We had the opportunity to have a chat with indie rock band Blaenavon, before their sold out gig at the Manchester Gorilla. Delving into their music, performances and interests, we learnt a lot about the band, including the aesthetics of their debut album and also Frank’s’ fear of Casualty.
Okay, so how is everyone? Is everyone alright?
Ben: Very well, very happy to be in Manchester!
Good!
Frank: What about you?
We are very well, thank you. So, how has tour been so far?
Ben: A real step up from everything we have done before.
Harris: Yeah.
Ben: Everyone singing along, everyone going crazy. Harris’s cousin was at one of the shows yesterday just like, ‘God it’s so nice when you played that quiet one’. It was like, the most difficult gig to get through in his life. So everyone’s very rowdy, which is cool. Erm, yeah, wicked. Sorry.
It’s fine! So what show are you most looking forward to?
Ben: Actually, Manchester, yeah.
Really?
Ben: Yeah, quite a lot to be honest. Don’t tell the other places.
We won’t.
Ben: It’s just always been really wicked here.
You guys had quite a busy summer. So America, festivals, and supporting Alt J. Any stand out moments?
Frank: Yeah, playing that festival in Montreal, called Osheaga, was amazing. We kind of opened up one of the stages, which are all massive out there, the way they do festivals is so differently. And it was just kind of, while we were playing, the heavens kind of opened, the thunder sounded and the rain came down. But everyone stayed there for us.
Ben: Yeah, it was sick.
Frank: That’s how we knew they were really liking it. So that’s quite cool.
So, in regards to your performances, ‘Prague’ always gets a pretty mental reaction from the audience. Is that your favorite song off the album to perform live?
Ben: It’s a shame we are not playing it anymore
Prague ’99 then!
Ben: (laughing) I don’t think it’s our favorite. It’s not the one we look forward to most in the set. But it is always just like, it’s always the one that wherever we go, it’s like really f*****g touching that everyone knows that. Yeah, and I can just step away from the microphone and they all scream.
Harris: And it’s been there right from the start, as well. Like I remember when we were all probably like 16 playing it and it’s not changed that much. And it’s pretty cool that now we are doing this.
Ben: Yeah, it is like a mark of like the steps that we have taken, Prague’s always been there through it. So it feels pretty cool, the more and more people that know about it now.
Cool, okay. So, speaking of Prague ‘99, you released the Prague ‘99 EP back in August.
Ben: Yeah, yeah!
And on it was the huge track, ‘The Monte Carlo Kid’.
Ben: (laughs) Everyone loves it!
Can you dive deeper into its meaning?
Ben: It’s a character that I invented that’s a bit of a f***boy.
Harris: Although that word wasn’t around back then.
Ben: No, it wasn’t. I wrote it like five years ago.
Harris: It actually coincided with me driving my car around. I know you that must have taken inspiration from me, driving my little Golf up and down the A3.
Frank: Yeah, fast as lightening. I was thinking that at the time as well.
Ben: Really? What’s the name of that car?
Harris: I mean Monte Carlo, you know, is about like the race circuit.
Ben: Sure.
Harris: Yes.
Ben: I don’t think this is going to make any sense.
It’s fine!
Ben: It’s kind of called that because it’s the type of song that sounds like you’re going round a race track, like in playing Mario Kart. Which is quite funny. But, you know, I write a lot of songs that very introspective and like, very miserable, and kind of autumnal. So, we just thought it was really fun to just like smash out a two minute, weird pop song. And Frank produced it, so that’s why it’s sort of so (Ben sings The Monte Carlo Kid’s riff).
Of course.
Ben: Yeah, and then we’ve been playing it the last few nights and it really goes off. Which is weird, because I’m like this is an old song I found on my computer from like 2013 and everyone’s like ‘woah!’.
It is my favourite, I’m not going to lie.
Ben: That’s so funny!
I love it!
Ben: That’s great. Should have put it on the album.
I’ve noticed on some of the recent artwork of your EP’s and the album, has a gothic, floral theme. Why the flowers?
Frank: The album came out in springtime, which is exactly when the daffodils were coming out.
Ben: Which is also the national flower of Wales, which is where the town that we are named after is. Which is quite nice.
Harris: And I think that, talking about the album cover specifically, the other ones as well, it’s like a burst of colour coming out the black mess is quite a nice way to sum up the album.
Ben: Yeah, it’s our friend Finlay Abbott Ellwood that edited all of those. And he listened to the record as he did it and that’s kind of what he took from it I think. I think Harris explained it quite well. We really didn’t want to just, like loads of people do it, find a photo that fits it afterwards or whatever. We have a lot of really amazing artistic friends so we wanted to give someone the music and see what they made of it and he definitely made something pretty cool.
Are you excited to be heading back on the road with Sundara Karma for the Europe leg of their tour?
Harris: Oh, yes.
Ben: They’re good boys aren’t they.
They are.
Ben: Yeah, it’s going to be wicked. It’s just like, it’s really nice leading up to Christmas, the last like bit of work I guess we have its just a big old party with our mates in really sick European cities. So, yeah, it’s gonna be lovely.
Do you have any interests or hobbies that would surprise your fans?
Frank: Not anymore, because they seem to know every single hobby we have.
Ben: Harris does calligraphy.
Harris: Yeah, sometimes. Haven’t picked up the pen for a while now, or quill should I say.
Ben: I’ve got one, I think people are always really surprised about. It’s that I really really like football.
Frank: Yeah, that’s true.
Ben: I’ve been with my girlfriend for like, eight months, and I’ve tried so hard not to mention it and one day she caught me watching Super Sunday and she was like ‘you’re a f*****g idiot aren’t you?’. And I was like ‘No, no. I just love it.’ and she was like ‘I would have never thought that about you’. So I guess people would be quite surprised. Frank loves all sorts of things, that like go on behind the scenes. Metal work, sailing, dancing.
Harris: Turtleneck wearing.
Ben: Hair dye. Oh yeah, caring for turtles is another massive hobby of ours.
Frank: Yeah, I thought that was what you were going to say.
Ben: Everyone knows that.
And, Frank, your fear of Casualty was something I wanted to pick up on.
Frank: Oh! Come on. How has that come out?
I just wanted to bring it up. Because I love Casualty.
Ben: We did it in that New York interview when we were all like really f****d up and we told you that you had to be in an episode of Casualty or something, like your biggest fear.
Frank: Well, I don’t know. Just whenever anyone mentions, whenever there’s any gore going on, it always makes me like ‘Oh I don’t like that!’. Regardless of whether it’s actually an episode of Casualty or not, it’s still like seeing someone getting opened up, makes me go ‘Oh, f**k no’.
Ben: My sister’s training for medicine at the moment, and she keeps sending my family chat loads of pics of severed hands and stuff like that, so occasionally Frank gets sent one of those as well. Real life Casuallty. I also started watching like Tudors recently on Netflix, and there’s a lot of maybe unnecessary gore that like when the heads are cut off, it’s pretty hectic.
Frank: You know, I was always kind of fascinated by that stuff when I was younger, but now I really don’t want to see it.
Ben: I’m just like, I know it happens but when it’s real and it’s something that people did. It has scenes like racking Anne Askew, like putting a lady on the rack, stretching her out. I think that’s actually very disturbing viewing for any age audience. I I had to turn it off, because she was like struggling loads and there were these big burly men like ‘Henry is it okay if we keep racking her?’ and he was like ‘You’re doing the right thing’. Horrible, yeah, wouldn’t recommend that, if you don’t like gore.
Okay, noted.
Ben: Some of our shows are sometimes quite gory as well. I think someone hurt their ankle in Sheffield.
Frank: Yeah, someone once hurt their ankle at one of our shows.
Finally, what’s the plans for next year? Maybe another Blaenavon in Blaenavon?
Ben: I think that was such a success that if we were to do it again it would have to be mega-special. If we are doing it again it would have to be over Christmas and like some Blaenavon songs, some of the male voice choir songs, some carols. Because if we just recreate that, maybe it’s like going to different cities and just doing a bigger venue, but that venue’s like really f*****g huge. It’s something we want to do again, but we are only going to do it again if there’s a proper reason and we do it the right way. Because it’s one of the greatest things anyone’s ever done.
True! I think that is everything. Thank you!
