Introducing… Catfish and the Bottlemen (Interview)

“To be honest I’d rather sell out The Barfly than sell a million singles…” Van McCann, Catfish and the Bottlemen

Despite playing what seems like every small venue in the country over the last two years, it is only in the last month or so that Catfish and The Bottlemen have acquired some much deserved buzz.

Although their name may conjure images of a toothless deep-south country outfit, the Llandudno four piece create indie of the volatile variety, bringing a fresh youthful exuberance reminiscent of the post punk revival all those years ago (albeit with a refreshing modern edge).

After recently signing to Communion Records, debut single ‘Homesick’, is out today (June 17^th), its slow burning intensity making it one of the strongest introductions of the year so far, showing both the intimate and ferocious side of the quartet’s time established sound in a short but sweet two and a half minutes of sheer urgency. This accompanied with hype from the likes of Zane Lowe, Steve Lamacq and a host of blogs is steadily making Catfish and The Bottlemen one of the most important acts to watch over the coming months. We went to the pub with frontman Van McCann to discuss tenuous comparisons, constructive criticism and blowing money on holidays.

“It’s only recently that we’ve been taken off the road and had a chance to actually write about new things. We’ve all met girls now though, so we’re writing about sex and being dicks and stuff, it’s all a bit more classy.”

So Van, lets get acquainted, how would you describe your sound for someone who hasn’t heard your stuff before?

I guess it’s almost explosive if that makes sense. We try and write songs on the way they feel rather than they way they sound, so we want to make music that will hit people and feel like it’s blowing their head off.

You tend to find that when bands meet in school, their style dramatically changes as they grow up, how did you guys sound when you first started out?

When we first started I was 15, so we were just playing Beatles covers and the music we did make ourselves was pretty horrible. After we got tight enough to string some songs together I just started writing, and the alright songs really just started to come out this year.

People have put you in so many different categories already, how do you feel about the increasingly tenuous comparisons people seem to be drawing?

It’s strange that people just always feel the need to pigeonhole you in some way. I’m told 20 different singers who I sound like after every gig, but I think it’s good when they cant completely pin you down. The Strokes, Kings of Leon and Arctic Monkeys seem to be the most common comparisons to our style at the moment though.

I think the Arctic Monkeys comparison comes from your ‘realness’ as it were, and the relatable youth of your lyrical content…

Yeah I think it’s because we’re the same age as they were when they broke through, but in terms of lyrics we can only write about what is happening to us now really. You’ve got to grow up with your music though, like Kings of Leon have I guess. They get too much stick in my eyes because I love the way they’ve turned into an arena band naturally, progressing with each release, and you’ve got to change your sound as you age, you cant just go back to an old sound because people want you to.

So is it safe to assume your creative viewpoint is dramatically going to change as you become more successful then?

Well we’ve toured since we were 16 before we got signed, and played around 200 shows a year, so it’s only recently that we’ve been taken off the road and had a chance to write about new things. We’ve all met girls now though, so we’re writing about sex and being dicks and stuff, so it’s all a bit more classy. I want to write bigger, more cinematic material though, so I’m going to try and subconsciously work towards that. We already have four albums worth of material written though.

Will those songs still be relevant to you when you get round to putting an album out though?

That’s what we’ve been talking about lately, and fans have been asking us why we keep dropping songs from our sets. I don’t think they’ll be relevant when we get round to the album, but we could definitely change them if we wanted to fit them on a record.

It must be a weight of your mind to have all that material built up already…

When we started we always said that if we were to get signed we wanted to be seen as a band with longevity who would already have the material there, and wont have to lock themselves away for a year to write an album. I hate it when bands come out with a debut album and then just disappear, and I didn’t want to become that. So yeah, we’ve definitely got back ups if we need them (laughs).

You recently signed to Communion Records, how was that for you?

We signed the contract the day of the Barfly gig in London, so it was a really big thing for us. It was weird because we spent all our lives working our asses off trying to make a career in music and then someone just passed us a contract to sign in a white office, before we went to the pub, so there weren’t any fireworks or anything. The only difference I guess is there’s now people to tell you your songs are shit.

Do you think this new constructive criticism will push you to work harder?

Yeah definitely, they’re really cool because we’re all on the same page. It is hard though, as we may finish a song in the studio that we think is amazing, but then someone could come in and tell us it’s awful. I like having to step up though, and it still feels amazing that they want songs from us to be honest.

It feels odd that your debut single is only coming out now, as you’ve really built up all your hype through your live shows over the last few years. Is playing live perhaps more important to you than releasing material?

Yeah the live thing is all we care about really, and we leave the selling records part to the label. To be honest I’d rather sell out The Barfly than sell a million singles. The week before we were signed we were selling our own records at the shows, but that was only so people could know the songs, as that’s all we want.

How was it working with Ian Grimble on ‘Homesick’? As he’s produced for some huge names like of Manic Street Preachers, Daughter, Mumford and Sons.

He’s really reserved like our guitar player, and he wont tell you if you’re good, but will say a song is shit if he doesn’t like it. They call him ‘Ian Grumble’ because he just moans, but he’s so cool, and a massive genius. He’s seriously class, tell everyone Grimble is the man.

So will you work with him again when you inevitably re-record for the album?

We were thinking about maybe doing it ourselves, as we recently produced something that we loved (but everyone hated). It all depends how everything goes really, if we get big before an album I’m sure we’ll just blow the whole advance and go somewhere hot like Australia, but we’ll probably end up doing it in someone’s basement with one mic, which would probably suit us more to be honest.

Do you feel pressure on ‘Homesick’ being successful then?

I’m nervous about people liking it rather than if it sells or not. I’d ideally like it to build up our live audience, as I just want people to know our songs. If it were up to me I’d put out loads of songs before the album. To be honest anything is a bonus for us, and I don’t know where I stand until it comes out really, but either way I’m proud of it.

So what are you looking forward to most this year?

We’re touring with Glasvegas next week which is gonna be cool, but I’m really looking forward to playing the festivals, and introducing new people to our stuff this summer, I love winning people over.

Thanks Van.

‘Homesick’ is out today (June 17th) on Communion Records