The Horrors interview: Following a trend is the last thing you should do

Frontman Faris Badwan on the indie rockers' standout career 
High five: The Horrors recently released V, their critically acclaimed fifth album
Ben Olsen27 October 2017

With 12 years and five albums to their name, the Horrors are one of today's most prolific British bands.

First emerging from Southend as an angular five-piece with a passion for 1960s garage rock, it was their second album, 2007's Primary Colours, that saw the band really take off, receiving a Mercury Prize nomination and establishing the band among London's resurgent indie scene

Later records took their sound in more expansive directions; polished productions that touched on dream pop, krautrock and electronica, while the release last month of their fifth album, V, is perhaps their most accomplished yet.

This weekend they play Camden's Koko as part of a European tour that's showcasing new material as well as revisiting older classics.

We caught up with frontman Faris Badwan to talk us through the Horrors' blockbuster new record and the band's veteran status.


On touring...
Playing shows is my favourite thing about being in a band. It's expressive, raw and hard to predict – you never know what's going to happen. And this current tour is my favourite collection of shows that we've done so far. The new album is probably the most natural record to perform live.

On starting out...
When we began we were determined to only play covers of songs from before 1966 – we were quite purist in that sense. As it went on we got into this sound as a group and ended up taking it further than you ever would've done on your own. We were into garage rock, collected garage rock records – we were having fun and starting club nights and playing as much as possible.

On the Horrors' evolving sound...
We've always had quite diverse tastes – we're into techno as much as anything else. We never deliberately tried to change the sound of our records but we did change the conditions they were made in and the records naturally sound different. We get bored quite easily and if the process is overly familiar you can feel you're on a conveyor belt and it loses all appeal.

On being indie survivors...
I'm surprised that more bands that were around when we started out aren't still together – when you look at how few are left it's shocking. As a band we've never faced anything so divisive that it ever felt like a threat to us. We're lucky that, without even speaking about it, we know what we want to do and we know that each of us is important in achieving that.

On following trends...
If you're in a band, following a trend is the last thing you should do as ideally you want people to be listening to your records forever. Short termism in music is the worst approach you can take.

On how life in a band changes you...
In some ways being in a band it emotionally stunts you and you remain a kid for that whole time but in some ways you get to travel around the world. I don;t know how much I've changed but am grateful for having experienced so many things. You'll have to ask my mother...

On current favourite artists...
I really like Let's Eat Grandma and an electronic producer called SOPHIE. There's also a horror film called It Follows and this guy with a weird name did the soundtrack. He used game console chips in the soundtrack and he makes it sound really atmospheric and heavy. There's always tons of stuff going on and sometimes you have to dig a bit deeper for it.

On UK garage...
As a kid it was my all time least favourite music – I f***ing hated it. But I recently started working with Let's Eat Grandma, who are both about 18 and they love UK Garage. We were talking about making a UK Garage track and I'm kind of getting into that sound now.

The Horrors play Koko on October 29

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