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School truancy rates may be on the increase but if it wasn’t for bunking P.E. and English it is hard to see how South-Of-London’s hippest foursome, Battle, would have found the time to ‘adapt’ to their instruments. If such time were unfound, the alternative music world would sadly lack a very promising band with bags of Morrissey-type lyrics and Cure-esque rifferage, all crammed into beautifully constructed songs worthy of nation domination. But luckily front man Jason Bavanandan and co did bunk P.E. and English. Thus let Battle commence…
Gigwise meets one half of Battle in guitarist Jamie and bassist Tim right bang in the middle of their biggest slash longest headlining tour to date. Months away from the release of their as yet untitled debut album, both interviewees are in good spirits ahead of tonight’s all-important London show. Looking back on the school-bunking experiences, which help form the band you’ll know and love very soon, Jamie revealed, “Jason and I favoured missing Games the most. We’d make up silly excuses and go back to my flat to practice until my parents came home.”
Battle’s past singles ‘Isabelle’ and ‘Tendency’ as well as the brand spanking new ‘Children’ sees them follow unconventional paths within the song’s narratives. Just when you fasten your seatbelt for a spillage of guitar picking madness, a trickle of melodic keys kick in, creating an extremely unpredictable sound. Tim simply says, “We think the songs go where they want to go and everything should have its own personality. The songs go off in different directions because when we arrange them we use a bunch of different structures and orders.” This eclectic mixture of variety within the Battle sound is what sets them away from the other Next Big Things of today.
But what do Battle think about such acts emerging at the moment? “I quite like Hot Chip and I know Jason does too” tells Tim, “but in terms of The Automatic it’s just really awful, disposable pop. I don’t think it’s made with the intention of people wanting to listen to it.” Jamie adds, “Every movement has to come to a head at some point and The Automatic are just a band that are fine in the status quo until something else comes along.” So can Battle be the ones to come along and spark the next movement? “In all honestly I do think so. We’re really pleased with our album and we might not be the best band of all time but we’re very ambitious and we dissect literally everything.” Determination is certainly something this band doesn’t lack, and with such Chris Martin-type paranoia surrounding them, Battle seem to have all the necessary gear to fight their way to the top.
However, with every potentially movement-making band comes frustration. “Unless you’re a big hyped band and loads of money is thrown at you, you don’t always get the opportunity to realise all your ambitions as fully as you would want” states Jamie. The last few years have seen Battle’s attempt to break the industry turn into an almost-daily task, even to the point of name-changing the band. Tim reveals, “We practiced under The Hairdressers in the summer of 2004 but now we’re called Battle not because we’re militants or aggressive, but it reflects the idea of struggle which for us was a fair summary of what it’s been like in the last few years.” Like true fighters, at least they’re able to see the funny side of what/who they’ve come across. “It was comical at times” stresses Jamie to which Tim adds, “About two years ago we really felt we were getting good but no one was coming to see us so that was the most frustrating time. It’s immensely irritating when the machinery of the industry are trying to catch up with you, but at the same time we’re writing songs that are taking ages.”
Now after years of frustration in attempting to cut into the industry, hip-label Transgressive have the boys signed, sealed and delivery-ready. Last single ‘Tendency’ hit Top 40, but Battle remain slightly cynical about what the industry’s future holds. “It’s a business and there will always be people in it that want to make lots of money and there will always be people that go into it perverted by the amount of money”, believes Tim. This is, for Battle, where Transgressive come in. “Tim and Toby who run the label are incredible music fans. They’re not in it to make money, they’re genuinely in it for the music. Tim recently made us up a mix CD of stuff he thinks we should listen to, and I don’t think you can say that about many label bosses.”
‘You’ve got religion on your side. That’s why you tell so many lies’ cries vocalist Jason to open early Battle track ‘Demons’. Gigwise couldn’t help but wonder whom exactly is Mr Bavanandan talking to? “The thing is he’s not particularly into talking about his lyrics and that’s genuinely because he likes the listener to read into it what they will”, says Jamie. However, Tim is still more than willing to guess at what it is his band-mate’s lyrics convey. “Most of our stuff is about people deluding themselves into thinking they want something, that they’re in control when other things control them, and so maybe that line means similar things.” Such ambiguity in their lyrics is another aspect that sets this band aside from their current counterparts.
Despite constant comparisons to The Cure (even in this article’s intro!), Battle have NOT been inspired by such an act. “We’re aware of them, we’ve heard a lot of their stuff but I couldn’t really stomach listening to three of their songs in a row”, hammers in Tim. So who does float Battle’s boat then? “The Beatles, The Smiths, Radiohead and The Stone Roses are bands who we all like and own a lot of their stuff.” These are bands that’ve turned people’s heads, made people stare and welcomed them into a globe-conquering movement. With strong determination, ambition and most importantly of all, a debut album packed full of sweet strings and evocative lyrics, Battle appear prepared for their very own globe-conquering movement.
