Video The Horrors
"Gloves"

Hi, how are you? Is now a good moment? Now is a good time. Fantastic. I'm glad I caught you at a good time. Although, I'm trying to figure out--you ever use cassette tapes any more? Occasionally. Why do you ask? Well, 'cause I'm trying to do some recording on a cassette tape here. It's been a long time since I've done that. Oh, I see. Well, unfortunately, I may not be able to help you. I thought you meant, actually, like as a musician. Oh, well, yeah. Do you? Yeah, occasionally.

I'm like, we have sort of this four-track that we sometimes use. I was thinking maybe cassette loops or--did you ever do any of that back in the day, making cassette splices and loops? Well, we've done that in the studio a bit, yeah. I never did it when I was a kid. I just, yeah, I didn't really. When I was a kid, I was pretty much just stuck on the making mixtapes and stuff. But splicing and stuff we've done in the studio. Oh, great. You said making mixtapes. I know that you come from a background of being heavily involved in vintage garage music. Is that correct? Yeah, I mean, well, not just garage...my principal collection is made up of '60s girl groups really. Oh, really? Yeah. The other guys collected a lot of Garage and psychedelia type of '60s girl groups. OK. And that's what initially brought all of you together. Is that correct? Your shared affinity for vintage music? Yeah, just the desire to--well, delve deeper than what's readily available, you know, what people present you with when you sort of walk into a music shop or whatever. We always wanted to get beyond that really. You mean the sort of false idea of what music may have been from that era? Yeah, in some ways. I mean, and also we just wanted to find out more, you know. We knew all the bands that people were displaying in the shop windows, and we wanted to find more bands. And the more you find out about music the more your sort of personal taste is developing...you're honing what you like. So, that sounds obvious, but I think most people don't even really think about it. They just like the stuff that other people tell them to like. So true. Now the sound that you've created with The Horrors, was the sound really bred for this affinity that you speak of, for older music? Or was it in any way contrived? And what I mean by that was did you sit down and say, you know, we would like it to sound like this? Oh, no, it was completely natural. I mean, the thing is I think that it's about sort of taking the influence of some old stuff we like and then making it sort of new and relevant. But I actually, I mean I don't think we fully realized that. We're still developing as a group. I think we're the kind of band that won't, you know, we're not going to be forgotten about in a year. We're still going to be developing and making music, and I think that what we'll be doing in a year's time will be even more relevant because we're still learning as musicians. We know a lot, but we don't, you know, we know a lot about music, but we don't know necessarily that much about being musicians. Hmm. It's interesting what you say, that you consider yourselves to be novices, I suppose, to a certain degree. I mean, that's a good thing in the sense of, you know, if you have something like, say, the no-wave scene of New York in the '80s. But I mean, I think, you know, you can destroy music as much as you want, but I think you do have to have a basic knowledge of how to construct it first. Not any different from an improvisational jazz musician, or...? Well, exactly, yeah. But you are a very young band, which is an interesting topic because I'm really fascinated by a couple of things about London culture and maybe you can clear it up for me. I hope so. Why do you think it is that...I mean, maybe it's a false perception from the States, but it seems to be that bands can have meteoric success in a very short amount of time. I mean, take, for instance, yourselves. I mean, you've only been playing together for what, a couple of years now? Yeah, barely even that. And yet, there's so much--I hate to use the word "buzz"--noise, what have you, about the band. What is it about London that propels bands so quickly into success? Well, London isn't really that big. It's just extremely dense, and so the people are always on the lookout for something else to do. And when there's a sort of absence of exciting things, you know, when something exciting does come along there, it's, you know, seized. And that's pretty much what happened with us. It was...it seemed to be quite a dead time I think for interesting new bands. And then us and the Klaxons basically popped up at the same time. Oh, the Klaxons, yeah. A very different thing, but a similar aesthetic. At least it was when the Klaxons first started out. Yeah, and two bands, I feel, that really differ from any sort of classic vision of British pop music. I enjoy it, actually, quite a bit. Well, I like noisier sounds, you know. Yeah, exactly. So, does that need to have, say, Londoners constantly eating their young, so to speak, does that ever concern you? As you said, you feel that you'll be around in a year's time and doing something significantly more important. Well, I just think that we're not making music that is going to date. I mean, with the Klaxons, for example, they coined the term "new rave," you know, whatever that is. And they quickly realized they had to distance themselves from it, after creating it, because they realized that that would no longer be interesting in a year's time. And so they, basically, you know, essentially they're now a pop band, which, there's nothing wrong with that. They had to distance themselves from the trend that they created because they knew trends don't last. And that's the reason why we'll still be relevant in a year because we're not part of any movement or fad or we've got no affinity with what's going on with other bands. We don't feel any kinship with contemporary bands, really. I've noticed in a lot of things that I've read about The Horrors, and not that there's actually a lot to read at this point, but specifically from American critics, there's this anti-fashion sentiment going on, and there's been blind dismissal of your band because of the aesthetic. I mean, do you think that's a bit childish? Well, I mean, childish to say the least, but equally, if those people aren't intelligent enough to even listen, because I mean, I have seen comments from people where they've said, "I'm not even going to bother listening to this band," you know. And if people are that blind, then I mean, we can do nothing for them. So, I mean, it's irrelevant, I think. I think that if you have a genuine love of music, you're going to judge something on music and not what it looks like. And for us, we didn't create an image to become popular. We happen to look like this and, you know, for better or worse. And certainly we get a mixture of the two. Right. Yeah. I mean, it does seem just a bit [laugh] unnecessary, to be honest. I felt that maybe the American press thing is, you know, it can be sort of a reaction against NME support 'cause it seems there is a sort of disdain for the NME within the American press. And it seems like, you know, we've been championed by NME, not through our choice, but through theirs. And, although we're grateful for it, it has nothing to do with us really. And I seem to think that there is a sort of consensus in a lot of the American media that that is something that's not a positive thing to be linked with NME so closely. Mmm. Why do you think that is? It's hard to say really. I don't know. I mean, there's always the sort of rivalries, I suppose. It's hard to say. So, speaking of Americans and disdain, do you think another reason could be because there is another band from the States called The Horrors that had a lot of love over here, you know, a very popular band in certain circles. Did you know that? Well, I mean, we were aware of the group's existence. They were on In The Red, weren't they? Yes, they were, In The Red, yes. Yeah, I think, in my opinion, I think that it's not such a big deal... Now there was another Klaxons, for example. I think the other Klaxons were actually from Belgium. But I think that it doesn't really matter to us. I mean, we always tag on The Horrors UK when, if we go abroad and stuff. The other Horrors are not bad, actually. They're OK. They're f****** great, actually. They're not around anymore, but yeah. I mean, a lot of In The Red material I enjoyed, but, you know. Yeah, and they put out the Black Lips as well as didn't they? Did they? Well, I know that's on Vice Records now. Oh, yeah, I know it is now. But did they at one point? They may have, actually. I like Black Lips a lot. They're really good. Oh, yeah, wait they did put out Black Lips. I'm sorry. And The Dirtbombs and The Horrors. Some fantastic stuff. Well, I'm just trying to think of what else I wanted to ask you. Oh, did Aleister Crowley really know the identity of Jack the Ripper? Ah, to be honest, I think that, in my opinion, Jack the Ripper was more than one person. Oh, really? Yeah, I think that it could have been...it could have been a couple of people. But I think in terms of, it was more, our sort of links to Jack the Ripper are more to do with our love of great producers, you know, and Joe Meek, Phil Spector, and, you know, Martin Hannett. I think those are probably, you know, those are the three that we probably most admire. Well, you got to work with some great people on this record, though. Oh, yeah, we have worked with some brilliant people. It's a little bit rare for such a young band to, you know, to work with, say, Alan Moulder or Ben Hillier. How did those relationships come about for you? Well, I mean, I think it was with--I think the first person we worked with was Seb Lewsley. He was basically the engineer at Edwyn Collins' Studio, and Edwyn Collins being formerly of Orange Juice…then we moved on to Jim Sclavunos, who--he was someone who we really felt that we had a good relationship with because he came out of the New York punk scene and, you know, in a lot of great bands, Sonic Youth and Teenage Jesus & the Jerks is a really notable one. So, I mean, he knew exactly where we were coming from, and I think, I don't know, it's amazing that he's managed to do Grinderman, really. I was really impressed with that album. I mean, he's got a lot of good ideas for it, and you don't normally hear that from artists who's so settled into a band, like the Bad Seeds. We work with a lot of great people, and I think that sort of, that is one of the big things that gives us faith to continue what we're doing because, I mean, no one whose opinion we've respected has actually come out and expressed a dislike for us. I mean, we have people like Mark E. Smith, who reputedly doesn't like anyone on our side, and for me that's good enough. Yeah, the man who can eat an entire 8-ball in one sitting. [laugh] Yeah, exactly, yeah. Maybe, well, I hope that hadn't anything to do with his opinion. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of great people that we respect. So you just finished a string of dates in Europe? Correct? Yeah, we did. It was a five-week tour, I think. And now you're in preparation for the United States? Yes. And this will be your first proper tour of the US? Yeah, I mean, we've done about six or seven dates in a stretch before, and we've done a few dates here and there in LA and New York and stuff, and DC and Boston. Yeah, this is going to be our first proper tour, yeah. And will that tour find The Horrors expanding beyond just the major cities of the US? Well, we're going to Seattle [laughs]. I mean, yeah, I guess so. It's pretty extensive. It's something like 20 dates. Are there some people that you're going to be performing with that you're excited about or people you wish you could be performing with? Well, we wanted to play with the Black Angels, but we didn't realize how--they were too big. We saw them at SXSW, and we're really impressed. The Black Lips, again, we would have loved to do it with them, and we would have done, but apparently, they're in Israel at an inopportune moment. So, yeah, unfortunately, that's not possible either. Well, to be honest, the band that we are playing with, called Schoolyard Heroes and they're on our label in the States, but I don't know anything about them. It was a case of all the people that we wanted to play with couldn't do it, and so our label picked someone. So it was more of an arranged marriage? Yeah, exactly, an arranged marriage, and I hope it's a happy one. I see you as more of a band that can come off in a small room as powerful as, say, early Bauhaus or maybe early Jesus and Mary Chain, that sort of... It's funny you mention Bauhaus because, actually, I don't own a single Bauhaus record. I bought one of their singles not that long ago. "Kick in the Eye," I think it was, and it was great, and I really like them now that I've actually listened to them. But Bauhaus were in no way an influence on us forming because none of us have ever heard them. Really? Yeah. It's...I mean, I completely see what people mean because they're probably one of the bands that actually does have the closest resemblance to us now of any. But yeah, it's completely by accident. Well, that's really strange. Yeah, their drummer actually, the drummer actually came to see us in LA and was seen jumping around at the front. Kevin Haskins? Yeah. Kevin, yeah. And he said he hadn't done that for 30 years or something. It was just, it was pretty funny. Wow! Yeah, I don't know if there's actually been media comparisons previously, you know, between their early shows and yours. But I definitely get the sense from what I've seen that they would be equally as abrasive. Mmm. Ah, anyways. You should really pick up their first album. What was it called? In the Flat Field. Oh, right, OK. Yeah. Well, I'll be sure to check it out. I heard recently that Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape live thing, which is what we were talking about, was brilliant. Yeah. No, I say stick with the first album. Yeah. OK. Definitely, f****** amazing and just blows. The drums are, are...I don't know. It's just a very sick album. Well, I guess that's it, really. OK. Thank you so much for taking the time. Well, thanks a lot for not asking any boring questions. Well, I hope I didn't bore you. I hope I didn't. No, you didn't. I've had about six phoners today and most of them have been asking me how the band formed, so this was good. Well, I, again, I sincerely look forward to your show here, and I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your dates here in the States. OK. Great. Well, I'll probably see you at the show then. OK. Well, take care. Thank you. Bye.