps and lead references for now. Andrew swivels around in the front seat and voices one of the layers of life in the music industry.
"Our lives fit around the band but the band also fits around our life - and life has a habit of getting in the way."
But where's there's a tour, there's also fun. Next stop? Amsterdam - where they explain they plan to experience the city and all its debaucherous delights. Cheeky smiles fill the van. It looks like sore heads are on the cards; but when you've got a cracking album and a promising musical career ahead of you, a few mashed up brain cells are just part of the ride.
As their musical career and remaining gigs approach, the band remain grounded and refreshingly free of inflated egos. As for their dream tour bus features? "Just one that works would be great".
Yep, for this lot - it's all about the music. Keep your eye on Youthmovies - clapped out van or top-class Batmobile, the journey deserves to be a long and successful one.
Related links:
Youthmovies on MySpace.
Youthmovies concert tickets and listings.
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