O. Children speak about musical change, ram’s heads, crazy boner rage and David Lynch
When talking about the neo-goth and post-punk revival it’s impossible not to mention O Children. Joining the likes of their more mainstream counterparts Interpol, Editors and The Horrors, O Children are a real hot property and are creating a buzz in both the goth and mainstream music scene. To find out what all the rage is about, I met up with them in a trendy Shoreditch haunt.
Having just completed a run of gigs, frontman and founder Tobi O’ Kandi says “We’re going back to writing, that’s what we’re up to now.”
Despite the popular appeal with both the goth and indie crowd, he is quick to admit that “we never put a label on ourselves. We came out and put a few songs out and said ‘make of it what you will,’ and people seem to have made many different interpretations of what we do. Some are like ‘these guys are super goths,’ others ‘these guys are the future’ some ‘the next Editors of the music world’ and some people are like ‘this band fucking sucks.’ We’ve said from day one that people should make the music whatever it is they want it to be.”
Drummer, Andi Sleath doesn’t like being restricted to a predetermined genre, “I find it cheapening and distasteful when a band goes ‘we’re going to do this,’ whatever that may be,” he is aware that “journalists strive to do this already” and feels, “we’re not going to do it ourselves. People are already spending so much time trying to say we’re this and this and this.”
Tobi is quick to reinforce, “it would cheapen it to put ourselves into one category when we’re capable of making so many different styles.”
Harry is surprised at the success O Children have had with the goth crowd, “You know are we just an indie band? It seems to have worked out quite well with the goth scene which we never expected,” Tobi reveals, “I kinda did, I saw that coming.”
Turning his attention to fans and Dominion, Andi says, “Fans might think we’ve got this vibe going on, but the band might have been trying to do something for themselves. I noticed the Dominion chart lists Rammstein. I’ve got a lot of respect for them, but I don’t think they went out to say ‘we’re gonna do an industrial, gothic, anthemic sound.’ I think they said, ‘let’s get together and make the best music we can,’ I like music like that.”
In terms of creating the ideal sound Tobi says “You just do what you do and it comes naturally to you, and people latch onto it. If they like it they stay, if they don’t then they listen to the next best thing. We’re doing that now with the new album. That will be our way of seeing who’s going to stay and who’s going to listen to the next best thing.” [Read More]