Photo: Press
"Well the festival is, from what I can make out, quite unlike anything certainly that we’ve ever played before. Or unlike any other festival on British soil really. Probably because it’s not on British soil at all, it’s on an island just off the coast off Essex, called Osea Island. There have been parties on Osea Island over the years, which have gathered something of notoriety, a bit of a legend around them", reveals singer Blaine Harrison who we're catching up with ahead of their appearance on 1 September at Krug Island Festival that's curated by Mick Jones of The Clash.
"When we were approached to play it by Mick, we were incredibly excited," enthuses the floppy haired singer. "I think mainly because we are a band who come from an island, Eel Pie Island, and we’ve always been drawn to playing in unusual places. Certainly when this came up, it was a perfect fit. Obviously Mick Jones is someone that is an incredibly important part of British rock heritage, he’s a living legend. So when we found out that we were gonna’ get the chance to go into the studio with him, because there’s a studio on the Island, and get to cut a couple of tracks, we had to do it," continues the songwriter who will be stepping as frontman of the best known band on the bill.
Continuing to reveal details of the festival he adds: "It just sounds like the most ostentatious, over the top, kind of wild thing. I’m not even sure I can describe it as a festival; it’s sort of like a happening out in the middle of the sea. I feel like anything could happen and that’s somewhere where we just had to be.
So what sets this festival apart from the rest? "There are so many in this country now. I think in order to really capture people’s imagination; the best ones really have to be unique. This one feels so out of the box, I can’t see it being anything but absolutely outrageous and amazing. I think the most interesting thing about it is, I’m told, you can only get across to the Island at low tide and that happens twice a day. So the rest of the time you’re stuck, you’re out there. Nowhere to run. I think it’s brilliant, it’s like you bring up the drawbridges and the party doesn’t stop until you’re let out again."
The fact Mick Jones picked them as his main guitar band for the event is obviously such an honour and affirms the level Mystery Jets have reached. Since 2003 they've had an acclaimed and varied musical output with releases going through the country's most respected indie labels including Rough Trade,and Transgressive. This year's Curve Of The Earth sees them reach new heights and sounds like a band with astounding focus throwing everything they've got into making the most powerful indie rock around. Fortunately there are some leftovers from the recording sessions.
"The songs on the EP were recorded in the same intense two year period as the tracks that ended up on the record," he reveals. "I think the idea was born out of the fact that with our most recent LP, Curve Of The Earth, we were very careful not to make the record any longer than it needed to be. It’s a nine track album and the reason we made it that length is that we felt like it’s a record that people really needed to listen to several times to let it get under their skin. We wanted to make an album that you kind of have to let in, let the charms of it creep up on you. What that left us with was a number of other songs that we cared greatly about. But for one reason or another, they had to be left off that release.
"The song that most nearly made it onto the album was ‘The World Is Overtaking Me’. And that’s a song that is very much in the world of Curve Of The Earth. It’s a song about looking around you and seeing your friends growing up, marrying off, and having children and so on. And perhaps taking a look in the mirror, back at yourself, and asking what the future holds for you", he says. "I think for that reason, it felt like this song had to come out now, not next year. It had to come out when Curve Of The Earth was still in peoples minds and on peoples stereos," he continues.
"I think once we decided that ‘The World Is Overtaking Me’ would be the next single, we realised it would be a great chance to show people an even fuller picture of the world that the record came from. We picked four more songs from the album sessions that are really companion pieces to the record, and I think that’s what the EP serves as. Where the album perhaps showed you a sliver of the earth, this EP is showing you the work as a whole."
So what does the EPs title mean? "It comes from a book that was published in the late 60s called the ‘Whole Earth Catalog’, and this was a very important publication of its time," reveals Blaine. "Steve Jobs referred to it as ‘the analog internet’ and it was very influential when he was setting up Apple, in terms of the approach, the ideologies. It was almost like a compendium to the late 60s, like a hippy bible. In the age before search engines, it was where you turned to, to find tools for modern living.
And does this form any of the lyrical themes on the EP? "It’s like a springboard I suppose for some of our songs. But it was very influential for the artwork. The front and back covers are taken from NASA photographs taken from space. The catalog was showing us how fragile the planet we lived on really was. It was just a really fascinating reference point for us when we were making the record, and it’s something that we continually turn to."
Aside from putting out this EP, the band are looking forward to getting out on the road for their own headline tour after they wrap up festival season at Krug Island.
"I really can’t wait!" he says with an infectious zest for life."Festivals are amazing and they’re very rewarding in the sense that you get to play to not only your own audience, but to new fans, and there’s a challenge that comes with that. But your own tour, that’s your own chance to deliver the record in the way in which it was conceived," enthuses the singer.
"We’ll be playing everything off the album. We like to change the set lists around a lot. Depending on what night of the tour you come to, you’ll be hearing different sides of the record. I really can’t wait. There’s gonna’ be visual elements to the show too, which I get really excited about. It’s always been incredibly important to us to present a spectacle of some kind. When you go to a show, all your senses are being engaged with, and I think that’s what excites me about making it special."
Another band who've famously put on spectacular live shows are The Maccabees who Blaine respects massively. With the recent sad news of the Elephant & Castle-based band parting ways, Blaine poured out his heart in an online ‘love letter’ to Hugo and co, so I ask him what they admire.
"We’ve made records because it’s what we do, it’s what we’ve always done and it’s what we’ve wanted to do since we were kids and the same thing applies to The Maccabees," he says. This sense of independence has meant Mystery Jets like The Maccabees have thrived irrespective of the music industry's experimental and challenging condition.
"I can’t remember what Alex Turner said before he dropped his mic at the Brits, but he said, you know, rock and roll will never die. It sort of goes underground for a while and then it crashes back through the ceiling. And I agree with that, I think there’ll always be a place for it. As a songwriter what you’ve got to do is just absorb, put yourself in environments, take things from them and give back through the songs that you write. I feel as passionate about that now as I ever have."
Mystery Kets play Krug Island Festival on 1 September. More information here
