Music > Interviews

Interview with Savages

02/05/13

Despite numerous appearances on music mag hype lists, serious industry rep, die-hard fans, and plenty of other recognition, Savages seem to have their heads screwed on. They’re art school monochrome cool, but they’re also ruthlessly focussed, and that’s a dangerous mix. It’s rather surprising then, that some of Britain’s finest new exports have found themselves in a cheap, seemingly staff-less, siren drenched motel in Seattle. But that’s where we find them, and after finally getting our call put through, the surprisingly charming Fay Milton [drummer] sheds some light on Savages’ desires.

How are you? I’m good, I’ve had a nice morning sitting by the phone. I’ve just got to say, we’re in a hotel and we’re leaving in about five minutes, so we’ll have to do something quite quick.

I’ll ignore the simple questions then! The manifestos on your site say you’re always searching for better ways of living and experiencing music, how does this impact your live shows? We always try to not do the same gig twice; we’ll change the setlist around, or add a new song, or add different bit in between songs, just to keep people on their toes really. We always tend to have something that’s a bit of a risk in the show, but I think it extends a bit beyond what we’re playing. We’ll set a playlist to play at the venue from the start of the night that’s made by us, or by friends of ours, so as much as possible we’ll curate the whole night from start to finish, rather than just turning up to play our songs. I think when we play in Norwich we’ll have Johnny Hostile (friend/producer) as support so from the minute you walk in everything you hear is going to be chosen by us.

You wanted to record the album live, was that to capture the urgency of your gigs? Yes, in a way. There’s a certain magic when people play music together and are feeding off each other; there’s an energy that comes out of that whether it’s in a studio or live. A gig is a bit more chaotic, and you’re not trying to capture that exactly, as it wouldn’t sound great on record. What we did try to capture were the precise moments when people are playing together which don’t get ironed out if you don’t do any overdubs or add too much sterilisation.

Would you say your live shows are more like performance art, rather than just music? Yeah, definitely; take the drums on a song like ‘She Will’; I hammer the cymbals like crazy, and it goes beyond the point of actually playing and becomes more physical, as if I’m acting something out which is part of the performance. I think we all do things like than in our various ways.

You’ve had lots of attention over your ‘live’ videos, which show raw footage, but are equally very polished. It’s important, because there are so many opportunities to film things now, and it can become real absolute overkill. You can’t completely control people, and they’ll always film you and take photos at your show, but we are very selective with what we put out because it’s unnecessary to record a thousand different clips in sessions and get filmed at every single show that you do. One video that’s good is a lot stronger than twenty videos that are relatively poor.

You’ve spoken out against people using mobile phones at your gigs too? Yeah, that’s something we’ve just started doing, and we’ve had a really amazing reaction so far. At the past two gigs we’ve just put up a little sign saying ‘You’re at a show, you don’t need to use your phone to enjoy it’, and it’s just because we’d rather see people’s faces than their hands and their cameras. We love playing to people, playing to humans, playing to their brains, and playing to their hearts, and their souls, and their bodies, and without that little screen as a barrier I think we all get a lot more enjoyment out of the show. Plus, nobody ever looks back at their photos anyway! [laughs] It’s about being in the moment; we have a song called ‘I Am Here’ and it’s about that that feeling of being right there, in that moment of time and expression. And for all those people in the room together, they should feel that, rather than removing themselves and taking a photo for their friend, or filming it to put on YouTube. Doing that means you are constantly thinking of things outside of the room and distracting yourself; it’s unnecessary to do that because it takes you away from the exact moment that you’re trying to capture.

You’ve been labelled as all sort of arbitrary genres, like post-punk and goth, do you take any notice of that? [Fay is interrupted by the sounds of sirens, and a ‘crazy fire’ going on somewhere near their hotel. True professional, and true Brit, she shuts the window and we continue]  I don’t know any musician that really pay attention to the labels put on them or their music, and it absolutely doesn’t affect us, or how we make music, in any way at all. So, no! [laughs]

But it must feel good to be linked to such revered artists as Joy Division and Siouxie and the Banshees? I’ve described it like this before, but I think it works, so I’ll say it again. It’s like when someone says you look like a famous actor, but you know that you don’t really. You say ‘Yeah, sure’, and even if ten different people say the same thing it doesn’t really affect your life, and it doesn’t go much deeper than that. That’s the best way I can describe it.

What about paying attention to those hype lists taken at the start of the year, and being bunched together with bands like Palma Violets as the ‘saviours of guitar music’? Saviours of guitar music, [laughs] as if guitar music needs saving! And paying attention to it, well, no! [laughs again] All it means is people think you’re doing well. It doesn’t really mean anything, but the guy from your local shop will be like ‘Your band’s doing well’, I saw you on a list! I guess it’s nice, and it does get our name around, but I just don’t know if it means much. I don’t think we’ve come top of any lists either, so if you’re not top it’s even less relevant. Like the BBC Sound of 2013, it’s a bit of a weird concept. It’s like being band of the week; nobody wants to be band of the week -

- And drop off the face of the earth by Friday? Yeah, exactly. It’s nice to be included, and it’d feel odd not to be, but at the same time I think it’s just filler for websites in January.

So what about your musical influences, before they stopped printing Stool Pigeon claimed you were inspired by UK garage? I’ve never lived that down! It suggests I had a big background in UK garage, which is just not true, but I did grow up listening to that kind of music. I was a 12 year old girl growing up in Bromley listening to jungle, knowing all the words to various MCs’ verses, listening to garage and drum n bass. I guess it all comes through, just subconsciously.

So have those percussion heavy genres had any influence on Savages? The way in which the bass and drums work together is in a way. We’re not really coming from a traditional rock and roll direction, but more like jazz bands, and dance genres, where you set up a groove and it just sort of runs along. Then you can put breaks in it, and stops and starts after laying it down. But that’s really just a very basic thing that’s come from those genres; I know some of the others have had much more traditional, heavier influences.

The dark aesthetic gives the band a dangerous glamour, was that a conscious decision, or just a coincidence? No, we didn’t make a decision to dress a certain way, you’ll just find in general that a lot of people wear black, [laughs] and white as well, they’re good colours to wear, and they’re smart. We wouldn’t want to walk on stage looking scruffy; we’re there to perform, and part of getting ready for that is presenting ourselves. It’s not that the monochrome is an unbreakable rule though; I just think when you’re around each other for so long you tend to assimilate. It’s just like any group of friends when they go out together, where they start to create a look for themselves. But it definitely wasn’t something we sat down and considered.

You’re an all-female line-up, but you play far more intense music than the twee-ness that might suggest. It strikes me as bizarre that there should be so much twee female music, as there aren’t that many twee females. Women come in as many different shapes and sizes as men do, and it’s no anomaly for women to be strong, and be powerful, and be passionate. It’s a very female thing, but maybe it’s not been put into music that much recently, so it’s interesting to put those qualities into music, and channel them into a performance on the stage.

On the Pop Noire website [lead singer Jehnny’s label] there’s a quote from Charles Bukowski that reads “If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise don’t even start.” How does that relate to Savages? That’s the most fantastic link to the band. Every single song, and every single gig, has that feeling behind it. There’s never a soft show, every single performance is so emotional for us, because we give everything. And also, in the longer term, it’s not about just being one of the bands of the year; it’s about making music properly, and taking it all the way, so yeah, I love that quote.

Alex Throssell

Savages play Norwich Arts Centre on 5th May. Buy your tickets at www.norwichartscentre.co.uk