Man Like Me Interview

North London duo Johnny Langer and Peter Duffy make up the infectious and varied sounds of Man Like Me. Having met at school and bonded over a mutual love of weed and Tricky, the pair have since brought us singles such as London Town, Carny and Lovestruck – not to mention giving Ikea a hand on their advert with 80?s singer Jona Lewie with ‘You will always find me in the kitchen at parties.’ They’re back with their new single Peculiar which is typical Man Like Me stuff with their 80’s sounding vocals and rhythmic explosion of beats. We recently gave Johnny a bell whilst he was out shopping for an outfit for a gig to find out what Man Like Me have been up to.

Hi Johnny, how are you?
J: I’m very well, how are you?

I’m alright thanks. So are you looking forward to tonight’s gig?
J: Um, yeah. It’s a bit stressful, sorting out your own one, changing things a little bit. Bit like throwing your own party.

Stressful?
J: A little bit

What was your first thought when you woke up this morning?
J: I opened my computer straight away, and saw that Steve Jobs had died which was a bit of a shock, and I kind of thought, you know, the question really should be would I be making music if it wasn’t for him -I can’t really play an instrument or anything but everything I’ve ever written has been on macs.

How’s the tour been going because you’ve been playing quite a lot recently, haven’t you?
J: It’s been good, we haven’t really done the sort of, intensive, every single day, first thing, last thing for a couple of weeks but I’m kind of looking forward to it, just kind of takes your mind off regular life, you know, get on the road basically.

What’s a regular day for you?
J: Depends. I’ve got a day job I’ve had since I was about 15, and if I’m not doing that then I’m away or doing a gig.

What did you get up to over summer?
J: We just played loads and loads of festivals, kind of every weekend we were jumping in the car, to other countries.

Which was your favourite one?
J: We had a really wicked one in Portugal, it was amazing. They do things a bit differently, not better, just more chilled out, a lot more relaxing than being in a field.

Have you got any plans to go abroad again soon?
J: We’re playing in Venice in two or three weeks, it’s definitely the highlight, going abroad.

Have you got any plans to go to Australia?
J: Not at the moment, but it’s always somewhere I’d like to play. We’ve done America, Europe and South Africa, but we’ve never been over that way. But Australia and Japan are kind of the two places I want to get to.

What’s the funniest thing whilst on the road?
J: Oh fuck. I really can’t think. Loads of things, but my mind’s a blank.

You always include an element of humour in your music, why is that?
J: I don’t know, I didn’t really sort of pre-plan it; it just kind of comes out. I think it’s important that it doesn’t get too serious.

Is the humour a reflection of yourself?
J: Yeah, I suppose it must be. I don’t even try and think about it too much – I don’t really think about what comes out, I wake up that day, and whatever comes out, it’s a reflection of yourself. If you’re, doing really well, and you’re enjoying your love life then nothing really comes out but when it all goes to shit that’s when the juices start flowing.

What are you listening to at the moment?
J: Van Morrison

What did you listen to growing up?
J: A lot of Drum n Bass, One Nation.

Where are your influences from?
J: Across the board we’ve always played any types of music, not just one genre.

How did the IKEA kitchen song collaboration come about?
J: We were out in Croatia, doing a festival there. Ikea had said they needed a band for an advert and we went down to this thing that I thought it was like, ‘you got the job’, but there was loads of people and we had to go in and perform it in like an X-Factor, judges style. It was just like ‘what are we doing, what have we put ourselves up for?’ We just kind of went in, and we were so nervous we couldn’t do the song: they had to send us out of the room. They brought us back in, and we did it pretty terribly I thought, but three days later they were sending us out to do the advert so it was pretty good really.

So you were happy with the end result?
J: Yeah, it wasn’t too bad, I thought, and it was a really good gig too, really fun.

Ok Johnny, It’s time for the quick fire round of questions, they’re a bit silly, because we’re a bit silly.
J: Okay
What colour is Monday?
J: Blue
Do you play Golf?
J: No
If your house was on fire what would you save?
J: Mum
Have you ever fallen in a ditch?
J: No, but Pete did. It was quite funny.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve woken up?
J: Charity shop – I got locked in when I was shopping.
What’s the best thing you can cook?
J: Cereal
Where are you?
J: In a charity shop, actually. Trying to find some clothes for tonight.

By Hannah Shakir