V: It was always part of the plan. I suppose it’s been really
S: Traditional songwriters were often telling us how to
fun for me having people come up to me and saying that
feel or telling us how they feel in order to connect to
everything I sing just sounds so nice. Even though I’m
us. Now, our lifestyles are so fragmented in terms of the
chatting absolute bollocks. It becomes more about the way
information that we consume, it almost makes more sense
the lyrics sound than the significance of the words. That’s
to communicate in a way that is fragmented. Speaking
very obvious with the live performances as well, because
in riddles, snapshots and metaphors. Dry Cleaning are
I do a lot of heavy breathing and screaming. Everything
a really great example of this, because they’re using a
I write about is just the way the music makes me feel, so
sound that is very much grounded in music from ten or
I’m trying to translate that into the sounds that I make, so
twenty years ago, but some of the ideas that they are
you should be able to get the message without necessarily
communicating via that are really new and interesting and
understanding what I’m saying.
fresh.
How much do you think your background in opera
Films and film scores are often mentioned as sources
feeds into that? Are there similarities between that type
of inspiration for your music. How do such things seep
of music and Mandy, Indiana’s?
through to the songs? Is that more of an indirect type of influence?
V: I think they are much more similar than people realize. With opera, there’s this theatrical sense, which
S: It’s certainly not indirect at some points. There’s
is something that I’ve always found I’m really interested
samples from soundtracks in some of the songs, others
in doing. The idea is to make you feel something or
are almost imitations of certain scores. There’s parts of
make you understand through the actual musicality of
our music that could probably score a picture, but it’s
everything. I think that is something that I’m trying to do.
removed from that and put into a different context. We
The whole French thing very much plays into that as well.
don’t write based around melody, we write based around
A lot of operas are in Italian or German, but you’re still
mood, feeling, and tone. We’re thinking about tension and
supposed to understand the story if you don’t speak either
narrative, not necessarily about verses and choruses.
of those languages. You don’t feel limited by the format of a pop song? S: My grandad loved opera and there was always something haunting and ethereal about it to me because I
S: We’re also huge pop music fans at heart, there’s nothing
didn’t understand what was being said. There’s something
wrong with that. Our latest single ‘Bottle Episode’ is
that transcends communication. It’s a kind of telepathy.
probably the most standardly structured tune that we’ve
We’ve talked about maybe not even using language to
written so far. But in early conversations with our label,
perform the vocals, just sounds. Animal sounds maybe,
we were kind of testing the boundaries of what our album
or sounds inspired by other things from nature. Hopefully
might be. It could just be a 55-minute track that runs all
that’s something we’ll explore in the future.
the way through. I’ve seen other artists do it and do it sensibly. We’ll probably continue to write ‘pop music’,
Initially, it made the lyrics kind of private as well. Some
but maybe we’ll also incorporate stuff that is less linear or
of the things Valentine used were just casual phone
less chopped up like an album of songs would be. I think
conversations with friends, but it didn’t matter what they
bands should take huge left turns. If you look at some of
meant or that they were inconsequential.
the great bands around now, like Radiohead, that’s what separates them. They do take risks. Hopefully we’ll be
It sometimes feels as if lyrics that are somehow
able to keep challenging ourselves and continue making
inconsequential more closely reflect the way we
ourselves feel uncomfortable because we’re not sure we’re
communicate in real life. I’m personally quite touched
doing the right thing. If we develop our sound to a point
by Florence Shaw’s lyrics for Dry Cleaning, for
where it is obvious what we are going to do next, maybe
instance.
it’s time to stop doing it.
23
Mandy, Indiana
Jamie Knee
Artists
Josh Whettingsteel
Editors Sam Ford
Josh Whettingsteel
Writers Sam Ford
Poppy Richler Al Mills
Laura Pegler Dan Pare
Dirk Baart
Callum Gray
Sammy Clarke
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A. Savage
Julia Klenovsky Emma Erickson
Gavin Shepherdson
Mattia Guarnera MacCarthy Harriet Yakub
Eliana Marinari
Cameron JL West An Chen REN
Jonathan Hoffboll Chelsea Waites Izzie Walker
Photos for Collage Felipe Torres
Through The Eyes Of Ruby Pooneh Ghana
Art Direction
www.joshwhettingsteel.com
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Al Mills
Jamie Ford
Cameron JL West Jack Reynolds
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