London’s The Invisible have been on the rise for some time now, and the crowd up at U:Music HQ for Diesel’s weekly showcase on Friday night were excited to see a band who will surely soon be playing far larger venues than our Dalston attic. Putting a soulful spin on guitar-led dance music, the band played a hypnotic and highly energetic set, preceded by Simon Bookish’s deliciously odd thespian pop. The Chap followed with their brand of joyful eclecticism.
I caught up with The Invisible’s singer Dave Okumu and bassist Tom Herbert, both fresh from the stage, and talked Hot Chip re-mixes, extended jams, and free beer at Glastonbury.
How was it tonight?
Tom: It was great. A slightly fraught soundcheck – three bands is a really tight schedule, and doing the radio interview just before playing means you don’t have much time to set up and organize yourself. I thought we were commendably cool though. And Simon Bookish was playing who we love, so it couldn’t have been better really.
Are you used to radio sessions by now?
Dave: We’ve done quite a few of them, so it’s got better. Our first ever session was with Diesel radio actually, but we didn’t realise that they didn’t have facilities for bass or amps, so we had to work out an acoustic set in the hour before it went out. It wasn’t the best we’ve ever sounded.
You’ve been touring quite a bit recently. How’s that been?
Dave: We supported Doves, and that was amazing. They’re lovely guys, and the audiences were really receptive to what we were doing. The venues weren’t too big either so it felt just right for us. There was a European tour with Micachu and the Shapes a little while ago as well. She’s killer. We’re doing another tour with her in September. Otherwise it’s mainly festivals during the summer. The Guardian tent at Glastonbury is the one to look out for though. There’s rumours that if you play there you get free beer all weekend.
You released your self-titled debut album in March (REVIEW). Has it been well received?
Dave: Well, people are continuing to buy it. I think it’s quite a challenge, as a new band, to put out a record and maintain interest in it. It feels like quite often the period before a record is put out people get excited about it, and then when you put it out it dives into oblivion. But it feels like it’s steadily growing for us. The best thing is when people come to the live show and want to buy the record – there’s something so amazing about the fact that people still actually listen to CDs.
I noticed tonight that you extend a lot of the songs when you play them live. Is jamming something that you want to become more of a feature of the set?
Tom: Well, we’ve always been quite good at going on too long. We really enjoy it. If it’s right for a piece of music we’ll do it, and it’s great because we can experiment and take liberties. I don’t think you have to always play songs the way they are recorded. With ‘London Girl’ we’re starting to incorporate things from the remix that Joe (Goddard, of Hot Chip) did.
Have you started on any new material? Any plans for the next record?
Dave: I guess that part of the ethos is to try and stay in the creative flow. That’s why we play the songs in a different way sometimes – it allows for more creativity. Also, because the last record started out as a solo project before I asked Tom and Leo (Taylor, drummer) to get involved, the recording side of it all came first. With the next one I’m really looking forward to doing it as a band and playing all the material live before going into the studio.
Will it be released by Accidental Records, like the debut?
Tom: We don’t know. Matthew Herbert, who runs Accidental, is a close friend and produced the record so no matter what happens we’ll always have a relationship with the label, whether we’re releasing stuff with them or not.
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Find The Invisible on MySpace HERE.
Visit Diesel:U:Music online HERE.
Words: Will Daunt
