M: In 2012 you released Full Circle which is still my favourite song by you guys. I found the lyrics so interesting and, especially at the time, unlike anything I’d heard before. What was the process of writing the lyrics for that specific song?
HMR: When we were first jamming the chords together, before we had lyrics, we decided to stop and I’d go home to write the lyrics. I finished them in a day or two, I had a good flow. I remember it was a slow melodic talk/rap style. Then when I brought it back to the guys, they noticed immediately that I’d unwittingly slowed the tune down by a large amount. We began playing the tune at the regular tempo and the lyrics had to be delivered at that new, faster speed, which gave way to this style of quick rhyming that you hear now. I probably would have never written the lyrics in that way had I properly remember the tempo.
Your highest streamed song on Spotify is Throes, with 58 million streams. What does it feel like to know it’s reached so many people and being played so much?
This whole thing has gotten way bigger than we ever could have imagined. It’s can be humbling, gratifying, and complex all at the same time.
You guys are currently on tour. How are you preparing for your upcoming shows?
I’ve been warming up my voice, practising guitar and piano, and visualizing how the show will go, like the athletes do!
You’ve been a band for a long while now. Does being in a band for so long ever cause issues or has it been something thats run smoothly for you all?
Naturally when groups of people are together, there can be interpersonal challenges. To the best of our ability we try to communicate effectively and often to mitigate long term problems. I think we do pretty well :)
Is music all of yours’ main passion or was there ever something for you as individuals that was once a higher priority?
I’ve imagined since I was a young teenager that I would play music on stage. I would imagine myself playing on stage with Neil Young or The Smashing Pumpkins or Nine Inch Nails. It seemed like the most important thing I could do!
For younger fans who want to pursue music, what advice or message would you like to give them?
Learn as much as you can and stay honest with yourself.
What is something interesting you never realised before that’s come to your attention about the music industry as well as the process of making music?
The music industry is changing rapidly, year over year. Before, social media was a helpful, optional tool, now it has become a critical part of our job (against our wills!) If you do not post regularly, you essentially disappear. As for the process, it really is so cheap to do your own music, there are no rules!
What is the coolest place you guys have performed?
It’s hard to rank the COOLEST but we played once in a castle’s courtyard in France, surrounded by ruins. We also played in Norway at a festival that was the closest to the arctic circle I’ve ever been. The light was incredible!
When you started out, did you imagine coming this far? What were your original goals?
We didn’t have goals or objectives really. I thought I’d play cool indie shows to engaged audiences maybe, but this definitely surpassed anything I had expected.
Finally, I’m a British fan and I know your last concert for your world tour is here in London. Are you guys interested in performing here more often and even around the country a little more?
We had a blast last time in the UK! I would love to play more places out of the way along with the bigger cities! We’re keen to pretty much go anywhere where there’s demand!