1. For anyone discovering you through ASBO, how would you describe yourself and your music without using genre labels?
It's like following a curry recipe you have never followed before and not knowing the difference between tsp and tbps. You sit down to eat this masterpiece you have slaved over not realizing the amount of chilli you've put in. The first half has you running round the room sweating and dancing to yourself in a cocktail of slight fear and total euphoria. You find the glass of milk which puts the fire out and then you brave another bite of the dreaded ecstasy. We're rap rock with a few poignant ballards in there to contain the fire.
2. Outside of music, what are you obsessing over at the moment? Books, films, fashion, photography. Anything
I (Bruno) caught myself watching over 34 hours of true crime over the past 5 days. This is with a fulltime job and full time music. And i know what you're going to ask me "Bruno how would you commit a crime, what is your murder weapon of choice" and i would reply "My homemade curry"
3. What's something people often misunderstand about you as an artist?
I (Bruno) started writing poetry from a really young age so my priority is lyrics, lyrics, lyrics. Maybe people don't misunderstand that as if they listen to our music i would like to think they interpret us as slight lyric nerds. But also we are all from different parts of the country/continent. Hugh is from Surrey, Arlen near Kent, Bruno is from Manchester, Laszlo is from France. We all met at different times but in the exact same place - The Hawley Arms.
4. Who was the first person who genuinely made you believe you could pursue music seriously?
In my house we always had music on. My mum would listen to Jazz FM every morning starting from around 5:30 until we left for school for about 9 years. Although we don't play jazz music (it's too complex and skillful for my tiny mind to get close to comprehend) having a constant buzz in my ear implicitly gravitated me towards a guitar when I was about 14/15. It clearly took a long time to push me there now i think about it but thank god it did
5. When you're writing, do you chase a specific feeling, or do you let the songs reveal themselves naturally?
We write about taboo subjects. Subjects such as domestic abuse, politics, stalking, death and so i guess we try to let the mood of the song replicate this. It's easy once you have the lyrics to write a riff and structure to mimic what you're talking about i guess so it comes naturally in that sense. Not all our songs have a dark tone instrumentally despite all the lyrics being quite cynical. We like to throw some curveballs in there, guess you'll have to see us play them live to grasp what I'm saying.
6. Has London shaped your creativity, or do you find yourself looking elsewhere for inspiration?
I first discovered The Doors when I moved to london. This shaped completely how I wrote lyrics and songs, got tattooed, the way I dressed, grew my hair and drank! It's hard not to be influenced by a city with so many corners of life and so much to see in such little time. Creativity spills out of this city like a ship with a leak and through this comes competition so in terms of trying to refine my writing and pushing me to create something outside the box, yes it has
7. What's one venue you dream of playing that isn't necessarily the biggest?
Oh plonk us on top of the pyramids and we would be a happy band. Stick us on a glacier or on one of those massive sand dunes you see on David Attenborough. That would be a cool gig wouldn't it. Probably put us on a small raised platform mind you so the scorpions don't get to us. That would ruin the experience if I'm honest.