The Subways - Out In The Open

As we arrive for the interview the band’s manager is booking a taxi. So far today The Subways – minus drummer Josh Lunn – have been all over London promoting their latest single, the acoustically romantic ‘No Goodbyes’, and they’re not finished yet. They’ve dunked their hands in cold custard on kids telly, they’ve been interviewed at MTV, and now they’re chilling out in a north London bar.

 Just back from a full-on UK tour, Billy Lunn and Mary-Charlotte Cooper sit here surprisingly fresh-faced and lively. Their secret? They’re having a ball! Ever since The Subways were first thrust into the limelight back in 2004, when Michael Eavis backed them at The Other Stage at Glastonbury, they’ve been enjoying every second.

 Since that fateful weekend they’ve played to thousands, touring with Oasis and Embrace and even guesting on famed teen drama ‘The OC’. Before Christmas they’re off to America for a whistle-stop tour – before the planned full assault next year – and they’re about to support the Stereophonics for five UK dates in Brighton, Bournemouth, Exeter, and London’s Alexandra Palace.

So how are they finding their hectic schedule? I suppose they’ll be glad for a break over Christmas? “We’re actually going to be working on our second album; I just don’t want to stop,” says frontman Billy seriously, fidgeting excitedly on the sofa all the while. “Obviously we’ll see our families – take a few days. We’ll eat lots and drink wine and stuff. But we want to keep going,” adds Charlotte, Billy’s girlfriend and the band’s bassist.

The Subways’ debut album was released in July 2005 – to mixed reviews. A hyperactive collection of melancholy indie poetry and pop-punk stabs, riddled with youthful swagger and attitude, some considered ‘Young For Eternity’ to be lacking in direction, a hit and miss affair, and suggested the experimental style was attributable to the band’s relative youth. A point The Subways are keen to address: “I think the first album was what we like to think of as diverse,” corrects Billy. “We’ve read some reviews that have said that the diversity is a bad thing. But that’s what we wanted to do,” Charlotte is equally determined to set the record straight.

 In full frontman strut, Billy continues, “We’re like, thank you for saying that, but we think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. People must think we’re confused. But personally for me being confused is important. I don’t want to be a mathematician. They think the fact that we do lots of styles means we’re not too sure what we want to do in the future. But that’s not the case. We don’t want to find a niche. I want to do things I’ve never done before. If I ‘find my niche’ it means I become part of a corporation. I don’t want to be part of a huge machine. I want to, you know, set my sails and follow the wind – go where I’ve never been before.

 “And the truth is we can go in any direction we want from there. I think the diversity will be even more pronounced on our next record,” affirms Charlotte with a nod. She wants to be taken seriously – they all do.

 Poised, yet natural, we get the feeling that the real Charlotte lies somewhere between the rock-out rock chick you may see on stage and the demure creature sitting before us. When we ask her how it feels to be made – in some cases – the centre of the band, she is blunt: “I think it’s quite worrying that the only real sexism in the music industry is from the press. They make girls feel weird for wanting to be in a band. But it’s not weird. I don’t feel any different to Billy and Josh, and I’m not treated differently. I think this sexism has to stop.”

 The Subways are a tight-knit group, having learnt to play as a band from the very beginning of their musical careers. Billy wanted to be in a band, so he invited his girlfriend and brother to join in the fun. But there’s no ego. No ‘it’s my band’ pretensions. They’re simply doing what they do best – making and performing great music. Billy may be frontman, but he’s as happy as ever to be sharing the stage with his two closest people.