How does it feel to be compared with My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus And Mary Chain?
We had no grand aspirations of being legendary, so we laughed it off a bit, but at the same time it’s really flattering because we liked those bands to start out with. It’s really cool.
Your second album, Belong , had a heavier guitar sound compared to your eponymous debut. What inspired you to do this?
In general, we were really happy with the first album. But when we had the opportunity to stop and we were able to take time and experiment with things, heavier guitars was definitely one thing we wanted to try. Kip [vocalist and guitarist] has this sort of guitar pedal that’s been modified a little bit, and it sounds really over the top, cartoonish almost. It’s definitely not something that you would normally use in a studio; it’s very raw.
What are your favourite albums in your record collection?
T Rex’s Electric Warrior is one of my favourite albums ever, as well as Illmatic by Nas. Also there’s this band called The Exploding Hearts, they have this album, Guitar Romantic. They were pretty random, and three out of four of them died in a crash, so they never played in New York. But the album’s fantastic.
What are the downsides of being on the road for a long time?
Almost all of us have serious boyfriends or girlfriends, and it’s kind of hard – especially this past year, we were gone nine to ten months out of 12, so it was a little too long to be gone. There’s something about being home and being able to get up whenever you want and have your own bed. The grass is always greener on the other side.