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Youth Movies
Monday, 9th June, 2008
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 Milk: You're quite involved musically for how young you are; between you you've been promoters, run Try Harder Records, Andrew used to be in Foals... is there a lot of musical energy to channel here?
Andrew: We just know lots of people making music I guess is what it is.
Graeme: And don't have contracts that say 'you're only allowed to do one thing'.
Andrew: It's what seems to come naturally, if we want to do something then we make the time to do it; usually one thing leads to another. A lot of these things come out of late-night conversations and suggestions... I ended up in Foals because their other band broke up and we decided to form a new band.
Graeme: I think a lot of it stems from having fun... however serious what you're doing can seem
Al: And because this is what we do (music), it's the only thing that we're good at on any level, or the only thing we really want to invest our time in, then the more musical avenues we go down the better I suppose
How did the record label come into being?
Al: It was something I'd always wanted to do, it came together when I saw a great band, really wanted to put their record out and worked out how to do it.
So we wanted to ask about your name-is film important to you?
Andrew: Our name used to be Youth Movie Soundtrack Strategies. It was whimsical-we didn't think anyone would take us seriously. It's become a bit of an albatross around our necks. It has a meaning-it's a marketing strategy in the music industry; we shortened it to a moniker people would recognize more easily, but it doesn't really mean anything to us
As far as film's concerned... we like movies as much as the next person.
Al: At a festival, we made an hour-long montage of scenes from our favourite teen movies and played an accompanying improvised set
Andrew: We've done film soundtracks before
Al: We were asked to do a horror-movie soundtrack which we were really excited about but the funding got plugged. We're playing the party for the London Premier of The Tracey Fragments (a new film with Ellen Page from Juno)-we'll cut up some scenes from the movie, but I think it will be a standard set as opposed to improv.
We wanted to talk about the improvised element of what you do because that's really exciting-no one else is really doing that; it's not what bands generally do...
(we're interrupted as Andrew's mum rings-he tells her to call back in ten minutes "I'll speak to you in a minute mum-love you")
Andrew: (returning to the interview)... with that I suppose it comes out of the way we write. It keeps us on our toes.
Al: Recorded songs are so heavily structured so the opportunity to play improvised allows us to cut loose, free from those constraints.
Graeme: We listen to a lot of improvised music-Krautrock, Noize Music and Jazz...that's the great thing about YouthMovies-everything we listen to has an influence, a place...there's no reference too bold as it were.
Andrew: We will often come to record with portions of songs left out deliberately and...
Graeme (laughs): and jam 'em out.
Andrew: I wish there was another phrase... yes, yes, we jam 'em out.
Al: When live improvisation works it's really satisfying, liberating.
What occupies your mental head-space in terms of preparing for something like that?
Al: Well, we've been playing together a long time and can bounce off of each other, we can sometimes pre-empt what's going to happen...often we will talk about it before, discuss the possibilities of the ways in which it could go. If we're doing it to film, the music can reflect the vibe of the scene
Graeme: If you haven't really seen the film... it can be diabolical, it can go wrong
So are you all very accomplished musicians to be able to improvise?
Andrew (laughs): Not at all
Graeme: I'm classically trained and I'm always teaching them new musical terms
So how many instruments can you play Graeme?
Graeme: 42. Welllllllll, I reckon I can ham out a tune on anything
Andrew: You can't play guitar...
Graeme: I'm alright.
Andrew: You can't play the drums.
Graeme: I'm alright!
Andrew, we read a cool quotation you made; when asked if you feel its your duty to support musician-friends you said "I think its essential to do that-if you're afforded success, its important to take the friends' who work hard and whose music you admire with you, and vice versa. If that's not what a 'scene' is, then it's what it should be." That's so nice... a nurturing philosophy, I think many bands would neglect that idea.
Andrew: Well, the notion of a scene gets criticized a lot, but really, a scene can be about friends supporting what each other do. That's a basis for any friendship.
Al: We have always toured with friends. It would seem strange to us to not offer a support slot to friends and it can come back on you; I put out a Foals record early on, now we're supporting them on a headline tour. Working with friends can really influence you; seeing how they go about their business. Now it's so deeply ingrained in us to operate like this.
Any bands you want to give a shout-out now?
Band: Great Eskimo Hoax,
You have a lot of dates coming up-excited?
Al: Touring's great. You get immersed in it-you forget your deep in debt in your everyday life. Life gets hard when you're not on tour, because you have to think about things like that, so touring is escapism. There is a real sense of community, seeing your friends up and down the country, and I find it an interesting experience. And of course, it's great to play live and the most rewarding thing about being in a band for me.
Andrew: It can be a juggle... (laughs) trying to keep from going under. For me, it's more of a necessity. I prefer recording
Graeme: I cried over food... that wasn't good. I nearly smashed a plate, went n sat in the van and cried.
Are lyrics important to you?
Andrew: Yes, equally so
Graeme: I couldn't write a fucking sentence but when you write your lyrics...its like I'm feeling it too... you wear your heart on your sleeve Andrew
Are your lyrics confessional?
Andrew: No... they are revisionary in places, not confessional.
Al, as someone who runs a label, we have to ask, what do you think about 'digitising' of music and what's going on in the industry?
Al: It's hard to say. I download music, but invariably go out and see bands and also buy a lot. Everyone who has given advice on the running of the label has said our focus should be less on the traditional ways in which you put a record out, y'know not just on the conventional marketing and distribution of it. I get told time and time again about synchronization and other routes to pursue...but as a band, I feel happy for people to find our music on the internet, the internet has definitely empowered bands.
Andrew: That bands can just put their own music up and sell it-that's a great thing, that's the ideal surely? The music industry has always been fucked up so this is just another chapter. |
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