Everything Everything

• Posted: Sat 19 Mar 2011
• By: Kev

We sent off some questions to Everything Everything ahead of their NME tour a month or so back...we didn't hear anything back...we presumed we wouldn't.

We were wrong though as it seems they have a bit of a crazy schedule and have managed to find some time to answer them for us, in and amongst touring, playing pool and table football and starting work on album number 2.

Thanks to Jeremy from the band for taking time out to answer these for us....enough of my ramblings, let's get to the interview...

Firstly, you’ve just released your latest single Photoshop Handsome which has been getting a fair bit of radio play on the likes of 6 music....can you tell us a bit more about that track from your perspective...

It’s a song that’s been through many different lives, and is kind of that actually… It basically imagines what it is to be one of those individuals that seems to exist entirely in the pages of celeb magazines and the digital manipulation of images.

This is juxtaposed with the wholly unrealistic idea of reincarnation in computer games , life after death. It’s a finger-wagging judgement song. It’s a set of observations really.

Actually our newest single is Final Form which deals with the human body as functioning or dysfunctional machine. It’s on of the calmer, slow-burning, more cerebral moments on Man Alive, which we wanted as a single in the wake of three failry hectic singles.

You’re also in the middle of what is a very hectic looking touring schedule now, how do you prepare yourselves to get though a tour like this, to get yourself up every night to perform to the level you want etc?

Drink before the show. And listen to loud pop music. And actually we’re entirely used to it now. Your sleep pattern adjusts to the extent that you’re at your best at 10pm. And on the last leg of touring (NME Awards UK tour), we were spoilt rotten in terms of crew and catering and not really having to get up til midday.

We go to Europe on March 14th for three weeks and that will be a different story – more travel, back to being our own crew etc. Which is good actually as it guards against compliancy and laziness!

Were you surprised to be headlining the NME tour, its been a big launch pad for bands in the past as far as exposure goes?

Well we weren’t. We would have liked to though! We were second on the bill, third from bottom! We did co-headline their sort of beginners’ tour in April last year though. Both tours have been extremely worthwhile experiences. Especially the most recent bigger one. We were playing to many more people than we normally would every night.

What do you know of the other bands on the tour and have you played with any of them previously?

The Vaccines are lovely lads. We had a lot of fun with them, mostly playing pissed up pool and table football. They bare the weight of being indie’s great white newest, hippest hope on their shoulders though and I don’t envy that. Magnetic Man are great too, the party chiefs! We failed to keep up with those boys!

The dates will see you playing to some of the biggest venues you’ve headlined, is that a mixture of excitement and a bit daunting at the same time?
It was fantastic to be honest. We had played some of the venues before on support tours on special one-off shows etc.

We really did feel the jump up from 2,500 /3000 people to the 5,000 at Brixton Academy. The room just looked vast and it felt like a much bigger job. Hopefully we did the job though!

Have you started work on your next album yet and can we expect more of the same or are you looking to explore further on the next record?

As I type we are locked in a textiles factory in Stockport, chipping away at the edifice known as LP2. As to how it’s shaping up we have only very rougfh ideas ourselves.

We have a list of songs and ideas, some far more developed than others, and we’re still trying to work out what they all suggest in combination. The music will dictate the eventual idea of the whole, not the other way round. We’re not writing to order.

Aside from the bands on this tour, who else is exciting you at the moment?

Jai Paul, Egyptian Hip Hop, Warpaint. I’ve been really into Scott Walker recently too for some reason… and. There’s a legendary record shop down the road from where we live in South Manchester called Sifters (as name checked in Oasis’s Shakermaker) that sells vinyl absurdly cheap so I’ve impulse bought a lot of old doo wop and harmony stuff like the Ink Spots and The Four Seasons. Dutch Uncles have an LP out next month which I’ve got a copy of and it’s genuinely brilliant.

What does the rest of 2011 hold as far as tours, festivals and releases go?

Just about to cruise round Europe for three weeks which is always such a pleasure. Then we play three big UK shows in May – Manchester, Birmingham and London – which will be our biggest headline shows so far.

Then we re-enter the festival whirlwind almost immediately. I’ve got a note written in my diary for one particular day that says ‘drive from Portugal to scotland’. I’m glad I cant drive.