It’s been a busy week for Peace. In the midst of a UK tour, their second album Happy People dropped to favourable reviews and commercial success. Debuting in the top five, their second LP takes a step back from the personal and introspective nature of their debut and tackles issues such as gender stereotyping, greed, the recession and the anxiety of Generation Y - in a way that’s refreshingly bold, but still unmistakably Peace.
Gigwise caught up with frontman Harry Koisser to talk fans, new music and the hopeful return of indie music to the mainstream.
We reviewed your gig at Heaven on Monday. It’s amazing to see how much bigger and intense your fanbase has got in such a short amount of time. Why do you think you inspire such a reaction from fans?
"I’d say our music’s quite unsubtle. You know, with the choruses and the big bits and we’re quite dynamic and loud where we need to be. Our music’s quite exciting. I think there’s also the fact that we’re something our fans can believe in and want to come to the shows and see. We were going to gigs when we were younger and we’re from small towns and it was a long process of getting good and playing around, so I think our story’s something that people believe in that’s quite real and people wanna come to the shows and go for it."
.jpg)
Photo: Gigwise/Richard Gray
What do you think Peace fans expect from you?
"I always find it describe because I’m always on stage. But there’s always a lot of people who are shouting every word and really enjoying it and really connecting. After the Heaven show someone said it was an “experience”… they said “your shows aren’t a gig, they’re more like a club”. I think we have more of a club atmosphere, more of a night out, you know what I mean? Like, it’s a big deal for all of our fans. It’s kind of it’s a big one. Everyone’s giving it the big one the whole time."
Yeah, your fans seem pretty dedicated. What is the strangest gift you've got from fan?
"Yesterday someone actually gave me their CV. They were like “will you take my CV?” and I was like “Well, I’m not really hiring but I will”. So I’ve got it in my bag. Eight or nine GCSEs. Good lad. That has to be the strangest thing I’ve ever been given. I like it though."
You're now one of the more successful indie bands around - but what do you make of Serge from Kasabian's comments that there's not enough rock n' roll at the BRIT Awards, and that it's a 'conspiracy' against working class rock?
"I’m not sure it’s a ‘conspiracy’ against working class rock. I dunno whether there is that kind of evil lurking in the industry but basically the last few years have been very focused on solo performers and electronic music, but I think that’s just because that’s the way life went and it all comes in circles. And I think all that stuff is very popular because in the comedown of indie music in 2002-2008 or 2009, there were loads of bands. It got saturated and it was hard to tell what was good and what was shit and then I guess there’s been a few years of the opposite thing really.
"There’ll always be popstars but I think [indie music] went out of fashion, but it’s coming back now because there are quality bands out there that are doing good things. Next year there’ll be more bands. I think it’s a bit annoying. It’s a bit frustrating because by definition you’re exclude from being up for a BRIT or being invited to the BRITS because you’re a band, but it’ll turn around again. We’re in that bit like in 1990 where it started to turn; we’re starting to get some really good bands. Blink and it’ll be 1993 again. It’s coming it around again. All in good time, that’s what I say."
The Grammys were recently too. Do you think Kanye West was right to interrupt Beck on stage?
"I don’t really care. I think, was he taking the piss out of himself though? It pains me to think about it. I don’t wanna live in a world where I have to think about that. I can’t even think about it. It’s damaging my soul trying to. [Laughs]. He’s an artist or whatever, he can do what he wants."
Would you say the experience of seeing Peace live may have changed in the last couple of years?
It’s changed and it’s got better and bigger. We have more cool stuff now. But, I think the idea’s always the same. We were always about making a big sound. I think it was like 2010 when all the bands we were playing with were very underground-y or US garage-y or tambourine stuff or witch house chill wave, you know what I mean? Nothing was very loud and dynamic and I remember playing on these bills and someone, ironically from the label that eventually signed us, being like “yeah, you’re just too loud. You’re trying to make too much impact. It just doesn’t work”, but then someone else was like “it’s good, you’re trying to make a big thing.” We just wanted to be loud basically because we were brats playing in our mum’s garage, playing as loud as you can to piss off your parents. Now it’s become this bigger thing where we can become more powerful.
You’re big fans of vintage clothes and music memorabilia Mr Tees Rock Shop - but, what's the worst thing you've ever bought on tour?
"I bought two swords on the last tour. Real ones, which was a real bad idea. It was in December, when we toured the UK. Basically there was a second door to our bus, which was an emergency door, and one day the bus driver – he’s a legend. He’s called Don and he’s been driving One Direction for years and he’s got all these stories but he’s really scary. You just didn’t want to get on the wrong side of him… I had these swords leant up against the fire door at the back of the bus and he went round one day and opened it from the outside and both the swords hit him in the face. I didn’t see him but apparently he was going round the venue with these swords like “Whose the fuck are these swords?” like ready to battle someone. Luckily he didn’t find me. That’s the worst thing I’ve got on tour definitely."
What do you think the biggest misconception about Peace is?
"I think either that we’re 90s revivalists, which we’re not really, or that we’re really posh. But none of that’s particularly true. I mean, I speak nice and I do sound a bit 90s so… I just don’t like to brag about being from some humble beginning. I find it really annoying when some people act like they’re some working class hero. Like, you’re not a hero. Just shut up. I don’t wanna brag about that kinda stuff because you get out of it and you don’t wanna think about it. I always found it kind of horrible growing up like that so I don’t even wanna think about it."
New song 'I’m A Girl' speaks of gender inequality and was inspired by Emma Watson’s 'He For She' speech – what question would you ask Emma Watson and what do you admire about her?
"I think it’s partly inspired by that. I think I’d ask how she went from the world she’s in, and I guess the world we’re in a little too, like ‘showbiz’ or whatever. It’s easy to get like sucked into the side of it that’s staring in at itself and living in that world, but what made her turn out of it and go ‘no, I’m gonna do something good with it’? Because that’s something that interests me as well, and I’m not really sure how to do it, or at what point you speak up or how loud your voice have to be before you start shouting. It’s an interesting one and I’d like to know more about that, and what it was that made her step up and go ‘no, I am gonna use this’. I’d like to know what her story was to use her power for good. It’s kinda the whole power-responsibility thing.
Would you describe it as a ‘feminist’ song?
"I guess it could be, yeah. I always like the idea of singing the end of the chorus, you know ‘I’m a girl’ as a statement of solidarity. I don’t think it’s entirely [a feminist song] but I guess it is as well. That’s the beautiful thing about any song and any piece of art that it can be interpreted in many ways, and that’s definitely one way you could interpret it. There are parts of the song that are really about more being a guy and the way it feels to not dress like a guy or feel like a guy. It’s a multi-faceted piece of writing. Someone said it was a ‘feminist anthem’ and I think that’s cool. I don’t mind. I think it should be."
.jpg)
Photo: Gigwise/Richard Gray
With the album in general, it’s quite different from the first in the way that it’s not so much centralised on personal experience…
"Yeah, it’s not really that much at all. I think the album’s quite confused but I think that’s the personal thing about it for me. I’m confused about everything in life. And I think when I have a bit of clarity and when I understand a things a bit, I’ll grow up a bit and the next album will be a bit more direct and have more impact rather than sit from an observant angle. I’m only being honest. I think I’d be lying if I went out and tried to change everything and speak up about everything because I’m not that clued up. I’ll be the first to admit that."
Do you feel as if you had anything to prove with this album?
"I think the only pressure I put myself under was to not write another version of the first album because that wasn’t the situation I was living in anymore and that wasn’t the way I felt anymore. So to write another album of love songs and party songs and having fun songs would be really dishonest. But I wanted it to still be like Peace but I wanted it to be as honest as the first album, which also meant that it couldn’t be the same themes as the first record. That’s the only pressure I had, to not regurgitate the second album in a different form."
How would you like to be remembered?
"That’s an interesting one actually. Oh god. I quite like it when people are like ‘oh, they could’ve just done it, could’ve just changed everything’. Or got so close. Because it’s a bit boring if you did everything and changed the way everything works and changed the entire world for the better. I think it’d be more interesting if it was like ‘oh, he was just on the cusp of it’ and then I got struck by lightning of fell of a…whatever. Got this close. That’s how I wanna be remembered."
Happy People by Peace is out now
Peace's upcoming tour dates are below. For tickets and more information, visit here.
Thurs March 5th, Newcastle Cluny
Thurs March 12th, Manchester Deaf Institute
Tues March 17th, Glasgow King Tuts
Fri March 20th, Dublin Whelan’s
Thurs March 26th, Brighton The Haunt
.jpg)
