Get Loaded In The Park 2011: Los Campesinos! Interview

Gigwise continues the countdown to this year's Get Loaded In The Park festival in London with an exclusive interview with Los Campesinos!.

Here the band chat about their new album, what they like and don't like about touring, and their plans for the rest of the year.

You just completed recording for a new album. Is it a major departure from your previous work, or the next logical (if logic can be applied) step for the band?

“I think with all our work to date it's been clear how we've improved as musicians and song-writers each step of the way. I think this is probably the biggest leap to date, in those terms. The line-up that we have now leaves us the most accomplished we've ever been, and I think that really comes across in the compositions. I'd say what we've just recorded in the studio is our most patient and triumphant record so far.”

Do you feel you feel more together after the recording process is done, or are you all sick of each other by the end?

“I'd certainly say that this recording experience brought us together even closer than ever. It's certainly the most enjoyable recording experience I have ever had, personally. We recorded in idyllic surroundings in Spain, which doubtless helped our collective mood.”

You make your own fanzine, Heat Rash. How important to you is it to foster a sense of community with you fans?

“I'm not sure if 'important' is the right word. Ultimately, I feel our reasons for cultivating this community are selfish, because it's simply a very enjoyable atmosphere to create and exist in. There's something very uncomfortable for me about the notion of 'fandom', and a hierarchy between band and spectator, and in communicating with people who like our band as directly as possible, I hope this barrier becomes as small as possible. Plus, you make friends that way.”

Did you read fanzines growing up. If so who by?

“In all honesty, not really. Living a rather isolated existence in a small town meant things such as 'zines weren't really apparent to me. It wasn't until my late teens when I made some important new friends that this whole world was opened up to me.”

You have a pretty large line up, does that make the group dynamic more intense when touring, or does it make things easier to deal with?

“I'd say easier, but crucially, we've never known any different, so perhaps touring in a 3 piece band would be bliss comparatively. There being 8 of us (plus whoever else we're touring with) means there are plenty of your mates to chat to, and if, as often happens, one of them starts to annoy you, there are plenty of others to chat to in order to keep out of their way.”

Your songs are fairly frantic, normally there’s hooks and ideas flying about all overthe place? As a group of people are you anywhere near as chaotic?

“I really don't think so. The most frustrating and difficult request to answer in interviews is frequently 'tell us a crazy story about being on tour' or something along those lines. It's then where we're most reminded that we're essentially very dull, normal people. I mean, I care about little more than drinking good beer and watching football with me pals. We're a very sedate bunch, I'd say. Extremely polite, too.”

Your last album was titled Romance is Boring, is there any aspect of being in a band that bores you? (Don’t say interviews)

“There's plenty of waiting around. Be it at airports or soundchecks or for the awful local support band to finish before we play our set. There are lots of frustrating elements,rather than boring ones. We get to tour the world and visit all these incredible places, but we generally see absolutely nothing, because our time spent in these new cities is so fleeting. It's very sad in that respect.”

Yours lyrics are often self deprecating in their humour, do you still feel like an underdog band in some ways?

“I think we're enjoying ourselves too much most of the time to give much thought to how we're perceived or where we see ourselves within The Music Scene. I think we're 8 terrible people who come together to make an exceptional band.”

What are your summer plans?

“Festivals. Read more. Find something to replace the massive hole that's within me without a 'major' international football tournament to fill it. Ideally a babe.”

Get Loaded In The Park takes place at Clapham Common on June 12 and will be headlined by Razorlight. For more information, check out the Gigwise Festival Guide.

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