Bursting onto the scene in their signature tweed attire and thick-rimmed spectacles The Young Knives are arguably the most unlikely trio of rock and roll characters to hit the alternative scene. However in 2006 the band have emerged as one of the hottest alternative bands in the UK. Now with a well-received debut album, Voices of Animals and Men, under their belt Fused managed to speak to lead singer and guitarist Henry Dartnall before the bands upcoming UK headlining tour.
The band has been portrayed as a post punk group associated with rural England. Where does that collective idea about the band come from when you’re sitting down to write new material?
Well we didn’t come up with that idea about the band before we wrote any music, that is what someone else has said about us since. We’ve always lived in the country. Me and The House of Lords (guitarist) grew up in a village out in the sticks and played in the fields as kids. As we’ve gone on I guess we’ve developed an affinity with the English countryside and always liked rock music.
We try not to worry about what style of music we are writing. We do folky music as well and a lot of our B-sides are down-tempo folky things. We just sit down and write music, I know that sounds like the cheesiest answer but I guess that’s true for everyone.
I think we have to be careful not to just write music that sounds punky but is also associated with the countryside because that’s when you start believing your own myth which is when you start writing shit music. I have to keep saying that so we continue to write as good music as we can come up with and not worry about whether its cool or not.
Do you have any apprehensions then about becoming too mainstream? Are there any ventures the band would avoid to keep their alternative roots?
Well it’s a constant struggle in a way because we work with a management team who may suggest we do a Ben Sherman photo shoot for Esquire and you think well that might be funny to do really (not that they’ve done that, Henry assures).
Some of it you have to take with a pinch of salt because its just part of music industry. Then again you don’t want to offend your fans especially if you get big and make loads of money, you get loads of choices.
Are there any bands specifically then that The Young Knives admire for treading carefully between the mainstream and their alternative roots?
Yeah I always think of The Super Furry Animals as well as The Pixies and Pavement because they were the first really successful indie bands. The Super Furry Animals had that time when they had a dabbling with fame, they were the next big thing and then they didn’t. There was no massive backlash against them they just carried on and kept their hardcore fans. Maybe you won’t like everything they do but everyone always has respect for The Super Furry Animals and watches them at festivals or might buy the new album off word of mouth. You don’t hear them on adverts or plugging their music. It would be nice to end up like that.
Now you’ve got your own UK headlining tour to come in October, what are your thoughts?
We’ve done a few before but now the venues have got a little bigger and pretty much sold out which for us is a good indicator that we must be doing something right. It’s going to be a step up but we get to go on a tour bus as well. We’ve previously only been in a little Mercedes van with the back seats pulled out to get all our stuff in so it’ll be a bonus not to drive home every night or stay in a Travel Lodge. We’ll probably end up killing each other and living in our own shit but hopefully it will all work out.
As 2006 comes to a close have the band begun preparing for their next stage of musical evolution?
Yeah we were actually in the studio this week to do a load of B-sides for the next single. We’ve written five tracks in the last couple of weeks that aren’t finished but in a good state and we’ll record them all and then pick the best two to hold back for the next album. I guess we are on our way to having the second album in a basic form ready. I’m pretty pleased about that because I was worried it was going to be hard work to fit in because of being on the road for next year or so.
I think the next album will be a mix of songs and we’ll try and write too many so we can put a bit of order to it all and chop and choose songs that fit together. It’s a funny old game because you’ll suddenly be expected to write twenty songs before next year because you’ve got another album to put out, but this first album has songs on there that are three years old because they felt right to put together. We haven’t got that luxury this time round because it’s a case of bosh it off quickly otherwise your dead in the water because no-one’s heard from you in two years. It would be good to release an album every year to keep people interested. I don’t mind even if some of them are crap as long as we are experimental and surprise ourselves as well as everyone else.
The Young Knives are on tour throughout the UK during October.
Words: Gerrard Hartland