Chew Lips: Smell-O-Vision
The trio tell us about experimental recording with Bat For Lashes producer David Kosten and their plan to release a string of free tracks for fans.
We sat down with Chew Lips at Bestival, where they spoke about experimenting in the studio with Bat For Lashes producer David Kosten, their point scoring and naked tea drinking to whittle down sixty songs to ten, and their plan to release a string of free tracks for fans.
You said on stage you were having technical problems, what was going on?
Tigs: Yeah, there was like, cords were cutting out. It was just, basically everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. And it's funny because we haven't had any technical problems the whole summer, and last weekend, on the Sunday night at Jersey Live we probably played the best we've ever played, and it would have been so nice to end the festival season there. But we came here with such high hopes, and then I picked up the microphone for the first song and the lead fell out - the first two lines I sang with nothing. That's never happened, I was gutted.
How was it working with Bat For Lashes producer David Kosten?
Tigs: He's an absolute genius. It was good, it was challenging and I think that's an absolutely brilliant situation to be in. We tried out a couple of different producers when we were looking to make our record, in the summer, and he was by no means the easiest to work with. But definitely the most chemistry and understanding of what each other wanted. Also, you've got to have faith in somebody who's produced two records like that. Both Mercury nominated. He's just... he's a sonic genius.
And he's produced other great stuff - have you heard Richard Walters?
Tigs: Yeah, I have. Have you heard David's own project as well? I can't remember what it's called now, but the boys will know. But anyway, he did all the music and then he got various people to do individual songs on it. Chris Martin is on it. Faultline, that's it. A lot of people heard it, and it became a cult thing, it's very well respected. He's an incredible recording artist and producer.
You're quite a young band, you've only been around for about a year haven't you?
Tigs: A year and a half.
Did you celebrate your band's first birthday?
Tigs: No... did we?
James: It was at a gig, we marked it in some description or another.
Tigs: Yes.
James: But not in any special way.
Tigs: Our band officially started on May 10th, 2008, when we did our first show. We'd been together for a couple of months before that, but that was like the start. So yeah, I think we marked it with a show and got pissed.
So when did it all turn from a hobby, into a career?
Tigs: The point where it turns from a hobby, into a career is when you make enough money to live off it. Which happened, probably, in October.
Will: It's happened? It's still a hobby.
Tigs: Only barely, but none of us do anything except make music now, so I guess its our career, which is a massive privilege and a joy, and what you dream of since you were a child.
What does having the support of Radio 1 DJs mean to you?
James: A lot really.
Will: I think any band would love DJs like that to support them.
Tigs: Unfortunately, in many ways they kind of define what career you have. I would say Huw Stevens and Rob da Bank have both been instrumental in our career so far, but Steve Lamacq has probably been the most instrumental. He's been really behind us, and he's booked us for things when he can. So, I think there is a make or break factor to having something as massive as Radio 1 on your side. You can do it without them, but your life is a lot easier if you... It makes you not have to play Dublin Castle, in Camden, ten times before... Well, we played it once for Electric Proms. Yeah, so basically it's an important thing, it feels really special, and you feel very grateful. It can be done without, but it's much easier with.
James: At certain gigs people are just not going to recognise you, are they? But if they're told...
Tigs: People have to be told to like you basically.
James: And if they go into it with an open mind, well, not even an open mind but they come into it going "oh, I'm gonna like this band".
I suppose there are people that really love music and there are fair weather music lovers.
Tigs: Absolutely. Festivals are a very interesting way to spend your summer because you have this real dichotomy between people who go there knowing exactly what they're going to see, and people who go there with a completely, well, not even an open mind, but they just don't know that they're going to see any bands, and they just stumble upon things, and that's when you find new bands.
James: That's why stuff like DJs sort of helps, because people look at a list and go "ah, I've heard of that" and they may not have actually heard your music, but the fact that tey've heard your name over the airwaves.
Tigs: They come across the name somehow.
James: Yeah, it totally helps.
Tigs: Well festivals are like a complete fucking, open, free for all. I think that's what's good about them.
James: I feel that with this interview I'm learning about myself.
Tigs: Do you?
James: Yeah.
Tigs: Can I hug you right now?
Will: We'll all come out as a better person.
Tigs: You already are, you already are.
We're at Bestival, where you can stumble across an eclectic mix of music, that isn't all mainstream. With album sales depleting and the live performance becoming more important. What are you thoughts on this as a band?
Tigs: It makes me feel grateful that I think we're a good live band. I think it's completely valid. I think anybody with enough help and the progress of technology can sound good on a record, but if you can't recreate live then you are nobody. I think we've got a reputation as a good live band and that makes me deeply, deeply happy.
I've just heard some songs from you today that I haven't heard before. Do you seek to instil a hook in each track, because I feel with each of your songs you have that.
Tigs: That's an awesome thing to say. I think that's what any band would want. I would disagree and say that there are a couple of songs that, maybe, are a bit more experimental and certainly haven't aimed for that. We think the biggest thing with recording our album has been how experimental it's been. But, y'know, overall aside from style and substance, what we look like and every other thing, the key element is our songwriting - we value that above anything else.
How do you collaborate on a song?
Will: It really varies. Everything from being in a room together and something just begins and gets completed there and then, to someone having an idea and then we all add something to it.
James: It's flexible really.
Will: I don't think there should be a set format for creativity.
You say that you were quite experimental, in what way?
James: Just being open to the experience really. There was a song that had the main thing as the bass line, and we took the bass line out.
Tigs: It's so easy when you like a piece of music to find yourself, I dunno, just keeping it that way. But you go into the studio with a producer like David Kosten, which, you've got to have faith in him because he's a sonic wizard, y'know, a musical genius. And if he sort of says "why don't you try this" or "let's take out the entire rhythm section", why the fuck wouldn't you try it? It's not permanent. The thing is as well, working with someone like that, it rubs off on you. And then half way through a record you're sort of going, "let's fuck off that section and see if that works", and yeah, it sort of grows into something completely strange and new.
James: It's more exciting than going in there with a set plan and sounding like a bad version.
Tigs: Yeah, a bad version of us. It's not good enough.
I read that you wrote over sixty songs. How did you come to an agreement as to what goes on the album?
Tigs: Before we went into the studio with David, before we went in with anybody, we recorded a demo for all of the songs. We then, basically, listened to everything - we had a point scoring system. One day we sat and basically scored everything and the top sixteen tracks we really discussed.
James: We drank so much tea.
Rock and roll.
Tigs: We were naked at the time.
James: You've got to be fair to the songs.
Will: You can't listen to one sober and one drunk.
Tigs: So we chose sixteen songs, with the idea of doing ten, which is the perfect debut record number. We actually ended up doing twelve, but two of them are not going to be on the record.
Tigs: What's this you've got written down about smell and balls?
Yes, I watched a video when you said that your album is going to be the first album with smell-o-vision...
Tigs: Yes! And it's going to smell like David Kosten's balls.
Will: Oh, that's a horrible smell. They're powerful really.
James: I snog them daily.
Tigs: Powerful is not the right word, I think potent. Potent, because it leaked over the whole record.
Will: Very distinctive.
Nice turn of phrase.
Tigs: He's got lovely balls and I won't have a word said against them. Lovely hairless balls, yeah.
Do you all go out gigging much to see other people play?
Tigs: We don't go out together much, but we do, individually, to see some bands. I live with another band. Do you see many bands?
Will: Not necessarily, no. Especially when we're out so much playing gigs. It's like, when you're not doing that...
Tigs: The weird thing is, when you're in a band, you spend so much time playing shows and seeing other bands playing before and after you - you actually forget that you used to go to gigs once upon a time. Sometimes it is nice to do that again. It's quite hard at the time because you spend so much of your time having loud sounds in your ears that it's so nice to just not have that. Festivals are a good thing to do though.
James: Actually, saying that, we've played at like twenty-five festivals this summer, and I have actually gone to festivals, so maybe I'm not as sick of it as I think I am.
Tigs: Yeah and while we've been at festivals we do try and see other stuff, don't we?
James: We do try and go and see the catering... I mean, yeah, go and see other bands.
Tigs: Well, yeah, today for example… who are we gonna see? We're going to see MajorLazer.
James: We're going to see Kraftwerk.
Tigs: Gonna see Kraftwerk, Diplo. Might see La Roux, check out the competition.
How do you feel about Kraftwerk, with them being pioneers of electro music?
Will: It's important to listen to music as you're making music and that is one of the things we've referenced to listen to when we were making ours.
Tigs: I dunno if we've referenced them.
Will: Not referenced them in a sort of trying to replicate way. We've referenced them in a sort of, we need to think about this technology that exists as we're making our own music.
You play with electro sounds, pioneered by them.
Tigs: Yeah, I'm glad you put it like that, that we play with electro sounds. I don't think we're an electro band at all.
That's what I like, you have electro aspects, but a real gravely base tone, y'know, that's not electro, that's quite raw sounding.
Tigs: Yeah.
James: I think we're a rock band really. I mean none of us have ever listened to electro music before really.
You've released two singles so far. Should we expect another one soon?
Tigs: Yes, I'll tell you what's going to happen. It is a new and novel concept for music.
It's not smell-o-vision again is it?
Tigs: No, not smell-o-vision. In October we're gonna give away a song, in November we're gonna do the same, and then in January we're gonna put our first single proper out there. But before that you're gonna get lots of free tasters and some will be on our record and some won't. But, y'know, music for the people. I think you have to work extra hard as a band to get music out there, because people expect more and more and they want to pay less and less. You've gotta give something away, you've gotta let people know that they're appreciated.
James: And we're making little videos of us every week of us at home playing songs and covers that we've just learnt two minutes before, which is kinda scary, but fun. And, just, y'know, doing more stuff.
How you you feel about the way music is going, with bands like Radiohead now releasing songs as they make them instead of waiting to release an album.
Tigs: Radiohead are forward thinking, y'know, they're clever.
James: People's attention spans are a lot different because of the way that music is so fast now, and I like, I listen to stuff and in thirty seconds I decide whether I like it. Even if I like it I might not listen to the end of it. So maybe releasing tracks like that is the way forward. I do sit down and listen to an album. They're two different things.
Tigs: I really think you can do what you like.
James: When you're making an album, not every song needs to be like a massive song. There can be little songs and big songs, slow songs and fast songs. It's a journey, man. I feel like I'm learning about myself. We didn't want it to be a series of singles, we wanted it to be different songs that are there for different reasons.
Tigs: Yeah, but all killer and no filler at the same time.
James: Yeah, well they're all good, they're all great in different ways. There are ones that are just piano and crazy noises. There are ones that are a full on band thing.
Tigs: I think the thing that strikes me most about this record, and this might be a complete cliché to say, it is that it's a complete photograph, monument, whatever, of exactly where we are now. We'll get better, I hope. We'll get worse, I hope not. Right now that's where we are and it's a snapshot of where we are right now.
James: I think if people have heard of us before, I think they'll be surprised.
Tigs: I think they'll be surprised... they'll be amazed at our album.
James: I think it's more serious.
Tigs: It's way more than what we've done up until this point. We're trying to grow as a band and I hope we'll never stop.
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