Last night I dragged myself out despite my raging flu/cold/depends on who's asking and joined my friends for the Shoreditch musical love-in, Stag & Dagger. Our plan of attack was to go to the venues we'd not been to before, however once we arrived their we discovered we had been to all, only under different names! Quick dash to the Vibe bar ensured I caught the last song from the Mae Shi, (interview below), I stayed for Abe Vigoda, who were watchable and headed back to Catch to check out Thunderheist, entertaining. Then on my bike to cycle home after consuming no alcohol. Rock and Roll!Interview for Dazed Digital...
The Mae Shi are a hybrid of musical backgrounds and aspirations thrown together to form a 'franchise' band, evolving through a process of reinvention known in the industry as 'snaking' (the shedding of members to reveal a new layer). It's current line-up, Jonathan Gray, Jeff Byron, Tim Byron, Bred Breeck, Jacob Cooper and William Esperanto Gray have been going strong since late 2007. We grab a hasty moment with Jacob Cooper the newest member of the band on the eve of their Stag and Dagger shows in London, Leeds and Glasgow. You can check out their band blog here.
Dazed Digital: What was the inspiration for your latest album? Jacob Cooper: The end of the world, in both a religious and non-religious perspective at the same time.
DD: Where does your sound come from? Jacob Cooper: We all listen to a lot of music and play in different sounding bands. Brad is a pop song writer, I'm into digital hardcore, Jon and Bill are in a punk band together, and Jeff composes music and used to be a trance DJ.
DD: What are your favorite tracks from the album, why? Jacob Cooper: I personally love The Melody. It's a proper pop song and it's the only song from the record we can't tack down as a live band. Go figure.
DD: What was ATP like, it must have been a good to make it onto the fan curated line-up? Jacob Cooper: We had a blast at ATP. It sort of sucked that none of the rides were working while we were there. They had shut off the whole theme park to throw the festival for ATP. We got to see some amazing bands too like Jesus Lizard and Sleep. I got pretty slammed and ended up having conversation with who I thought was the guitarist for Jesus Lizard for about ten minutes, but 3 days later realised the guy was English and worked for the government. He was still an awesome dude though.
DD: Are you looking forward to Stag and Dagger? Jacob Cooper: Stag and Dagger is going to be loads of fun. It involves everything we have learned to love: shitty food, drunk people, tons of music in one area, and all night parties. Lock and load.
DD: You've been kicking around since 2003, how do you compare to when you began? Jacob Cooper: We have had several line up changes. I'm the newest member of the band, and that was about a year and a half ago now. I'd like to consider the Mae Shi as more of a franchise now.
You can read the rest of the interview by clicking here.
