One listen to The Leisure Society, and it’s plain to see why they’re attracting attention in high places. The Brighton collective’s peculiarly gorgeous chamber pop has caught the ears both of those charming nostalgists at BBC6 and of the famously discerning Brian Eno. My own first encounter with the band was when the delirious fug of a Gary Numan YouTube binge lead me to stumble across their cover of “Cars”, an irreverent take on the electro-pop classic that substitutes synths for ukuleles and somehow gets away with it. Their latest album Into The Murky Water similarly enchants, with charming, woodwind strewn folk melodies subtly undercut by a streak of melancholy that staves off the sugar headache.
It’s a very wet day in Wales when I manage to catch up with the band and conscious of the fact that singer/songwriter Nick Hemming is dressed only in a T-shirt and risking potentially career endangering hypothermia I try to keep it brief. True professionals despite the chill, Hemming and bandmate, producer/ multi instrumentalist Christian Hardy, remain cheerfully stoic as we chat about ego clashes, pub quizzes and eating cheese with Brian Eno.
How has Into The Murky Water developed from your debut album The Sleeper?
Christian Hardy: The main thing is that when we did The Sleeper it was Nick and I and a few extra musicians and it was a bedroom project, we didn’t really do any gigs. During the second album we were gigging a lot and sort of road testing our songs at festivals, and it’s much more of a live band feel.
Nick Hemming: Yeah we actually went away, and hired a house in the countryside and played through the songs together whereas, we didn’t do that with the first album.
CH: we just made it up as we went along. We actually planned this one!
Is capturing a live sound something that you feel is important on a record?
NH: Yeah I think so, we just try and make it sound as interesting as possible. We don’t think “Can we play this live?” we just go crazy with the overdubs, but we did start with that basis of live bass and drums. I think we’ll probably do that even more with the next album… And maybe actually go to a studio!
Your music feels quite nostalgic and there’s a clear 1960s influence. Would you say those 60s groups are a big influence on you?
NH: The Beach Boys are probably the biggest influence on me definitely
CH: The Kinks definitely and the Beatles. But also more modern bands like Department of Eagles, when they did that first record [The Cold Nose]… that had a massive effect on us.
How collaborative is the song writing process for you?
CH: Normally the genesis comes from Nick. More and more nowadays he’s bringing us quite fleshed out demos. He waits till the lyrics are done, I think he thinks that’s key before we hear it
NH: Yeah I just feel embarrassed singing songs to people when I haven’t got the lyrics. This one’s more collaborative because we actually jammed through the songs together. It’s a good idea I think because you actually get to hear things live before you commit to it.
You’re both solo musicians in your own rights. Do you ever write a song for The Leisure Society and then decide that it should go to someone else, another side project?
CH: No, Nick only writes for The Leisure Society. He’s very selfish in that way
NH: When you write a good song you don’t want to give it away!
CH: There is no Leisure Society mandate, we can do anything. Apart from ska.
NH: I tried reggae once, it wasn’t a good idea.
The Leisure Society is essentially a collective of solo musicians. Do you ever struggle with ego clashes?
CH: Not really, there’s a very clear sense of what we want to do in this band. It’s not really about individuals it’s about the song always. It’s getting easier I think, we’re all getting more mature, diplomatic
NH: Apart from me! When everyone is off doing different things it’s difficult to get that sort of cohesion, make everyone feel involved. It can be challenging when you don’t see people for
ages, we’re trying to get together more.
CH: Quiz nights!
[Nick and Christian embark on a tangent about quiz nights]
CH: Sorry we can talk about this later.
I’m really intrigued now, would it just be general knowledge or would there be a theme?
C: Our third album is basically a concept album based on quiz nights called Quiz Nights
N: It’s not.
C: That’s a joke!
Would you ever consider doing a concept album?
CH: Nooooo… An album is a concept, an album is a collection of songs. And if you really wilfully do it generally goes prog. I mean some people can do it. Midlake’s album [The Courage of Others] is a concept and The Streets second one [A Grand Don’t Come For Free], and they are brilliant albums. I don’t just think I would do one.
Brian Eno called your last album “the only thing I’ve listened to lately with enthusiasm”. Any chance of a collaboration?
C: We went and had tea and beer and cheese and crackers at his flat. And the elephant in the room, the first thing he said is “look, I don’t work with bands I already like. And I already like the sound you’ve got so you should carry on.” So he was politely saying “I don’t want to work with you, but let’s have some cheese!”
NH: We couldn’t afford him anyway
CH: We couldn’t afford him and we’re both control freaks so I don’t see how that could work anyway. I don’t know how a producer, someone of his stature, could get an opinion out because we’re very clear about what we want.
What sort of cheese does Eno have?
NH: He didn’t know what it was, people just brought it round to his house and he just brings it out for other people.
CH: He’s such a nice chap that people want to give him presents all the time so he’s just got a fridge full of gifts.
N: He had this mouldy… it’s like Brie but yellowy coloured…mouldy… sounds horrible… but it’s really nice…
[I try to pull us away from the cheese tangent]
You’ve mentioned that you’re control freaks in the studio, is there anyone that you would really like to work with?
CH: Someone I admire massively is Chris Taylor who produces Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles and plays bass. I don’t know if we’d ever work together but I’d love to see him work and see how he gets his vocal and drum sounds because they’re amazing. It’d be nice to work with Nigel Godrich just for the Radiohead link, for me as a teenage fan. But that’s never going to happen!
You’re big Kinks fans and you’ve played with Ray Davis. How was that?
CH: He’s great.
NH: He’s quite a devilish rock star, what you’d expect really. But he’s really nice. And every now and then he’ll say something really funny and then just wander out of the room. We went to his studio in London for a few days; it was a weird amazing experience.
CH: The last 6 months or so have just been crazy. Sometimes you just have to pinch yourself. When you’re doing the conga in Brian Eno’s flat at Christmas, you just think “This is amazing!”
Do you have an overriding ambition for the band?
NH: Not really, it would be nice to-
CH joins in: – To get into the charts!
CH: We’re always on the periphery of the charts! Playing a festival and having a few thousand people knowing a song and singing along, that feels good when that happens… but charting would be nice.
NH: We actually did chart with the new album, we went in at 75… That is the chart!
You need to collaborate with Rihanna or something…
CH: That’s the plan, we’ll give her some cheese and see what happens, invite her to a quiz night…
The Leisure Society are currently touring with Laura Marling’s When The Bell Tolls Tour. They will be supporting Marling at York Minster on 21st October 2011.