I’m sat waiting to chat with the band inside Debaser Medis, the famed rock venue on Söder, in which they will be playing later that night. Jack Steadman, the band’s lead vocalist and lyricist, taps me on the shoulder. “Hi, are you interviewing Bombay Bicycle Club?” I laugh and nod back, immediately recognizing him. He’s instantly likable with a modest air about him, as if he wasn’t completely sure how he’d gotten himself to the point of being interviewed by global magazines in the first place. As soon as I introduce myself, and start to inquire about the band, sound check starts next door. We’re yelling over the noise at this point. I was pleased to hear Jack insist on finding a quieter spot.
On the way up to one of the other rooms I asked Jack what the other band members were doing. “Well two of them are doing some sort of exercise routine. They’ve got the shorts and sweat bands on and everything. I couldn’t explain it if I tried,” he laughs.
This was the first time BBC were playing in Stockholm, having only played at Hultsfred Festival in 2012. This was their first show back in Sweden since then. I asked him how he felt about being in the capital city for the first time. “It’s great. We’re really excited. We never really think about a show too much before we do it though. We don’t expect anything. We just hope that people show up and that they like what we do.”
Having just hit #1 on the UK Album Chart, it’s interesting to look back to when BBC broke through the ranks. Seven years prior to this album, the boys released their first EP, The Boy I Used To Be. Could they have guessed that their career would get this far in 2014? “I think when we started and up till now we’ve never been a band that looks far ahead into the future. We’re always so happy with what we’re doing presently.” Jack went on to tell me that they didn’t really imagine things getting to this point. “I sort of laughed it off when we hit number one. Everything that any one suggests about us I always think is crazy.” His demeanor said it all, as he smiled and humbly chatted with me. “We’re just so relaxed about the whole thing. We started this band when we were kids – it wasn’t for financial reasons or for our livelihood initially. We’re just very privileged now that the money we make from touring covers our rent.”
But like he’s told me, Jack isn’t sure what the future looks like for Bombay Bicycle Club. “A few months ago when I was in the depths of writing and we were recording this album, I was like this is intense, man, I want to do something else after this. Then I played our first show and we had such a good time and at that point I’m like… I want to do this for the rest of my life! It goes up and down like that all the time.” He smirks. But isn’t that what we should come to expect from a band in their mid-20s? Most twenty-something year olds don’t even know what they want to do presently, let alone years from now. It’s one thing that people seem to forget about BBC, they’re still growing as people and as a band.
With criticism throughout their years as a band, BBC is repeatedly trying to prove themselves to the public. More specifically the UK, as Jack explains to me. “In the UK we have a reputation and it comes from so many different things. Like our band name, how middle class we are, and our first album. Our first album was very adolescent, but the thing was – we were adolescents! I mean cut us a break, we were 17. We didn’t think it’d grab that kind of attention at that point. We thought we’d have those first learning stages that no one really focuses on, but we didn’t.” He went on to tell me that it was since that first album that they felt this urge to prove something. “We wanted to show people we had the talent to make interesting and experimental music, but still retain those pop sensibilities which people are drawn to.” So Long, See You Tomorrow is bouncing off those ideals.
The group’s new album, So Long, See You Tomorrow, having just come out the beginning of February, is one they feel is really special. “We really tried to show people what we could do with music in this new album. We want all the sounds you’re hearing to be just left of center, but we don’t want it to become an intellectual album. We want it to be a mediate.”
BBC are widely known for their versatility between albums and this album is no exception. But, what is it that binds their music together? Jack thinks out loud to me, offering that it could be his style of lyrical writing or melody but none of that is done purposefully. He soon comes to a conclusion. “I think it’s really about us on stage. From the beginning until now when people see us play I hope they still see those four awkward guys from North London, that look kind of sheepish and relatable.” He smiles at me and I can see him in that moment having a mental image of those four boys that started making music together back in 2007. “I honestly think that’s sort of what glues it all together.”
One of the most interesting tracks on the album, Feel, has received a lot of attention because of its Bollywood sensibilities, an influence Jack experienced during a trip to India. It reminds me of Balkan music with its’ uplifting, interesting and underused sound. He finds it great that I see that connection. Jack discovered the sound for Feel as he was going through Bollywood soundtracks from the 50s and 60s. “When this one song came on, which ended up being the opening motif of Feel, I was instantly hypnotized. I just knew I had to have it.”
Lastly we went on to talk about time, in general. So Long, See you Tomorrow has tested fans’ patience, as BBC hadn’t released an album since 2011. “You know usually when you’re starting out with a label you feel a lot of pressure. We’ve got to such a healthy relationship with our label right now – they really trust us. It’s amazing that they let us produce it ourselves and hardly bothered us at all.” He thinks back to when the album hit number one and now believes the label is actually the first thing he thought of – “thankfully our vision paid off for the label after they believed in us like that.”
This new album that fans held out for was well worth the wait, especially for the opportunity to see the album performed in a live environment. At the live show at Debaser, Bombay had a feel to them that really caught me off guard. Having not seen them live before, I didn’t have many expectations. As long as they were energetic and sang as well as what we hear on the records, I couldn’t ask for much more. But the show went much further than that. The four came alive with no inhibitions – lots of warmth, energy and talent emanating towards the crowd, sweeping over the eye-glazed music lovers as they sang along to new wonders such as Carry Me, and old favorites such as Always Like This.
Complimenting Jack’s vocals was some serious instrumental talent. The band got the crowd fully immersed (and in a room full of Swedes we know how hard that can be). Jack, Jamie MacColl, Ed Nash, and Suren de Saram were properly going at it with vigor and rock-and-roll style. Also on stage was the voice of Liz Lawrence; having a female voice on stage was a major positive, creating a new layer for the band. Her voice was soothing, mysterious and easy on the ears – a perfect match for the Bombay sound. When Jack spoke into the mic during the gig, it took me back to his words from earlier. Here on Debaser’s stage stood four sheepish guys from North London, expressing themselves through music.
Interview & Words by Angela Markovic
