Interview with The Alps

"Depends what mood you catch us in. Today we are men. "

August 14, 2008, 09:23 PM

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In 2006 your single 'World at War' was named as Gigwise's single of the week, and is described as "A tale of yearning for that elusive loved one". Are any of you currently yearning for that elusive loved one at the moment? Does that inspire your songwriting?
Dan: We are always yearning, and yes – that does inspire. We also seem to revisit themes of escaping, finding and losing. It was pointed out to us by our producer, Dave Allen, that many of the songs are actually about closure – such as ‘Goodnight Vienna’ ‘Last Dance’ and ‘Not So Laughable Now’. They have an abrupt finality about them. So yeah – not sure what that says about us – we try not to over-analyze what we do too much.

A lot of new bands are using the internet and their own individual marketing styles to promote their music, rather than looking for a label to sign them (Hamfatter just raised £75K via Dragon's Den!). Do you think this is a positive thing for the music industry?
Dan: Yeah – in the climate of today’s music industry, which is in a state of flux, I think it’s positive and interesting to take a novel approach to funding and releasing stuff. The Hamfatter thing is comparable to our involvement with Slicethepie who approached us to be one of their launch bands. The whole Slicethepie thing fitted in nicely with what we were up to. We had already set up our own small label - Elusive Music - to release a very early single, and SLP has provided us with the funds to record and promote the album while we retain all copyright on the songs. It gives us the best of both worlds. We have complete control over our sound and a direct connection with our fans - the very people who gave us a chance to record this album. The only real difference is that we don't get the massive advance spent on us that artists can often expect from majors.. but these are really just big recoupable loans with unreasonable terms for the artist. People are generally very curious and also very positive about such a novel approach to recording and releasing music. Although small compared to an advance a band may expect from the likes of EMI, it’s always a bit of an eyebrow raiser when we tell people we’ve managed to raise £21,000 with the help of Slicethepie.

For you guys, what defines making that step from 'wannabe' band to 'made it'?
Sam: Mmm? The definition of ‘made it’ is a vague one. We probably still have a lot to achieve before we can truly claim that. But we are chuffed about many of the things we have achieved so far, such as getting to record an album with Dave Allen and getting a record that we are proud of out there.

Please tell me about the video for Small Town Cowboy. Who thought of the concept and what's it all about?
Sam: That was the director’s crazy idea, and I understand your bewilderment. It’s basically about some cowboy obsessed guy been stuck in a small town, working in a chippy, who has elusions of escaping from it all with a heroine on horseback. Was great fun to shoot, though a little scary walking around Malton in North Yorkshire in full cowboy attire, chaps and all – got some strange looks.


Hezi: Sam looks ace as the evil Mexican character.

Dave, you're an established photographer as well as being in the band. Do your passions ever conflict, or do they work nicely alongside each other? Has there ever been a time when you've had to choose between one and/or the other?
Dan: Dave actually parted company with the band about 4 months back, and I suppose the photography played a part in this mutual decision. There are no hard feelings on this front however and we all remain best mates. The enigmatic Dan Gray has filled his shoes nicely.

You're working with Dave Allen (The Cure, Depeche Mode) - how did that come about, and what is it about his style and talent that made this a great collaboration?
Hezi: This was one of those fortuitous ‘friend of a friend’ type things; he heard our stuff, heard we were looking for someone to produce our album and got in touch. We were obviously already aware of his work, all being Cure fans, and especially fans of some of the records he was responsible for such as ‘Disintegration’, ‘Wish’ and ‘Head On the Door’. He was great fun to work with and it was great to get his fingerprints on our stuff. The album was co-produced by Mark Ralph (Filthy Dukes) who was also a big part of the way the record came out.

What is your ultimate ambition as a band?
Dan: Top of the Pops.

What was it like being the Koko with David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff? Do you consider this one of the pinnacles of your career to date? Any collaborations in the pipeline? (snigger)
Dan: Definitely a highlight, and a very random one at that.
Sam: Unfortunatley, we’ve had no offers of a collaboration through yet.

Seriously, who would you most love to do a track with?
Dan: Morrissey.

Are you men, or monsters, or what?
Dan: Depends what mood you catch us in. Today we are men.

Check out The Alps now:
http://www.myspace.com/alpsalpsalps

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