Interview: Lonely the Brave

lonely-the-brave

Over the past couple of years, Cambridge boys Lonely the Brave have catapulted to international success, bringing teen rock fans and and ex naughties emos together with their surging big stage anthems.  In a musical landscape craving their sound, the band’s brutally honest lyrics, addictive melodies and epic hooks have had us rushing to festival stages all summer to experience their powerful musical presence live and debut album ‘The Day’s War’ appeared in Kerrang’s top 20 rock albums of 2014. Drummer, vocalist and tofu enthusiast Gavin Edgeley was kind enough to have a wee chat with us ahead of the band’s November tour.

What are you up to today?

I’ve just eaten a smoked tofu sandwich and my girlfriend’s coming over for dinner later. I can’t really cook though. I went vegan a while ago so I generally can’t eat anything.

Tell me a bit about the band’s journey so far.

The last two years have been more than we ever expected. We wrote the album for ourselves and had no agenda. We didn’t know what to do with it so self released it and it escalated from there. We’ve done a lot of big festivals this year and finished off with the main stage of Reading and Leeds.

Reading and Leeds have been a big part of your musical success story haven’t they?

We started on the Introducing stage then progressed to Radio1/NME. When they told us they wanted us to do the main stage it was a HUGE deal for us. Especially me and Bush [Andrew Bushen, who plays bass] because the festival was a pilgrimage for us. I used to stand at that stage all lashed up and stuff and never thought I’d be on it. We did a big festival called Rock Werchter in Belgium which has been about for years. We were first on the stage and didn’t expect anybody to be there but we played to a crowd of 15,000.

How is preparation going for the tour in November?

You get tighter the more you play. We have a little bit of work to do but I’m feeling confident. We put everything into our tour – I know it sounds clichéd but that’s how it is. I look forward to touring now but it was really nerve wracking when we first moved out onto the circuit. I love touring personally, I can’t understand why people complain about it. They’ve obviously never worked on a building site.

Glasgow is third on the list for your tour – have you been here before?

Yes, we’ve been a few times. We played Ivory Blacks the first time we were here and we’ve been to King Tut’s two or three times, I love that place. It’s my favourite place in Scotland, I love coming up here. And then there’s T in the Park… it’s nonstop fun at that festival, everyone’s just partying 24 hours a day.

And this isn’t just a UK tour, you’re heading to Germany and the Netherlands – will you try to learn some local phrases?

We’ve done a lot in Holland, Germany and Belgium. I failed both my language GCSEs but I learned enough to say thank you which I think is very important.

 

How long have you been drumming for?

Since school. I wanted to play the guitar in music class but no one was playing the drums so I got asked to learn them. I thought: ‘Oh it’s no fun on the drums! I want to play on the guitar.’ Now it’s crazy. I never dreamt I’d be a full-time musician. It’s mental, it’s mad!

Did you do higher education?

No I didn’t, I flunked all my exams and I was supposed to go back and do the resits but I didn’t. It kind of shows that if you don’t do as well as you’d hoped then you don’t need to write off a bright future! A bit of luck helps of course. It’s been a long haul to get to this stage with the band so we don’t take success for granted. We’re lucky to be able to do what we do.

Where do you draw your musical influences from and how do you feel about the band being labelled ‘doompop’?

I’ve always liked Dinosaur Jr. and grungy bands like that. Lately I’ve been listening to Sun Kil Moon who is an acoustic artist. I seem to like the miserable side of music, always have done. I wouldn’t say the band is not completely doom though – someone called us that once but we heard that Lana Dey Ray referred to her music as that. Also I do really like that Justin Bieber song that just got to number one…

How did you become involved in the band?

We’ve been together for six years but I’ve known bass player Bush for ages, since we were staggering around pubs in Cambridge. Then I met Dave and Mark so it was a pretty organic process. I can’t even remember writing any of the songs, it just sort of happened. We wrote it at Dave’s house and recorded it ourselves. It was nice to do the album on our own, I think we work best as a small team. Luckily someone heard the record and liked it.

Where did the band’s name come from?

I think Dave came up with it – it’s like a turn of phrase. It doesn’t mean a lot to people outside of the band but there are a couple of reasons why it worked for us.

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What are you looking forward to with the tour? Will you be in a bus?

We’ll be using a van – tour buses are money pits and something we’re not prepared to waste money on! I love playing live, that’s my favourite thing about playing in a band; seeing new places and meeting new people. If people sing songs back to you then it’s a special moment. To come from nothing to having 800 people singing your songs back to you is just absolute madness. We’re really looking forward to this because it’s the end of the album touring cycle. I know some bands get bored of playing their songs but we never do!

Where would you love to go in the world on tour?

Australia. I went backpacking on my own there a few years back. I like dangerous spiders and sharks so it’s the ideal country or me. I’ve never been to America so I’d love to go there at some point.

What do you guys like to do in your spare time? Do you spend a lot of time together, or head home to see familiy and partners?

We generally head home. A couple of band members have little ones to go back to so having family time is important. I’ve got a fascination with pubs so I like to sit in them quite a lot.

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?

If I can do it, anybody can! Don’t give up. You can achieve anything you want if you’re belligerent enough.

And finally what’s your favourite track on album?

It has to be Blue to Green. When we play live there’s a bit in the middle with a breakdown and we tend to get people singing it back to us which is lovely!

We wish the band all the best with their tour this year and their unstoppable musical crusade which will undoubtedly go global in the near future!

Catch Lonely the Brave at The Garage, Glasgow, on 9 November. Get tickets here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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