Playing Out interview...

Turin Brakes: You're from Leamington. We went to a rock bar called Kelly’s in Leamington last night, it was my cousin-in-law’s birthday. He really wanted to go there because there was a live band. The live band didn’t turn up. It’s pretty rockin in there. Playing Out: Yeah, a bit dark and sweaty. Turin Brakes: Yeah, I felt right out of place. Playing Out: Is your cousin-in-law from Leamington? Turin Brakes: They are now. I’ve been here twice, I really like Leamington. Playing Out: We like it too. So, Turin Brakes, three successful albums down the line, tell us how Turin Brakes began. Turin Brakes: We’ve been making music since we were 9 years old. Playing Out: Didn’t you sing in a catholic choir? Turin Brakes: We both sang in a choir (sniggers) it wasn’t catholic, that wasn’t really why we started doing it, it was more that Ollie’s Dad used to play us Chuck Berry and we were given guitars for Christmas and started mucking around, then we started drinking and playing for fun which was probably when Ollie was at film school. We sat down and decided to make a sound track to a film and this eventually became the first song that got released, all through default and luck, there was no genius plan behind it, just literally someone walked in and heard us. We’d just been given a grant to start a record label and that was it, we did a gig and got a big contract! Playing Out: Is Turin Brakes all consuming; you have time to pursue other projects or passions? Turin Brakes: We haven’t really got any other musical projects, we like film though. Ollie actually gets films edited so we watch them sometimes, I tend to just film then leave it! We do lots of things, we functions as normal human beings, we have wives and children coming and I do sports. Obviously, not on tour, because you just haven’t got anything with you. Playing Out: So, this is the beginning of your tour, right? Turin Brakes: The very beginning, yeah. Playing Out: When was the last time you toured? Turin Brakes: Ages and ages ago. We’re old-timers now (laughs). Playing Out: There’s no new album to promote; so what’s the purpose of the tour? Turin Brakes: Well, we’ve got a lot of new songs and there are two things. Firstly to play them live a bit and see how they go. And secondly there’s a lot we haven’t recorded yet. We want to get the band hot on them so we can record later on in January, hopefully. We thought we should get out and do something real, so we recently went and booked a little gig in a pub in London and had loads of fun. We thought, we can do that all over the country in smaller places and try out our new stuff… that would be a really good vibe! Playing Out: So do you think the stuff you are going to do tonight is studio polished stuff or is it quite raw? Turin Brakes: It’s still reasonably raw, we’ve kind of worked it out but the problem is we record it all in the studio then go on tour and then years later the stuff has evolved into something else, maybe not how we’d like and it seems a backwards way to do it. So we thought we’d see what would happen if we played it live and things that don’t work will become apparent really quickly, so we kind of thought it would be a good way of road testing. Playing Out: So playing live is part of the creative process. But touring, which does it do more, inspire you or tire you? Turin Brakes: Unfortunately it’s more tiring. It’s just pretty draining because the whole thing is quite an unmusical experience really. You play for about an hour and a half and that’s about it, most of the time is spent getting there and setting up. Playing Out: I guess there a lot more to it then just turning up and playing? Turin Brakes: Yeah, I guess we don’t actually get to play much music, a bloke once described touring as a war where everyone goes crazy, kind of like being a battalion in a submarine where there’s no real intellectual stimulation. Playing Out: So, musically, does being professional mean less magic or more magic? Turin Brakes: It’s definitely more monotonous and the magic is taken out of it but it doesn’t stop you from playing the guitar when you’re not performing. There can still be magic it your life. And when you’re on tour the monotony gets broken sometimes. There was a phase of knickers being thrown and every now and then someone throws up a little doll. Playing Out: Er, a little doll? Turin Brakes: A kind of soft doll. Playing Out: What like a voodoo doll? Turin Brakes: Yeah, we could easily think it was a voodoo doll when you get on a bus after six weeks of touring! Playing Out: Yeah you must start getting really paranoid! Playing Out: Our time is up. Finally, and tangentially, who is your favourite TV chef, and why? Turin Brakes: It probably has to be Lord Jamie Oliver (laughs), he’s the prince of English cuisine. I kind of appreciate that he’s trying to do something for the kids and I hope it works out. He could do nothing or try and do something and he tried to do something. Playing Out: Thank you. Turin Brakes: Cheers. Next time I come to Leamington I’ll check the website.

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