Originally coming from Australia, and now being based in London, is there anything about these places that you take as an influence into your music?
I think they definitely influenced us subconsciously. The experience of your location affects the vibe of a song. We wrote a bunch of songs for the album in the mountains in Lithgow in an old sheep shearing shed. I can't quite pin it down exactly, but there is a certain lightness in those songs that I feel is linked to the spaciousness of our surroundings at the time.
Your debut album 'Sacrifice' is released in the UK on May 24th; how do you feel the album as a whole will be received?
We released a very special limited run of the album for Record Store Day last month which sold out. We've also had some really nice messages from fans so it's been great to have the album finally out and people enjoying it. That's kind of all you can expect really. Anything on top of that is an added bonus.
The album as a very New Order feel to it, with driving basslines, great vocal hooks and very complimentary synthesizers, are New Order and the likes an influence on your music? Or was the whole writing process organic to you?
Our list of influences is incredibly long and diverse, and it does include New Order. The writing process for us is organic, it stems mostly from jam sessions so feeling has a lot more to do with it than saying "let's make this sound like a particular artist." Of course New Order are a legendary band so comparisons to them we will take as a compliment!
How do you feel you fit into the music scene of 2010? Are there any bands at the moment that have excited or even inspired you when you've been working on your record?
It's kind of hard to say really. I guess we acknowledge that we fit into a scene that admires and respects what has come before us in terms of musical history. At the moment the most recent releases that I've enjoyed have been Fleet Foxes, These New Puritans, The XX and Bat For Lashes.
How did you find the recording of 'Sacrifice'? You were working with Dave Kosten; how did you find that? Did he influence any of the songs to take a new direction that to what you had expected?
David is a great producer and has an amazing ear for sounds, so it was a real pleasure to work with him. The whole recording process was really pleasant and it was always a really positive and inspiring environment as we were all on the same page in terms of references. He's got lots of great ideas and is also really open to suggestions too, so there was a lot of back and forth.
Why did you decide to go with 'End it Tonight' as a single for the album?
It's the song that gets the best reaction from people; everyone picks that song out as one of their favourites and we also love performing it live. We choose to give it a bit of a tweak for the album and were really happy with the end result.
You've recently just finished a UK tour; how was that for you? Did the audiences take the live set well? You've also toured with the likes of CSS, The Slits and The Gossip in the past, did you enjoy that?
We're on tour at the moment, just in Kingston upon Thames with Born Ruffians tonight. Last night was Rome and then tomorrow will be The Great Escape Festival. Touring over here has been different to back in Australia as there is a lot more driving but also new places to see.
Do you enjoy playing live, or do you thrive more working in the studio?
At the moment we're on the road and our schedule sees us playing more nights a week than not, which is great because it's such a thrill to perform almost every night. We also love being in the studio and experimenting, so I think it's the balance of both.
Finally, you're set to play The Great Escape and Sound City festivals this month, are you looking forward to them? Do you have any other summer festivals lined-up?
Yes, we're excited for both. Not only do we get to play but we have the time to check out some other bands which is nice. Over summer we'll also be doing Stag & Dagger in London and other bits here and there. The dates will be up on our website - www.teenagersintokyo.com.
article by: Anthony Hetherington
published: 17/05/2010 10:51
FUTURE GIGS
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