Noah and The Whale: The MusicSnobbery.com Interview

One of the most unique sounding new bands of the year, Noah and the Whale, would fit in perfectly with New York's anti-folk scene. The fun, sweet and interesting songs found on their debut album, Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down (out on Tuesday), have been impressing fans across the pound. There's no doubting that the band will find an audience in America, with their songs about boys in love with girls.

The band features brothers Charlie and Doug Wink on vocals/guitar and drums respectively, Tom Hobdon on violin, Matt Urby on bass and Laura Marling on backing vocals (when she's not amazing people on her own with her solo work).

While the band was driving back to London last Thursday, I talked to them about their album, the visual element to the band and deli meats. Matt acted as spokesperson, fielding all the answers. I'd like to welcome them to this space.

Did you get to go to the Mercury Prize ceremony?
No, we watched it on TV while we were in Wales. Isn't that amazing that Elbow won?

Yeah, it seems to make sense. They've been putting out great albums for a while, now it has culminated in this award.
Guy Garvey is such a great guy. We are slightly biased and we were rooting for Laura, but I think it was amazing.

So how did this band get together, and feel free to make a story if you like.
We got together ... [laughs] ... I should make up a story, but I might get heckled. I've known Doug since we were four years-old, and Charlie is his younger brother. Then Tom went to school with the brothers. It's boring, but it's accurate.

What were some of the first songs that were written for the band?
Charlie and Doug had written songs on their own before the band was fully formed. "Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down" and "Mary" was what we started off with. "Death By Numbers" we had early on, but that was released as a B-side.

Did you write songs just for the sake of getting your emotions on paper or did you foresee the songs making an album?
Charlie wrote songs to entice people, and to have something to play in front of people.

I'm sure you recognize that "Five Years Time" is an amazing song and you caught lightening in a bottle. Did anything or anybody inspire the song?
It's an idealistic love song, so it's not about anybody in particular. It's about the ideal of having a great relationship, and thankfully people have tapped into that. Does that song get played in the U.S.?

More people will recognize it from the Saturn car commercial. They might not know the band, but they'll recognize the song to an extent. I think once you get on some late night talk shows like Conan O'Brien or Letterman, then they will put two and two together ... Now, did you play around with the structure of the song because there are a lot of elements to it -- there are hand claps, whistles, flute, strings and a ukulele.
It's amazing. Stuff just comes together in the studio pretty quickly. Sometimes you have the energy to play around with a song, and other times it just seems to click. The song was made in a futile environment and everything worked well. "Mary" was something we toyed with a lot. We changed the key, the style and tempo. Some reason, "Five Years Time" didn't really change so much.

Did you have mariachi bands in mind when you made "Shape of My Heart"?
It gradually went to that direction. You do hear that in the arrangement. It was one of the last songs we recorded. There was a while where we were going to leave it for another time and not include it in the album. Then when the structure was worked out, we saw that it was definitely taking on a Mexican feel to it. Then the video sort of solidified it.

What was the reaction like when you first started playing gigs?
We feel pretty lucky in that we would play small venues in front of a few people, but those few people kept on coming back. I guess you would call them fans, but they were dedicated to coming to every show. That's encouraging.

What's it like starting a band in London? It's such a crowded marketplace with so many new bands.
There are loads, and we would be on a bill with five other bands on the same night. On the other hand, not many bands play the style of music we do. We are heavily influenced by the American anti-folk scene, and so that made us kind of unique.

When I read up on you guys, the reoccurring theme I found was that you didn't have high-ambitions for the band -- like you didn't think you'd be able to make an album and tour. So at what point do you have to start taking the band seriously?
I think you always want to do the best you can and make the best music possible. Early on, Charlie and Doug just wanted to play a proper gig. Once that was done, they were like, "Wow!" None of us would ever predicted that we would able to tour with somebody like Feist, or even do interviews like this where we talking about an album and coming to the U.S. We don't necessarily have goals, we just work as hard as we can and see what happens with it. Once we're done in the U.S., we tour the U.K. and some venues are sold out already. If you told us that six months ago that would happen, we would think you'd be bonkers. It's just something you don't aim for.

Was there a point where you had to iron out the visual element to the band from your costumes, website, videos and the general graphic design of the band?
We didn't sit down and preplanned it out. It was a gradual evolution.

Wes Anderson films being your main inspiration.
Exactly. It was a natural progression for us.

What is it about his work that you respond to?
I find it human that he incorporates so many emotions. He makes something extremely funny, but then puts in a scene that's quite dark and dramatic. I think everybody can related to his stories and characters.

With the videos, do you have concrete ideas going in and then on the day you just wing it?
No, the videos are all preplanned and structured out. We try to make the perfect visual accompaniment. James [Copeman, the video director] and Charlie work closely together. 

First U.S. tour is coming up. You got your visas squared away this time?
Yes, 100% so. It's interesting when we found out we were playing Mercury Lounge, we were watching that Dandy Warhols documentary, Dig. And the scene that was on was filmed outside of Mercury Lounge.

You have to go to Katz deli and get some meats. It's right next door.
You are talking to the right people. what do you recommend?

Pastrami.
Good one. Can't wait.

Final question, since you've been playing the same songs for about two years, are you itching to record new material?
Absolutely, we have a half of the songs demoed and it's going to be great. We'll record the album in January. We're getting better as a live band and that's going to be brilliant for the record.

Check the band's myspace page for U.S. tour dates.