The return of Music

Young British rockers are promoting strong second album

Interviewing the singer of a band self-confident enough to call themselves The Music induces anxiety that we'll find he has that obnoxious arrogance of the likes of Oasis or the pretentiousness of Bono. Happily, Rob Harvey has neither.
"Hi, mate. How's it going?" is his friendly phone greeting from Boston. He then reveals himself as a thoughtful and likeable interview subject. The occasional slightly naive comment can certainly be forgiven because of his youth. Harvey and his three comrades are still just 21 or 22. They exploded onto the British scene with their self-titled debut album in 2002, which entered the U.K. charts at No. 4.
It didn't quite duplicate that success here, but established them as credible international rock contenders. That is confirmed with the new sophomore disc, Welcome To The North. It has a more focused and coherent feel than The Music, something Harvey puts down to experience.
"The only thing that was really different about this one was that we had less time to make it. That was O.K., because we knew what we wanted to do this time. On the first album it was more that we knew what we didn't like, but were less sure of what we did like."
Considering the album title, it's ironic that this band from the North (of England) went to the South to record it. Famed Atlanta-based producer Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, The Black Crowes) was recruited, so The Music used his Southern Tracks studio.
Seems to have been a mutually rewarding experience. "Brendan allowed us to experiment and it was certainly good for us to work with him. I think he relished the fact he was working with a young and passionate band. Before, he worked mostly with big bands that had already had a lot of success. With us, there were no egos or expectations."
O'Brien did a fine job of capturing The Music's sound, one that fuses epic and anthemic guitar-rock with strong dance-fuelled grooves. Their style has drawn comparisons to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Stone Roses and Oasis.
Harvey explains that "I respect all those bands. It is good to be linked to them, but you want to have your own identity and individuality. I actually stopped really listening to music after I began making it You drift away from it when the mystery disappears and you learn what happens behind closed doors."
He stresses that the Music have no time for the fame game. "That is not something that ever appealed to us. We want to remain separate from that. It is all so fake and unreal, like all those so-called new r 'n b stars who just steal Stevie Wonder melodies. They have no true feeling or passion. The only thing they give a f** about is lining their pockets and boosting their egos!"
Harvey does have some heroes, but notes that "most of them are dead." His choices for a dinner party: "Bob Marley first of all, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Bruce Lee and Diego Maradona, who is still my favourite football player."
He hopes that the work of The Music can have a positive effect on their fans, akin to the way it has affected the four band members. "Music has made us feel good, as four people living in a difficult world to grow up in. It began as a way for us to get our emotions out without being angry or bad to anyone, rather than going out and getting really drunk and smashing things. We are just expressing ourselves, and we hope that people can feel empathy for the things I am saying and the noises we make, our feelings and our vibes. We want to inspire confidence in young people. They are so restricted now in different aspects of their life. If we can write an album or song about how we feel, maybe they can get a kick from that."
The Music are part of a new wave of British rock bands making a global impact (The Darkness, Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol), but he takes no patriotic pride in that. "I don't view myself as a Brit, just as a member of the planet. I think that is a mentality a lot of people should explore more."

Welcome To The North is now out on EMI. The Music play Kool Haus on December 14.

Publication Date: 2004-12-12
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4709