Catfish And The Bottlemen Interview

If there’s one band we should be grateful for in 2015, it’s Catfish And The Bottlemen. With a retro sound, gritty guitar skills and catchy choruses, they are a fresh yet nostalgic breath of fresh air. Made up of Van, Benji, Bob and Bondy, their sound is reminiscent of The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and Oasis, and we reckon they have a realistic chance of emulating their success. Speaking to us from his Chester cottage, frontman, Van McCann, explains their simple goal, and talks us through the random experiences and highlights of the past year.

The lads in Catfish And The Bottlemen are often described as a Llandudno guitar band, but with origins as far north as Newcastle, you could argue it was more than just a coincidence that they all found themselves in the coastal Welsh town.

“I’m from Widness, just outside of Liverpool, Bondy’s from Newcastle, and our drummer’s from Sheffield. We all moved to Llandudno when we were kids and our bass player, Benji, was there. Me and Ben met in school, and our drummer lived next door to me but I never knew about it until I found out from our producer, and Bondy only joined abut seven months ago.”

It’s easy to want to make comparisons between CATB and other bands. Agreeing that they’re influenced by the music they’ve grown up listening to, Van insists that they’re not interested in doing something revolutionary or “weird”, but simply what people are missing from music nowadays – “a band that plays straight up rock and roll, with honest lyrics and make people go crazy again.” He continues, “I don’t think there’s been a band for ages that can give five albums, play stadiums and people can invest in.”

He references one of their Twitter followers to sum it up all up: “Catfish And The Bottlemen aren’t here to reinvent the wheel, they’re here to show us how good the wheel is.”

They set that wheel turning last year when they completed a sell-out UK tour, US tour, and released debut album ‘The Balcony’ to raucous applause from anyone awaiting good, solid, no-fuss music. All of these achievements, however, are eclipsed by what Van describes as a big highlight.

“Our song got on FIFA –I love that game and I’ve played it since I was a kid. I know it’s not a big one, but it’s a big one for me – getting on a football game knowing that all the kids that used to hate us are going to buy it and it’s gonna do their heads in!”

On the subject of highlights, 2015 has already kicked off with the boys making their debut US television performance on the Late Show With David Letterman. Taking the performance in their stride, Van explains that they did their job, headed backstage, and were talking to their manager when a certain acting legend introduced himself.

“Bill Murray walked in going “Alright guys, what are you up to?” He just walked in off the street and then literally just walked back out. It was weird.”

If one Hollywood star wasn’t enough, we also heard on the grapevine that the band had a bit of a jam with Ewan McGregor. A self-confessed fan of the Scottish actor, Van jokes that he’s always jamming with him – “assume that’s what I do in my spare time because it will make me look cool” – and then coyly explains what really happened (it’s just as awesome).

‘We did a song together, but not a jam, we were just chilling. He took us for breakfast and we went up to the girls at the counter and said “We’re meeting someone”, she goes “Have you got a name?” and I was like, “Ewan McGregor” and she said, “Oh yeah, he’s over there.” He looked back over his seat and waved us over. We kind of just hovered over like in films when the camera just goes closer to his face. He was awesome! He’s the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”

The excitement continues in January for CATB as they head Down Under for their debut Australian tour. Not only are they supporting The Kooks, they also have their own headline shows at Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory and The HiFi in Melbourne. No stranger to the country, Van spent the first “two-ish” years of his life travelling with his parents, and it’s had a great impact on his life and the band.

“[Australia] is where the band’s name came from – Catfish And The Bottlemen was a busker. It’s going to be nice to be able to ring my dad and tell him I’m playing in Australia because he ran off there with my mum and fell in love with her, so he’s got a home there so I feel like I have as well.”

Travelling Australia at such a young age, we can hardly be surprised when Van tells us he doesn’t remember much of it, but when he reveals his disinterest in seeing the sights, his explanation is just as humble as you’d expect.

“The rest of the band are the ones that go see the Hollywood sign and climb the Empire State Building. When I’m not singing, I just smoke and listen to music. I don’t really do much, I just love playing the gigs and walking around meeting people. I love my life, so I don’t really need to look elsewhere.”

Catfish And The Bottlemen will be touring Australia 17th – 25th January. Dates and venue info here.

Watch Catfish And The Bottlemen ‘Pacifier’

By Charlotte Mellor
@cmellor_03