Interview: Stricken City
Interview: Stricken City
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Thursday, 10, Dec 2009 01:06
With a new EP recorded and released, as well as more material currently in the pipeline, Stricken City are looking to make something of themselves in the indie scene with a refreshing take on music, setting themselves up as a band drawing on major influences from the US music scene of the 80s and 90s.
Matt Gardner speaks to them about their hopes, desires and ethos.
How do you feel about the definition of indie as a genre in the modern world of music?
It's odd. There are bands that you would say are definitely indie who are trendy and have their CDs on sale in Urban Outfitters, while people write about them in fashion magazines and they're on all the blogs and everything, but if you tell someone you play indie music they either look down on you or feel embarrassed for you.
So many people have done it badly or milked it for money, especially in the UK, making a lot of people weary of it. We've just got back from New York though, and it seemed to fit in a lot better over there. There's a bunch of really great guitar bands in the US right now; that's where all the good stuff is. People keep comparing us to Sleeper and in America, I think they mean it as a compliment, though in the UK it feels like an insult. I honestly couldn't sing you a Sleeper song if you asked me though, so it's unintentional.
What would you say the state of indie music in the UK is at the moment? Do you find there's a lot of support from the music industry for bands trying to break through, or is it all about the fans?
There are some really great bands around now, like Your Twenties and Veronica Falls, while Wild Beasts are amazing. Actually, off the top of my head, that's all that comes to mind, if we're talking about indie guitar music anyway.
We've been lucky to have a lot of people help us out, there are a lot people out there who really care about music and put a lot of effort in. Having said that, we're still unsigned so maybe we could do with some more support. I still find it hard to believe that we have fans. it's weird to think there are people out there of listen to us like we listen to other bands - it's nice.
Which bands have influenced you when honing your sound? Are there any contemporary bands who you particularly respect or take lessons from?
Young Marble Giants, Talking Heads, Belle and Sebastian, the Strokes, Sonic Youth, a lot of early 90's American indie bands, some post rock stuff like Slint, the song 'White Mice' by Mo-Dettes and Josef K. We'll steal from anyone. Of our contemporaries, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have done everything right; when they started, they said they were going to try and steal some of Sonic Youth's fans - if that's the case, we're going to try and steal some of theirs.
And in your release, Songs About People I Know, which would you say is your strongest track?
Pull the House Down is our favourite. We're quite a long way into writing and recording our new album so we have a lot of new stuff to play live, but that's the one song that will definitely still be in our live set.
Your collection is quite varied for a release of that length; which song would you say best represents your sound at its purest?
I'm not sure, a lot of those songs were written a long time ago and the new stuff we're writing is a definite progression from what we've done before. I'd say Pull the House Down and Killing Time are the most in keeping with what we're doing on the new record.
What inspired you to record Gifted on the bus and use it as your first track? What were the reactions of people around you?
Have you ever been on a London bus? No-one reacts to anyone and they never make eye contact. There's always crazy people around on public transport, no-one notices someone singing to themselves at the back of a bus. The idea for an a cappella came from Beat Happening and seeing Calvin Johnson live. Rebekah doesn't like hearing her voice like that though, so we did it on a bus so there was some background noise covering the vocal.
What is your advice for anyone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Live within your means, don't get in loads of debt and own all your recordings. Also, get a good haircut.
Where are you going to go from here as a band?
We're recording are first proper album now, the main aim is that people don't compare it to C86 or Sleeper. From there, we will probably go to New York and not come back!