Heartbreaks - Time for fun

The Italian leg of Heartbreaks' tour wrapped up in Milan on July 1st. Four dates that turned into an important opportunity to showcase live the songs from their debut, but also to slip a few new tracks into the setlist, ones that will appear on the second album, still without a release date for now. We took advantage of the Milan afternoon to have a chat with the full band (Matt, Joseph, Ryan and Christopher) about what lies ahead for the group from Morecambe (UK).

This is the last date... how did this Italian tour go?

Matt: Wonderfully! Especially because when you play in different places you never know who's going to show up, you never know what to expect, so you're also a bit nervous; then you start playing and you see people getting excited about your music. It means a lot to us.

You came to Italy 2 years ago, could you have imagined it would take so long to come back here as headliners?

Deaks: Yeah, well, you always hope it'll happen!

Joseph: Exactly, and it's also great because you finally get to play something different.

Does the new album have a release date, or is it still not finished?

J: It's finished, actually it's done, all that's left is mastering. We're really proud of it and it's a big step forward. I don't think we could have done any better or any more to make it exactly the way we wanted it, we're all really proud of it.

I had the pleasure of listening to the album in advance and it really surprised me, because I expected you to lean much more towards sunnier pop songs, whereas actually the darker side of the band came through. Is that just my impression, or did you actually head in that direction on purpose?

J: No, I think it's more the result of a reaction. It's the consequence of people's enthusiasm for music fading away, just as it has in other areas of everyday life that have been pushed to the margins: people today are increasingly cut off from life's small pleasures and dragged towards a kind of mass enthusiasm. I don't know if that makes sense. It's not a stylistic choice, like saying "hey, I'm an angry young man, so I'm going to vent through my music" — it's something ingrained in us that probably resurfaces through the music. Positivity isn't what it used to be for us. "Being dark" wasn't a decision we made, but subconsciously I was aware of how the audience in England had probably given us illusions.

M: We didn't mean to come across as angry.

Is the version you sent me the final one, or does it still need mixing or adjustments?

M: No, no, it's absolutely the final version, we still don't know exactly when it will come out.

You started out as a very classic guitar band, with very clear reference points like Orange Juice or Smiths. But I notice that unfortunately in England the charts always seem to reward a kind of "post-Coldplay" sound (the usual piano ballads, a lot of melancholy, etc.). I'd like to know what you think about this, whether it bothers you that a typically British sound like yours ends up penalized. Does old-school guitar pop seem to struggle to break through these days, or am I wrong?

J: Did I just hear the word "Coldplay"?

M: You know, people listen to that kind of music because it's immediate and easy to take in, since it's played on the radio or in supermarkets — you don't need to think about it, or reflect on the lyrics or the sound. That's what a lot of major bands are aiming for these days.

D: It's as if they feel obliged to please everyone. I don't think it's a matter of the audience preferring one type of music over another, it's more a matter of what music is easy to sell. Take radio, for example: very few artists get airplay, and there are fewer and fewer of them. People aren't exposed to potentially interesting bands doing something different.

Going back to "Funtimes", looking at it now a year after its release, is there anything you'd change?

J: Yes, lots of things. But that's not the point of putting out albums — when you record, changes are always needed even after the album is out. Listening back to the songs makes you realize what's changed in you, and what you wouldn't do the same way a second time.

Ryan: After all, the album captures the feelings of that particular moment in our lives — "Funtimes" is the band as it sounded a year ago. Obviously, a year on, you'd change something about who you were back then. It happens to a lot of bands.

D: When I listen back to our songs, I clearly see four young men full of passion, doing their best to create something beautiful, making music full of energy, infatuated with anything that brings them something new.

R: Or at least that's how it seems!

I really liked the rearrangement work on "Hand On Heart" — how did the idea of working with James Banbury come about?

D: He just added a string instrument, it's not very different from the first version

J: We were forced to re-arrange it, and I hated that. I'm sorry! We were so happy with it. But it's one of those things that has to be done, otherwise we wouldn't have had any releases for quite a while and we would have vanished from the scene. But apparently there are people who like it, so...

D: A lot of people!

J: Yeah, but I hate it!... It's a shame, I mean it! Not the song itself, but probably the idea, at the time, of redoing the song, that's what got to me.

In Italy, "Delay Delay" is currently getting played on national radio, even though for you, I imagine, it's an old song by now. How does it feel knowing that in other countries the song is catching on a year after its release?

M: It's a bit the same feeling as when we play a show abroad, the audience shows up in numbers and takes part with real enthusiasm, and we're always happy with that response from the fans. Obviously it's also nice to know that more and more people are listening to us, so it's not that surprising if our music starts getting known on the radio even in countries that are quite far away.

M: No, of course, it's a pleasure, also because in England it's never made it onto national radio...

J: It's incredibly exciting, really. Sure, supporting Hurts helped us out, and it's nice to know that people still remember us. It's also a good starting point for building something, trying to come back to your country, for example.

Last two questions, guys. I think it's only fair to ask what you'll be up to this summer, do you have commitments or are you planning on going on holiday?

M: Well, in August we're back in Italy for a date, on the 24th.

J: Apart from that, I think after a couple of dates in England we'll relax, mentally too, to get ready to conquer the world. We'll go bowling a bit... In September I'm running a half marathon in Newcastle. Do you want to come along? You can come watch me in action!

R: That's 40 miles.

J: I'll have to start cutting back on beer... haha, instead of the water they hand out during the race, I'll have my own flask of beer! Joking aside, if I set my mind on a goal, I see it through... I'll probably need to take some yoga classes to get ready.

Lastly, I wanted to ask if you're a bit "afraid" of the English press, which is just as quick to praise a debut album as it is to tear apart a second one.

At least, that's usually how it goes, unfortunately.

Q: It doesn't worry me, that's not why we write songs, it's not to end up on the cover of a magazine or to get praised. I mean, if a song is good, it's simply good and it gets appreciated - I don't need to promote myself through a magazine or follow trends to get noticed, which is instead very common in England.

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