Interviews
Soundmag: Aren’t u afraid that people file you under garage rock because of the title? Does it bother you?
Daniel: No, not at all. Most of those bands are terrible anyway. We don’t really like Yeah Yeah Yeahs and all those bands. They’re all very contrived, it’s all about style over context and their music is terrible. We had the name 5 or 6 years ago and when we got a record deal we thought maybe we change it. We got the name cause we love Micheal Jackson. I mean in two or three years or even less people will forget bout all those garage rockbands now. Well who do you think is good?
Soundmag: I like Yeah yeah yeahs.
Daniel: I went to see them. It’s just a joke. I think the fact, that they haven’t sold any records is just a proof it’s not a good band. The yeah yeah yeahs were on every magazine cover and everyone talked about them and then they released an album and songs were shit. It’s all about a crazy singer. You’ve seen all that before. There’s nothing to them. If you wanna lisen to a band like that do it proberly. Sex Pistols, Pattie Smith ...
The way I see it with bands they are not going to survive. I think the Kills are the best band. I know them quite well, I’ve seen them a lot live. I just think it’s a shame, Rapture and all that. They got so much hype and press, but they haven’t brought about sign an album. They’ve been around for a long time and came up two years ago. And the problem is they’ve released their album just now.
Soundmag: What do you think of their album?
Daniel: I think it’s cool. There’s this song called „Open up your heart“, which is amazing.
Soundmag: Do you think you take advantage of this hype you described?
Daniel: We didn’t get that much hype. We’ve never been on a front cover of a magazine in the uk, never been in front of the nme.
Soundmag: You’ve been nominated.
Daniel: Yeah, but I think because we did a good album. And the Yeah Yeah Yeahs didn’t get nominated.
Soundmag: But that’s because they released the album later.
Daniel: No, it’s because they didn’t tour anymore. I think they’re just one band in particular, who took the whole thing too far.
Soundmag: Name some of your influences then.
Daniel: Air, Beck, Jeff Buckley, Bruce Springsteen, the Byrds.
Soundmag: Has it always been your favourite like before and after your stay in San Diego? Just because people compare you to the Beach Boys.
Daniel: That’s not true. When we moved to America, we already had that sound. We had a couple of songs kind of coming together, and we already had that sound before we went to America. I mean it takes a while for a band to find its feet, you've got to develop as friends and as musicians and we just had one of the best years of our lives there. When we came back it was a really shit time for us because we'd just been dropped by our record label and we just kept thinking back. I mean if it was as easy as getting on a plane and going to San Diego I think every band would be doing that. You've gotta keep pushing yourself as a band, we are gonna make another record and its not gonna be about America.
Soundmag: Is there any scene in Dublin for this kind of sound you have?
Daniel: No. There is no scene in Dublin. Its a bit pathetic really, its all these acoustic people. All singers and songwriters that are trying to be like Jeff Buckley. We only played a few gigs in Dublin.
Soundmag: Well do you have any Irish influences then?
Daniel: Yeah, a band called Whipping Boy. We are all huge fans of theirs, it just never really happened for them. We were really lucky, I mean we sent out demos of santa cruz and no one gave a shit about them but then a year later Virgin started getting interested.
Soundmag: Do you think it didn't happen for them because with Irish bands there is a lot less focus on style?
Daniel: No I don't really know about that. There are loads of bands around that aren't totally focused on their style that are still great bands.
Soundmag: They didn't get a record deal though.
Daniel: That‘s the worst thing about music, It doesn't always go to the best band.
Soundmag: You said earlier that you dont think you got much hype and then you said that you only played a few gigs in Dublin. Then what do you think changed this year when you played at the Irish music festival Witness.
Daniel: Well...when One hourse town came out our friends were saying that it was on the radio all the time and from there I think it just started to take off. I dunno, to be honest.Im glad its happened but I dont know how.
Soundmag: But you have more of an American sound then Irish, do you think thats a factor?
Daniel: I don’t think we sound Irish. I don’t think it really matters anyway. Maybe we are more successful, cause we’ve been there. We had surely had a great time there.
Soundmag: I asked a friend of mine who is british about the thrills. And he said that it doesn’t interest him much but his girlfriend is really into your music. Do you have more female friends?
Daniel: I don’t think so. People ask that question. It’s really hard to tell. In the UK we play quite big venues so we never really see the people. I think the Thrills attract quite a big group of people, old and young. Maybe because you can tell where our references come from it’s quite easy to identifie with the band.
Soundmag: You seem a bit tired ... of doing interviews.
Daniel: I just came back out from America, so I have the worst Jetlag ever, so. But did ever listen to Whipping Boy. Well, I spoke to the singer yesterday. Someone told me that he likes us and we got them and we finally got him to see us so we hung out. And I rung him yesterday cause I‘m trying to get him to come with us on the Irish tour. And he just got back from Berlin, he didn’t play he just hung out here for a couple of nights. He said it’s a great place.
Soundmag: When‘s the tour finished?
Daniel: We are finished on the 23. of decembre. We are playing three nights sold out at the Olympia in Dublin. Then we are going into some practice. We are doing quite a big Irish tour it’s gonna be great fun.
Soundmag: When are you recording the next album?
Daniel: We gonna start in febuary. It will be a little bit of disco tunes in it and it took us a long training on the first album. It’s got bit more of a variously side to it, that I think the songs are still important. I think when you release the first album you can’t really commit to a band, there’s a lot of questionsmarks.
Soundmag: All the songs on your current release are how old? You said earlier the band has been around for nine years.
Daniel: Well, yeah, we’ve been together as a band for 9 years. We finished up with two songs just two weeks before we went to record it. The songs were lying around for a year. It’s not that long. I mean I know some bands who are on their fifth record that wrote songs for three or four years. We were looking at only signed material we got. Look, when we got signed we had to record for a major release. It’s good that way.
Soundmag: Do you want to live anywhere else?
Daniel: Oh, yeah! I love travelling though. It kind of annoys me that people think we don’t like to be Irish. We love Ireland. People can write whatever they want we gotta tell them what we’re like. It’s an amazing place to grow up for being in an band. You can go and play gigs and you can go and see gigs. At least you’re not in a place like London where you only get one chance. But in general i think it’s a good time for music. There are a lot of good bands around.
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