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 05 July 2008 23:34 BST

The Subways grasp victory from the jaws of defeat

Tuesday, 18 Mar 2008 17:38
The Subways - to the brink and back
The inthenews.co.uk interview with the Subways' Billy Lunn continues.

But the band's survival was also put under pressure by you and Charlotte splitting as a couple, wasn't it?

Yes, that's right. But we always said, from day one, music comes first. It doesn't matter what happens in your life, the music comes first. We don't know for how long we get to be creative like this. We live every day as fully as we can, as creatively as we can. Whether Charlotte and I split up was incidental in comparison to the first love of our lives which is music.

You went out for eight years though…

And obviously, it was a really upsetting, really trying time. Recording the album was quite difficult. But you know how you build a barrier over stuff like that? Butch sort of healed that. He opened us up and encouraged us to wear our hearts on our sleeves and be honest. And that's why I think the record is so potent because of the way we got through it.

Does the lyrical content of the second album reflect the difficult year you've had?

Oh, definitely, it reflects everything. I really feel like this is our debut record.

How so?

I think on the first record, we went into the studio and we were just kids, man, we were having fun. And we were really scared. I think on this record, we were so assertive of what we wanted to achieve from this album. And I think musically, cognitively, emotionally, I think we've developed, we've mature, we've evolved. I feel like we've really spread our wings on this one.

It's called All or Nothing for a reason then?

Yeah, I honestly feel like I'm not going to exceed this. I'm going to try, goddamit, but I feel like we've put our all into this record.

On a personal note - after seeing the show at the Boardmasters festival in August 2007, it seemed markedly heavier to the first album - is that Butch's influence?

I think that's the influence of us playing for so long, touring for so long and upping the venues each time. We've got louder and more rambunctious and visceral. You know, diving off balconies at Shepherd's Bush Empire, diving off speakers at university unions, rocking out. It's also seeing a lot of bands on tour and getting influenced by the bands we're touring with, Taking Back Sunday or Foo Fighters. And rock is in our veins! Josh [Lunn, drummer and Billy's brother] and I, our first ever rock concert was AC/DC at Wembley! But yeah, Butch took those songs and just revved it. He added that edge that needed to be put on there.

You said you were scared on the first album because you were kids - were you scared to be working with the guy who produced Nevermind?

I don't think we were! We were so focused on what we wanted to achieve and we had so much belief in these songs. I think lyrically, I was really opening myself up. And Josh is such a better drummer and Charlotte's basslines… I'd pitch an idea to her and she'd blow me away with these basslines. I really felt like we were ready to record with Butch! Before the surgery, we might have had some sort of trepidation. But after that, all the things we've been through, Charlotte and I breaking up, I think the music was the focus.

So after the sold-out tour in March and April, what's the plan? Have you got any festival appearances lined up?

We have, yeah. We're doing Reading and Leeds for the fifth year in a row, which must be some kind of record. We did four years on one album, it's mental! We're doing Glastonbury, we're doing Oxygen festival, we're hopefully doing T in the Park, Download festival - that'll be an interesting one.

And you've got the new single Girls And Boys out on March 31st, which you're giving away for free download on your website- why?

Just for fun really! This single is definitely not going to get played on Radio 1 and we wanted it as our first single. I remember when we finished recording it, we listened to it and Butch said: "This has got to be your first single, it's got to be first on the album, this is f*****g amazing." But we've playing it for a long time as well, so all of our core fanbase have been waiting for this song to be released. So it's really just for them. We just thought we owed the audience something after being away for so long.

Click here to download the Subways' new single, Girls and Boys

Guy Garvey's from Elbow recently said iTunes should stop selling individual tracks because it's killing the art of the album - what do you think about that?

I love the concept of albums, but I also love the concept of playlists. For me, it's about the song. Albums are like a piece, like a book and the songs are like the chapters. And sometimes with a book, I'll go back and re-read particular chapters as there's sentiments in there that I particularly enjoy, for example. If a song doesn't work, the album won't work, you know? There should be choice, I don't think you should patronise your audience, I think you should give them the choice.

One final thing - The first album made waves across the Atlantic as well as here - are you confident the second can do the same?

I don't care! I'm just so proud of this record, all I'm concerned about is going out and touring it and making people smile. All I want to do is get up on that stage and hear people screaming and see people dancing and getting sweaty. Success to me is about being able to play shows and if success means I can go to a venue and play full shows, then that's all I really care about.

Lewis Bazley

To read the start of the inthenews.co.uk interview with the Subways, click here

Girls And Boys is released for download on March 25th.

To watch the Girls and Boys video, click here


The Subways - Girls & Boys


The Subways are on tour throughout March and April - check out the dates below:

March

25th – Falmouth, Princess Pavilion
26th – Bristol, Thekla
27th – Cardiff, The Point
29th – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
30th – Tamworth, The Palace

April

1st – Dundee, Fast Sam’s
2nd – Glasgow, Garage
4th – Leeds, Cockpit
5th – Manchester, Academy 3
7th – Brighton, Concorde
8th – Southampton, Brook
10th – London, ULU
11th – Colchester, Arts CentreEnd of story


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