Why have you gone for such a distinct image change for this record?
Sam: Well it’s been a few years and I think we have changed a lot and some of the stuff we were into in 2003 we are not as into in 2007, and visa versa.
Anthony: It’s kind of like with the new record we didn’t want to go in and make The Bravery 2! I mean that wouldn’t have been fun for us or the fans. We really tried to take chances and experimented with different sounds and instruments. We brought in the producer Brendan O’Brian and recorded it down at Sothern Tracks in Atlanta. The whole concept was about not wanting to repeat ourselves.
So what were the inspirations this time behind the writing of this album?
Sam: Like he said we were looking for new sounds and textures so experimentation was paramount. I’m specifically talking about using any instrument you have always wanted to use but never had the option. In the studio we just fucked with a lot of instruments until we got something good out of them.
Anthony: When we recorded the first album all we really had access to were synthesisers and this time we had pump organs and stuff.
I suppose you can afford to mix it up more on the second album?
Sam: Totally. We did a lot of vocal stuff to like a lot of like British Invasion stuff at the time and so there were a lot of times we would come up with a line and instead of having synthesisers in the background we had all of us singing on this record.
Anthony: I think overall as a band we have improved immensely, particularly over the 18months we were touring the first record just doing all of the live shows we did. We have definitely improved chemistry wise with each other.
Where did the title of the album come from?
Sam: It won’t be the title track there is no song. It’s like it named itself and the phrase kept reappearing in the lyrics. Its lyrically there is a lot of dark songs and things are very sad and on the other hand there are things that include some of the most optimistic things I’ve ever written. The whole album is a great contrast between light and dark and so the name sums this up completely.
So you are not into astrology?
Sam: (Giggles)… I hadn’t thought of that!
A few people say that there is a certain song they recall in their lives that has changed the way they think or has changed their lives to a certain extent and consequently is an inspiration. What tracks would you pick as yours?
Sam: Erm good question!
Anthony: Can I choose bands?
I suppose so, even though it’s technically cheating!
Anthony: Led Zepplin really changed my life. When I discovered that I was heavily influenced by what my sister listened too which was mainly Black Sabbath or really really heavy stuff. I then heard Zepplin and was like ‘Whoa whats this???’ The guitars were so intense.
Sam pipes up: The first time someone played me Fugazi I started to discover punk rock. The song ‘Long Division’ is amazing. I mean that band is punk as fuck but that track is so interesting, thought provoking and beautiful in a really simple way. That moment was the time in which I discovered Punk Rock.
What’s the worst thing you have ever read about yourselves?
Sam: It was a review of the album with like 5 stars and then the guy who wrote it said ‘these guys are like the biggest assholes in the world’!
Anthony: I heard that once someone called us ‘Douchebag Fashion Weenies’! Although he music’s good!
Sam: Oh Oh I have another one. ‘Transvestite Vampire Aliens’ Haha! Think that was in NME.
What are your ambitions? This doesn’t have to just be music orientated.
Sam: For me outside of this band I would love to produce other bands. Not any particular genre but I would love to produce another record besides our first one.
Anthony: My ambition being as I am in a band. Touring with Depeche Mode really opened my eyes, just watching them and learning from them it spurred me on to go and listen to lots of their older music. Just to see how they have kept it fresh and evolved that to me is my ambition. To have a career like that, that spans over decades that would be awesome. After all it is your life.
Who produced the new video?
Sam: A Group called Surround. They are like three brothers and they are known for weird animation stuff. They do a lot of the weird promos on MTV, you know the random ones where a duck walks down the street and a car falls on it for now reason? Will they do weird shit like that!
So Dirt is a mental party animal, I have seen him very worse for wear at a few gigs, so I wondered what have been his worst drunken antics?
Anthony: I think him getting naked at Glastonbury is a great one!! Nothing will ever top that with 30,000 people seeing him!
I remind the band about their antics at an intimate gig at London Hoxton Bar & Grill to jog their memory…
They just laugh….
So what were you like at school if you don’t mind me asking?
Sam: I was always into music. I didn’t really have many friends, but the ones I did have were music people. I would just hang with anyone that played. There was mainly me, a tabla player and an opera singer! Some crazy ass country guitar too!
So the Spice Girls all had individual names e.g. Posh Spice, Ginger and so-on so what would you Bravery names be?
Sam: You are going to have to come up with that!
Anthony: Yeah you can’t name yourself!!!
Erm…let me think…
Me (thinking): I think Sam should be just plain ‘Gorgeous’ or maybe ‘Dark and Mysterious and Anthony should be ‘cute’!!
What can we expect from the live sets now?
Sam: There is a lot more musicianship, we play together more and now everyone is singing. There are more styles intertwined within the body of the record too.
Anthony: Even tempo wise, on the first record it was made to be a dance record therefore everything was all up tempo. Now we change things with a mixture of tempos from mid tempo to a slow tempos which is for us totally new.
Do you think people will criticise you for making a totally different record?
Sam: hey you get criticised if your too the same and then if your different so you might as well do what you feel is right.
Anthony: The key is to do what you want to do. We are really happy as this record is fresh and more involved as a band.
Words: Kimberley Owen