Whether true or not, the last few years has felt like new acts have raised the bar for good emerging music. Though there are now many thousands of acts all producing interesting work for a dwindling, fractured audience, there are still very few tracks that have the ability to make you swoon on first listen. Whether heard through the many blog posts hyping the band, on the radio, or even in one of the many Topman shops that have been spinning the track in the last few months, Falling into Love is undoubtedly one of those songs, the descent into honeysuckle admiration marked by each of it’s sickly sweet choruses. Unsurprisingly, the band responsible for making such a heady mixture of folk and pop are hotly tipped to make huge strides with their forthcoming album – and that band is the wonderful Planet Earth. They had a chat with us about their forthcoming longplayer, heavy metal influences and their worst ever gig. And for your chance to win the recent Young & Lost Compilation (featuring Planet Earth, Noah and the Whale and a load more) and a copy of Planet Earth’s latest single on the label, see below. There are two sets to give away, too.
Planet Earth – Bergman Movies [last.fm download]
Hello Planet Earth, how are you? What have you been up to?
Hi PP. I’m good thanks. I just got back from a week away in Berlin and Paris. It was fun.
For those who don’t know, could you tell us a bit about who you are and what you do.
We are a ‘four piece’ indie rock band based in London England. Three of us met at University at Manchester where we started out playing folky stuff, but since the addition of Tom, our drummer, we’ve started to rock out a bit more.
And just to confirm, you are not a metal band, correct?
Correctamundo.
You didn’t take any inspiration from HED (Planet Earth), then?
Nope. Not yet anyway…
People might have heard your song being played in a Topman. Is it strange to be soundtrack people’s fashion purchasing?
I suppose it is a little. I actually used to work as a shop assistant in a high street clothes store so I know what it’s like to have the same 10 songs played on a loop to you for 8 hours a day…it’s not much fun. So I more feel sorry for the staff having to hear us all the time.
What’s your process for writing a song? It’s always been something that has beguiled me.
Usually I work on finding an interesting chord structure or riff or whatever and then build lyrics around that. But there’s no set formula, sadly. Sometimes a song just plops out fully formed and sometimes it takes weeks or months to get right.
Your last single featured Noah and the Whale and I Know I Have No Collar. Is that something we can expect to continue with your album?
I really wanted our last single to be totally collaborative – even the press release was written by a friend of mine. But it was quite difficult to pull everyone together and get it all done on time. Charlie from Noah will produce the album, but we have a settled line up now so I don’t think there’ll be any special guests this time, I want to try to keep it simple.
And how is that getting underway?
Well the plan is to record it with Charlie in October. We have most of the songs written so it’s just a case of polishing them and making them sound presentable. It’s going to be all new songs I reckon.
Of course, that single was released on Young and Lost Club. What’s it like working with the label?
YALC have been incredibly supportive of us. When you’re starting out it’s so important to have people around you who support you, because otherwise trying to ‘make it’ in the music biz can be a little disheartening. But they’ve been really amazing to us, and given us complete freedom to do whatever we want, which is all you can ask really.
And you’re playing the 5th Anniversary show – what can we expect?
Some new songs, and the sight of us enjoying Noah’s new pop direction!
You must have been to a few gigs over the years – any that you’re particularly embarrassed about? I went and saw The Kooks on my 18th birthday. That was sad, especially with Jamie T supporting.
The only one I can think of is seeing Audioslave at the Astoria at their first London gig. They are/were an absolutely atrocious band. But then I’m not really embarrassed about it because I got to see Tom Morello close up, and he was a bit of a teenage hero of mine.
What can we expect in the future, anything exciting?
Well the album is something I’m hugely excited about, I can’t wait to get into the studio, and hopefully it’ll all turn out sounding good.
Also, which upcoming bands are you fans of?
I really like Ex Lovers, who will be playing at the YALC birthday bash too. Apparently their first album will be coming out soon and I’m excited about that.
As you may well be aware, Young & Lost recently turned 5 years old, and to celebrate, they’ve put out a wonderful compilation CD. For your chance to win one of two copies of it plus a Planet Earth 7″ from the label, you’ve simply got to send your honest answer to the following question to pigeoncomps@gmail.com:
What is the most embarrassing gig that you’ve ever been to?
The two most cringe worthy answers will each win a set. Competition closes Wednesday 18th August at 10 a.m.
[young & lost] [planet earth myspace] [last.fm (including downloads)]
Great interview!
I agree. I have so much love for Planet Earth!