Wild Beasts - The importance of not being perfect

On the occasion of their show at Teatro Parenti in Milan, we interviewed Wild Beasts. The English band recently released their fourth album “Present Tense”, yet another critical and commercial success, and one of the most acclaimed records of early 2014.

We're backstage at the theatre, and in the background Girls In Hawaii are busy with their soundcheck – it's Day 1 of the Elita Festival, and besides the two bands already mentioned, Joan As Policewoman will also be performing.

Here come Chris Talbot and Ben Little, the band's drummer and guitarist respectively. We don't have much time, as they'll soon be needed for a photo shoot, so after the introductions we get straight down to business.

We've read that “Present Tense” wasn't made by playing together, but by working remotely on your own and then reworking things in the studio. What was that like? Do you think you'll do it again?

Ben: I couldn't say, because we work quite spontaneously. What I can tell you for sure is that before “Present Tense”, we wrote together because we could afford a room where we could all be physically present. But in London it would have been pretty difficult to play together, and also very expensive. So we started composing separately on our computers, and eventually we'd meet up in a small room to show each other what we'd come up with.

Chris: It was useful to be on our own for a while and take a step back. We all knew we'd make another album, but it was important for us to have some free time after “Smother”. In the end, even though we were working separately on our own computers, we were all heading in the same direction. And so, six or seven months after the tour ended, we found ourselves back together…

B: It was the first time we'd had so much time. We'd always been busy touring or in the studio writing and recording. After “Two Dancers” we had to strike while the iron was hot, so “Smother” came right away.

C: Writing, recording, doing promo, playing live – it can become an endless cycle. It's really important to have the time to stop and remember why you're doing all this in the first place.

For a band, having the time to do what you want is a really important achievement…

C: Yes! It was the first time we could afford to be self-sufficient. But in the end I don't know if we'd do it again, because the way we work is always evolving, and that's what keeps things interesting for us.

What's your natural habitat, the studio or the stage?

C: I'd say both. Not many people are lucky enough to be able to do just one of the two. The studio is definitely more stimulating, but we also love playing live. They're two completely separate entities, but equally important.

On "Present Tense" we can hear various sounds inspired by electronic music. How did you decide to move in this direction?

C: To use a football metaphor, Wild Beasts started out with a classic 4-4-2: we were a typical indie band with two guitars, bass and drums, but we've always been fans of bands like Radiohead, for instance. Then it was just a natural desire to experiment. We wanted to try new things, even if we weren't naturally inclined to do so at first. In short, we're not trying to become electronic music masters.

B: It's the learning that makes things really exciting. Pushing yourself, surprising yourself, learning from producers – that's what we like.

You chose "Wanderlust" as the first single, a very dark and hard song. By comparison, the first single from "Smother", "Albatross", was much softer. Is it just about trying new sounds like you said before, or is it the result of an inner change?

C: "Wanderlust" wasn't meant to be a single, but it ended up becoming one. It was the first track we wrote and it hasn't changed much since the first demo. It's an angry, fierce song, and we tried to capture that spirit as spontaneously as possible. Those feelings are present both in "Wanderlust" and in several songs on the album.

B: On "Present Tense" we kept the soft side of "Smother" alongside these new sounds, because after the last tour we realized it would be great to also have some more impactful tracks, especially for live shows.

You recently released the video for "A Simple Beautiful Truth" and I read it was inspired by Talking Heads. I'm very glad to see you all still alive here, no one fell off the cliff...

C: (Laughing) It looks like a beautiful day in the video, but it was absurdly cold and there was a terrible wind blowing. We've always tried to appear calm in front of the cameras. We decided to go for this à la David Byrne approach, thinking: "We know we can always do this while staying true to ourselves, without looking like total idiots." Videos are a great accompaniment to the music, but to be honest ours haven't always satisfied us, we haven't always been proud of them. This time, though, we are: the spirit of the song was captured perfectly.

Hayden (Hayden Thorpe, the band's singer, ed.) said that "you can't try to capture the past", but that's not always true: plenty of bands do it all the time. What do you think?

C: Music is also a business, but there's no formula for writing a hit, a single or an album. Luckily we've never been "slaves" to sales. We wouldn't enjoy working that way. We want to create something new every time we go into the studio.

B: In that respect Domino Records are truly one of a kind. They ask us "What do you want to do?" and we don't feel any pressure at all, it's a fantastic feeling, they trust us.

Let's take a step back. Has success changed the way you make music? Before "Limbo Panto" you were more of a pop band, but afterwards you felt more confident in your abilities and started making less immediate music. Is that right?

C: I think we still see ourselves as a pop band, but, to keep using the football metaphor, the pitch has changed. Now what excites us more is creating what we consider interesting music, for instance not always relying on the classic A-B-A-B structure. We also see mistakes as an added value, something that gives the album vitality. You shouldn't always try to be perfect.

B: We're all pop lovers, to some extent, including artists like Miley Cyrus, for example (you can find their cover of "Wrecking Ball" on YouTube, ed.). We don't limit ourselves: we like to steal from lots of genres, rap included, and mix everything together without any hang-ups.

One of the Wild Beasts' trademarks is definitely the duet between Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming. Over the course of your evolution, Tom's voice has gained more and more space in the arrangements. Has this changed the way you write?

C: We're very lucky to have two incredible singers like Tom and Hayden, it's a privilege and something that sets us apart from other bands. So we often find ourselves simplifying the arrangements to give their voices the right amount of space, but we treat them just like any other instrument in the band. It's like having another arrow in our quiver.

Chris, you're a distinctive drummer, very easy to recognise. How did you develop your style? For instance, when did you add bongos to your kit?

C: The bongos were actually an idea from our first producer, back at the time of "Limbo Panto". There was this song called "The Old Dog" that originally had handclaps. He suggested using bongos instead, and I thought it was a great idea: I'd always played them, just never in the band. So I added them to the kit, started using them regularly and practising. As we were saying earlier about electronics, we're not interested in becoming masters of an instrument, in learning to play it "properly" - we'd rather explore and experiment. I don't consider myself a great drummer, and becoming one isn't really a goal of mine.

Are you already thinking about the future, or are you focused on the present and the tour? Is there anything you've been listening to that might influence your next work?

C: Right now we want to share the new songs with audiences and play live, it's still early days. At some point we'll definitely make a new album, but it's something that has to happen naturally.

B: Writing and recording a new album takes an incredible amount of commitment and time. Right now we're on tour and enjoying this moment.

C: Maybe it won't take us as long as "Present Tense" did, but it's still not on the horizon at the moment.

Last question: will tonight's setlist include the cover of Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball"?

Together: No, we don't think so…

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