The day was finally upon us. The alarm clocks had been set for the crack of dawn on Saturday morning and the wish list had been written. It was, of course, Record Store Day – a day where hoards of people queue for a chance to take home a vast array of vinyl that has been specially pressed for the day. Whether you’re a fan of the concept, or you think it’s just a fad, it has to be good for the independent record shops, who are doing well to survive these turbulent times. To celebrate the RSD, the Oakford Social Club in Reading hosted a full day of events, which included a performance by the London based three-piece (not that this has any relation to how they sound) Mazes. Prior to going onstage, Jack, Conan and Neil from the band chatted to needles&grooves about their new approach to their second album, Ores & Minerals, and not getting free Converse…
needles&grooves: So today is Record Store Day. Were there any records that stood out for you?
Jack: Absolutely not, but I’m probably not the person to ask.
Conan: I saw a few I wanted to get but I didn’t get any. I’ve been to record store day a couple of times and I think it’s a good idea, but it’s not really for me, and not for anyone who doesn’t want to get out of bed for 6 in the morning and queue! I like records but I don’t like them that much.
J: I think it started off as a good idea, but I think it got co-opted so quickly by major labels just re-releasing shit that people have already got.
C: The records I did really want were two reissues by this New Zealand label called Flying Nun that capture tracks in New York for reissue. But they reissued only like 600 of each one, so it’ limited and not available in the UK, so they’re probably going to be sold out after today anyway. It’s obviously just a moneymaking thing. I don’t really understand it.
n&g: Your second album, Ores & Minerals, was the follow up to A Thousand Heys. When writing it, did you find it to be the ‘difficult’ second album, or was it an easier progression?
J: Not really. I think the first one suffered a little bit because it was just a collection of songs that we’d been playing live, and actually it was easier in a way. There was a bit of a method to this one and when you’re working with a hypothesis its just generally easier. Also, it’s not as if the first album set the world on fire.
n&g: How are you finding its reception? It seems to have had quite good reviews all round.
C: I’ve tried to distance myself from it, and not look. You can’t help but read a few reviews. With the first one, we all would look up and see what people thought of it, but with this one we’ve taken a step back a bit. With the second album thing as well, unless you do have a really big first album, it’s quite hard to do a second album because everyone just wants new bands and new music all the time. As a new band, you get your first album out and everyone is talking about it. You do your second album, and it’s harder to create that buzz because everyone is just so into new music.
J: I feel we’ve done okay because the new album is pretty different from the first. If we’d done one just like the first one, it probably wouldn’t have gotten too much response.
n&g: A lot has been said about the addition of loops in the new songs. Did you do this to compensate for your other guitarist (Jarin) leaving?
J: I guess there were a few reasons. I think it was more a way of having something to write to. I used to write in a style where it was very kind of sing-songy, where it’d go verse then chorus. I wanted to switch it up and do something different, and force myself to write in a different way.
n&g: When you play live, you don’t replicate what is on the album. Do you enjoy each performance being like it being different, or would you like to try playing with sequencers, samplers, etc. to try and replicate what’s on the album?
J: It’s just the way we’ve always done it.
C: When you record an album, it’s kind of like a snapshot of how that song is at that time, and the more you play it live, the more the song changes and develops. It’s more of an interesting way of playing the songs, rather than just ‘that’s how we recorded it, that’s how we’re going to play it; every single note and bar, every single time we play it live.’ Also, these songs are more open to it. Because it’s a continuous loop, one song could go on for like 20 minutes.
n&g: If ATP (All Tomorrow's Parties) asked you to curate your own gig, who would you choose?
J: There’s a few things you’ve got to bare in mind because there’s some bands that there’s no point asking. You can’t say ‘I want the Beatles to do it’ because two of them are dead!
Neil: I wouldn’t mind seeing Neil Young play ‘On the Beach’
J: Yeah that’d be amazing.
C: If we could get Daniel Higgs and Zomes to do a show together, Cream, lots of New Zealand bands.
J: Antelope. I’d like to see the Zombies, I’ve never managed to see the Zombies. You could get Prince I reckon. There’s quite a good mix there.
n&g: On your website it says that you’re influenced by art. Was there any particular artists or styles of art that influence Ores & Minerals?
J: We were just trying to be pretentious! I think there are so many things about band biographies or interviews that are ridiculous, when they say ‘oh we’re influenced by this,’ or ‘influenced by that.’
C: Foals are pretty good at doing that. I read an interview about their latest album and they were asked what were the influence with this album and they came out with the most obscure art references. Maybe they’re in on it and they’re just making shit up.
J: I don’t understand why how many people are in the band is relevant. There’s a thing where people always say ‘a three piece from Manchester’ or ‘a three piece from London.’ Who gives a fuck. And why does that matter where a band is from? We lived in Manchester a bit, but I’ve always seen us as more of a London band. It doesn’t really matter. Most of the bands in the East London scene from a few years ago (Fair Ohs, Male Bonding, Cold Pumas, etc.) were influenced by American culture rather than East London.
n&g: You’ve toured quite extensively over the past few years, both in the UK and the US, and you’re off on tour with Veronica Falls in Europe next week. Do you find yourself being influenced and writing on the road?
J: Not so much. Travelling just drains any creativity out of you. You don’t necessarily get influenced artistically by bands, but, it’s normal to get influenced by how they do things and how they conduct themselves. We were really influenced when we went on tour with Sebadoh in America because they just toured the three of them. We realised that that was the way to do it, especially if we want to save money. Alternatively, we’ve been on tour with bands who have tour managers and engineers and someone driving them. It’s just not for us.
n&g: How do you (Conan) find managing Italian Beach Babes, as well as doing the band?
C: I have another job that I actually live off, and then I do Italian Beach Babes, and I do the band as well. It’s what I’ve done for quite a few years now. I’m lucky to be in a position where I don’t work full time, so I can have time to do that. It’s not really an issue. There are definitely times where, like when we were recording, that I had a lot of spare time so I got to put out a lot of records, whereas this year, with the new record, I haven’t really been doing much with the label. It’s kind of nice because it’s only me, and there’s no one else depending on it, so I can just come and go from it when I want.
n&g: How would you describe your sound in three words
n&g: What’s your party trick?
C: Neil playing in time to the backing track and not going out of time!
n&g: What’s your worst vice
J: Beer. It’s pretty bad!
n&g: What’s your favourite sound at the minute?
N: All bands!
C: You could ask all three of us and we’d say tiny different things. I think probably Parquet Courts. White Fence as well. Total Control. There’s loads of good things out. Vision Fortune as well, they’re friends of ours from London.
n&g: What’s your favourite label?
J: Mines Italian Beach Babes. It’s as good as any! Flying Nun.
n&g: What’s your musical guilty pleasure?
J: I don’t really acknowledge that I feel guilty about anything… well I do about some things in life! But a lot of the things that I listen to a lot of people used to consider guilty pleasures. The Beatles? I mean some people would consider that to be a guilty pleasure.
n&g: What is the best thing about touring?
C: Just travelling I guess.
J: Yeah, just travelling and meeting new people.
n&g: What’s the worst thing about touring?
J: Travelling again probably.
C: Yeah, just sitting in a car for like 5-6 hours a day.
J: Shitty food. We’re all pretty in to food.
N: If we get bad food that’s it!
J: Yeah, if we get bad food that’s it! It’s a minefield though eating on tour. You don’t want to eat anything too heavy because then you’ll play bad. It’s a tricky one. I could write a whole tour cookbook.
n&g: What’s the best gig you’ve played?
J: There’s different ones for different reasons.
C: It was always like what comes before or after that made it good.
J: That one in Columbia, Missouri with White Denim was pretty good. I guess different ones for different stages of the band. That one we played for Primavera in Barcelona was pretty good. And then the last London headline we did was really good as well.
n&g: What was your worst gig?
C: That Converse one at Bestival.
J: Yeah that was so bad.
C: Playing Bestival in general was one of the worst experiences.
J: We were down to play some Converse tent in the afternoon.
C: There was no sound check and the generator ran out of petrol half way through our set.
J: It seemed like the whole audience was made up of people that they’d hired. It was just so shit!
C: It was soul destroying.
J: We didn’t even get any shoes!
C: We’ve had free shoes off them before.
J: We did a show before that was sponsored by Converse, and we’re always in two minds whether to do those sorts of thing. But we’d all worn converse before, and they were paying a load of money. The biggest fee we’ve ever had, like times by three! So we did that, but the show we did for them for Bestival, fuck, it was so bad.
n&g: What’s the best band you’ve played with?
N: I’d say Sebadoh.
J: Yeah, Sebadoh.
n&g: What’s the worst band you’ve played with?
J: So many. There’s too many to say!
n&g: What’s next for you guys?
J: Well we’re touring in Europe, we’re doing Great Escape, and then we’re playing with Parquet Courts in London. For the rest of the year we’ll probably do Spain at some point. That’s on the agenda.
C: Italy maybe.
J: Italy. And that’s kind of it. We’ve been talking for the past week or so about maybe doing the third album, and maybe doing that in America.
Mazes are playing The Great Escape, Brighton 18th May & 100 Club, London (supporting Parquet Courts) 19th May
