09 August 2012
Backstage at last month’s
Splendour In The Grass festival, Bloc Party have only just arrived and
they’re already being haphazardly shuffled to separate corners. It’s
clear drummer Matt Tong and bassist Gordon Moakes are relieved they’re
put together as they sit down with TMN and enjoy their first beer before
the headline set.
Since landing in Australia three
weeks ago, the British band have incited their fair share of controlled
controversy to publicise upcoming fourth album, Four - both
quashing rumours that frontman Kele Okereke was kicked out of the band
in 2010 and sparking uncertainty about a fifth release (from quotes
taken out of context, of course). Backstage at last month’s Splendour In
The Grass festival, drummer Matt Tong and bassist Gordon Moakes open up
about the truth behind the band’s hiatus, admitting the two-year break
was almost a unanimous decision.
“We were jaded,” he says. “I can remember that time when
we were at the end of touring the last record. We were just doing it
without thinking. Turning up at the show wherever we were supposed to be
and going through the motions.”
“Every record cycle has an ending,” Tong chimes in, “and I think we just weren’t interested in carrying on after that.”
“Matt was the most vocal about it,” Moakes continues,
outing his comrade. “Russ [Lissack] and Kele would have been happy to
keep going. To be fair to Matt, it was about time somebody was vocal
about it, for too long we all just were going on with whatever was
deemed the right thing to do; it took someone to stand up and say,
‘Whatever you guys want to do is fine but I’m not doing this.’”
Okereke spent the time waiting for Bloc Party’s reconnect
by recording and touring a solo EP in 2010 and an album last year;
guitarist Russell Lissack toured with Irish band Ash, and Moakes founded
post-hardcore band Young Legionnaire. But while heading back into the
studio together was inevitable, the band made a conscious decision to do
things differently when they reconvened last October, taking a stripped
back and less convoluted approach to touring and recording. The new
album’s title may seem remissive, but we’re told it’s a reflection of
the simplicity of the record as a whole.
“The aim of the record is to just be the sound of the four
of us,” explains Moakes. “It sounds a bit like an old fashioned record
in a way, which is the sound of a band playing,” he laughs. “No frills
really, but No Frills would be a crap title.”
Recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Alex Newport (At The Drive In, City and Colour) in New York, Four was intended to be recorded live at Stratosphere Studios, but time constraints forced the quartet to switch tacts.
“It wasn’t like we started and it was suddenly like a sea
change,” Tong assures. “The approach we had, was pretty much the same
from start to finish.”
“In a way, not doing it,” Moakes interjects, “potentially
made it sound more live than if we had played it live and handed it over
to the producers.”
With two of Bloc Party’s past three albums charting within
the ARIA top 5, Australian zealots needn’t worry about a departure from
their Intimacy-era sound; as Moakes explains, Four will run countertype with past projects. “I think there was a precedent set when we came out with our first record [2005’s Silent Alarm]...We’re
now in a position where we can kind of do what we do in a bubble away
from everyone else. For me at my age, when you’re in your thirties you
hardly listen to music radio.”
“Apart from Radio 4,” Tong jokes.
“I just think that you’re not running around trying to
chase what’s hip anymore. Give me a guitar and I’ll express myself now,
how I am. I think we’re all like that to varying degrees. We’ve matured
as players and our taste has matured, and our music is a result of
that.”
Moakes is aware of the public’s conception of Bloc Party;
their evolution from taut smacks of sound walls and syncopated fervour
to more reflective lyrical musings and layered staccato has been
celebrated in Australia since before Triple J listed Banquet at #54 in the Hottest 100 Of All Time poll. Tong
is more diplomatic about the possibility of alienating fans, suggesting
he’d be okay with just five people at the front barrier of The Supertop
tonight.
“In the early days we’d be excited with a
couple of people at the front dancing and we’re still that way. You’re
lucky to be doing it if at least somebody likes your band.” This
sentiment is easy to adopt after the band’s multi-Platinum sales, but is
aptly illustrated by the band’s humble, tight, pre- show huddle before
an even tighter live set.
“You have to be happy within yourself and then happy as a
collective band,” Tong continues. “You can’t start thinking about what
everyone else is thinking. You want to make sure you’ve done the best
job personally; for me, if I’ve done that then I don’t need anything
else.”
Take away the 991,000 Facebook likes, the 81,000 Twitter
followers, the 13 award nominations, and the pair guarantee they would
still be making the same music together. Although Moakes would return to
his earlier aspirations of becoming graphic designer, Tong says he
would be more resourceful in his effort to make rent.
“I’d probably start cooking meth actually... I think there’s a good market for it in Bournemouth.”
