Escape artists: The Young Knives

United Kingdom | by Ross Purdie | 19 May 2008

Despite being one of Levi’s 'Ones To Watch', headlining Audio on the opening night of the Brighton festival, the Oxfordshire trio have been on the fringes of fame since the turn of the millennium, treading a long path to where they now find themselves thanks to a series of empty promises by industry execs in the early stages of their career.

Eventually, following a smattering of singles, the quality of their eccentric English charm shone through when they won the coveted, opening slot at V Festival via the Road To V competition in 2005. A Mercury-nominated album followed in ‘Voices Of Animals And Men’, along with critical acclaim and non stop touring, before the three school friends sat down to record that ‘difficult second album’.

Greeted with mixed reviews, critics picked up on a darker sense of alienation and escapism lurking in the lyrics of 'Super Abundance', a far departure from the chipper floor fillers of its predecessor, and questioned whether the pressures of being in a band were starting to impact on the unflappable stage jesters.

Playing at The Great Escape, a festival which generally provides a springboard to up and coming acts, The Young Knives could be accused of being at a bit of a crossroads. We sit down with brothers Henry and Thomas Dartnall, aka House Of Lords, to find out exactly what The Great Escape means to them, in terms of both the festival and life in general...

Virtual Festivals:  Where do you go when you need a great escape? 
Thomas Dartnoll: “I go on holiday or camping or something like that. I went to Great Yarmouth recently and it’s like a really dilapidated version of Brighton. They should have a festival there.
Henry Dartnoll: “I find it quite bizarre that they have The Great Escape in Brighton, which is just a stones throw away from London. It’s like: ‘Wow, look how far we’ve come, all that way out of our comfort zone’. I prefer Wales and Scotland and places like that.”

VF: Your lyrics seem to make lots of references to getting away. Is it at the forefront of your thought?
HD: “I suppose we tackle of idea of escapism quite a lot, like a great escape. There’s a lot of running away from stuff in there.”

VF: The Great Escape is designed to help bands break new markets. Which country would you most like to break?
HD: “I’d like to do Japan. Breaking Japan would be sweet. People there seem very positive about music and it’s a place I’d like an excuse to go to. We haven’t really done that much overseas, a few bits in Europe like Germany and Norway, but nothing major.”

VF: Do you think about the industry side of playing The Great Escape?
HD: “No, not at all, but there are a lot of bands who do measure themselves by the size of venues they’re playing and all that. You do have to question their aims when their aim is playing the NEC or something. I obviously want to sell records but then I’d still like to think I can still play a gig to just 500 people. I get more out of that and I’d hate to reach the point where you just play four gigs a year in massive stadiums. I’ve played massive venues and it is actually quite boring. No one can see your face and the whole thing becomes an event. You lose that interaction. Bands have become really aspirational, you can almost sense them thinking, ‘Why am I not playing this size arena , why am I not top of the bill?’ I’m not naming names because we probably think the same too sometimes. It’s the way the industry works. Loads of people swan about saying, ‘You’re going to be massive. You’re going to be the next Kaiser Chiefs’, so you do question where you’re going. But the, on the whole, we’re happy where we are. To become really massive your music has to be a bit more obvious and you have to have a mass appeal. I never want to do that. We have always enjoyed listening to challenging music and we want to do the same; we don’t want to write music that’s really easy to listen to. If we can do that and survive then I’d prefer to do that. Band like Super Furry Animals are the type we’re inspired by and that’s what we want to follow. Anyway, that’s my utopian ideal of how a rock band should be.”

VF: What’s new single ‘Turn Tail’ all about?
HD: “Well that’s like an escapism thing, the idea of running away from stuff but realising that quite often it’s like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire and if you keep running it just makes you miserable. I also wanted to conjure lots of pictures about where the character in the song is and what’s going on, without dwelling on the narrative. It’s probably my favourite song we’ve ever released actually.”

VF: The new album has had mixed reviews..
HD: “Actually, everybody loved it apart from the NME. A few reviewers didn’t like certain songs but most agreed that overall it’s good record. The thing is, we had loads of songs that we could have put on the album but we decided to go for a certain mood. Because it’s perhaps not as chirpy as the first then maybe people have been a bit surprised.
TD: “Actually, there’s nothing particularly positive on it at all. It’s quite downbeat and can maybe depressing in places. But that’s alright. We don’t believe that’s in any way a bad thing.”
HD: “There was a real feeling that the collection of songs we decided upon had a strong identity and went really well together, even though they’re different songs. I remember us sitting there and saying that some people are probably going to hate it because it was a departure from the first album, but that’s the risk we took. We feel really happy with it and I’m pretty sure a lot of other people agree.”

VF: You’ve got to move on, don’t you?
HD: “Yeah, you do. My favourite bands are the ones who try things out. They may not always work but they’re always trying out new ideas, so we tried to select the ones that aren’t straight up pop songs and maybe weren’t the most obvious. We tried some weird things and 13 year old kids might not go out and buy it but even if people like a few songs off the album, that’s ok with me.”  

VF: Are there any new bands here you’re excited about?
HD: “There’s a band called Ungdomskulen, who have been supporting us. They need to write more songs but are a really promising new band.”
TD: “My girlfriend went though the line up and found some really good bands but I can’t remember any names! One sounded like At The Drive In.”
HD: “I quite like Vampire Weekend. I like Pete And The Pirates too. Even though it’s proper pop music it’s really tuneful and there aren’t that many bands out there like that at the moment. How often do you remember a song nowadays? With Pete And The Pirates you know one of their songs after just one listen.”

VF: How are you feeling about the upcoming festival season?
TD: “We like the weirder ones. The big ones are always good fun, like Glastonbury and V, but they can be a real pain in the arse as well. We’re doing an Art Rocker one in Hainault Forest called Offset, which we’re excited about because Pere Ubu are playing who are this really old punk band.”
HD: “I might have to track down their lead singer David Thomas and tell him how much I love him, like an excited teenager. We’re also doing Quart in Norway, which should involved lots of potato dumplings and more vodka than you can handle without actually crying and falling over. We like the European ones.”

VF: Last time we spoke your drummer Oliver said you’d made a pact not to accept all the free booze because it had landed you in lots of trouble. Is this still the case?
HD:  “We still take it, we just put it in the van. We just don’t drink it there and then. You have to be a bit careful. We did learn a few lessons during our initiation into the murky world of the music industry. Obviously we’re far wiser and more responsible now. Yeah.”

VF: Talking of freebies, will you be wearing your free Levi’s jeans on stage tonight?
TD: “What I’d much prefer is a denim jacket so I can add the badges of all my favourite metal bands, preferably one with the sleeves missing. It would have Iron Maiden’s Eddie on the back.”

VF: I read today Norman Cook is planning to drop his Fatboy Slim moniker. Would you ever drop your House Of Lords alias?
TD: “Yeah, it’s probably time to let it go. I can imagine Norman Cook’s really sick of it because I imagine people are constantly going, ‘Alright Fatboy’.”
HD: “It must get a bit irritating and it’s now a thorn in his side because he hasn’t done anything for a while.”
TD: “And everyone’s calling him Fatty.”
HD: “But in my opinion tough shit Fatboy Slim. What do you mean you’re dropping it? It’s not your place to drop it because that’s who you are. You chose it, now you’re just stuck with it.”
TD: “It can be a good thing. My girlfriend calls me ‘House’ in the throws of ecstacy. And mum when she’s in the throws of ecstacy.”
HD: “You make me sick.”
TD: “You make me sick. In the throws of ecstacy.”

VF: Can you sum up your career to date in amateur dramatics style?
HD: “Up down up down up down up down. Umm, confusion, lost in the dark, can’t find my way out. Stop the merry go round, I want to get off. Oh no, actually it’s alright.”

VF: Are you still having fun?
HD: “Yes I’m having fun. I think I’ve learnt to not worry about it because people get too careerist about it.”
TD: “It’s like John Travolta’s career, isn’t it? Lots of fits and starts.”
HD: “We felt the drop after the first album but that’s a natural plateau to reach, especially in the UK where everyone’s only interested in the next big thing. It’s different in the Europe where everyone’s still listening to The Bluetones and Tindersticks. It’s a different attitude where people are more into good music than just trends. The UK is a small place but it has a big influence musically and I think we’re very spoilt. It’s like people changing their mobile phone every year. Just keep it. Ok, if it breaks replace with a new one but if it’s still going stick with it. Of course we’re going to say that because we’re now on album number two.”
TD: “Have you seen that Youtube video of David Hassellhof rolling around eating a burger in front of his kids. That’s what we’ll be like in a couple of years, drunk and washed up.”
HD: “Yeah, you’ve just got to relax with it. We’re still headlining stages at The Great Escape and being offered free jeans so it’s all good.” 

More on The Young Knives at their MySpace HERE.