Everything Everything Interview

After the release of their debut album in 2010, British Alt-Rock group Everything Everything have been developing their music at every corner to create that unmatchable sound they seem content with today. After the release of their second album, ‘Arc’, earlier in 2013, the band were cemented as one of the most innovative bands of recent times. BBMLive caught up with band members Jonathan Higgs and Jeremy Pritchard to discuss humble beginnings, musical influences and their evolving sound.

Hi Jonathan and Jeremy. How are you?

Not bad thanks.

Where in the world are you right now?

We’re all at home, which is quite rare. We’ve been touring pretty much all of this year.

If you can, take us right back to the beginning and tell us how did Everything Everything form?

I (Jeremy) met Jonathan at university in Salford, we played in various bands together there. He brought in two friends from school in Northumberland that he’d played with for years. Alex we knew from another band on the sort of new bands circuit at the time, and he joined about two years in when our guitarist left.

You’ve listed Radiohead as one of your biggest influences, can you pinpoint the effect Radiohead has had on your musical style?

Radiohead is pretty fundamental for us, like The Beatles. They influenced us in terms of writing, playing and production, of course, but probably more importantly their ever-evolving approach has influenced us. That desire to keep shifting, in the way that The Beatles did too.

Would you consider collaborating with them? Perhaps Radiohead would be up for a remix entitled ‘Everything Everything In Its Right Place’?

Yes we would, and no they wouldn’t!

You say you wish to avoid the clichés expected of ‘white men with guitars from Manchester’. How would you describe this cliché and what have you done to escape it?

For whatever reason, as far as national media was concerned the Stone Roses/Oasis blueprint circa 89-95 became the thing that overshadowed everything else that happened in Manchester until Elbow won the Mercury in 2008. It was mostly just laziness on the part of the press but for a long time nothing really cut through that stereotype. We seemed to coincide with a few other bands and gig promoters that also loved the real diversity in the city’s musical heritage – Buzzcocks, Joy Division, The Fall, The Smiths, New Order, Stone Roses, Oasis, Doves, Elbow – none of those bands sound alike. We wanted to carry that sense of newness forward, to do something different. So did Dutch Uncles, Egyptian Hip Hop and Delphic, it turned out!

How do you feel about being compared to artists such as XTC, Wild Beasts and Django Django?

Good. There are certain shared attitudes there I think.

Could you tell us about your new video for ‘Duet’ and the concept behind it?

It was supposed to look like volcanic fallout, to mirror the themes in the song of a collapsing world/relationship.

How did you recreate the falling ash?

It was made of recycled paper, a kind of mulch.

How has your musical style transformed over the years?

In the early days of the band we were mostly concerned with our three-part vocals, and had a much more Punky, guitar-driven sound. Over the years we’ve incorporated more synthetic sounds; drum machines, synths, effects. We also moved further into an R&B style over the course of writing for Arc and concentrated more on song-craft than we used to.

Which song do you enjoy performing together the most?

We probably all have different ones, but I know ‘Don’t Try’ and ‘Kemosabe’ usually feel good for everybody. Sometimes quieter, moodier songs like ‘Two for Nero’ can raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

You’ve got a great list of festival performances lined-up this summer including Benicassim and Latitude. Were you avid festival-goers before having your own place on stage?

Yeah we all did the festivals in our youth, at least when we could afford it! I went to Leeds several times and always enjoyed the riot on the Sunday night.

Which festivals would you recommend for 2013?

There’s a lot of quality festivals these days. Obviously Glastonbury is still the king, but I think I’d recommend a very new one, called ‘No. 6’, which is located in Portmerion in wales.

You’ve supported great bands such as Snow Patrol and Muse. Who has been your favourite band to perform alongside so far?

We enjoyed those arena tours a lot. I think our favourite band we’ve played with has been Interpol.

Who would you like to tour with in the future?

Arcade Fire

Do you have a ‘dream venue’ or fantasise about touring in a particular part of the world?

South America sounds like it would be totally unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. I’d love to try it.

Are there any new artists out there at the moment that we should keep an eye out for?

There’s a new band in Manchester called Money who are coming up fast and are really good.

By Daisy Savage

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