Bloc Party: So Here We Are

Three years ago, BLOC PARTYgot torn apart. It led to many torn hearts. So why would Kele Okereke (vocals/guitar), Russell Lissack (guitar), Gordon Moakes (bass), and Matt Tong (drums) want to do it all again?

“Despite the big change in the way people listen to music today, I think we still approach the record as a full length album. [Four] is shaping like a listening experience that has a narrative, has progression—something to be taken at one sitting.” —Matt

Hi, Matt.
Hi! How are you doing?

I’m good, thanks. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. What were you doing before this interview?
I was just making a cup of tea.

Oh so you’re just at home? Great. So basically we’re here to talk about Four. Congrats on the album. I saw the video of “Octopus!” It was good.
Oh, thank you.

Is there any track that would best describe the sound of the album?
It’s kind of a diverse-sounding record. When we were recording in the studio, I remember thinking to myself, “I wonder how all these songs are gonna fit together ‘coz they’re all quite different somehow.” I don’t think there is any one song I could pinpoint as reflecting the sound of the record. The record itself has this kind of raw sounding quality to it. I think that’s the overall aesthetic. I think it’s more to do with the way we produced the record as opposed to writing songs. There is one song called “Team A,” I suppose, if I had to choose. I think it’s one song we all really like. That song is indicative of the writing process used in this record.

What’s your desired effect on your audience?
We try not to think so much about what listeners would say when we’re making these records. Sometimes it’s easy to fall into a trap of second guessing yourself. Despite the big change in the way people listen to music today, I think we still approach the record as a full length album. It’s something different. It’s shaping like a listening experience that has a narrative, has progression—something to be taken at one sitting. I think what we really wanted to convey with this record is the musician shift? The kind of musical dialogue that we have in each other that hadn’t always come across in our records in the past. There is a lot of programming and electronics. I think what I’m hoping that the listeners would get from the new record is that we really took the time to reacquaint ourselves in playing together and really working for the arrangements of the songs.

For the full story, grab a copy of STATUS September 2012 issue