NEWS
EVENTS
Little Comets chat about songwriting, stage presence and signing CDs
Indie | Sunday 17th May 2015 | Alice
We caught up with Little Comets ahead of their gig The Wedgewood rooms in Portsmouth. The boys were sincere, talkative and happy to engage in converstions. The show was fantastic - they opened with songs off their new album whilst mixing in the classics 'Dancing Song', 'Adultery' and 'One Night in October'. The crowd listened and sang to their latest songs from Hope is Just a State of Mind before going wild for the band's classics. Roberts voice is in a league of its own with beautiful tones and a vast range. With the harmonies from Matt and Michael the songs left us in awe. The boys later greeted fans with pictures and signed merchandise until the late hours when I left. The new album is a strikingly beautiful one and it's clear the boys have another success on their hands.
Where and how did it all begin?
Robert: We are brothers [points to Michael], so we have been playing music and writing from a young age. We started writing at home with guitars from a young age and then began writing for other bands. We met Matt after a while and he had loads of gear we would have loved to borrow, and he later joined the band, which was great.
Columbia Records signed you in 2008 but you subsequently left? How did this opportunity occur?
Robert: We were open to producers from Columbia and we gave them some direction on what would have been ideal, which they didn’t really notice. It didn’t work out in the end. We realised we could do a lot ourselves and we enjoyed taking out time doing it without being rushed. We realised when we work with the right producers we really do make what we like and are proud of. I don’t think they realised what a lot of our music was and how we didn’t necessarily need extreme input or the level involvement they wanted.
I guess it’s a huge investment.
Robert: Oh yes definitely, they need that return. We approached the issue and realised we loved music and didn’t particularly want to work a job from our degrees. I personally just didn’t have the passion for it like I do towards music.
Matt: I did music production but I learned a lot more from working outside, from others and from myself. The course was quite restrictive.
What did you expect from the original release of 'One Night in October’?
Robert: We didn’t really expect much; we just began trying to get played on the radio and stuff. It was more about getting the recording that we hoped for.
You promoted the single 'Adultery' by touring alongside the likes of The Twang and Noisettes, and received huge credit and recognition.
Robert: Yeah we did. It was beyond exciting and it was a completely new experience. The Noisettes were performing at large venue, which was incredible. At the time the relationship with Columbia was deteriorating, so touring was really nice. The distraction was needed. We certainly got a lot from watching Noisettes. It was very much a show, but we aren’t all that showy, we were quite different on stage. We never wrote songs so we could perform on stage, although that comes with it. We’ve learnt how to perform it in our own way. A lot of bands we’ve played with have really outgoing front men and I’m totally the opposite. It was brilliant and fascinating watching Shingai (lead singer of Noisettes) climbing around the stage but personally I couldn’t do it. I guess I just don’t have that in me to hold the audience like that. I’ve been writing since 13/14 so I have huge experience there but I’ve been the frontman of a band for much less. Ultimately it’s taken a while for me to realise that it’s about making the song connect with the audience.
Hearing ‘Violence Out Tonight’ the angle you’re taking is clear (sexual violence against women), what encouraged you to write it? How did you get the balance of being delicate and honest when many people throw their hands up in the air
Robert: The way we tend to write is in our room, so we tend to focus on the song and not the reaction. We like to see what happens, empty our heads of everything else and focus on the issues that stick, for example the little recognition of things like domestic violence, which is a prominent thing. The media cover things in a regulated way. Like, for example if you listen to Radio 4 you will most likely only hear about women when something negative has happened to her and not normally in another way, which is wrong. Often when we are writing songs we write the melody and then the lyrics will come with it. I think we’ve become more confident as songwriters to put across our opinions now. Also as me and my brother have recently become dads we see the world differently. I’m more concerned now. It’s the combination of that and conversations with people. We love the challenge of getting our opinions across in our songs. I do however think I’ve got a long long way to go still.
Are you excited for your upcoming tour?
Robert: Very excited, it’s already been great. However it’s hard being away from home with the boys. But we aren’t away all the time, so unlike those who leave at 6:30am and are back at 7:00pm, five days a week, we get to have time with our families.
I see you did personalised CDs?
Robert: Yes we did! It took a long time! On average about 4 minutes per CD with us having to do around 500 CDs. There was an option to personalise it with a message. But people really appreciated it and it was nice to thank our fans for being supportive and making our career.
Guilty pleasures whilst touring?
Matt: Prank phone calls mainly and texting local radio stations is a common occurrence.
Plans for the future?
Robert: Still writing music and making albums. If we had any other feelings or reasons not too we wouldn’t be here doing it.
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