The Maccabees
'We realised we could be who we wanted to be, and that's what we tried to do this time.'
The Maccabees are back this week with their second album, the follow-up to 2007's 'Colour It In'.
'Wall Of Arms' goes deeper and darker than their debut, with Arcade Fire producer Markus Dravs helping the band create one of the stand-out records of the year so far.
We chat to guitarist Felix White in Northampton.
How do you feel as a band now, compared to the time after 'Colour It In' was released?
I don't think there's ever a collective state of mind. We worked really hard on the record and it took longer than we thought it would. So in that sense there is a feeling of job done, because it's not in our hands anymore. We know we've made the best record we could. It feels like we're much more an assured band and we're ready for everything that's going to be thrown our way now. Rather than last time... well we still are learning.
Was the quite radical departure from your debut something you collectively wanted to do as a band?
Yeah, we were just a bit restless you know. That's something all bands have, that they shouldn't stay the same - all great bands anyway. We made the record four years ago and since then we've all played a lot more music, listened to a lot more records, and we've realised what the possibilities are. We realised we could be who we wanted to be, and that's what we tried to do this time.
How do you look back on your debut now?
I haven't listened to it for a really long time, but I think for what it was it was great, but it was kind of... we set out ot make a record that was really simple. Just us in a room, and that's what it was. It carried that naïve charm I suppose, we sounded as young as we were. We're all dead proud of it. None of us would ever say any negative things about it.
You've clearly realised your ambitions, but did it take a lot of drive to continue on that path?
Yeah we did talk it up as being different, but we're not media trained. That was genuinely how we felt about it. You just do what comes natural and do what you do, you know. If we'd had no ambitions beyond the first record then we wouldn't have made another record. It's really important to feel like you've got something to prove. We thought that this time we could be a way better band, and I think that we've done that.
Markus Dravs has obviously brought in his influence - were his distinctive sounds something you wanted in the first place?
I don't know how it works, the label send our stuff of to all these producers, but Markus was the most enthusiastic about our songs. We were keen to have a producer who'd play the role of the classic producer, and have a bit more vision - help us realise a few more ambitious ideas that we had, rather than someone who wheels the band in and wheels them out again. He's such a fun guy to be around. When you spend three months with someone you get really close, the best time we had in the last couple of years was making the record. We chose him because he's done Bjork and Arcade Fire and really interesting records. We couldn't have picked anyone better to do our album, definitely.
The intention on the record, there were going to be a few more things going on, and he talked us out of a few over-ambitious ideas as well. He saw what was in the band, and how he could still make it a really spirited record, but not go beyond it. All bands when they go in for their second record go "this time this is how we are going to make an amazing record." They either make the same record again, or they go, "I'm gonna have strings, piano, choirs, that's what'll make it better". We might have thought that for a short period of time, then thought actually that's an awful idea. We're not at that stage yet - our 'Be Here Now' stage. So we had to be talked out of that, and that's the interesting thing about the record - the weird sounds and textures all come from within the band. We created all the sounds ourselves on guitars, rather than saying let's get the fucking orchestra in.
Did you get to try out anything new this time round?
There was a lot of experimenting done but not all of it ended up on the record. Two guys who played brass for Arcade Fire played on four or five songs, and it's just a little thing to make it interesting. The brass still follows the guitar lines. But it's still based upon the five things in the band - we tried to be egoless and work within the dynamics of the group. You can have one guitar, or a thousand incredible musicians, but if your songs aren't good enough...
Which tracks are you proudest of on the album?
'No Kind Words' was the first song we wrote for the record, and that set the benchmark I suppose. It was an important thing for us to realise at the time. It was good to realise that we didn't have to have a song that was fast, then slow, blah blah blah - it could wrap you up and it rolls on and on until it's properly underneath your skin. That was the intention of the record, to have a bit more space, to try and make it exciting but not be so frantic. So I really like that song. And 'Bag Of Bones', the last song on the album. Me and Hugo started it and it was gong to be a short interlude on the record. We embellished it and it turned out to be this four minute instrumental piece, a really soundscapey piece, and Orlando put this verse on it. It was a really hypnotic weird way to end the record. Those two songs were things we had never done before, so it's nice to know that we can.
How are the new songs going down live? Any becoming obvious favourites?
It's always worrying as you don't know if people are going to shout at you or not be at all interested. But luckily for us that hasn't been the case really, and I think people wouldn't be coming to see us now if they thought we'd be playing all the old songs. We toured a lot last time, for the first record, and people got what they wanted out of it I think. I think more people who would've written us off the first time are coming to our shows. People have been attentive which is all we could've asked for. I can't wait for people to know the songs, it's going to be incredible then. 'Love You Better' is now one of the highlights of the set, in terms of people responding to it, and it only took a short amount of time for that to happen really. There's another song called 'Can You Give It', which is quite a straight up pop song off the new record. It's got that contagious spirit to it I suppose.
Subscribe to the Clickmusic News Feed
