Before InMe’s
show at the Vault in Rugby, I was able to catch up with Dave McPherson and Gazz
Marlow. Here’s what they had to say.
Julia: What
inspired you to start a band?
Dave: A love of music.
Gazz: …And drugs and girls!
Dave: Escapism, generally. Escaping through music, and music is the one thing that never gets boring.
Dave: A love of music.
Gazz: …And drugs and girls!
Dave: Escapism, generally. Escaping through music, and music is the one thing that never gets boring.
Julia: Who would
you say are your major influences?
Dave: Alcohol. Bands that have done things that are different and interesting, or artists that have done things that are different and done it on their own terms. People that are nice, it’s very nice when you hear things about David Bowie, for example, and you hear that he’s a very friendly, chatty guy and that he’s still down to earth. Those sort of people, that can be nice, but also do business and do things artistically their own way and don’t compromise, in that respect, but are also still humble and don’t get above themselves.
Dave: Alcohol. Bands that have done things that are different and interesting, or artists that have done things that are different and done it on their own terms. People that are nice, it’s very nice when you hear things about David Bowie, for example, and you hear that he’s a very friendly, chatty guy and that he’s still down to earth. Those sort of people, that can be nice, but also do business and do things artistically their own way and don’t compromise, in that respect, but are also still humble and don’t get above themselves.
Julia: How does
it feel to be playing in Rugby tonight?
Dave: It’s pretty cool! It’s a hard place to Google, because we had to Google between Rugby and Brentwood tonight to get back home and it was very tricky because it just came up with the rugby club in Brentwood. And then I had to Google ‘Rugby, Warwickshire’ and I didn’t know if there was more than one Rugby, so I didn’t know if I had got the right Rugby. That was tricky.
Gazz: I think the venue was misspelt in our itinerary
Dave: Probably, he probably wrote the itinerary!
Gazz: This is not the black sheep!
Dave: But it’s a nice town and there’s a room full of people out there being nice to us. People seem to be here for the music, which is nice, and we’ve never played here before, so it’s always cool to come to a place and get that kind of response.
Dave: It’s pretty cool! It’s a hard place to Google, because we had to Google between Rugby and Brentwood tonight to get back home and it was very tricky because it just came up with the rugby club in Brentwood. And then I had to Google ‘Rugby, Warwickshire’ and I didn’t know if there was more than one Rugby, so I didn’t know if I had got the right Rugby. That was tricky.
Gazz: I think the venue was misspelt in our itinerary
Dave: Probably, he probably wrote the itinerary!
Gazz: This is not the black sheep!
Dave: But it’s a nice town and there’s a room full of people out there being nice to us. People seem to be here for the music, which is nice, and we’ve never played here before, so it’s always cool to come to a place and get that kind of response.
Julia: What
would you say is your favourite thing about touring?
Dave: Generally the show, but the things outside of the show are manageable and it’s nice to be having a laugh and giggling and stuff and doing stupid shit.
Gazz: You get to see new places as well, don’t you?
Dave: You get to see a new place, kind of. We haven’t really got a chance to tour around Rugby today.
Gazz: But I mean like last year, when we were out in Germany we had a couple of nice days off, by the big lake and all that stuff.
Dave: Touring Europe is really cool for that, just finding a scenic location that you can just relax in. We’re not at a level, we’d love to be at that level, but we’re not at a level where we have really strict press days and have five hours of press and then you’d have to do the gig; you don’t really have a life, you don’t actually get to appreciate touring quite as much then, because it’s all work. So it’s nice to be able to escape for a few hours and enjoy wherever you are. Sometimes you’re in a place in the UK where there’s not an awful lot to appreciate, to be honest. But then the show is even more of an enjoyable experience because if people live in a town where there’s not an awful lot going on apart from live music, then that’s enjoyable for the gig, but if you’re walking around and you feel like you’re going to get stabbed or something then not so much… Just the fact that people want to come to your show, and bands try really hard to play outside their hometown and we’re fortunate enough to be able to do that.
Dave: Generally the show, but the things outside of the show are manageable and it’s nice to be having a laugh and giggling and stuff and doing stupid shit.
Gazz: You get to see new places as well, don’t you?
Dave: You get to see a new place, kind of. We haven’t really got a chance to tour around Rugby today.
Gazz: But I mean like last year, when we were out in Germany we had a couple of nice days off, by the big lake and all that stuff.
Dave: Touring Europe is really cool for that, just finding a scenic location that you can just relax in. We’re not at a level, we’d love to be at that level, but we’re not at a level where we have really strict press days and have five hours of press and then you’d have to do the gig; you don’t really have a life, you don’t actually get to appreciate touring quite as much then, because it’s all work. So it’s nice to be able to escape for a few hours and enjoy wherever you are. Sometimes you’re in a place in the UK where there’s not an awful lot to appreciate, to be honest. But then the show is even more of an enjoyable experience because if people live in a town where there’s not an awful lot going on apart from live music, then that’s enjoyable for the gig, but if you’re walking around and you feel like you’re going to get stabbed or something then not so much… Just the fact that people want to come to your show, and bands try really hard to play outside their hometown and we’re fortunate enough to be able to do that.
Julia: What
would you say is your favourite song that you’ve written and why?
Dave: For InMe it’s really hard to say, really. I suppose ‘Reverie Shores’.
Gazz: The best one is ‘Neptune’! (laughs) It’s official, it’s on the internet, someone wrote it on YouTube!
Dave: I suppose ‘Reverie Shores’ from ‘The Pride’, ‘Saccharine Arcadia’ from ‘Phoenix’. We like that, but that’s a tough one.
Gazz: ‘Almost Lost’ from ‘White Butterfly’. I think we’ve all got very different opinions and they change as well. One minute I’ll love ‘Myths & Photographs’, another moment I’ll love ‘Turbulence’.
Dave: And then you’ve got ‘Fasten The Chase’ and ‘Underdose’ and songs like that which don’t seem to want to go away. They’re great. For us, we’re on auto-pilot, we’re playing these songs we’ve played a billion times, but when you get the feedback from the audience, sometimes, just because it’s your favourite song it’s not necessarily your favourite song to play in front of people because you’re not getting the same vibe.
Gazz: Like on the last tour we were doing a couple of our personal favourites, like ‘Beautiful Sky Gardens’ and ‘Silver Womb’, and they’re great songs and we love them, but they’re not as fun to play live. Even though we’d probably say that they’re amongst our favourites.
Dave: I’d disagree on ‘Beautiful Sky Gardens’, but I’d definitely agree with ‘Halcyon Genesis’ and ‘Silver Womb’. They’re cool songs, but they’re hard for us, so we have to concentrate a lot to be as animated.
Gazz: It’s more fun when you play simple stuff running around the stage, to a point.
Dave: It’s very simplistic in a way that we operate; if everyone’s going mental then we obviously think we’re doing something right. If we’re playing a song that we think is amazing, but everyone’s just kind of watching and not rocking out and going over the top for then you question it. So I suppose songs like ‘Faster The Chase’, for example, although it’s so old for us, to see people getting that personally involved is a great feeling.
Dave: For InMe it’s really hard to say, really. I suppose ‘Reverie Shores’.
Gazz: The best one is ‘Neptune’! (laughs) It’s official, it’s on the internet, someone wrote it on YouTube!
Dave: I suppose ‘Reverie Shores’ from ‘The Pride’, ‘Saccharine Arcadia’ from ‘Phoenix’. We like that, but that’s a tough one.
Gazz: ‘Almost Lost’ from ‘White Butterfly’. I think we’ve all got very different opinions and they change as well. One minute I’ll love ‘Myths & Photographs’, another moment I’ll love ‘Turbulence’.
Dave: And then you’ve got ‘Fasten The Chase’ and ‘Underdose’ and songs like that which don’t seem to want to go away. They’re great. For us, we’re on auto-pilot, we’re playing these songs we’ve played a billion times, but when you get the feedback from the audience, sometimes, just because it’s your favourite song it’s not necessarily your favourite song to play in front of people because you’re not getting the same vibe.
Gazz: Like on the last tour we were doing a couple of our personal favourites, like ‘Beautiful Sky Gardens’ and ‘Silver Womb’, and they’re great songs and we love them, but they’re not as fun to play live. Even though we’d probably say that they’re amongst our favourites.
Dave: I’d disagree on ‘Beautiful Sky Gardens’, but I’d definitely agree with ‘Halcyon Genesis’ and ‘Silver Womb’. They’re cool songs, but they’re hard for us, so we have to concentrate a lot to be as animated.
Gazz: It’s more fun when you play simple stuff running around the stage, to a point.
Dave: It’s very simplistic in a way that we operate; if everyone’s going mental then we obviously think we’re doing something right. If we’re playing a song that we think is amazing, but everyone’s just kind of watching and not rocking out and going over the top for then you question it. So I suppose songs like ‘Faster The Chase’, for example, although it’s so old for us, to see people getting that personally involved is a great feeling.
Julia: How would
you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
Gazz: Incredible!
Dave: That’s quite tricky really. I suppose it takes things from heavy rock and it’s got an edge to it, hopefully. But ultimately it’s melodic and there’s a lot of emotion there.
Gazz: It’s complicated as well.
Dave: That was a dirty word for a while, was emotional music. I think it got associated with ‘emo’ and whatever, but I don’t think we were ever that. We’ve been called a grunge band, a prog band and whatever. We get called all sorts of genres, but there’s meaning to the lyrics and there’s meaning to the music and the melodies mean something in their own right. Melody and emotion, I suppose.
Gazz: But with a healthy helping of balls.
Dave: A lot of balls. You’ve got to mean it. You’ve got to display balls.
Gazz: Incredible!
Dave: That’s quite tricky really. I suppose it takes things from heavy rock and it’s got an edge to it, hopefully. But ultimately it’s melodic and there’s a lot of emotion there.
Gazz: It’s complicated as well.
Dave: That was a dirty word for a while, was emotional music. I think it got associated with ‘emo’ and whatever, but I don’t think we were ever that. We’ve been called a grunge band, a prog band and whatever. We get called all sorts of genres, but there’s meaning to the lyrics and there’s meaning to the music and the melodies mean something in their own right. Melody and emotion, I suppose.
Gazz: But with a healthy helping of balls.
Dave: A lot of balls. You’ve got to mean it. You’ve got to display balls.
Dave: No. (laughs)
Gazz: We’ve got a lot of stuff planned that isn’t InMe related, really. Working on the new album.
Dave: Gazz has got a solo album, I’ve got a solo album, we’ve got a side project thing we’re working on called ‘Sentiment’. Aside from that, we’re writing a triple album, as opposed to a normal length album, so that’s going to take some time. We won’t be back properly until 2014, but it’s nice to do little one-offs like this and ‘2000 Trees Festival’ we’ve just announced as well.
Gazz: It’s good to let people wait a bit as well, otherwise you get taken for granted when you do shows and stuff. Like, ‘well, they’ll be back in six months’, sort of thing. You need to make shows special.
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