Ever since the arrival of The Beatles in 1964, the American music scene has experienced a fresh new “British Invasion” with each passing decade. No matter the style, whether it’s pop, rock, metal, punk or new wave, those wily Brits have a way of regularly displaying to the world that they know how to craft excellent music; music that many others will seek to emulate. And with the upcoming release of their third album, Beyond The Neighbourhood, the London-based band Athlete is poised to make a great leap with their highly accessible sound - not just across the ocean, but deep into our ear canals. I recently talked with Tim Wanstall (keyboards & background vocals) about the band’s direction and what was driving the band’s vision these days.
Beyond the Neighbourhood is an anthemic-sounding record, full of big songs, strong guitars, and lots of crescendos. What does that say about you guys as a band, your past, present, and future?
It’s a sign of shifting production values for us. This is our third record and it’s our third sound. With the first album, everything was rather balanced, while on the second record, things were more keyboard-heavy. When we approached writing for this album, we simply wanted to write some great pop songs, so the guitars are larger than before. We’re quite comfortable with saying that we just want to write pop songs that everyone can get into, and we can say that without any cynicism. We like what we’re writing these days and so we’re messing around with production trying to find a sound that best matches our songs.
Who or what influenced you while making this record? The album title directly references that you started making this record while on the road touring, but what else is there?
We’re just family-oriented people from a small corner of London called Deptford. So, on our first record, all the songs were about our lives in town, narratives directly pulled from our lives. With the second record, after touring and promoting the first album, we wrote songs that helped us come to terms with leaving that life behind. And now, the third record deals with us further getting used to the road and having to maintain families and relationships while on the road. We’re all hitting 30, two of us have kids, and we’re asking different questions about life as we get older. This truly is a looking outward record for us.
So does that mean you’re a band with a message? You have a big sound similar to other bands that have something to say, so do you envision Athlete as presenting a dramatic sound with a dramatic message or statement?
Well, this album deals with various subject matters that are important to us in our lives, but it doesn’t carry an overt message. It’s an album full of questions, not answers. The song “Second Hand Stores” comes from an article that Joel (Pott) [lead vocals & guitars] was reading about bird songs falling out of sync because of rampant industrialization. The song “Tokyo” has a line where Joel sings, “I’m a hypocrite” - that’s the human condition and we’re all part of the problem. There’s no mantra on this album. We’re just seeking our identity; we’re trying the tangents to see what we can get away with.
What are you looking forward to with the new album? Are you trying to reach new fans or are you hoping to give old fans something new to listen to?
The excitement for us, with this new record, is seeing who latches onto the new record. This is a more up-tempo record for us than the last, with more guitars and bigger sounds. So, we’re looking forward to see what happens with radio play and touring.
“Hurricane” is the current single there in the UK. What other singles do you guys have planned for the album?
Tim: Well, we’re hoping to get “Hurricane” over to the US, but “Outsiders” is the next single planned for the UK. It’s not the obvious choice for a single, but we all feel that there’s just something there with that song that people are going to latch onto and like. People are looking at “Tokyo” for the single after that, but the band’s dark horse favorite for the third single is “Second Hand Stores.” We happen to like that song a lot.
I personally think that “Second Hand Stores” is one of the top songs on the album. It’s definitely one of my favorites. What kind of touring have you planned to promote the new album?
We have lots of one-off promotional gigs planned throughout September with the release of the album and then we’ll tour the UK for October. At the end of October through November, we’re planning to tour the US and play lots of small gigs there. Where are you? Austin?
I’m actually in Houston, even though you can’t tell from my lack of a Texas accent.
Tim: [Laughs] Very good then. Well, maybe if we get through Houston, we’ll have to get a pint or something.
--Adam P. Newton
Photo: Danny Clinch
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Athlete’s Beyond the Neighbourhood is released September 25, 2007 on Astralwerks Records.
http://www.athlete.mu
http://www.myspace.com/athlete
