Preparing to release their self-produced sixth album ‘My Big Day’, the indie heroes discuss nostalgia, working with Damon Albarn and their triumphant return to Reading Festival
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00:00 we were like a teenage band that a lot of people grew up with as teenagers,
00:05 which is a very important phase in people's lives.
00:09 And then we went on hiatus for five years,
00:11 so it's like kind of stuck in time for some people to some extent,
00:15 which makes it even more important to like emphasize that there is like
00:20 something worthwhile now with the band.
00:23 Hiya, I'm Rishi and today I'm joined by Jack and Jamie from Bombay Bicycle Club
00:35 for the latest in Enemies in Conversation.
00:38 How was your weekend guys?
00:40 Fantastic.
00:41 Super.
00:42 Yeah, get up to much in the sunshine?
00:44 Childcare?
00:45 Not really getting...
00:47 Mine was also dominated by childcare.
00:50 Outside with the children maybe?
00:53 Keeping them cool.
00:54 Just keeping them cool, keeping them hydrated.
00:56 Very, very sweaty.
00:57 Yeah, same for us all.
00:59 But yeah, how's your summer been?
01:00 I guess to start off with moderately busy,
01:02 sort of one couple of shows, couple of festivals here and there.
01:06 Yeah, it felt pretty busy and like got to do some new ones, which was fun.
01:10 We did WOMAD, which was like, we never thought as a band we'd play that festival,
01:15 but it was like one of the most wholesome ones of the whole summer.
01:18 It's definitely busier than the last 10 years.
01:20 Yeah.
01:21 Because obviously when we were meant to come back,
01:24 sort of big summer in 2020, there was COVID.
01:26 And then it's sort of been drips and drabs following that.
01:29 But it was the first sort of getting back to normalcy.
01:32 For sure.
01:33 Yeah, and I did want to ask about that, because you got to do the tour,
01:36 probably one of the last tours that happened in that March of 2020.
01:39 Yeah.
01:40 Album was out January.
01:41 Did it feel like it was cut short?
01:45 Was there like sort of unfinished business with the everything else has gone wrong era?
01:50 I mean, yeah, the touring cycle for that album was definitely cut short.
01:54 But I think we tried to stay positive and think about all the bands
01:57 that didn't even get to do a single tour.
02:00 And we did a really fun UK tour.
02:01 And that kind of just like kept us going, I think.
02:04 But it was a shame not to go to the States and not to Europe and Australia and stuff.
02:08 Yeah.
02:09 And sort of when touring did become possible again, was My Big Day sort of,
02:13 what stage was it at by then?
02:15 Were you really thinking, OK, let's wrap up everything else has gone wrong first?
02:19 Or was it sort of, you know, let's bring in the next thing?
02:22 I feel like we probably had some new songs, but this was a record,
02:26 I'd say, where it was a big rush at the end of like a couple of songs
02:30 at the last minute, which was both like exciting and nerve wracking
02:34 for the bit before it.
02:37 Yeah, there was like quite a lot of the start in 2020, early 2021,
02:42 and then 18 months of not so much.
02:44 And then a lot of the end.
02:46 Yeah. And that gap in the middle, like the biggest sort of gap,
02:49 did it refresh some of the songs that had sort of, you know,
02:53 started and got the foundations?
02:56 Or was it really like kind of more of a clean slate kind of vibe?
02:59 It was definitely like more, the whole pandemic experience was
03:02 like doubly strange for us because we'd had a hiatus before the album
03:07 and then a pandemic after.
03:08 So it was like we had this big return with our last record.
03:12 And then this again, another sort of forced hiatus.
03:16 So there were lots of like, you know, the big return shows,
03:20 which was fun actually.
03:21 Like when you come back after a while, like anything,
03:24 it's like super exciting.
03:25 This summer, a highlight, obviously on paper,
03:28 has got to be that that Reading Secret set,
03:31 being asked to come back after so many years.
03:33 How was that for you, sort of opening the tent?
03:36 Did all those emotions sort of flood back,
03:38 like the first few times you played?
03:39 It was definitely poignant because it was like the exact slot
03:41 that we played when we was teenagers,
03:44 except the gates were open this time.
03:46 Yeah.
03:47 There wasn't really anyone there at the beginning.
03:51 It was a funny show because it was the last of a run in which we'd done
03:54 these intimate little karaoke shows with like 100 people coming on stage
03:58 and singing with us.
03:59 And to suddenly go back to like a regular gig where no one's like coming
04:03 on stage and just jumping around with us felt like a bit bizarre.
04:07 But, you know, we had to return to reality at some point.
04:10 Yeah.
04:11 And when were you sort of asked about that Reading?
04:13 How long was it really hard to sort of keep it a secret kind of thing?
04:16 I can't remember.
04:17 It was a few months ago.
04:20 I mean, we did some cryptic things on Twitter and Instagram beforehand,
04:25 which maybe were pretty obvious, maybe more obvious than I thought,
04:28 because there's so many like accounts that track potential secret slots
04:35 at major festivals and they were immediately onto it.
04:38 And as you say, the karaoke, I know you've got some stuff with So Far
04:41 Sounds coming up, really creative, you know,
04:43 sort of ways to interact with the fans.
04:45 How are you sort of enjoying, you know, doing it?
04:47 Is it still keeping it fresh for you guys as well?
04:49 Yeah, I think that's kind of the idea.
04:51 Like the karaoke tour was, I've never been at a gig with such a wholesome
04:57 atmosphere.
04:58 It kind of made me think like, can't every gig be like this?
05:00 Every person that came up and sung, they were treated like gods by the crowd
05:05 in a super supportive, like beautiful way.
05:08 I remember saying like, guys, can you be like this at all of our shows
05:11 when we're just playing normally?
05:12 I think, yeah, they were very, very communal in a way that I haven't really
05:16 experienced at a gig.
05:18 Of everyone in the audience sort of wanting people to succeed and like
05:25 singing along harder if they were maybe faltering a bit more.
05:28 And I thought that was, yeah, it was like it really reinvigorated my
05:33 love of live music, I think.
05:36 Yeah, for sure.
05:37 Were there any like particular highlights, particular fans that, you know,
05:40 stole the show, ones you think you'll be talking about for years to come?
05:43 There were lots of good vocal performances, but one bass performance of a song
05:48 called Overdone really stood out, and I forget her name, but she was
05:50 absolutely shredding on the bass and just like grooving, and that was really
05:53 cool to see.
05:54 And Ed was just standing in the crowd just like nodding his head.
05:57 There was a 10-year-old girl that came on and did Always Like This as well,
06:01 and she was very nervous when she came on, but was then like belting it out
06:05 really like confidently as soon as the song started.
06:09 Yeah.
06:10 Oh, that's brilliant.
06:11 Well, My Big Day, it's coming up very shortly.
06:13 How's the mood in Camp Bombay Bicycle Club ahead?
06:16 Is it a different build-up for you guys compared to the five that have come
06:20 before maybe?
06:21 There's probably that feeling knowing that, well, I mean, I can't touch wood
06:24 now, but that we're like, we're looking forward to actually going and playing
06:28 around the world for this record, but now that I've said that, it's going to be
06:31 like another pandemic.
06:33 I think they're all different.
06:35 The run-up to them, because the band isn't always in a different place each
06:39 time, and the broader context is different.
06:42 We've had quite a long run-up into this one with four or five songs out in
06:46 advance, so there's definitely been a sense of maybe too much anticipation.
06:53 It gets to the point where it's a bit like, just come on now, let's just do it.
06:57 Particularly because we finished the album in April, May, I think, so we've
07:03 been sitting on it for quite a long time now.
07:05 This is a very interesting period for bands and artists, and I think this
07:09 little feeling now is the reason why you keep making music, because you've
07:13 finished it and mastered it and it's done, but no one's heard it yet, and you
07:18 get very nervous, and you think, "Was that the best I can do?
07:21 Was that all I have?"
07:23 That inspires you to get back in the studio immediately and start writing
07:26 the next one, and there's this little flurry of inspiration.
07:29 Have you?
07:31 Well, I'm getting started.
07:32 You're getting started.
07:34 But yeah, it's a really lovely album.
07:36 I think there's touches of everything else flowing into this new project, but
07:40 also some new experimental territory that maybe Bomb & Bicycle Club hasn't
07:45 crossed into before.
07:47 Talk me through the studio process and the fun you had making with it and
07:52 experimenting.
07:53 It was self-produced, which we haven't done in a couple of records.
07:56 I think that probably had a huge influence on it, and I think that's
07:59 probably the reason you can probably hear some of my solo project on there.
08:03 A lot of the tracks probably could be instrumentals to hip-hop tunes and that
08:08 kind of thing.
08:10 There's this sort of blurred line between a beat that I'll make on an MPC
08:13 and a Bomb & Bicycle Club song, and bridging that gap is where you end up
08:18 with some of these tunes in an interesting way, I think.
08:22 I think we were definitely consciously trying to be a bit braver than we were
08:29 on the previous records and saying that nothing was off limits in terms of what
08:36 could go on the album, which means it can end up feeling a little bit
08:39 schizophrenic at times, but it doesn't feel safe, which I think is the most
08:45 important thing, particularly when you've been doing this for 18 years, as we
08:50 have. There's just no point trying to play it safe at this point. There's nothing
08:55 to gain from it personally, or even commercially, to be honest, with the band.
09:01 Is that where that decision, self-producing, came from, I guess,
09:05 building up, as you mentioned, your solo project and now taking that full
09:09 control with this project?
09:11 Yeah. I think the thing we get from doing it ourselves and what we've realised
09:15 is we're never going to meet someone that's harder on us than we are, and
09:19 that's always been the case with the band. We definitely whittle away at songs
09:24 and really, really cut the fat off them. Some of the feedback to some of the
09:28 songs can be quite brutal sometimes, but in a good way. It's like, "I can't
09:32 believe you've written a song this bad. Let's not ever speak of this again."
09:36 Just doing that enough times until the ten songs you're left with are
09:41 incredible.
09:43 Where did this album get written, get recorded?
09:46 Yeah, we did it really close to where we live. It's funny, there was a
09:51 correlation between how much fun you have when you go and make a record and
09:57 how much we think it's great, I think, because those records where you go off
10:02 and have the best time, you fly somewhere exotic, and you're like, "Oh, this is
10:06 so exciting." Maybe it actually distracts you a bit from just honing in on what
10:11 you need to do. I don't know how you feel.
10:13 Well, I think the previous three albums, there was a lot of Jack going on
10:16 short trips somewhere to get inspired, whereas I think this album's more been
10:21 nine to five at a small studio, just putting the hours in, which is maybe not
10:29 as romantic or doesn't have as good stories. That was also the reality of a
10:36 lot of it being written during COVID, I think.
10:39 Yeah. Now, you've both got kids, as you say. Do you envisage that fitting into
10:43 your home life a bit more as future projects in the way of them getting
10:49 written?
10:50 It's hard to say. Yeah, you're just improvising the whole time, aren't you?
10:53 So, yeah, maybe. Or just bring them along to some crazy place you want to go and
10:58 write music.
10:59 Features? Who knows?
11:01 Yeah, I think Kanye West said something like, "Love is terrible for
11:07 creativity," which I do and don't understand. I think one thing I've
11:14 realised since having a child is you just can't do as much as you did before
11:18 while also being not a terrible parent. You can't have it all, really, is the
11:24 truth of it. But I think it can inspire you creatively in other ways as well and
11:33 give you new things to write about or give you a sense of purpose as well,
11:39 which I think is important as a band when you've been doing it for a long time
11:45 to have something to keep you driving forward.
11:49 For sure. We have to talk about the collaboration to this album because
11:54 there are plenty. There's lots of them. Four already announced, one secret one
11:58 still to come. But what was different for you guys this time to open the door
12:04 to that level of collaboration?
12:07 I think that might be another result of me doing my solo stuff where I did
12:11 just collaborate on almost every song and go and work with all these singers.
12:15 I really enjoyed that. It was really fun to not be limited by your own voice or
12:20 your own style and just have complete freedom. And maybe that's spilled over
12:24 slightly on this record. It's certainly very eclectic, which I'm really actually
12:28 proud of because I think we've always tried to be quite an eclectic band.
12:33 From Holly Humberstone to Damon Albarn, it's a nice mix of people. And obviously
12:37 the surprise is going to blow a lot of people's minds.
12:40 Yeah. Well, actually, I think the band has, since at least the second or third
12:47 album, has had quite a lot of external collaborators. They've just normally been
12:52 close friends of ours where it's more informal and it's not like this is a
12:58 feature. It's more like there's the same singer singing on five or six songs on
13:04 the album. Whereas this feels a bit more like entering the kind of pop or hip hop
13:11 sort of territory for features.
13:15 And without giving away the secret, what was the decision behind holding one
13:19 back but revealing the other four?
13:22 We just thought it would be really fun to surprise people because it is, even if we
13:27 hadn't had this big reveal, it's just going to shock a lot of people. And we
13:31 thought, why not make that into something?
13:33 Yeah. I think we wanted to reveal it visually for the first time as well.
13:36 Yeah.
13:37 Rather than on a track listing.
13:39 We're going to try and make a video for it.
13:41 Brilliant. On a few then, specifically diving with Holly Humberstone's already
13:45 out. Jack, I know you've played with Holly before and stuff. Talk me through that
13:49 sort of friendship and creative relationship and when it started.
13:52 Yeah. So she asked me to come and sing on a song at one of her shows, which I was
13:57 surprised by but really honoured to do that. And I genuinely love her music and
14:03 listen to it all the time. It kind of made sense. We had this track and it was
14:09 probably a song that was like 80% done and there was just something missing from
14:13 it. And it was just a great example of someone coming in and it suddenly all
14:18 making sense and just being like, "Ah, that's what was missing from it."
14:22 And we've got Heaven featuring Damon Orban. How do you tie down someone like
14:26 Damon who has his fingers in more projects than anyone I think I've ever seen?
14:31 With a lot of difficulty.
14:33 Yeah, it was tricky. I actually went and played him the album because I value his
14:39 opinion a lot and we've worked together quite a lot leading up to this. And it
14:44 was just one song where instead of him giving me a few notes or a bit of
14:48 feedback, he just got his engineer to bring him a microphone and just started
14:52 singing this melody. And I was like, "Wow, that sounds amazing." And I knew then
14:56 and then it's kind of like a curse as well as a blessing because it's so good
15:01 but I was like, "Am I going to ever persuade him to actually finish this and
15:04 write the lyrics?" And so the next six months was just chasing and being like
15:08 "Please, it was so good." For him it's just this little thing. But credit to him,
15:14 he found some time and we're very, very grateful that he did because we know how
15:20 busy he is.
15:21 Yeah. I think he sort of finished it on a long journey in between Coachella and
15:25 somewhere else.
15:26 As you do.
15:28 And also he doesn't own a mobile phone so it's not like you can just WhatsApp him
15:34 and be like, "How are the lyrics going?" It's like a lot of layers to get to that
15:39 point.
15:40 Sort of on both those tracks there, as you say, the tracks were nearly done and
15:44 there's that special something just added on the end. Was that sort of a theme
15:48 running through the album that you got really fleshed out of songs and then it
15:53 was just sort of getting that final hurdle?
15:55 Yeah. It definitely happens a lot and actually now I'm thinking about it, maybe
15:58 that's just lazy songwriting. I'm like, "Ah, we'll just get someone else to sing
16:01 on it and it'll be done. I can't be bothered."
16:03 You just said we were harder on ourselves.
16:05 Yeah, I was.
16:06 I think with all the... Interestingly, the kind of non-feature songs were all the
16:13 ones that were quite easy to finish in a way and we knew what we... Yeah, they
16:21 probably took the least amount of time but with the features I think part of the
16:25 appeal of at least some of them is that they were coming in as songwriters or
16:29 collaborators rather than just coming in to sing on the song. So whether it was
16:34 Diving or Damon or J-Solmon's Sleepless, most of those songs weren't finished from
16:42 our perspective when they got involved in the process and we'd also reached the
16:45 point with a lot of them where we didn't really know how to finish them ourselves
16:49 so that having an external perspective but also songwriters that we respect a lot
16:56 meant that we were able to finish them essentially.
16:59 Yeah. And I mean, it's an experimental album as I sort of already touched on.
17:04 There's some really cool directions on that. I wanted to ask about Rural Radio
17:08 predicts the rapture, just that there's just so much going on in that song and
17:12 obviously no vocals. How did you cram so much different directions into that short
17:18 sort of thing? Just over two minutes it ends up as.
17:21 Yeah, I think that's a good representation of our mindset as Jamie was talking
17:24 about for this record, just like not really worrying too much about whether it
17:29 fits or not. That's just like a minute and a half of me going a bit crazy in my
17:34 studio and maybe a few albums back we would have been a bit scared to put it
17:38 out and this time we were just like, actually I love this, let's just release
17:43 it. I think there'll be people out there that love it too, so why not?
17:47 Yeah, it sort of started as like a trap beat with some sort of Kanye West
17:53 horn samples and then ended with like, I don't know, garage.
18:00 Yeah.
18:01 Which was just like, I think it's just like a moment of silliness as well,
18:08 which I think is important too, because we don't take ourselves too seriously
18:13 and that's normally not really reflected in the music to be honest, but I think
18:16 that song is a good example of just being like, let's just be a bit silly with this.
18:22 Yeah, it comes across brilliantly in the record. I guess on the singles,
18:27 you mentioned diving, My Big Day and I Wanna Be Your Only Pet 2, already out.
18:31 I feel like all three of them so far really got that quintessentially catchy,
18:36 hooky, Bombay feel to them. I mean, on guitar specifically, I guess like the
18:41 riff of I Wanna Be Your Only Pet and then kind of the stabby bits in My Big Day,
18:45 just did it feel like the guitar sort of was serving to elevate them in the way
18:50 that I guess it comes across maybe to me as a listener?
18:53 I think it's probably the best guitar playing on any of our records,
18:58 which is kind of maybe a bit surprising because a lot of the songs don't have
19:05 any guitars on them, or not very many guitars on them and we're not like
19:10 as straightforward an indie rock band as we were on our first three records,
19:16 where we were predominantly like a two guitars, bass and drums band with some
19:20 sprinkles on top. But I think there's some really creative guitar playing on it
19:25 and there's quite a lot of guitar solos as well, which is new ground for us.
19:30 Yeah, that's a first for us.
19:33 Yeah, I think it's definitely the one I'm most proud of in terms of the guitar parts.
19:40 Yeah, and is it nice sort of picking and choosing where they come in at moments?
19:44 Because as you say, there will be people who think of Bombay Bicycle Club
19:47 as quintessentially a guitar band, but there's obviously so much more than that now,
19:51 but the guitars still have their moments as you say.
19:53 Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think we should be clear when we say guitar solos,
19:58 we're not like Guns N' Roses over here.
20:01 I don't know, it's a pretty long guitar solo.
20:05 It's funny because this is a period where we haven't actually played the album live,
20:09 but just even talking about that makes me so excited to go and shred.
20:15 100%. I want to talk about a lot of the stuff on social media,
20:19 you've been putting out clips from the archives, really looking back.
20:24 Are you guys feeling nostalgic as such at the minute?
20:27 Because I know playing the older tracks live, I know when you did 'I Had The Blues In Full',
20:33 it must have sort of rolled back the years a bit.
20:35 Yeah, it's tricky. You have to find a balance between a nice amount of nostalgia,
20:41 which everyone loves, and it's very easy to do too much of it
20:46 when you're in a situation like ours I think.
20:48 Yeah, I don't think we've done too much nostalgia on social media.
20:52 It's something we've been conscious of not doing too much of,
20:55 because you see a lot on TikTok where it's bands being like,
21:00 "Do you remember us from back in 2009?"
21:03 I think nostalgia is the enemy of creativity and progress to be honest.
21:09 I think with the way that streaming works,
21:13 there's so much of the music ecosystem now services people's nostalgia,
21:20 so I think you have to constantly fight against that.
21:23 Yeah, it's true. When you get recommended things on Spotify,
21:26 it's always like, "Do you remember listening to this when you were a teenager?"
21:30 And that's even more pronounced for us because we were a teenage band
21:35 that a lot of people grew up with as teenagers,
21:38 which is a very important phase in people's lives.
21:41 And then we went on hiatus for five years,
21:44 so it's kind of stuck in time for some people to some extent,
21:48 which makes it even more important to emphasise that there is
21:53 something worthwhile now with the band.
21:56 Yeah, and you just mentioned that the live show is really looking forward to them.
22:00 How's things shaping up? Is it something you really sit down and think about?
22:04 Production, tour, everything like that?
22:07 We just had our first production meeting and the first thing that was discussed
22:11 was a giant bouncy castle.
22:13 Beautiful.
22:14 That's where we're currently at.
22:17 Work in progress.
22:19 I think with this album generally, whether it's on social media
22:24 or with the live show or whatever, I think the idea generally
22:30 is to just be a bit more light-hearted and silly.
22:36 We are in our personal lives with each other, but as I said earlier,
22:40 I don't think that's ever really been part of the band's image with people.
22:46 And I think also inspired by the karaoke shows that we were talking about earlier as well,
22:50 more interactive and surprising.
23:00 Yeah, and if you're on stage not feeling self-conscious and letting your natural self shine,
23:05 then that's so contagious for the crowd and that's what you want.
23:08 You want everyone to come and just not feel embarrassed and just do whatever you want to do.
23:14 It's great on the social media and stuff to get that level of personal interaction,
23:19 especially as you've been away for a while.
23:21 It's really nice to have those nuggets every day, whether it's older clips, new videos,
23:27 new covers as well.
23:29 I was going to ask Jack, the Sunday cover slot, how are you picking and choosing those?
23:33 The DMs must be flooded with requests.
23:36 I look through the requests and I just completely ignore them.
23:39 No, I do actually have to start doing some that people ask for.
23:43 Yeah, Jamie usually just texts me and says, "How about this one?"
23:47 Yeah, pretty much.
23:49 We get some unusual requests, but I think the Deftones, we did a Deftones cover,
23:55 which has kind of been a thing on TikTok for a while anyway,
23:59 but we actually were young enough at the time to enjoy Deftones when they...
24:05 Actually, no, that's not true.
24:06 We were about seven when that song came out.
24:09 I remember listening to that record at your house.
24:11 Yeah, but when we were teenagers, I guess.
24:15 So yeah, there's no... just do what we feel like.
24:19 Exactly, and is it sort of a testing ground for covers in the live set?
24:22 I know Selena Gomez has been a theme across the summer.
24:26 I've got an idea for a mashup that we might do,
24:30 which I am going to test out on one of the Sunday things.
24:32 The dreaded, most dreaded phrase in the English dictionary, mashup.
24:37 Oh, absolutely.
24:39 Well, we look forward to it.
24:40 Listen, thanks for your time.
24:42 Any celebration plans for My Big Day on the 20th of October itself,
24:46 or still to be figured out?
24:48 I mean, we're so busy that week.
24:50 We're doing sort of two or three gigs a day that week,
24:53 so I don't think we're going to have time to celebrate.
24:56 In a record store somewhere in the UK.
24:58 We'll be toasting the Rolling Stones number one on the 27th of October.
25:03 Well, listen, I hope it goes well.
25:05 Really appreciate your time today.
25:06 My Big Day is out on the 20th of October, and have a good rest of your week.
25:10 Cheers.
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