What do you think of Y Not?
From the half hour that we’ve been here it looks really good! I had a quick walk about and everyone seems (if a little bit hungover) still in high spirits and very friendly.
‘Hold Fast’ was released recently, how has the reception been for that?
I think it’s been really good! We’ve had some really good reviews that have been better than anything we’ve had before. Nobody has (so far) come up to me and told me its utter garbage so that’s always a good sign! It’s always satisfying when people in the front row are singing the new songs back to you too.
Were you influenced by different artists on ‘Chasing After Ghosts’? than you are on this album?
Yeah I suppose we just wanted to bring out the live element of our band a bit more – the energy, the raucousness and the abandon that we have in the live shows. We tried to make the first album really perfect but we kind of accepted that we can’t really play our instruments that well so just got drunk every night and recorded like that.
In many ways it sounds like a more fun record.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
We’ve got a European and UK tour in September which will last us around two months. It’s quite scary because it’s only August now but our year is planned until January… it’s a bit daunting but we’re really looking forward to it!
What is it that makes NewPop different from indie?
(Laughs) That’s a very difficult question really… I think there is something strange about it… It’s a debt that’s owed to classic pop music like Motown and Springsteen and bands like Elvis Costello and The Attractions. We wanted to make pure unashamed pop music but with something in it too… something to engage with lyrically, beyond the melody. It’s instant but we like to think it’s also quite intelligent.
Derby aside, is there a particular show on your next tour that you’re expecting to be a highlight?
Well funnily enough when we played Derby last time it was actually one of the best shows because it was so fucking sweaty… But playing King Tuts in Scotland is always good fun… The thing is it’s impossible to tell which is going to be the best show and it’s always the one you least expect… which sounds like a cop-out answer but it’s always the weirder places that end up surprising you… like Barnsley where we ended up thinking ‘Where did that come from?!’
Your lyrics seem pretty deep and heartfelt, are they always a true reflection of a personal experience, or is it sometimes just about making it sound right with the song?
A lot of the lyrics are personal… on the first album things we’re quite sad but I think we’ve found our smile again… It’s always nice to put weight behind the lyrics live because I think there’s a lot of merit in them.
A while back you gave fans the chance to have you play an acoustic set in their living room, would you consider doing an acoustic set for Leeds student?
Yeah definitely! I’m a Leeds fan so as long as you’re Leeds fans too then I’ll consider it yeah!