Kingston-spawned trio Tubelord are part of a new breed of British indie bands – alongside Sky Larkin, Copy Haho, Calories, Johnny Foreigner, Dananananaykroyd and more – to embrace addictive melody and combine it with the most ferocious noise. It’s rock and roll, but purely for the nation’s young team: those who pin button badges to their chests with pride and clutch seven-inches after every show.
Basically, while they’re evidently talented, nobody’s going to call them math-rock any time soon.
Tubelord is Joe, Dave and Sean. To date they’ve released a handful of singles, and have a debut album on the horizon – expect it before the year is out. The band is getting their summer touring schedule off to a cracking start with a headline set at the Clash Saturday Social on July 25 – our monthly free-entry gig at the Notting Hill Arts Club, London. Click HERE for full details.
Sean answered our Live Talking questions, to give us an insight into their on-the-road habits and more…
Are you a band that records to tour, or that tours to record? Or do you not see the two as separate parts of what you do?
We’re still quite new to both, in terms of alternating between the two. At the moment we’re a ‘if we’re not recording, we should be writing, and if we’re doing neither, why the fuck aren’t we playing a show tonight’ kind of band – pent-up teen aggression kinda stuff.
Do you feel you translate well as a live act, perhaps better than on record, or have live shows been a bigger learning process than writing/recording?
The stage lights bring out our blemishes too clearly and don’t really help translate our already apparent ugliness into anything remotely pretty or enjoyable to witness. As for the second half of your question, live and writing/recording are two separate boxes containing different variable components in each, so what we learn varies between the two. Whether or not you can judge them on being a bigger learning process for all involved, I can’t quite decide.
To date, what show stands out in your memory as the best you’ve played?
We totally owned Oxford. People stayed for the whole duration of our performance and everything. AMAZING. If Tubelord were a toothpaste sponsoring a live rock concert, we’d totally offer 24-hour protection.
And what about the worst show? By yourselves… is there a venue/town you’ll happily never return to?
Every show is fun. If it’s obvious that it’s a farce, and you find the humour in that, you can still enjoy yourself a lot on stage. As much as I’ve bitched about certain towns, and as much as I get a feeling of trepidation when I see signs to them, you can be certain that there is at least one nice person there to make you feel like a cunt for bitching about said places. Fact.
Do you enjoy touring with a band of a similar style to yourselves – I’m talking musically, rather than what shoes you’re wearing – or do you love a bit of variety, and the challenge of playing to different crowds?
Variety is the spice of life. I think we all relish the challenge of taking on unfamiliar crowds just as much as we love to play for people who are (natch) fans. There is just something that is eternally gratifying about making new friends and followers of the Tubelord sound from the dusty rabble of another band’s crowd.
Are you a new pants everyday kinda band, or does underwear get recycled? Just how smelly does an item of clothing need to be before it’s discarded from rotation?
Joe and Dave are what I would term as being ‘band hygienic’. As written above, if someone tells you that you stink, then it’s time for a wash. But, being the band obsessive, I’ve never noticed their odours, but then I’ve never smelt their crotches. We just aren’t that kind of modern classic rock band. That doesn’t stop me from washing every single day though, and if we go for more than two days, I pack a suitcase. It takes all sorts.
What country in the world would you most love to play in, that you’ve not already?
Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan… please.
What tips would you give a new band about to embark on their first ‘proper’ tour?
Always learn the soundman’s name. If people you’ve never met are nice enough to let you into their home, don’t treat it like your own. When your bandmates tell you that you stink, then it’s time for a wash. Until then, don’t worry so much about it. Chatting to people when everyone else is loading the equipment in or out is allowed once or twice, but don’t push your luck. Be prepared to find out how your friends really work. And if one of your bandmates gets snappy at you and you don’t deserve it, don’t hold a grudge or have a go. Everyone gets stressed, and being in a closed environment will make this more apparent. Take a second to chill out, and your band dynamic will benefit hugely from the slight bite wound on your tongue.
What’s the best show (by another band) that you’ve been to? Perhaps not ever, but certainly of late…
Gregory and The Hawk and Why?, hands down.
Say you’ve the budget to put on your ultimate four-band bill, featuring yourselves – who plays and in what order? No bringing anyone back from the dead, here, but defunct bands can count.
Emmy and the Great, LOVERS, Marina and the Crystals and we’d definitely headline, but we’d have to pull out due to Sean’s ‘Contagious Lethargic Leg Cramp’. Papa Roach would replace us. Isn’t the lead singer’s name Coby Dick? I’m sure it is…
How does the band keep itself entertained on the road? Any bus games you break out for motorway gridlock?
We’re too important for traffic, choosing to drive down the hard shoulder every time. Ahh man, do you remember playing in the BSM 5-a-side two years ago? (I do, and it still hurts – Ed.) We came along dressed in broken-off branches and twigs taped to our chests. I remember you playing for team DiS… You took it well seriously, I thought you were cool man… I thought… you were cool. Needless to say, you totally redeemed yourself when you begun writing for Clash – the Copy Haho acoustic session was class. (Why do I feel as if I’ve just been, y’know, dissed? – Ed.)
Tell us about your latest release… will it be available at the upcoming Clash show? What’s coming soon on the release front?
Errr… AH! ‘Propeller’ will be the first single released from the album, but that’ll be in (checks calendar)… mid-September it says here. The physical copies will be limited to 500 and each cover will be unique. This time around they will be illustrated by a plethora of some of the most exciting and creative talents I’ve come across over the past year or so. It’s going to be ace. The album is coming out a week before Thrice’s new album is released to ensure that people will buy our album, because our target audiences are definitely the same and we wouldn’t want to have to battle it out for the buyers’ pennies. Pennines? Class band, their bassist named his kid Huey Lewis… Can’t remember his surname, though.
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Tubelord play the Clash Saturday Social on July 25, with support from Codes In The Clouds, YGT and Coldstream. Entry is free (over-18s only), doors 4pm-8pm. Details HERE, Facebook HERE.
Find Tubelord on MySpace HERE.
Photo: Stacey Hatfield
