QRO interviewed Joe James of Blitz Kids. In the conversation, the singer discussed making their latest album, The Good Youth, playing it live, Tommy Lee’s house, and more…
QRO: When I gave The Good Youth a listen I was quite stunned to hear how you guys never compromised the rawness of your playing style for melody. There’s a lot of cohesiveness to everything. How did recording process for the album start?
Joe James: It started a few years back when I met John Feldman in America. He invited me over to his house to write a song and I ended up staying for three weeks and demoing an EP’s worth. He invited Red Bull Records over to listen – since we had been a part of Red Bull’s U.K.’s Bedroom Jam Competition we were already on their radar – and we signed a record deal with them. We wrote the rest of the album while we were over there and we spent about five weeks in L.A. in total recording the album with John Feldmann in 2012. We recorded drums at Tommy Lee’s house, which is a fun fact.
QRO: Was it apparent at first that the album would be as different as it is from your debut or did that become clearer to you guys later on?
JJ: I think we knew it would be different right from the off. We rushed the first album in the writing and the recording process. It was a bit of a mess, if I’m honest. We took a lot more care over the EP to follow and spent even more time on The Good Youth and I think it shows. That’s why we’re spending a lot more time writing our follow-up. We won’t put something out until we’re confident that it’s a fair representation of the best we can do.
QRO: These songs are rock but there definitely is pop influence there; it’s quite a brilliant thing to see because again it shows how you guys don’t compromise. When it comes to music tastes how different or similar are the tastes of the band?
JJ: We like a lot of the same artists, but our tastes are pretty varied at the same time. We love showing each other songs on the bus when we’re driving around and I’ve discovered so much great new music that way.
QRO: What was it like performing these songs from The Good Youth live? What ended up surprising you about it?
JJ: We wrote a lot of these songs in a studio environment so it was interesting to migrate them to the stage. We were surprised by how many parts some of the songs had, we’d gotten a little carried away sometimes so we stripped them right down and built up from the ground to get a more live feel with a few of them.
QRO: Songs tend to change when you play them live, especially to keep things fresh. It’s been a year since The Good Youth was released and I’m curious to know how different the songs sound to you, now that you’ve played them live so much?
JJ: We’ve played around with a few throughout the year. We’ve experimented with different samples on stage; we had a second guitarist for a bit. I think we’re comfortable with the sound we have now, it’s raw and it’s more rock orientated.
QRO: What was a moment from last year that’s really stuck with you? A moment that makes you proud to be in this band?
JJ: I was really proud of how many shows we played. We played over 100 shows last year. The last headline show of the year we played to a packed London Garage and that was a really proud moment for us.
QRO: When it comes to the acts you’ve toured with, who would you say has influenced the band the most since after the tour?
JJ: We’ve learned a lot from being on the road with other bands.
All Time Low taught us a lot about performing to big crowds and putting on a show and Taking Back Sunday showed us that passion doesn’t fade for something as important as music. We’re constantly learning and growing as a band and what better advice to get than from the bands I grew up listening to. The music world is quite a weird place and sometimes it can feel like a difficult place to navigate.
QRO: Being a band that sounds the way you do comes with a lot of contrasts in pros and cons. Have there been things about being a professional working band that’s surprised you since starting out?
JJ: I’m always surprised by the musical comparisons people make with our band but everyone’s interpretation is different and I think that’s kind of cool. I was surprised at how difficult it is to make a real living from music but it’s a sacrifice you make to do something that you love every day.
QRO: When I looked you guys up I was quite shocked by how passionate your audience seems to be, it’s quite brilliant. What do you think it is that causes fans to connect with the music the way they have?
JJ: We write about real things we’re going through or we’ve experienced as a band and as individuals. Each song has a story. I think people connect with those stories. We care about our fans and take time at every show to meet as many as possible. We also interact and reply to them on all our social media sites because we think it’s important they know how valued they are.
