In a small, dark pub next to the venue that is hosting their concert, Palace and I have a nice beer and a chat about music, people and things. As I meet them, I can see how the theft of their van during a recent gig has not made them less determined to finish their tour in the greatest way.
How has your tour been so far? What are your impressions?
– The tour so far was really good; even if we had our van stolen in Leeds we are having a great time. Leeds in particular as a city is wonderful, the gig there was great and the crowd was simply amazing.
How do you like the venue here in Manchester?
– It’s good, really great, a very nice place: we’ve just been sound-checking and the sound was just perfect; also we’ve become great friends with the supporting band for this tour, the Hot Dreams, their music is really good, everyone should check them out! We’re looking towards a great and exciting night you know, hopefully none of the Gallaghers are coming!
Do you consider yourself as a band someone stumbles upon? Who do you speak to with your music?
– Being a band that someone meets by chance is the nicest thing probably, because it’s natural, unexpected.; it’s just better when you discover new music on your own, because that’s how it really becomes yours. We don’t aim at a precise type of person, we like it when our music goes to a wide demographic of people of different ages or kind, we aren’t pinpointing any specific personality really, we think that anyone who likes passionate, emotional, guitar based music has just found the right band!
Do you ever ask yourself why you are making music or what made you start at all? You’ve known each other since you were thirteen years old after all!
– We’ve always loved music and playing music. The first time we had the idea of bringing this to a serious level was when we were still part of the audience at gigs and we were like “hey, let’s get together and play, we could start rehearsing and actually form a band!”; this unbelievably lead to where we are now.
Is there new stuff coming up? Are you still recording EPs or are you working on an album right now?
– A new album is coming in early summer, it is all recorded actually but can’t say when it is going to be out precisely. We have worked on it still in Tottenham as we did for the first album: it’s a great place, a spiritual home, we’ve been there for a few years now and we share it with other musicians, it’s a cool creative hub; that place really inspires us, but it’s perfect even to just stay, have some beers and jamming.
I’ve heard that Jeff Buckley is a great inspiration to you, but what about his father, Tim?
– Actually we were talking about him two days ago and well, he’s amazing, his songwriting is just beautiful. He has a similar voice to his son, really high pitched: as you hear from the covers that Jeff made , you can just see how talented he was (here your dear interviewer couldn’t really agree though). Another great mention is Nick Drake though: he is at least one of the top three artists of all the time, for all of us.
What are your favourite albums then?
– Well, some of them could be: ‘Give It Back!’ by Brian Jonestown Massacre; another very important artist to us is Van Morrison, his album ‘Astral Weeks’ is just great (and here your interviewer couldn’t agree more, so please you random reader, go and listen to ‘Astral Weeks!’). Finally, ‘Live at the Old Quarter’ by Townes Van Zandt is just the most amazing performance, it is simply hypnotic.
So finally, what’s your advice for the new listeners of your music?
– Our best tip is to just relax and let it wash over you, if you like it that’s all you need to know. If it means something to you and makes you feel good that’s great. Just take it as it comes, it works in music just as fine as it does in life: if it feels good, just go for it!
Palace are now set to end their UK tour, having released singles like ‘No Other’, ‘Heaven Up There’ and most recently ‘Martyr’, a peek into their new album: its name is ‘Life After’ and it is going to be out very soon, so stay tuned!
