We Are Scientists Interview

Indie veterans We Are Scientists, comprising of Chris Cain, Keith Murray and Andy Burrows, are currently on a tour of the UK in support of their fourth studio album, TV En Francais. We caught up with bassist, Chris Cain, before their headline show at Rock City.

Are you excited to be in Nottingham?

Thrilled! I actually really do like Nottingham. We’ve had a few days off here in the past so we’ve gotten to know it a little bit. There are a lot of little spots that I’m into. I don’t know what it’s called, but there’s a little cafe on some church grounds that has a big mirrored disc sculpture – it’s awesome....

Is it the Playhouse?

Yeah, that’s it! Love that little spot – it’s nice for a quiet little coffee, or a brew. I also love your Cineworld.

How’s the tour gone so far?

Really, really well. I think this is our seventh show, so it’s still in the honeymoon period and we’re all still relatively healthy and have energy. It’s exciting to get back in front of people and play a proper, sizeable UK tour.

We love you here in the UK, but what’s your favourite thing about it?

A curry is a very high point for us. We don’t have much good Indian food back home, so British Indian food is a big, shining light in our sky when we’re here. Really, it’s the curry that differentiates the United States and Britain for me. Otherwise, they’re pretty much the same place.

What’s your curry of choice then?

I love very hot food, so I like a vindaloo or something similar. But if there’s anything on the menu I haven’t had before, I’ll definitely try it.

The new record’s just been released. Are you happy to finally have it out?

Yeah, it’s a great feeling. As soon as we can get the crowd to receive these songs as passionately as our other stuff, it will be very exciting for us.

Were there any particular influences or themes on the new album?

It’s not really our way to set out with a theme in mind. To some extent we tried that and failed with this record. We wrote nearly half an album that we wanted to sound really 90s, Lemonheads-y, but had to scrap it because it just didn’t feel like a We Are Scientists record. Lyrically, there’s been more of a direction with the album as it specifically deals with a relationship that Keith was in during its very final moments. The relationship ended shortly after we finished recording, but it was very much in turmoil while he was writing the lyrics. You get a clear sense about it with these songs. Previous albums’ lyrics have been more of a hotchpotch – one idea here, another one there.

What music have you been listening to recently?

Huge fan of the dudes supporting us: Superfood. I’m also a big fan of the band supporting us in Europe and the States: Paws, from Glasgow. There’s a Dublin called September Girls who are also really good. They play a kind of reverb, surf guitar that’s popular these days, but do it better than most.

After the UK, you’ll be embarking on a world tour. Are there any places you’re looking forward to going to?

We’re excited to play in Perth, Australia for the first time. It’s on the far Western side and we’ve never done anything but the East-coast there. We’re also playing a couple of spots in Spain that we’ve never visited. One of those is Bilbao. We love the country and I speak a bit of Spanish, so it will be really fun for me. We’re always trying to get more shows in Spain, but rock music doesn’t really sell a lot of albums over there. It’s a tough country to tackle, so you have to find a live promoter who is really interested in trying to set you up there.

Touring seems pretty non-stop. What do you do to relax and stop yourself from going crazy?

We like to watch a lot of shitty movies on our bus. If there’s a theme to our film festival, it’s low quality. We’ve been on a hunt for a Bad Boys 2 DVD and finally scored it today. Last night we watched Stealth. It features Josh Lucas operating at roughly standard for his career, Jamie Foxx seriously slumming it and Jessica Biel roughly where she should be. It’s pretty awesome.

You and Keith have an awesome relationship. What are your key tips for a blossoming bromance?

That’s a good question – never got that before. For me, I think it’s critical that you make a person laugh. It’s probably as important in a straightforward romance as it is a bromance. Laughter is a fantastic inducer of friendship. I would say it’s the foundation of mine and Keith’s relationship – far more so than music actually. We kinda don’t listen to the same music and don’t often have the same opinion of bands, whereas we’re pretty identical when it comes to what we think is funny. We used to go see a lot of stand-up comedy together.

Finally, how would you best describe your live show?

Our live show is high energy. It’s probably distinctive for how much we talk between songs. We do tend to blather away, often to the frustration of some portion of the audience. It’s hard to tell how many of them are quietly suffering. There are always one or two dudes who will shout for us to shut the fuck up and keep playing, but I take a lot of joy in thwarting that request!

I think we air more on the side of being energetic than being precise as live musicians. If we were to stand still and stare down at the ground, we could probably play our songs exactly like they are on the album, but we definitely prefer to jump around, fall over and make a lot of mistakes. That’s the kind of show I’d prefer to see as well.