The Whip
We chat to the indie techno band during their huge UK tour about how they formed in a grotty pub cellar.
The Whip are currently in the middle of a huge UK tour, and are set to release their new single 'Sister Siam' on 12th November.
The electro-indie quartet have had a busy year with single 'Divebomb' and support dates with Hadouken!. We chat to the brains behind the music, Bruce Carter, about their fun new video and forthcoming debut album.
Can you tell us how The Whip came to be?
Myself and Danny, who does the keyboards, set up camp in a grotty pub cellar in Salford. We were in the cellar for about a year writing. It was a cool room to record in, but the plaster fell off the walls when we played too loud and covered our stuff in dirt. It was haunted, and none of the barmaids would go down there! Once we had enough songs that we were happy with we got our mates Nath and Fee to play bass and drums - it really stepped up when we started going gigs and had loads more energy.
The video for new single 'Sister Siam' looks a lot of fun - were The Whip on hand with double-sided sticky tape during the making?
Yeah, actually the spaceship was built in a pub cellar too! It was a bit of a fantasy to go to outer space and we all mucked in around the ship. It fell apart a bit so we had to be on hand to hold the beast together! It was loads of fun to do.
Alas, your trip to outer space was an obvious fake - where is the furthest The Whip have ever travelled as a band?
We went to Japan in the summer and played the Fujirock festival and DJ'd in Tokyo. We played loads of festivals in the summer and it was the best time we had. We met loads of new mates over there and are looking forward to get back to play there in December. All the British bands hang out together over there too, that was fun. We we're only there for four days but slept only about eight hours to cram it all in - they do good energy beverages over there.
How's the mammoth headline tour going so far?
Loads of fun, cheers - we've played so many gigs this year. I used to think it was bad that bands wouldn't remember where they had been, but you get into such a vortex of music and rooms, and sometimes you just get in and out of the place. We just had a fun night in Dublin, the crowd were going crazy over there, then back to the UK this week. It's a good laugh.
Being on the road for so long, what do you miss about Manchester the most?
You miss your mates loads, but it's cool when they can get a bit of time off and come along on the bus, creating a posse! Sometimes I miss gravy from chip shops, but mainly loved ones. You find yourself playing catch up with mates.
You dabble in DJing - are you getting much opportunity to do so whilst on the road?
Yeah, we've done a gig and DJ'd after a couple of times. It's cool and makes a good night of it.
Have you finished recording your album?
Yeah we're nearly done recording. We have to finish half a song and then it just needs mixing so it'll be out in February or March. It's been really good recording with Jim Abbiss. We had this new song 'Blackout' which I wanted to have a techno wiggout at the end and Jim pushed us to make it less obvious, so now it goes on this psychedelic trip at the end and it's my favourite song. We're just about to start doing it live.
Will you be remixing your producer Jim Abbiss's handiwork very soon or do you save it for other artists?
We love doing remixes and are looking forward to get back in to it once the album's done and dusted - there are a few files waiting to be ripped to pieces already. I don't think we can touch the boss Abbiss!
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