It’s been 4 years in the making but now Keane are finally
ready to release their fifth album Strangeland.
Having first found success eight years ago the band has battled through singer
Tom Chaplin’s early drug problems whilst consistently producing number 1
albums. Newest member Jessie Quin spoke to us about his favourite track on the
latest album and fitting into an already established band.
What’s your favourite
track on the new album?
Oh that’s a tricky one, I think my favourite track is Black Rain. It’s a bit of a weird one,
we nearly didn’t put it on the album actually, it’s very dark and ominous. It’s
one of the ones that we finished later in the album because the ones that you
have been working on the most you sort off….well you want to hear something new
after a while. To everyone else it’s a new album but we have been working on it
for 4 years.
You weren’t keen on
giving yourself any deadlines for this album, how did that help the process?
I think the most important thing was getting the songs right
before we started recording. Poor Tim (Rice-Oxley) basically worked his socks
off until he had written 100 songs or something, until we felt there was definitely
everything that we needed. But when we actually went into the studio it took us
a year to record it. We just wanted to make something that was absolutely brilliant.
It’s very easy to say we wanted to make the best album we
could, lots of people say that, but to make an album that you really love yourself
and want to listen to is actually quite a rare thing. It’s often the case for a
lot of bands going in that first you do the drums, then you do the bass and
guitars or whatever and you are just ticking boxes but to make something that
you are really engaged with and really love takes time. But I think it’s paid
off.
How do you know when
a songs finished and not to keep adding more sounds to it?
That’s a very good question as you can go on tinkering
forever really. I think Brian Wilson took 20 years or something to finish Smile. I think a big part of it is
making sure it’s going in the right direction in the first place. We rehearsed
the songs before we recorded them and worked out different ways of playing
them. There are a couple of songs, one song in particular that isn’t on the
album in any way which is called Higher Than
the Sun which is absolutely brilliant but we didn’t feel like we captured
it properly yet so we will go on tinkering with it. The rest of the time I
guess you just reach a point where if everyone thinks it sounds brilliant and
no ones got any more ideas to try then you have to just put it to bed.
After the huge success
of the previous albums do you feel under pressure to match that?
It’s quite strange when you are in the studio and there is
just a few of you in there, you don’t completely forget about the outside world
but you are so focused on making something that you’re proud of. I think all of
us feel that’s where the pressure lies because if you think you would almost
feel ashamed if you did something because you felt pressure for it to be a commercial
success, if you did something and just tried to make it commercial, you are
asking for trouble. If you make something and you are putting pressure on
yourself to make it amazing then you can just put it out in the world and if people
like it it’s brilliant. No one was nervous that it wouldn’t be as big as the
other albums, we just want to make something great.
What’s the key to the
success of Keane?
There are a few different factors, it sounds like an
arrogant thing to say but we do work really hard, we work really hard on the
music and whether it’s peoples taste is another matter but we absolutely do our
best, we don’t rest on our laurels or anything and I think that’s a big part of
it. Also having a really brilliant singer definitely helps, having a really
great label helps. I think a lot of great bands fall by the wayside just
because they don’t get the support they need from people and we are very lucky
with that.
How do you deal with
disagreements within the band?
There are different kinds of disagreements I suppose,
sometimes you have a personal disagreement with someone and you sort it out
between you, usually they are sorted out pretty quickly. If it’s something to
do with the business side of the band, an artistic decision, then we sit down
and discuss it, its always very civilised.
I can think of a couple of occasions where Tim and I have
fallen out epically while stumbling around Tokyo at 4 o’clock in the morning,
can’t find our hotel, out drinking all night and start arguing about which Paul
Simon album is the best nearly in a fist fight.
How was it fitting
into the band partway through?
It was really easy actually. From the first gig that I
played with Keane, I just played one song with them, which was ‘Under Pressure’
at the War Child show they curated at Brixton Academy. It wasn’t like the tour
manager came up and said ok can you just wait in the crew room or wait in
catering, they said oh yeah come and sit in our dressing room and we all
chatted and chewed the fat and got on well. As soon as we started working
together, I think partly because I am so rude and obnoxious, I broke the ice
pretty quickly. They are such lovely chaps its hard not to get on.
The band has worked
with War Child and Make Poverty History, is it important for the band to be
involved with different charities?
I think it’s very important. It’s easy to forget, whether
you are in a successful band or cleaning the streets, whatever job you do, we
are in one of the most affluent parts of the world and we are incredibly lucky.
If you don’t try and help your fellow man then there’s something pretty
seriously wrong with you I think. So we try and get involved as much as
possible.
What is your tour bus
essential?
Earplugs are always essential, our management representative
slash assistant who always comes on the road with us sometime screams in the
night which can be pretty terrifying.
What else can we
except from Keane this year?
Well that depends on whether anybody buys this album but
hopefully we will keep making them. Tim’s already writing the next one before
this one is already released which is quite reassuring and it sounds brilliant.
Plenty of touring with this album and then probably straight back into the
studio for another.
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