FiRST CLASS RETURN: iLiKETRAiNS

The South by Southwest festival is justly regarded as one of the most important dates in the music calendar. Hordes and hordes of bands descend on Austin, Texas, all seeking that memorable gig that will establish them in the minds and hearts of the assembled throng of movers and shakers from the record industry.  However, as iLiKETRAiNS front man Dave Martin explains, the event was memorable for the Leeds five piece for rather different reasons, painting a picture that is more Carry On farce than any rock n roll excess.

“The over riding thing about South By Southwest was stress! We had a fairly hairy landing in Chicago, our jumbo jet just went down, there was stuff going all over the place, there was sparks, it turned us all into nervous wrecks. Then we missed our connecting flight and it was touch and go as to whether we’d even make it to the gig. We just about made it and then we had a problem with the pedals, as the American transformers didn’t react well to our stuff. And we use the pedals a lot for our sound. We actually went down surprisingly well, even though we weren’t happy with the sound.”

That wasn’t the end of the problems for the band though, with more joys to be experienced on the return trip home. With a rather ironic tone in his voice Dave describes the next calamity that struck. “After the gig we hung around for a few days, got drunk. Saw some bands, Annuals and 120 Days stick in my mind. Then on the way back the flight was cancelled and we had to get a different one. Then they lost our luggage, which was our guitars and gear. They did find it a few days later.” Dryly, Dave insists that “Despite that it was fun.”

Transportation problems aside, there can be no doubt the omens look bright for iLiKETRAiNS. Their brand of sweeping, epic, doom laden post rock has won them many admirers and also made them stand out from the majority of identikit bands, with Martin’s voice and lyrics in particular adding a quality to the band’s work, spinning dark tales of various historical figures such as Captain Scott and chess champion Bobby Fischer. The latest individual that the band focused on Spencer Perceval, a man who holds the unfortunate distinction of being the only British Prime Minister ever assassinated. iLiKETRAiNS take on this event is a sprawling nine minute long behemoth that builds and builds to a shuddering finale, written from the perspective of  Perceval‘s murderer. Flip side ‘I Am Murdered’ presents the events from Perceval’s viewpoint. Dave gives a fairly straightforward answer when asked why they wrote about Perceval, stating that he felt it was: “An interesting event, especially the motives of what draws you to assassinate a PM! It is not a widely known story and is quite tragic in that two men lost their lives through a lack of communication.”

One thing that Dave stresses is the research the band put into their songs, pointing out the band “always read about the person before writing the song”. He further elaborates, saying that “we’ve researched everything, it’s interesting the bias you find historically. Perceval wasn’t a particularly popular PM but it wasn’t an easy job as there was war with France and Spain, King George III was going mad. There’s two sides to every story. It’s a challenge to write about something from both views, that’s why we do it!”

The band’s methodical approach to researching and writing songs expands to their overall sound as well. Rather than rush through track after it is clear that crafting songs is something iLiKETRAiNS take seriously, even if this means taking their time. Dave explains that the band’s songs normally start with “a concept from one of us, then Guy [Bannister, the band’s guitarist and keyboards player] or I will take it away and work on it.” Dave normally takes responsibility for the band’s lyrics, adding with a laugh that happens because: “Other people seem to find it difficult to put words in my mouth!” From there, the process goes back to being a collaborative effort.