magicrpm.com Interview

We've been interviewed for French "uber cool indie pop website" magicrpm.com. English follows or hit the link to read it en Français.

Can you introduce us to all the members in the band, and tell us who does what.

Kate Gibson sings and plays the keyboards, Matt Ashton plays the guitar and sings a bit, Gareth Jones plays the bass guitar, Ben Smith plays the guitar and a bit of keyboards and Lewis Young plays the drums and also a bit of keyboards.

How old is The Leaf Library? How did you meet each other, and how did you start? We know that Matt was in the band Saloon, but did the others members have other bands too?

Matt: Kate and I are friends from way back and we got to know Ben through music in our hometown of Reading.

Gareth: I had been a fan of Saloon since seeing them on tour in Manchester where I studied, and many years later I read that they had broke up and there were new bands. The Leaf Library needed a bassist and I really liked the idea of what they wanted to, and the songs Matt & Kate played for me sounded great, so I was really happy to join. Other than this I also play in a group called Wintergreen who make The Leaf Library seem like the hardest-working band around.

Lewis: Working in town as a designer a friend at work Jon overheard I was a drummer and told me about this Leaf Library lot who had a drummer shaped hole in them. I can’t actually remember when I first jammed - about a year? We should have a birthday party. I also play bass with Naomi Hates Humans and have a solo project called SIGNALSIGNAL.

What is your first musical memory together?

Matt: We first played together with this line-up a year ago and it was a massive revelation. We’re a proper band! Before that, Kate and I first played together about thirteen years ago for a friend in my bedroom. I think he was impressed. After Saloon finished we got together again and had a band in Reading called Maps. When I moved to London it gradually became The Leaf Library with first Gareth and then Ben joining us. Lewis is the newest and also the best-dressed.

Was there some sort of project, or goal behind The Leaf Library when you started? Are your influences still the same today than at the beginning? What can inspire you be outside of music (movies, literature…)?

Matt: When Kate and I first started the band I wanted to do something that was a lot more stripped-down than I was used to. I wanted to make nice songs out of the minimum amount of parts and to play as little as possible on the guitar which was all a reaction to what I had been doing in Saloon - piling everything on and trying to make a really big sound. I also wanted to try and use very few lyrics as I’m not that good at writing lots of words. I think that has changed a bit now but we still try and start with as little as possible or make loads of parts and then gradually strip them away. I still don’t write that many words. The music isn’t influenced all that much by film or literature (although ‘No Memories, No Plans’ is a line from Chris Marker’s ‘La Jetee’) - more the weather, walking, buildings and stationery. And lots and lots of other people’s music.

What are the three things that didn't influence The Leaf Library?

Hedonism
The quest for fame
Kings of Leon

You're releasing your first record after many active years as a band. What took you so long to get it out? Did you experience difficulties during the making of this record? Was it too long for you or exactly the time you needed?

Matt: It has been a combination of finishing a degree, tardiness, being picked up then ignored by a label and a bit more tardiness. It’s mainly made up of songs that we recorded here and there early on while trying to get a sound down, it was only after a while that it felt like a album. It’s taken us far too long which is very frustrating - we want to have something new recorded and released by the end of the year. They used to do it like that in the old days, right?

In which ways do you think that the band changed since its birth?

Matt: We’ve got a lot more confident in both writing and playing. I enjoy playing live a lot more whereas before I was worried about messing up all the time.

How do you write your songs? Does someone come up with the parts, or is it a democratic process? Are they some songs that came spontaneously during rehearsals?

Matt: Nowadays we all write the music together, usually around a part that I have come up with. Before it was Kate and I that wrote everything. I write all the words. Nothing spontaneous yet - we’re not very good at playing together unless we know exactly what’s going on. None of us have been to rock school and it takes us a little while to work out what string to play or what button to press.

Are the songs in the record old or recent? How long does it take you to finish one usually? Were they songs left over?

Matt: All the songs on the record are pretty old. The record includes the very first song that I wrote for the band, the very first thing we ever recorded at home and the first thing we ever went into a studio to record. Songs for us take quite a while to complete. We often start playing them live before they’re properly finished which can sometimes delay their completion. One of our current songs ‘New Buildings’ has been around forever but it’s taken until now to get the right arrangement. We like things to be just right but then I also like the feeling of playing something that’s new and unfinished to a room full of people. It’s a good test. Nothing was left over that was finished properly. The new stuff will be a combination of that and brand new songs.

There are some arrangements on the record: horns, strings. Do you compose them? How do you decide that some song needs something more or not? Do you wish you could have had more instruments like that on your record, or, on contrary, do you prefer when they appear sparingly?

Matt: We wrote the parts with the people that played them. The horns were added to certain songs and not others mainly because I was trying to capture a feeling that I’d heard on another record. Sparingly is good on a record but I’d love to have a horn section live and then fine them their wages when they screwed up.

You go through a variety of styles in this record, from repetitive krautrock bits (Closer) to more melancholic and calm songs (I Was There): is it important to you to go in different places? Does it mean that each member have different musical tastes regarding the other?

Matt: We all have different tastes and it’s very important to have different directions. I think it’s a reflection of personal tastes more than the differences between what each of us are into. I wouldn’t want to listen to just one thing all the way through a record.

How would you define the perfect pop song? Give me three examples.

Matt: You can’t define it, that’s why it’s so great. Though I would say ‘Tears of a Clown’ is a pretty good attempt. Ben will say ‘Wichita Lineman’. I don’t know about the others. One more? ‘Outdoor Miner’ by Wire.

The title of the record comes from the lyrics of your 2010 single Activity. Why did you give the album this title? Does it have some special meaning for you?

Matt: It’s an enigmatic phrase that you can attach a meaning to, which is perfect for an album title. In a way it also describes our way of working and existing as a band.

What is your favorite song from this new record? Why?

Matt: ‘No Memories, No Plans’ captures the feeling that I wanted perfectly. I still get the feeling it’s meant to evoke even now, despite it being several years old.

You released Different Activities... with a pay-what-you-want price on your bandcamp. Why did you choose to do that? Do you think that it is the best solution right now for indie bands? Do you avoid labels on purpose or is it just the simplest way you had to release your music? Will you release it physically at some point?

Matt: It was Ben’s idea to do it this way. We’d talked for a while about how to release it and, whereas we didn’t want to just give it away, we also felt that we’re pretty, you know, small. We didn’t think that many people would buy it. Doing it this way was a great idea and the response has been really good. We’re not talking ‘In Rainbows’ kind of numbers, it’s just nice to see people listening to our hard work. I think it’s a great idea for other bands but it’s up to them how they try and make their way. This is fun for us, we’re not trying to make a living and we’re (kind of) happy if people just want to take the music and run. As I said, we didn’t want to just give it away though. When it’s free for us to record maybe we’ll give it away then. If the demand was there then I’d like to do a physical version although by that point I’d like to think we’ll be several releases down the line so maybe there would be no point. We talked about doing a CD but couldn’t face the thought of having them lying around for years, mocking us with their cheap plastic cases. That, I’m afraid, is the cold hard reality of releasing music these days.

(note: The album will be now fully released digitally through Proper Songs propersongs.net/label on 28th March. It will remain on Bandcamp as pay-what-you-want until then)

If I give you the opportunity to sign with the label of your dreams, past or present, which one would it be and why?

Matt: 1970s Island Records would do.

You don't seem to do much live shows. Why? Are you more of a studio band? Do you plan to visit France at some point?

Matt: I love playing live but it takes up a whole lot of energy and time which is all at a premium these days. That said, I’d love to play in France again soon - the last time I played in Paris turned into a bit of a messy night and I’ve got some apologising to do.

What do you do for living/ beside music?

Matt: Graphic design.
Gareth: I work in a university library. Not with leaves.
Lewis: Web design.

It’s the new year… What can we wish for you? What are your future projects? Are you working on something new?

Matt: We’re working on all the new songs that have been sat patiently at the back of the room while we finished this record. They’re excited and so are we.