INTERVIEW:
Adam & Elvis
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THE strangeness and savagery Adam & Elvis brings to their music…
has got critics standing like meerkats sensing a tiger looming large – if those two animals even share a continent! In any case; the band have been vibrating stages and propelling bodies with their intoxicating sounds. I speak with brothers Thomas and Patrick Malone about the latest single, Wasting Away, and what it is about.
They chat about Reading – where they are from – and what the scene is like; how the four of them came together and what they have planned for the remainder of this year.
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Hi, guys. How are you? How has your week been?
Been pretty dang amazing in a global context.
For those new to your work, can you introduce yourself, please?
We're a five-piece Alternative-Pop band from Reading that is interested in releasing good albums as often as physically and emotionally possible - and seeing what's left of us at the end.
Wasting Away, in addition to its cheery title, deals with life’s brevity and the human condition. It is an upbeat song – considering it could be seen as quite pessimistic. What was the reason for creating a song so uplifting and hopeful?
I think there's proximity between the somber and the hopeful: they breed one and other.
What impacted the song’s creation? Was there a general feeling you needed to write something like this or did a particular event compel that drive?
No. I think about death a lot, or as much as everyone else does, but I have too short an attention-span to be distracted by distractions.
There is a refusal/dismissle of the afterlife; a need to do everything we can in this life. Is there any one thing each of you has always dreamt of doing – maybe a dream holiday or musical goal?
I'd like to write a to-do list and do all the things on it.
An Adam & Elvis album is out later in September. What can you reveal about the themes and songs that will appear on the record?
Bits about weddings on fire; artists only working on the weekends; people eating mosquitoes to spite lovers (etc etc.!).
Where does the title, Through Snow and Small Talk, come from?
Chose the art for the album; saw the snow and the drudgery - and supposed playfulness - of winter weather reminded me of small-talk.
Patrick and Tom; you are brothers. Did you share similar tastes as youngsters and what was the decision behind forming the band?
We were sh*t at football so thought we had better start a band - or no one will ever think we're important.
How did you come across Steve and Dan? What is it about the guys that meant they were made for the band?
Dan served us drinks; Steve went to school with Tom.
You, like The Amazons, are based out of Reading. Is it a fertile place to make music? What is it like getting gigs in the town?
Yeah. There are lots of people making music in Reading. There's some nice people who put us on and then give us a pittance and some beer.
The Amazons are very boring though. I'm sure they're nice but I imagine you have to listen with a toaster balanced on your head in a bath-full of water - so there's the potential that something edgy might happen.
What do you guys do when not performing and recording? Do you all get much time to hang out? Anyone have any hobbies in the band?
We spend most of our time practicing together; getting drunk talking about music, films; politics or the normal jazz.
Do you have any tour dates approaching? Where can we come and see you play?
We've got three release shows: 30th September, (Reading) Oakford Social Club; 6th October, (Oxford) The Wheatsheaf and 7th October, (London) Finborough Arms.
We've had a lot of people trying to get us back up North after the last time we went there – so, we'll be back there before the end of the year.
Who are new acts you recommend we check out?
Love Wesley Gonzalez, Meatraffle; Phobophobes and Pit Ponies.
IN THIS PHOTO: Photophobes/PHOTO CREDIT: Holly Whitaker Photography
If you each had to select an album to take to a desert island; which would it be and why?
Thomas Malone: Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man
Patrick Malone: Pixies – Bossanova
What advice would you give to artists coming through right now?
Find a day-time job you can do tired - and allows you time to scribble lyrics on paper during the day because, if you're going to make interesting and subversive music, you will have to pay the bills with another job
Finally, and for being good sports, you can each name a song and I’ll play it here (not one of yours as I’ll do that).
Patrick: Wesley Gonzalez - Not That Kind of Guy
Thomas: Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows
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