Foto-© Stephan Strache

Wir treffen Bombay Bicycle Club-Frontmann und Mastermind Jack Steadman kurz vor ihrem Auftritt auf dem Appletree Garden Festival im Backstage Bereich, einem Vereinsheim hinter den beiden großen Festivalbühnen. Die anderen Bandmitglieder sind während dessen unterwegs.

Es ist schön wie surreal ihm gegenüber zu sitzen. Bombay Bicycle Club galt als das Versprechen an spannendere, zeitgenössischere Indiemusik. Auf dem diesjährigen Appletree Garden Festival haben diesen Part mittlerweile andere Künstler*innen inne. Trotzdem blieb Vorfreude auf Interview wie Auftritt.

Thank you very much for taking the time for the interview.
You’re welcome. Thank you for paying attention to us.

How was your trip?
Travel was fine. No Problem. Everything was relaxed.

You are in the middle of the festival season. How did your last weekends look like?
Last Week we had a crazy weekend: we went skydiving. So we jumped out of this airplane and then we played four shows after that. Compared to that, this weekend is very relaxed.

And where did you play?
Festivals in the UK. Do you know a festival called Womad? It is a world music festival. It was really fun. We went there and it was the first time I brought my son to a festival. We went camping. He is two.

Nice, I think I was 18 at my first festival.
Me too.

On the 20th of October you will release your new record My Big Day. Can you already tell our readers something about it?
We produced it all by ourselves, which we haven’t done for a long time. I think what’s special about the album is how many exciting collaborations we had with other musicians. With some really exciting people like Damon Albarn from Blur, Nilüfer Yanya or Holly Humberstone, a phantastic singer from the UK. A bunch of different people. It’s almost like a HipHop album with just different peaches you know. Bands don’t always have lot of different people on their album. It’s more unusual I think.

How did it come to that?
I’ve worked with Damon Albarn for a long time now. It comes from a background of collaborations. I did a solo album which was very HipHop influenced. I like working with lot’s of different people.

And how does this work out then? Do you already have an idea of the song and then ask the other musicians? Or do you develop the entire song together?
Yeah. You’ve finished the song and then you try to think of someone that could bring something different too.

When is a song like that finished then? And who says it’s finished?
We say. We still have control of everything.

How do you notice that?
The way that we work is I write most of the songs. Then I send the song to the other members of the band and they listen to it in a different way to me. Because a lot of bands write everything together. So no one has that clarity because everyone is so involved in the process of writing. With us, this process is removed and they can be very critical about it. So they will probably say when they think it’s finished. Because for me it is difficult because I am spending everyday listening to, working on it and producing it right. It’s hard to be not subjective. It’s hard to be objective.

How do you start writing them? Do you have the melody or the lyrics first?
Melody. The lyrics is the day before we are in the studio. At a very last minute. I don’t enjoy writing them so I put it off to the last minute.

Do you set yourself a topic?
Usually when you write the demo you start mumbling just to get the melody down. And I think whenever you are mumbling it lend itself to an idea. And so I get inspired by the mumbling.

So you got the rhythm of the language before you got the lyrics?
Yeah. I like the sound of the syllables and stuff. It sounds musically already. You just have to find the right words afterwards. I think it is the better way to do it. Sometimes when you write poetry and then put it to music it doesn’t flow as well musically. I think it is better to do it the other way around. Maybe it works different for other people.

I am so happy to see you here. After you broke up in 2015, I wouldn’t have believed to hear new songs from you and to sit opposite you in an interview.
We just left it open. I think we just missed each other. Which is great. That’s the reason why we went on a break. I think in many aspects of life it’s just healthy to take a break and start to remember why you do it in the first place. If you just do it all the time, you can’t appreciate it as much anymore. Going to a festival like this after like ten years you start to think „Oh, again a festival.“ But now it’s exciting again. It’s really healthy to remove yourself sometimes and get some clarity.

If you can book your own festival: where should it be and who should play there?
Where would it be. Interesting. It would be very, very small. Because I don’t like big festivals. This looks very good. Maybe in a friends garden or something like this. Just my friends and family, like I am very introverted person. So lot’s of strangers around is not what I want to have. Just like people that I know. Even the bands and stuff is just friends. Not very exciting for you guys.

And which kind of music?
I think world music. Something from everywhere. Very eclectic.

What does your bedroomdisco look like? What is accompanying you musically at the moment?
Right now. I’ve been listening a lot to the Deftones. Like really heavy music. Which seems to be getting more popular now. In terms to new stuff, I mean, I don’t have my finger on the pulse. I listen to a lot of jazz. But I’m quite fascinated by the Deftones.

Thank you very much for taking the time. We are already very much looking forward to your performance.
Thank you that we still get attention from the Indiebubble and the pleasant conversation.