Wild beasts don’t die out – they move continents, form thrillingly erotic downbeat bands, then return to haunt the world!
Emerging from a small town in England’s north, a setting seemingly not too far removed from a film like Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, Pedestrian was surprised to discover the band’s unlikely Australian connection.
Wild Beasts, although relatively unknown here, have attracted rave reviews internationally with their second album Two Dancers.
Check out the video for their new single Hooting And Howling before getting to know the unique and amazing “genital band with the high voice” in the interview below.
PEDESTRIAN: You’ve just released Two Dancers, which after listening to, seems to have a real primal quality to the songs, the lyrics and even the name. Where does this primal energy come from?
TOM FLEMING: I think we had this thing about being quite effete dandies and also [at the same time] white bread northern boys if you know what I mean? The first album had a lot of sex and sexuality on it. It was sort of grappling about your newly found adulthood. This is kind of a kink extension of that. I think we got better and a bit more adult about talking about sexuality – same themes but with a bit more of a grown up take on them.
P: I saw a twitter message that you guys posted. Im assuming it’s a description you heard?; “The genital band with the high voice”.
T: (laughs) Somebody put that to us in an interview, “Are you worried about being typecast as the genital band with the high voice?” And I said to be honest I can’t think of another genital band with a high voice! It’s not the end of the world. There’s a lot of cock and balls references on the first record. That’s kind of our obsession though, it’s sort of a a Freudian thing we go for. The writer Henry Miller said that sex is a metaphor for everything and i thought that was pretty cool.
P: I heard you guys describe your music as pop. I can see why a lot of bands making interesting music say that their sound is a contemporary take on pop music. But do people find it hard category to put your music in?
T: To be honest with you, we do that to kind of dodge the question, “What kind of music do you play?”, because pop covers a wide spectrum. But also i think you can realise all sorts of things in pop music which you couldn’t if you narrowed it down.
P: What has been the strangest reaction to Hayden’s voice? When someone walks into a venue not expecting to see Wild Beasts do they flip out a bit?
T: Yeah I was a bit surprised by it. I was the last to join the band and I didn’t find it [his voice] to be difficult in the slightest. I’m used to singers with far more unusual voices. Certainly when we first came out there were some really strong reactions; “You guys need to quit and go and work at the supermarket”, especially with the internet because suddenly every 14 year old boy in the universe is a published writer. It wasn’t that bad, but certainly it was polarising to say the least. It’s just part of what we do. I’ve heard people say, “What if you do it in this way?”, “What if he didn’t sing in falsetto?” or “What if he wasn’t the singer?” and to me it’s like imagining what happens to the characters after a book’s finished, it just doesn’t exist as a possibility.
P: I was checking out the video for Hooting and Howling, the new single from the album. It was all filmed under water, is that correct?
T: Yeah thats right. It was in a submersion tank in an underwater studio.
P: How was that experience of trying to play your parts and sing under water?
T: Let me tell you, personally, i’m a really poor swimmer…and the water was pushing 50 degrees. We were under really hot lights and if you splashed you would shatter the lights. Our pockets and instruments were weighted down and we had to have our hands on them. Then of course the next person in would get all the lint and scum from peoples clothes that was collecting on the surface. It was a funny experience, but I wouldn’t want to do it again. We had life guards on hand and all that sort of thing. It was quite physical.
P: Radiohead did something similar for the No Surprises video and I read somewhere that Thom Yorke was almost choking under the water, so i guess water and video clips don’t always mix?
T: Well we’ve done it now so we don’t have to do it again.
P: You don’t want to be the genital band with the high voices and the water video clips…
T: (laughs) Yeah you could keep going in that vain couldn’t you until we’ve got like 10 albums out.
P: You mentioned the sexual aspect of a lot of your lyrics…in the first song of the new album (Fun Powder Plot, The) you manage to get “booty call”, “Freudian slip”, and “slip it in your bits” all in the one song. Is that just because that’s what young males are interested in and it’s an honest interpretation of what’s going through your heads?
T: Anything I write I sing and anything Hayden writes he sings but I mean it’s supposed to be kind of cheeky, so you’re expecting big metaphors but you get something a bit cheeky and dirty. There are some overarching metaphors for the album, but sometimes we get a bit bawdy. They’re meant to be a little bit comedic and by having them setup against some really sad chords we’re trying to wrong foot people and keep it unclear.
P: Was that the band’s goal from the start to do things differently or is it something that just came together?
T: We never really had music that spoke to us. We’re all from a small town that is outside the circle of influence of the major cities, so we never really had any music that spoke to us, it was always about people somewhere else. We wanted to make music for us, hoping we could speak to the versions of us who are now listening to music as teenagers. In that sense we wanted to be different, and also we wanted to add something to rock n roll.
P: I heard you have a big billboard up in Kendal…is there a lot of local support at your shows?
T: Yeah we all met in Kendal at school and there’s a huge poster for our album at Kendal station. It’s a really small town and the poster is huge! I’m not sure what our record company was thinking, but I think that’s quite cool. Certainly wherever we go there are some Kendal expats finding us. It seems like there is a lot of goodwill which is nice.
P: Hayden has an Australian passport. What’s the Australian connection there?
T: Hayden’s mother is Australian. He used to live in Sydney and Perth. I’ve never set foot in the country…
P: When did he leave to go back to the U.K?
T: That’s a good question. He was certainly a boy under 10. But he still has family in Australia so he goes back there all the time.
P: We’ll have to get you guys to bring the rest of the band over!
T: There are whispers of us coming over soon, but i can’t really say anything yet.
P: Im really disappointed that you don’t get much radio play over here…it’s not the most radio friendly music to hear in Australia.
T: No it’s exactly the same here (laughs). We get minimal radio play. That’s what we chose I suppose.
P: You mentioned earlier that with the internet every 14 year old boy can be a journalist…does that sometimes help your cause as well?
T: I think you’re right. The word of mouth thing is very very important and definitely what has founded us…people who are genuinely interested in us then pass us on to people you might be interested and that kind of thing. It’s a bit more accessible. And this is why when people ask me about illegal downloads, I don’t bleed too much. It probably means you sell half as many records as you would otherwise, but also twice as many people hear your music.
P: Im sure if you get a chance to come here you’ll find a lot of people who have downloaded your music but haven’t actually bought your album…but then they’ll go to your show.
T: That’s what happened in America. It’s been out a lot longer in the U.K than anywhere else, so anyone with their ear to the ground will just download it and i completely understand that.
P: The north of England is possibly one of the most fertile grounds for music in the world, but i guess there is quite a difference in the bands, with anyone from The Smiths and Morrisey to someone like Oasis. Is it too obvious t say that you guys lean towards The Smith’s camp as opposed to Oasis?
T: I think there is a common thread between those kinds of bands…they represent two sides of the same coin. In a lot of ways it’s a very repressed place, very macho, and the weathers terrible. It’s that mix of pastoralism and a kind of vulgarity that makes it what it is. But it’s a very pretty place as well, with cities being dark satanic kinds of places. A lot of northern music is about masculinity and a kind of peacock display of sexuality, same as The Smiths and Oasis…in a “look at me” world. In many ways there’s an escapism that we share with both those bands.
P: So is there anything coming up for you guys that you’re really excited about?
T: We’re going to New York in September which will be cool and then we’re touring the U.K. It’s all just touring for the album really. I’m very excited to get in on the road properly and really kind of step it up. It’s about trying to perform an album that has a lot of up-points and down-points, so we’re trying to bring that somehow and connect with people. We’re not in a position where we can play to huge audiences, so it’s more like, “Here I am talking to you”.
P: How does what you do in the studio compare to what you do live? Because the records are quite intricate but at the same time there are elements which I think could be even more powerful live…
T: Both albums are basically the sounds of our 4 hands. There was a lot of instrument swapping but there was not that many overdubs. On the new record there are some synths and it will sound different live because we’ll have different equipment…there will be a lot more grit…but obviously the vocals will be exactly the same.
P: With your music being quite unique, do you find you get fans that are a bit stranger than usual?
T: Yeah I think so…some people take us on board as their little pet project because you kind of have to go out on a limb to get hold of us. There are definitely some some fans who are very passionate about it. It’s quite humbling to see that.
P: What’s the strangest thing you’ve encountered on your travels?
T: In Norway we had a dressing room opposite the black male band…they came in as normal 40 year old men but they came out with huge black wigs, black arm bands and Norwegian armor, warming up their vocal chords with these deep metal roars! It was like, “yeah i’m in a band now” (laughs).
P: Wow, do you have any similar pre-show rituals?
T: (laughs) Um not really…have some whisky and talk each other up is what we tend to do…
P: Well Tom, thanks so much for your time. We’d love to see you over here soon.
