The Joyformidable Interview

Welsh rock trio The Joy Formidable show no sign of slowing down in 2013 with the release of their second album Wolf’s Law and an extensive UK tour, culminating in their largest London headline show at the Roundhouse. Before they set off we catch up with lead singer Ritzy to talk about the new album, how the band is environmentally aware and why she would want to be a possum.

You recorded your new album in a remote log cabin in Portland, Maine, what did that experience bring to the songs?

I think creatively we needed it. We love being on the road, we write a lot on the road but what we need at some point is some time to reflect on everything we have been writing. I think it gives us a really isolated solitude in nature, it was just a perfect place to reflect on what we have been writing over the course of the year. To reflect on where we were at, give us a chance to reconnect with ourselves in different ways, just a bit of space to lose yourself and become completely consumed by making a record.

What can fans of the first album expect from the follow up?

It’s intricate, beautiful. There’s a lot of range on the new album, from the orchestral to the intimate so there is a range of dynamics and a breath of instrumentation but ultimately, it’s a different Joy Formidable record. I think it’s just very natural for us to come out with a follow up that’s different. We always want to be brave in terms of the writing and moving this band forward creatively. It’s definitely different but it has all the same passion and intent and the voice that’s synonymous with the Joy Formidable.

As a band you are environmentally aware, what changes have you made to become more environmentally friendly?

I think obviously, it’s always been something we are connected with but it’s been spurred by us being in this setting and being very close to nature in the middle of nowhere. We don’t want to lose our connection with the natural world.

I’m a big believer in people power, it’s all about tiny steps and what people can bring to the table. As long as people have optimism and they question, they have a social responsibility what ever that is. I think its all the small gestures added up that can make a hell of a lot more difference than governments and companies. It’s something that we have always been interested in, a gesture as small as printing your album box  on recycled paper, we’ve got a tree certificate in each of the box sets as well, that means there is a tree planted for every box set that’s bought. If everybody did lots of tiny gestures like that then it can have an impact. 

You have supported some great acts, how does doing a support show with someone else’s audience compare to your own shows?

The approach never changes, I think that’s the main thing. Whether we are playing to our fan base or a handful of people I don’t think we change the show or the approach or the energy. I like a mixture of both, I like the challenge of playing to a completely new audience, of introducing them to something different. Especially at the end of last year, we had a foot on both holes as we were doing the arena tour with Muse and doing some smaller shows, it’s good just to get the variety. I think ultimately nothing is better than playing to your own fan base, we what we do as a band doesn’t change depending on the setting or who is there. 

As a band you have a likeness for nature and animals, if you could be any animal what would it be and why?

I think I would have quite liked to be the possum that came to our door in Portland, Maine every single day at 7pm. He had cottoned on that I would feed him and he was a pretty little possum. I don’t know how anybody could consider an animal vermin but they are considered vermin but they are such clever animals, they can actually play dead, which I think is just genius.

As a band you are very involved with the technical side of things, if you couldn’t have complete creative control would you still want to do music?

I think, you have to call it on what seems right at the time, we had a very clear musical direction for this album. We knew exactly what we wanted sonically, we absolutely wanted to be at the helm of the production, even things down to the scoring of the strings and composition. We knew exactly how we wanted things to sound and how we wanted things to be. At each new juncture you weigh it up, it definitely felt like, with this record, we wanted to be at the helm of production. I think if the right collaboration came through, you had worked together and sussed each other out. The doors not closed on working with everybody else, we had an absolutely great time with Andy Wallace who mixed the record, artistically, critically he’s been one of the finest persons we have ever worked with. It’s been so exciting to see how he can move the sound along, he opened up some of the tracks, we hadn’t previously thought he could. I think it just depends on the collaboration, we have been a fan of his records for a long time and we spent quite a while getting to know him and showing early demos, it kind of grew over a period of time.

Published in Yorkshire Evening Post