Interview & Article

On a stormy autumn afternoon quite a while ago, I found myself sitting across from two particularly hazy Englishmen on their first Australian tour as Bombay Bicycle Club. One night earlier they’d performed amongst a flurry of dazzling lights (hence the hazy heads) to a room full of enamoured onlookers, most of whom had never seen the band live before. As one of those first-time viewers, I remember being surprised at just how rockin’ their show was although now, having since experienced their live set on a few occasions, I’ve come to expect nothing less. The following day we exchanges stories, chuckled about the future and if my memory serves me correctly, shared a frighteningly close encounter with oncoming traffic whilst trying to cross the road.

Even back then, the pair made particular mention of the music we should expect to hear from the group in the future, indicating a more ‘electronic’ sound was on its way. Almost two years down the track and after a relatively solid year of working towards their forthcoming release, the band’s fourth LP will hit our shelves at the end of the week and after a sneaky listen or two, I can assure you the wait was well worth it. So Long, See You Tomorrow is an album about moments, a journey that delicately delves into the musical world of dark and light -- pausing of course, to reflect on the fleeting emotions it finds along the way. The self-produced record sees the band steer away from the guitar lead sound we’ve heard from them in the past to make way for samples, loops and cowbell galore; all whilst (somehow) remaining true to the Bombay Bicycle Club we already know and love. 

The coming year is shaping up to be a thrilling one for the English-bred boys who’ve recently announced an extensive string of shows throughout Europe, the UK and America. Keeping that in mind, I’ve a sneaking suspicion they’ll be making their way down under in the not-too-distant future, so watch this space folks. In the lead up to the release I had the pleasure of conversation with an old friend of mine, Suren -- the extraordinary drummer of a band who according to popular (and our) opinion, can do no wrong. Here’s how it went down.

BM: I think I speak for a few of us when I say the world’s pretty eager to hear the new record. How are you all feeling about the upcoming release?

SD: We’re very excited. So far the signs are looking good and having released a couple of songs already it seems people are into them. Carry Me, the first single, is a bit of a confusing song so we were always expecting a mixed reaction from that, but people have been generally positive about it. More recently we released Luna and people seem to be really into it too, so I’d say things are looking quite good for the album.

BM: As difficult as it may be to choose, do you have a favourite song from the album? Or even, which song do you think will be your favourite to perform?

SD: We’ve actually already played most of the songs from the album, at the end of last year we did a tour of Ireland -- I don’t really want to call it a ‘warm up’ tour but that’s essentially what it was. It was good for us to get used to playing the new songs as it was the first time we’d really played most of them live. The first song on the album is called Overdone and I’d say its probably my personal favourite. It’s just got a good groove. As people will probably notice, guitars have sort of taken a backseat in a lot of the songs on this album and Overdone is one of the few that has some pretty big guitar riffs. It’s pretty rockin’ all round.

BM: Can you elaborate on the story of how that one came to be?

SD: The song originated from a Bollywood sample. It all began by putting an electronic drum loop over the sample and added a bassline, which basically forms the backbone of the song. At that point it had a working title of ‘Hindustanye West’ -- in reference to the obvious Indian influence and the fact that we could see it being the backing track to a Kanye song. We then had this cool beat on our hands, but it was far from being a complete song, so Jack spent some time playing around with a bass guitar and came up with this humongous riff, which turned out to be the key in transforming the loop into an actual song. From there we had a structure so we kept the loop as the basis of the verses and choruses, with the big riff being post-chorus. We added more guitars to further beef up the riff, plus a cowbell rhythm over it all for good measure. After that we added some live drums to the electronic beats, leaving just the vocals so we asked Rae Morris, (a friend of ours who we’ve toured with in the past,) to come in and sing with Jack, which in the end was the missing piece of the jigsaw.

BM: Looking over Bombay’s catalogue of music, is there one song you’re particularly fond of drumming along too?

SD: I’ve always enjoyed playing What If. It’s one of the few very early songs that we still play live. With a lot of the newer material being more grove-based and electronic, it’s always fun going back to our roots and rocking out with that What If. It’s one of the few songs where we can just let it all out. 

BM: Should we expect to still hear some of those older songs played live now that there’s 10 more tracks in the mix?

SD: We’re currently in discussion about potential set lists and as you could imagine, there seem to be some conflicting views. We obviously want to keep all the “big hits” from our previous albums in there but at the same time, we plan to play basically all of the new album. Considering that, we’re not left with too much room in the set. We’re generally of the opinion that short and sharp sets are for the better -- I mean, even if I went to see my favourite band, attention would start to drift after about an hour and a half set. Being our fourth album and realising the number of songs that includes, there should be something in there to keep most people happy. 

BM: Almost two years ago now we sat down for a similar chat on your first visit to Australia. If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice, what do you think that would be?

SD: Hmm, to try and get better at interviews? I’m still working on that. I’m very conscious that as our profile grows more people are listening to and reading what we’re saying. There are some publications that will pounce on anything vaguely controversial that you say and twist it to make a headline, so it makes me think twice before saying anything really. I’m not interested in all that.

BM: And finally, if you had to spend forever on a desert island with a magical CD player that never ran out of power and could only take 5 albums with you -- which 5 would you choose?

SD: I’d bring Bon Iver’s second album, probably Funeral by Arcade Fire too... I’d chuck a couple of jazz albums in there as well, so Workin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet and Moanin’ by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Then maybe Rounds by Four Tet.