About a month ago the lovely Gerlin of Neon Enlightenment and myself sat down with We Have Band, one of our favourite bands. We had seen them live before and decided to interview them when they were in Brussels. We had a lot of fun doing it, I hope you enjoy reading it!

Gerlin: If I’m not mistaken you were all working at a record label before. At what point did you decide to stop working there and start a band?
Darren: Well it didn’t really happen like that. I mean, it’s an amazing place to work, obviously, but in terms of how it started… Dede and Thomas left earlier because they went travelling, they went to South-America. And I left because I was just doing other things. The three of us met there but the band began after we’d left.
Thomas: I always played music, in a few small bands. I was always doing that anyway. Lots of people think we had some sort of masterplan where we learnt all about the industry, then left it and started a band. This band came about much more by chance.
Dede: I was working there but I never wanted to be in a band or sing or perform. It sort of happened by accident. It was a happy accident. A record label is a cool place to work you know.

Gerlin: Yeah, I was interning at a record label last term actually.
Thomas: Maybe you’ll be in a band in a couple of years, or maybe you already are.

Gerlin: Nah, don’t think so. I can’t play an instrument and I can’t sing. Well you never know but still…
Darren: We’ll see, we’ll see (laughs). Maybe we’ll see you on a festival one day!

Gerlin: I just found your situation a bit ironic. Cause it’s often said that people working in the music industry are just frustrated musicians.
Darren: I think they are, loads of them are! It’s what you do, isn’t it? If you’re an artist you think “I wanna get a job in a gallery” or something. Well you got two routes. You’ve either got that route or… cause that’s what I did. When I left, I started working in a bar. I tried the other route: I wasn’t very good at my job, fine. I forget things, I’m not very good with administration. I wanna do a job like, even when you’re working, you can think of music you know.

Jarri: Why did you pick the name We Have Band?
Dede: It was the only name. We didn’t choose. It’s a statement, like a childish thing, ‘here we are, that’s us’.
Darren: The name came before we made any music. It wasn’t tied to anything, it was totally independent of any thing.

Gerlin: And then you chose the name WHB for the album, which is obviously short for We Have Band.
Thomas: That’s a part of it and it was also the first song we ever wrote on the first night we came together to make music. We had a couple of names for the album but we decided for this cause we like the simplicity of the name.

Jarri: In the song WHB the first sentence is ‘we came from nowhere with a certain dedication and devotion’. Is that a statement you make, cause you hadn’t done anything in music before?
Thomas: It was quite ‘here it is’ yeah.
Dede: And it did come from nowhere. It was an unplanned band, it just suddenly appeared.
Darren: But there was also a subplot, where it’s about aliens but it runs in tandem with our story. Us and the aliens (laughs).

Gerlin: I personally find it a good name for the album. I mean, you brought out several singles before the album but it feels like a whole now.
Thomas: It’s nice to hear that. Lots of people were saying they were surprised when they heard it but it’s nice that you see it as a whole, cause that was our intention. Some people said ‘I was a bit shocked’ but why are they? We haven’t released an album before.

Gerlin: We both got to hear the album – legally! – and we really like it.
Thomas: Yeah, it’s leaked!
Darren: IT’S LEAKED! It’s a funny feeling, we haven’t really talked about it much. It happens.
Thomas: I think you’d worry as a band, if your album didn’t leak. You’d be concerned.
Darren: If no one wanted it… You’d think, why is no one bothered? (everyone laughs)

Gerlin: I mean, it’s just a really common thing nowadays. But people are slwoly starting to realise that they’re just stealing music, they’re stealing something people have put a lot of hard work into.
Darren: I think you listen to it differently, too. People judge so fast, you gotta give something more than one listen. Maybe if you buy something, you choose your time to put it on. When it’s a leak you just play it and you don’t think about it.

Jarri: Your album was produced by Gareth Jones. Was it an experience to work with him cause he has worked with Grizzly Bear, Interpol, Depeche Mode…
Thomas: We only spent 4 weeks with him really.
Darren: He just did additional production. His mixing job was the main thing. He just finished the job.
Thomas: It was a really good process but we don’t know how we’ll be working in the future. Not that you asked that but I was just thinking… (chuckles)
Darren: (laughing out loud) You didn’t ask that.

Gerlin: Has there been a moment that you thought ‘we definitely made the right choice to start this band’.
Darren: For me, that was very early.
Dede: In November 2008 when we started touring…
Thomas: I think it was even before, when we were travelling. We checked the MySpace and saw all the dates getting booked.
Dede: And we basically talked to Darren every day. We saw all this taking shape… and I had a panic (laughs). They didn’t tell me so they wouldn’t make me nervous.
Thomas: We realised there was no way back.
Darren: (laughs) Yeah that’d be a better question ‘when did you realise you were actually being trapped?’.
Dede: It was completely new again when we returned. Just do it all again. Once the dates started coming in, Darren did some interviews and we realised it would be full on when we got back.
Thomas: Then we played a festival in Rennes in November and we got a lot of bookings from there. We knew in 2008 that 2009 was gonna be crazy and that was a good feeling.

Gerlin: Are you going to SXSW?
Thomas: We did that last year.
Dede: This time we’re doing promotion and our UK tour will start.
Thomas: We’ve been to so many musical events but SXSW was amazing.
Dede: It was a bit dreamy. And it’s hot, it’s really hot.
Darren: Dragging all the equipment through the streets and thinking ‘oh god, not another gig!’ (laughs). The last night was crazy! Playing with Wild Beasts and we were exhausted but it was the best show we played.
Dede: I thought, when we were back at the hotel, I can’t do this. It was the 11^th gig in four days and I was also ill, I had a really bad cough. Then when we got on stage, I really went for it. I gave it everything and I loved it. Everyone was dancing, the audience really got me into it. But we didn’t get any time to watch other bands unfortunately. Cause we were on such a busy schedule ourselves.

Jarri: You recently finished a European tour. What were your highlights?
Darren: We’ve had a lot of great experiences. Playing here (in Belgium, ed.) was amazing.
Dede: one of our favourite nights from the tour.
Darren: it was the first one and it was such an amazing start to the tour. The response from the audience was great, and it was really busy. And we didn’t have a support so everyone was just really quiet, waiting for us to start. We were a bit nervous really, cause normally you have the support to warm up the audience.

Gerlin: And you’re coming back! To Les Nuits Botanique! It’s gonna be amazing: the atmosphere is great and there’s a tent outside.
Jarri: And you’re playing with Tanlines!
Darren: It’s gonna be a right party, can’t wait!
Dede: We’re playing with other bands? I think you know more than we do about it. But listen, it’s gonna be great!

Jarri: The videos for You Came Out and Divisive are quite artistic. You obviously put a lot of time in it, why the effort?
Thomas: Why not really? There were a couple of people suggesting ideas and we could pick one. We like visual stuff, we like movement and colours.
Dede: We like the physical aspects of it.
Darren: Some bands just waste the opportunity I think. If you’re gonna do a video, then do it well. I guess some bands are just not bothered. It’s like artwork, another opportunity to express yourself. To be honest, I think before we started doing videos we weren’t videojunkies but we love great music videos. We didn’t realise people were responding to it that much. We’re already thinking about the next videos, we wanna keep it interesting.
Dede: I think they just felt right as well, they worked really well. We got the song expressed in the way we wanted it to.

Jarri: Your genre then. A lot of people describe it as electro-pop, I’d say disco-rock. How would you describe your sound?
Dede: Electro pop disco rock? (laughs)
Darren: We tend not to describe it. We have no problem with other people doing it, we’re not like (in a dramatic voice) ‘oh my god, we can’t be genred!’. It’s necessary for certain things but we’ve never really felt the need to.
Thomas: Also it’s hard cause a lot of our songs are so different.
Dede: I think it’s kind of cool for people to describe how they feel about it.

Gerlin: I just think the whole genre thing is getting quite ridiculous. The newest, hip genre is chillwave. I mean, chillwave?!
Darren: That sounds really bad!
Thomas: what is it?!
Darren: What’s all this surf? The Drums are like surf. It doesn’t make any sense. And also, it’s all about the singles as well. I mean, can you describe a complete album?
Thomas: I’d just call it alternative.

Jarri: Yeah, but alternative is like ‘we wanna be different’.
Thomas: But there’s a definite difference. Like, there’s mainstream music and then there’s alterntive. Oh shit, and then there’s crossover as well (laughs).
Darren: Oh no! Maybe our first album’s alternative and then we start to do crossover and then mainstream. And then we go alternative again – and no one’s buying it anymore (everyone laughs). I don’t know.

Gerlin: Well, talking about mainstream. Are there any guilty pleasures in music you have? Stuff you listen to but wouldn’t tell anyone else – apart from us of course.
Darren: You know what, dj’ing is quite good for that.
Thomas: Voyage Voyage for example or… Do you know that song?

Gerlin: I think I do but I’m not too sure, can you sing it for me? (Darren sings)
Jarri: Kate Ryan did an awful cover of that song, if I’m not mistaken.
Darren: The original’s amazing!
Thomas: There was something the other day that was…
Dede: Oh, Blackstreet with ‘No Diggity’!
Darren: Lionel Richie’s ‘All Night Long’ that goes down well at a party. (hums the tune) Pop music is a bit… Sometimes it can be on the edge. Michael Jackson’s popsongs were ridiculous but they were obviously great. We have no real obvious guilty pleasures I think.
Thomas: Like Enya or… Celine Dion.
Darren: No. Enya, no (laughs).
Dede: I quite like Flashdance.

Gerlin: And the last question’s also about popular music. Can you sing the intro to Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance correctly?
Darren: I know a bit of it. Ooh lalalala. Is that it?

Gerlin: Not entirely, it starts with rarararara.
Dede: I didn’t even know the song.
Darren: Although, she’s on tv A LOT in the UK.
Thomas: I can sing the refrain to Paparazzi. Poker Face. Just Dance (he starts
Darren: I like her actually. She must be exhausted, she’s doing everything.
Thomas: She doesn’t need anymore pr anyway, she doesn’t need your help (laughs).
Dede: Her album got diamond.

Gerlin: Really? Do that many people still buy cd’s?!
Darren: 10 million people bought hers. She did it, she did something. That’s all we’ll say ‘she did something’ (laughs).
Thomas: GAGA!

We had to finish the interview there, but we’re going to have a drink with all three of them when they return to Belgium in May. Three nice people creating amazing tunes, isn’t that great? Get their debut WHB right here. Now please.