Might as well start 2015 with a bang, and London four-piece Desperate Journalist is here to do just that. Formed in 2013 and on the eve of releasing their debut album, Desperate Journalist (Rob - guitar, Jo - vocals, Simon - bass, Caz - drums) bring a sense of urgency and controlled fury to songs that still pack melodic punches. There's an understated beauty behind the aggression - a delicate balance between precision and chaos. But what matters in the end is that they have the tunes.
We chatted with guitarist Rob Hardy recently to get to know one of the more exciting new bands out there...
Driftwood: Can you tell us about the genesis of Desperate Journalist?
Desperate Journalist: I think that I had vaguely been wanting to do something with Jo for some time as we were friends and I really liked her voice. Simon and I have known each other for years and played in bands together before. We all knew Caz and she fancied learning how to play the drums. We had a few rehearsals generating much of the first EP and once we had enough songs for a set we started to play shows and just kind of went on from there.
DW: I think the best description of your sound that I've seen so far is when Stereogum described you as "like The Smiths amped up to Savages' intensity level". Is that a fair description?
DJ: Yes, it’s not a bad shorthand and does suggest the kind of thing we are trying to do. I think one of the things that sometimes annoys/bores me is that there so rarely seems to be alternative/indie guitar bands that have melody and actual songs at the same time as sounding aggressive.
DW: I hear a little Siouxsie and Manic Street Preachers in there as well.
DJ: Simon and I are big Manics fans and that’s part of the reason we became friends in the first place so I would be surprised if that didn’t show itself somewhere in the songs. We all like Siouxsie a lot and I think Jo’s voice and the way she puts together melody sometimes naturally lends itself to that way of singing.
DW: How does it feel to unleash your debut album to the world?
DJ: Exciting, intimidating, exhausting, rewarding, frightening, exhilarating, relieving.
DW: For a relatively new band, I've been impressed with how tight you sound live. What do you hope the audience gets out of your live performance?
DJ: I don’t know how the others would answer this but I think that I just want people to be swept up in something that might reflect something of how they feel or view the world back at them for half an hour or so.
DW: It's not often that you see bands utilizing a 12-string electric guitar. It definitely brings a unique sound to your music. What went into your decision to use that particular instrument?
DJ: It’s actually a relatively recent thing that I’d only got in to very shortly before Desperate Journalist started. I think that the type of guitar you play can really impact the way you play. Playing a 12 string makes it difficult to play fast noisy solos all the time, to play power chords and grungy riffs and instead focuses you on chord voicing, arpeggios and arrangement which isn’t all that common in a lot of indie music at the moment. I think what you can’t play is probably as important as what you can play. Limitations, forced or otherwise can prompt you to think about things differently. I think it forces you to simplify a bit, and for me, to play more to the song as a cohesive whole as opposed to just a singular guitar part. I was also intrigued by the notion of running a 12 string guitar through a big muff as it’s just not something you commonly hear.
DW: What does 2015 have in store for Desperate Journalist?
DJ: We have our US release with Chicago based Minty Fresh Records on January 27th and the UK release of the album on vinyl and CD on the 26th. Hopefully we’ll be able to do some tours and more shows outside London and the UK in support of the album. Apart from that I’m doing a lot of writing at the moment so I can imagine wanting to be recording later in the year.
DW: Any plans to tour the US?
DJ: No concrete plans yet but it’s something we are talking about as it would be amazing to be able to do so.
Desperate Journalist's self-titled debut album is out on January 27 through Minty Fresh Records.
Watch the videos for "Control" and "Happening" below.
DESPERATE JOURNALIST
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