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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Los Campesinos!
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 27 May 2010
Formed in 2006, seven-piece indie pop band Los Campesinos! signed to Wichita Recordings in 2006 after a hugely positive response to their demos.
Their first single, ‘We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives’, was released the following year, with their debut album, ‘Hold On Now, Youngster…’, and an EP ‘We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed’, following in 2008. The band released their latest album, ‘Romance Is Boring’, back in February, and are now set to play all three dates of this weekend’s Dot To Dot Festival. Ahead of their first Dot To Dot performance in Bristol on 29 May, we spoke to Tom from the band to ask the Same Six.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I can remember my first lame attempt at songwriting, which was as soon as I learnt to play guitar, where I “liberated” some Blur chord progressions (an entire song) and then made very slight plagiarism-dodging alterations. Now we’ve made a career out of doing that very thing.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Hmm, mainly the want to better our last album.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Unhinged excitement at the discovery of a new melody; frustration at not being able to form that melody into something that’s as good as the song in your head; depression upon realising you hate music and have completely lost faith in yourself and anything you’ve ever done; hatred of yourself and everyone; “fuck off”; delight when you realise you’ve got a leftover KitKat downstairs; muted satisfaction when you listen back to the song and realise that it’s actually ‘alright’.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
In the long term, bands like Yo La Tengo, Deerhoof, Pavement, and Super Furry Animals; in the short term, whatever song I’ve heard that day and liked. Very fickle.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
“It’s alright, but their earlier stuff’s way better”.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
That in six months time, maybe someone, somewhere will say: “Oh, actually, this album’s NOT that shit”.
MORE>> www.loscampesinos.com
