The Bubble gets to grips with Mystery Jets backstage
After a short and sweet set on RockNess’s main stage we
(Melissa and I) pace it like there’s no tomorrow backstage to snag Mystery Jets
for a quick interview.
The boys released their fourth album Radlands in April with
immediately gripping lyrics (I heard there’s a place where we go to die/ It’s a
terribly overrated horse-shit shaped hole in the sky). Bassist Fish left the
group just before its release to be replaced by Pete Cochrane but speaking to
them in their ‘cosy’ portcabin leaves us with optimism for the band’s future!
What brought you all
the way to Inverness? And RockNess is not an appropriate answer…
Oh, ok…Well we heard it was quite beautiful up here, heard
there was this festival up here. And Nessy of course!
Have you ever seen a
monster?
William (to Blaine): I have to look at one every day
What do you do when
you get writer’s block?
Smash it with a sledgehammer. Break it down into smaller
manageable chunks and deal with each one at a time.
If Mystery Jets were
a colour what would it be?
A lighter shade of pale.
Where do you think
the future of popular music is going?
If I knew that I’d be a very rich man. Maybe you should ask
Simon Cowell.
Do you like Simon
Cowell?
I’ve never met him…He tried to sign us once and we said no!
If you could go back
to one era of time anywhere, where would it be?
Kapil: The 50s might be nice. (To William) Oh you’re thinking much more prehistoric, like
Stone Age. You wana ride on a brontosaurus.
William: Or maybe before dinosaurs and we’d just be
nutrients…
But you wouldn’t have
the brain to know what was going on!
Maybe that’s a good thing.
What do you think the
meaning of life is…?
I’ve got a great quote for this, a Henry Miller quote. He’s
a surrealist writer. His quote is ‘Obviously life has no meaning ‘cos it’s your
job to give it a meaning’.
-------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Mystery Jets by Sophie Ellis & Melissa Layton at RockNess Festival, 8th June 2012.
Article previously seen on The Bubble: http://www.thebubble.org.uk/music/in-the-portacabin-with-mystery-jets
She’s cute. She’s blonde. She loves Downton Abbey. The
teeny-framed Lucy Rose is finally getting the support she deserves. She’s
currently on Radio 1’s B-list
for new single ‘Lines’
and we’ll need a large abacus to count the number of festival stages she’ll
have stepped foot on by the end of this Summer. I joined her on a promenade
towards RockNess’s main stage where the Olympic torch was about to be waved and
managed to ask her a few questions along the way…
You’ve done lots of singing
and playing on YouTube, but how do you find performing on a much bigger stage?
It’s completely different. Luckily I’ve had some really good
support, some nice support slots with Noah and the Whale and Bombay Bicycle
Club. I think it’s really helped me and the band get used to not being too over-whelmed
if we are playing a big stage. Whether it’s someone’s sitting room or a huge
stage I’m just constantly a wreck of nerves.
What ‘s your favourite
item of clothing?
Ooh…I just wear comfort clothing. A jumper or some trainers.
What’s your favourite
Bombay Bicycle Club song?
Lights Out, Words Gone.
Favourite town to
play in?
Rio de Janeiro. Never played it but I’d like to.
If you could be at
one food van right now what would it be?
Ice cream van because I can’t have dairy before I sing and
now I’ve finished so I’m on a dairy binge!
What other things do
you need to do to keep your voice in shape?
Drink lots of water, sleep.
Favourite band ever?
Oh my god… Big question. Err Neil Young is probably my all
time musician.
Who are you looking
forward to seeing at RockNess purely in a physical sense?
Just ‘cos I fancy them you mean?! (laughs) Ooh God I don’t
know who’s on the bill! I’ll go with the whole of Noah and The Whale, they're a fit band.
If you could dye your
hair one colour what would it be?
Oh my god!
Black.
Why?
I think I would be funny. Imagine me with really black hair!
If I just went complete goth. A bit like Kate Nash, she’s gone all goth hasn’t
she!
Are you going to
celebrate the Olympics in any way?
I’m not a big partyer myself but I’m guna embrace it as much
as I can and be proud.
Here's Lucy Rose's single form earlier this year, Red Face.
Tonight will be a good night, I’m thinking as I slurp on the first of four Sex on the Beach cocktails at New Slang in Kingston. The DJ is playing some truly refreshing tunes - I head to a speaker to Shazam one I’m especially keen on. I feel a little put-out when the blue-tinted tablet screen staring up at me informs me ‘a match couldn’t be found’. But to my delight the music I sought to note down is coming from the fingers and lips of 24-year-old Seye (pronounced Cher).
He’s playing stripped down versions of his afro-pop songs and the few who
have turned up this early on are loving up his silky smooth voice and kittenish
demeanour. A highlight of his set is a cover of Bombay Bicycle Club’s ‘Shuffle’
– he’s really made it his own. I catch up with him afterwards…
You played a little bit of Diamonds On The Souls Of Her Shoes (Paul
Simon). You seem to be slightly influenced by him?
I’m a massive, massive fan. I’m half Nigerian, half Kenyan
but I’ve been raised in a lot of places. I’m mainly British, I’ve lived here
the most so I’ve got my English pop influences and also American pop culture
influences. But I still have the African influences as well and Graceland is
one of my top five albums of all time so he’s instilled in me and my fingers. I
love the high life guitar stuff and the way he writes. My song Two Hours
definitely harps back to that.
What about your vocal? In parts it seems to reflect what Paul Simon
does. How did you learn to sing?
At home. I’m the youngest of six kids. And my whole family
is Christian so we grew up singing songs at home all the time, anything
Christian. But we’d also perform at the local church, all eight of us with my
mum and dad like a sort of Von Trap family.
Have you had a musical education?
I played the flute for a bit from Year 6 ‘til about Year 9
but then I discovered the guitar and I was like "Yeh, See ya later!" I taught
myself. I was always singing in all the choirs at school and was in the music
department all the time. I did Music GCSE but I didn’t do it at A Level or at
university. I didn’t go to university.
What have you done since school?
I finished high school at 18. Came back here. My brother
Benga is a bass player and he’s in a band called Metronomy. I was on a gap
year. I told my folks I was guna go to uni but I wasn’t really intending to. I
was trying to wangle my way in so I was just sleeping on his couch and he was
playing bass for a guy called Jeremy Warmsley who’s now one half of Summer
Camp. He was like "Dude, I can’t do this tour, have a crack – you need to do
something! Play and see if you can do it." So I picked up the bass and I ended
up playing with him for a while and that snowballed into sessioning with loads
of people.
The biggest person who I worked with for the longest time
was a girl called Paloma Faith. I was with her for like four years. I love her.
I left her when I started doing my stuff.
When did you decide that you wanted to do your own thing?
I’d always wanted to but I didn’t know how to do it. I was
happy playing music to make money but it took a while and eventually I met the
chap who’s managing me now, a guy called Will Gresford. It’s his management
company, Triptik Management. We just reconnected. He actually played in a band
I played in a while ago and he found me on YouTube. I did a Michael Buble cover
of something and he was like "I need to get back in contact with this kid".
Where do you get your style from?
I’ve always liked to do something unusual. Not in a (puts on
American accent) "I’m just so weiiird, Oh my god I’m so alternative" way. But
it sort of irks me when I see kids dressed like manikins in TopMan. I love
TopMan, it’s one of my favourite shops in the world but I just think everybody
has their own personality. Everybody should not be afraid to pick and choose
the stuff that they like. Even if it’s like “Ooh, I really like that pink wig.”
Wear the pink wig!
Would you ever wear drag?
Yeh.
Have you ever worn drag?
No I don’t think so. I’ve worn make up. Face makeup, eyes,
eye-lashes… It was cool. It was at a weird Paloma show that we did in the Black
Gardenia. Randomly she knows loads of drag artists and we were just messing
about.
One of your songs is about Beyonce and Rihanna. Who’s your all-time
favourite celebrity babe?
Katy Perry. Big time. I don’t care about the music, I just
fancy her, man!
So if you could say anything to Russell Brand what would it be?
Two things – (a) You’re an idiot and (b) Thank You. It’s open season again!
I see you have a tattoo behind your left ear…
It’s Paloma Faith’s artwork dove. It’s a homage cos that was
my live music education. She’s got three big doves on her back.
Here's Seye's video of Mexicana Bounce. Digging it.
