Redbrick Meets: we are scientists
Ahead of their UK tour, which kicks off in the UK on November 24e and arriving in Birmingham on December 6th, I sat down with Keith Murray, guitarist and singer of indie rock band We are Scientists to discuss their new album Angry.
As an American artist, what would you say about the strangest thing you found in British culture?
“I mean, I wouldn’t say it’s the strangest thing, but I would say the most striking thing should be Indian food! We Are Scientists singer and guitarist Keith Murray confessed, stating that although they have decent fast food chains, Indian cuisine just isn’t the same in the United States, and it certainly is. what the band expects most when they tour the UK, giving special mention to ‘that great Balti triangle’ we have in Birmingham.
After last year I’m sure you’re as excited as the fans are to come back to live music. What a song from your new album Angry is your favorite to play live?
Murray said it’s hard to say in advance which song will be the most fun to perform, as the extent to which he enjoys the performance really depends on the appreciation of the fans. While playing the hit song “Nobody Moves Nobody Gets Hurt” from the 2005 album With love and misery so many times it’s a little hard to play in practice, he loves playing it live because “the crowd is having a good time so we’re having a good time.” He teases “we’ll have to wait and see what this album’s” Nobody Moves “will be,” but reveals “for now, based on practices with the band, I’d say” Contact High “is the Most Fun to play. . ‘
Do you have rituals before a concert to highlight yourself and put yourself in the right free space before you perform?
“I wouldn’t say any of us really get this nervous,” Murray says, comparing preparing for a gig to “stretching to run,” although he likes to “make a bunch of margaritas for. have the energy “for a performance.
So despite the power of these margaritas, sometimes live shows tend to go wrong – what do you think was your most embarrassing moment when performing?
Murray recalled the time in 2007 in London a show where We are Scientists supported The Kaiser Chiefs and, halfway through their second song, all of his sound material stopped working. “I had to play the rest of the set singing without a guitar”, giving him a new “respect for singers who play without instruments”.
On the other hand, what was your most cherished memory of being in the band?
Pausing for a moment, thinking back to the many memories created over the years, Murray decided to “watch some trashy action flicks with the band after a show”, confessing that he had a list on Netflix of things to watch afterwards. the show.
Obviously you have a lot of fun spending time with the group, if you could add one more person to We Are Scientists, alive or dead, who would it be?
Murray argued that it would be necessary for a member to “not only be fun to hang out with, but add value to the group.” He says that while a three-member group setup works best for We are Scientists, former keyboardist Michael Tapper fits that mold perfectly, although “maybe Dua Lipa or Shawn Mendes” would make a great addition.
You have very unique album names, my favorite being Damn attack. Where does the name come from Angry comes from?
Murray explains how the band usually doesn’t tailor their album names directly to the album’s content and themes, but rather clings to a memorable word or sentiment invoked by the vibe of it. Angry, almost made fun of We are Scientists’ position in relation to heavy rock bands: while artists “like Liam Gallagher do very moody rock”, their album “is just a little offended”.
Are there any artists who particularly influenced this album?
Although in their early days We are Scientists directly influenced contemporaries like Franz Ferdinand and The Killers, Murray now has a harder time figuring out where exactly their inspiration came from. He “enters a sort of work bubble” largely by listening to his own songs when working on music to really hone the craft. He associates working on Huffy with being locked up when “I’ll say I listened to a lot of that Dua Lipa album.”
I took a look at your ‘Mind Sports’ playlist on Spotify. There are cool tunes there. Would you say that the music you love to listen to is similar to the music you make, or do you prefer to immerse yourself in different styles?
Murray states that he prefers to expand into different styles of music because “it can seem incredibly erased”, but when it comes to artists similar to We are Scientists “I probably love us more than them” since his own work is personally tailored to his liking. He listens to a lot of Public Practice rock art and heavy rock groups like Black Midi and 311.
You mentioned that you enjoy watching crappy movies with the band after your concerts. Do you have any music that you listen to as guilty pleasure that you might be embarrassed to admit?
“I don’t really believe in guilty pleasures,” Murray began, admitting that even though with some films he knows it was terrible but accepts that he had a good time watching it, with music he appreciates that he appreciates it for a reason, so it’s good music. After listening to the pop punk band Turnstile, he felt intrigued by it but can’t decide whether to love it or hate it.
So you’ve been making music for a long time now. Aside from listening to a range of musical styles, how do you keep your song ideas fresh and avoid writer’s block?
While the band used to “direct our efforts towards writing ten or twelve songs to fill an album,” now they write more freely, continuing with songs even if they don’t feel very good, they do. So there are ‘hundreds of songs to choose from’ when curating an album. I think this unique laid back experimentation shines through in Huffy.
Is there something you have dreamed of doing for a long time, whether in music or other aspects of life, that you haven’t done yet?
“It should be making an action movie with the band,” Murray said, joking that other artists might watch him for a laugh after their shows. He would like Bryan Singer to make a music video for We are Scientists one day.
To conclude, what do you think is your greatest achievement?
Murray looked around, revealing that it should be “this new guitar I bought”. I just like to look at it and think, I admit it, I can play this.
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