Not in ages has a band sparked as much music industry hype as Bloc Party. Thankfully, as their thoroughly brilliant debut ‘Silent Alarm’ perfectly demonstrates, we at Gigwise think the foursome are worth all the excitement and much more. On the eve of the release of the band’s new single ‘Banquet’ and impending four massive live shows, we decided to catch up with drummer Matt Tong to interrogate him about his influences, gigging, Samba bands and Britpop…
As Bloc Party’s pretentious website manifesto proclaims, the band see themselves as ‘an autonomous unit of un-extraordinary kids reared on pop culture between the years of 1976 and the present day’. Ahem. Speaking to Gigwise, Tong names Black Sabbath, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac (surely not?) and Dinosaur Jr as some of the bands that shaped him. So then Tongy, why such a group of old crusties? “I actually like much more stuff than that but I thought a handful of names plucked from the air might do enough to reflect my disparate preferences… If there's anything that links these bands it's probably that I find them easy to fall asleep to with the possible exception of Sabbath, of course.”
Reflecting on more recent bands that moulded the irresistible Bloc Party sound, Tong namedrops obscure American act Polvo. He rather lengthily explains: “Polvo were a band operational through most of the 90's who hailed from Carolina and formed part of the seminal Chapel Hill post-rock scene (no, us neither). Widely recognised for their total reluctance to play in standard tunings, their… abandonment of conventional song structures and lengthy eastern-tinged jams, Polvo sadly imploded when their final album 'Shapes' unveiled an unacknowledged Ted Nugent influence. Suffice to say, it's one of my favourites.” Cheers for filling in the gaps Matt! As for drumming inspiration, Tong name checks the obligatory Dave Grohl and Keith Moon, but also lists Interpol “fucking amazing” drummer Sam Fogarino.
More recently, in his teen years Tong was clearly on Damon Albarn’s side in the Blur v Oasis war of ten years ago. He ruminates fondly on his first ever live gig: “It was probably Blur at the Bournemouth International Centre. They'd suddenly become massive and the venue was full of kids who'd never been to a gig before. Consequently, as soon as they came on, around 50 people simultaneously fell over. It was scary, I thought there was a minor disaster in the making, but luckily everybody got their shit together.”
Conversely, he seems full of contempt for the purveyors of middling rock n’ roll Oasis: “I think the term 'rock 'n' roll' is something of a misnomer these days. Oasis for instance might act like a bunch of madmen, but on stage, when it all counts, they're as much fun as watching paint dry. In fact less fun than that. More like watching paint being mixed. Or applied.”
Still a sprightly teenager at the end of the Britpop era and hard up for cash, before the birth of Bloc Party Tong incredibly considered joining Bournemouth Samba band to gain some funds: “I toyed with the idea of joining believe it or not, but the last time I was in Bournemouth, I was pretty depressed and working two jobs, one of which sucked beyond belief and one that was kinda ok.”
Thankfully, he opted against the idea and joined Bloc Party - then known as Angel Rage, and shortly afterwards Union. He reflects fondly on their first gig: “My first gig ever with Bloc Party or 'Union' as we were then known was at this trashy joint in Leicester Square called 'Sound'.
“No-one ever plays gigs there, but we were new and we needed the practice. ‘Sound’ is better known as the kind of place where people from Essex descend en-masse in minibuses on the weekend. But those early gigs were great.’
As for the band’s favourite ever-gig, he rates their show at London’s Forum ealier this year pretty highly: “The Forum was pretty special. We were so nervous going into that show but the gig was one of the best performances we've ever mustered. The crowd were ace too.”
Zipping to the future, Tong sighs that despite their huge popularity over here, Bloc Party had top revert back to their humble beginnings when touring the US earlier this year - by touring in a clapped-out van: “We've did it in this crumby van because it's 'punk rock'. I haven't got time for all this crappy faux-elitism. There's nothing punk rock about having too much of a bad back to play. I'm a damn beanpole for Christ sakes.”
Desperately running short of time, Gigwise is forced to ask an unfeasibly open-ended question about any band gossip, to which Tong replies: “Nope. No gossip. No gossip at all.” Cheers Matt.
