A quick interview with The Long Blondes
Chandra from Durrr chats to Dorian from the band.
The Long Blondes are a Sheffield quintet who make deliciously addictive and danceable indie records. Their biog reads like a cross between an arthouse flick and an episode of Happy Days – coming together as a band after a series of chance encounters at public library counters, charity shop sale rails and on the dancefloors of DIY club nights; and for a while the band contained not one but two couples.
After gaining a ridiculously strong fanbase through single releases and lots of gigging, then winning the coveted NME Radar award for new talent, The Long Blondes were snapped up by Rough Trade Records and released their debut album ‘Someone To Drive You Home’, produced by another Sheffield musical hero, Steve Mackey of Pulp.
In May 2007 The Long Blondes, alongside The Chemical Brothers, Klaxons and Graham Coxon, were invited by the Tate Modern to write an original track inspired by a piece of artwork in the gallery. They chose Jannis Kounellis’ ‘Untitled’, which features an industrial landscape of houses and factories, with two large stuffed birds (a jackdaw and a hooded crow) impaled on arrows into the piece.
Their second album is being released in April ‘08, and has been produced by Erol Alkan, a longtime friend of the band. They played at Trash way back in May 2005, and joined Durrr’s Christmas party in December ’07 to play some records. Chandra from Durrr grabbed five minutes with guitarist Dorian, for a quick interview about the new album.
Durrr: You have worked with a few different producers (so far Paul Epworth, Steve Mackey and Erol Alkan). How did they differ?
The Long Blondes: All of the above have their own techniques and it's been fascinating to work with all of them. I'd have to say Erol has been the most interesting, mainly because we've known him for a while now and he's obviously just produced our forthcoming album, and partly because he's sat next to me right now...
Is Kate doing the artwork for the second The Long Blondes album? Can we expect a change in direction?
Yes she is. This time round the artwork reflects the refracted, sometimes disjointed nature of the music and the magpie-like tendencies of our songwriting influences.
How did the project for the Tate Modern come about earlier in the year? And why did you choose Jannis Kounellis' piece?
The Tate got in touch with us about it which we were extremely pleased about, as it's nice to be recognised as a band whose interests extend beyond just drinking and playing guitars! We went and had a look round for inspiration and the Kounellis piece really jumped out at us. Considering the artist is from Greece, we were surprised at how well it summed up the old "dark satanic mills" idea of the industrial North. It seems to project the idea of a part of history disappearing and time slipping away, themes which are central to our songs. It was also a good opportunity for us to put some of our more leftfield ideas into a song.
Do you get sick of being asked about coming from Sheffield and being couples in bands?
Zzzzzz...Oh, sorry, I just nodded off for a moment there. We can't complain too much about the Sheffield millstone around our necks as we did all meet there and are influenced by Sheffield's musical heritage. However, the couples thing is all in the past, and you should never live in the past. I should add that we have called the new album 'Couples' which will no doubt confuse people no end.
Since you signed to Rough Trade last year, have you upped your game in the superstar rider request stakes? Dressing rooms chilled to exactly 5 degrees, Vitamin B12 shots administered by your own band doctor, tea stirred clockwise only etc.
I think we're actually going to ask for alcohol to be taken off our rider this year. It's like a fifteen year-old's dream, being provided with unlimited free booze every night. The trouble is, it becomes almost a chore after a while, you feel duty bound to finish it all so as not to irk the promoter. It's a hard life, I tell you...
Published: 22/02/2008
