ComfortComes

Sky Larkin

Hello! Thanks for talking with us today
Hello! I’m writing this from an amazing underground hostel in New York City, so forgive me if I seem a little over-excited, because well, I am!

“The Golden Spike” is finally out. Are you pleased with the results?

Very very much so. It was important to us to make sure that the album was perfect in our eyes (and ears) as it is a testament to who we are and the sounds we make. Seeing as it is our first album, a lot of people will not have heard us before so it was a priority to make a good impression!

Quite a few of the songs on ‘The Golden Spike’ are re-recorded versions of your earlier singles. Why did you decide to go back and touch up the old songs?

Many of the previous singles were recorded in one or two days due to time and money constraints. We’d rush in, set up, record, pack down and rush out again. We were lucky enough to have time in the studio to work on the sound of our songs individually and as a whole album, meaning that we could point all of the material on the album, new and old, in the same direction. I see the album as a sort of milestone of all the effort and energy put into the band that helped us get to that point, which of course includes the singles previously released, so its only fair to give them their rightful place on the album, properly realized and refined.

How was working with producer John Goodmanson?

John (or “Golden Ears”) has magical powers. He worked with us from the ground up to create the right sound from the very beginning. We swapped different drums and cymbals about, and chose the perfect effects pedals from his virtual treasure chest of noisy goodness before laying down the tracks. This meant that the songs sounded huge as raw music, giving the finished article the live energy that we wanted it to have. Though what really got me was that John seemed just as excited as us to be making and recording music, I think that helped a lot.

How was it recording in a fairly famous rock and roll city?

Recording in Seattle was fantastic. Obviously there is the musical heritage and reputation of the city, which is still thriving in the musical community therein and definitely had an impact on us during our time there, but what was more important to me was that it was somewhere we had never been before. Firstly it reflected the fact that we’d never been in such an incredible situation before, but also it meant that there were no distractions. If we had recorded the album in at home in Leeds or even in London, it would have been all too easy to lose focus on our task and fall back into familiarity, whereas in Seattle it was all new and unknown, which just added to the enthusiasm of recording the album.

How was SXSW this year?

Hot.

Oh, and really super-great too. Our shows were really good fun and it was amazing to see people from the other side of the world coming to see us based on the noise we make. I’d been prepared for the scale of the festival before I arrived, but it still completely blew me away. I managed to see a ridiculous amount of music, but I know for a fact that there was ten times more that I would have loved to see but didn’t. I guess that’s what makes people go back year after year and I hope we’ll be there with them next year too.

I loved the video for “Beeline” with the shopping carts. Who came up with this idea?

I think it was a culmination of ideas volleyed between band and directors and producers. It’s a brilliant visualization of the energy and direction of the song. We wanted something to match the pace and sentiments of the track and I think we got it in one!

All of your videos look like they were so fun to film. Can I be in the next video?

They were indeed great fun to film, especially the latest one, which judging by the final edit I have just seen is going to be amazing and out in the open very soon! If only you’d asked a few weeks ago, we could have got you over to be in it… Oh well, we’re just going to have to think of something even better for you to star in next aren’t we?

What plans do you have for the rest of 2009? new songs?

New songs? Check.

New tours? Check.

New jokes? Check.

New shoes? Check.