Bloc Party

Yeah. It’s a silver lining on the cloud of a week of [doing] promotion in New York.

It was really, really good. The best show we’ve done all year, actually.

Well, they’re telling us we’re better, now. [Laughs] Also, they knew a few more of the songs. It was kind of like seeing old friends, actually, an audience that sort of knew us, and had been waiting patiently for us to come back.

I’m sort of in favor of it. I mean, I know our record label would feel differently, but it’s not harming us at all to have people know our songs. My experience with the fans has been that it doesn’t stop them from going out and buying it. We’ve had something like 60,000 people buy the record this week in the U.K., so you can’t say that our sales have been hampered, really, by downloading. I can understand that people who are fans want to get hold of the record in advance.

Yeah. We just got home, and we were a little bit drunk and couldn’t really take it in. Sad news, that.

[Laughs] I haven’t, actually, but I have a lot of friends who are big fans.

[Laughs] I know, I know, I know.

We’re spending all this week doing promos in New York, so we’ve got interviews and photo shoots every day until Saturday, and then we’re flying back to London. So we’re going to be quite busy, and that’ll just give us a day, I think, to rest, then we’re traveling up to our next gig.

Sometimes. I did feel like that a bit when we were on the European tour with Interpol. The tough thing is, if you’re on a sleeper bus, that you see the inner part of the bus, and then you wake up in a new city. Occasionally you have a couple hours to look around, and we certainly have done that in some cities, but sometimes you’ve just not got the energy [or] inclination. I think there’s only so much you can take on, anyway, and we’ve seen a lot of the world. We’ve met a lot of people from different places. We’ve certainly sampled the culture from a lot of different places. Even if it is a bit fleeting, I think there’s still some use to it.

Aw, I’m sorry mate. I guess it would’ve been when I was a student. When I was out of work I ended up moving back home with my parents. If I wasn’t always fuckin’ off then I would’ve been a better student. I just remember living in basements – sort of one room flats – where there was mold growing on the blinds, and the bathroom was so damp that the paint on the walls had never had a chance to dry, so you couldn’t put your hand on [it] – it was literally like attacking you with paint. Always so damp. I used to lose the circulation in my fingers just from sitting around in this really freezing basement flat. So yeah, I’ve been there.

Yeah.

Um… I’ve never quite got that desperate. [Laughs]

I’d probably go with food. [Laughs] I have quite a good relationship with smoking, in that I can leave it for days at a time if I have to.

I think we had moments in the early days. The three of us: Russell, Kele, and I would practice in the parents' front room. I remember some of the guitar riffs we used to play back then [were] really intriguing, and that’s what kept me interested. I think it was when Matt joined the band, which was a good two years after I joined, that I had this feeling of, “Yeah, we’ve actually got something here.” He’s such a good drummer, and we’d played with so many drummers that were really kind of average, that it made all the difference. So, [in answer to your question], some of the songs that we started out on with Matt.

I think we deal with melody, which is what pop is, really – that top melody that makes you soar, really, lifts you. We deal in that, not in the same way, but in the same currency that’s in Destiny’s Child – even in things that some people don’t consider pop: Sonic Youth, Queens of the Stone Age, or whatever. All those bands have these great melodies. That’s one of the things I think no one knows about Queens of the Stone Age: it’s a great pop song. It’s got this lovely lilting melody to it, that’s obviously underpinned by really heavy drums and guitars, but what you sing is a crisp, melodic line – and that’s what stays with you. We deal in that kind of stuff.

Yeah, certainly. Especially the small gigs, like last night. Well, last night wasn’t a small gig, but it was intimate. You have people pressed right up to the stage, and that’s nice. You can really reach out, literally at times, and just pick people out – people you can tell are enjoying it from their expressions and their gestures, their movements and everything…

What was that, I’m sorry?

It’s okay. I was just thinking that when my girlfriend’s in the audience, I must admit that I’m a bit of a romantic like that, and I try to pick her out. She usually stands right in front of me. [Laughs] Right down by the front. Not for her standing at the side of the stage, or at the back of the room. She loves to be right down at the front with the rest of the kids. That’s sweet.

I’m having trouble, to be honest. It’s a time issue, really. There was a time when I was answering most things, and I would have a “Reply To” box and go through it slowly to send a quick word – especially if someone was asking me something specific, because I get a lot of email that’s like, “What kind of bass should I play?” or “Where can I find this tablature for the bass?” There was a time when I had more time available, and had the energy to talk more directly with people. I find it difficult to prioritize it, now. I think “If I can’t answer all of them, which ones deserve to be answered, and which ones don’t?” So I tend to leave a lot of them, to be honest. So if anyone’s ever written to me, I’m sorry. I’ve got a bit too busy.

I’m sure that what scientists will tell you is that over the course of the next 10,000 years the Earth will gradually rotate to one side and we’ll all burn up or something, but I like to think it will all just kind of un-inspiringly come to an end, really. Like someone will just turn it off, and it will all go dark. But we’re not a doom-mongering band, and I tend not to think about those things.

Good question, actually. I picked it. [Laughs] I found a photograph that we all liked, and I just always felt that the first record should be as plain as possible. I have this big thing for space in design: “Less is more.” So I wanted something really stark, actually, and it kind of went with the name of the record as well. It’s not necessarily echoed in the sound of the record, but I just thought I’d go for clean lines. I felt white. That’s what I wanted, white for the record.

The one on the sofa beside me? It could be one Kele was reading. It could be White Noise. He certainly does read DeLillo, but I can’t say without looking at it.

No. It is Kele, but with a slightly processed sound on that song.

You’re right, I do. It’s a nice bassline on that song. I like “This Modern Love” as well, because it’s so kind of… soaring, and “She’s Hearing Voices”.

Just looking forward to going away, to be honest, and spending a little time in New York. [Pauses] I really do love it here.

Yeah. I could live in New York.

Yeah. I can see that. Anyway, thank you for your interesting questions.

Silent Alarm, the debut album by Bloc Party, will be released in the United States on March 22nd. For more information, including lyrics and tour dates, check out BlocParty.com.