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The Race - E Interview

~~You may not know The Race, but..~~ I often preamble our little series of probing and incisive interviews with 'You may not know', but on this occassion you may just might.

Since first holding hands in 2004 The Race, based in Reading but ultimately a bit bigger than that, have done Radio 1 & XFM sessions, shared stages with Cooper Temple Clause, The Others, Zutons & The Spinto Band, released an album and a smattering of singles on long haulers Shifty Disco, and won enough fans to upgrade to The Marathon (you see! we work hard here!)

Taking time out from the studio The Race spent a little time with us talking pineapples, suffering moments and poo.

Hi, how are you?
Very well thanks

What are you up to today?
Working on some b-sides for our next single/planning a tour/ answering emails and shortly after this, cleaning the bathroom.

For those who don’t know The Race, describe yourselves using colours and fruit.
Goodness, we are all very different and that is a tricky analogy. Two banana's with guitars, a pineapple playing the bass and a plum and tomato on the drums and lead vocals?? as for the colour there is a whole bunch of it but its best interpreted from outside the band (clever sidestep huh?).

Oh ok, describe yourselves using normal stuff to (but no ‘edgies’ or ‘guitar drivens’).
Four boys and one girl who make music that they really like. Very committed, hugely passionate and glad to have each others company both on and off the stage.

How is the world of The Race anyway, good, bad, hectic or dull?
We're just back with a second album after 18 months away writing and recording so we are fully pumped and excited to be out in public again. Dreaming up lots of crazy dreams and seeing a fair few of them happen too. You need bad moments to have the contrast to compare good too.. we call them 'suffering moments' these usual occur at around 3am when we're on a long drive back from Sheffield or somewhere and the heating in the bus is broken- we only have two sleeping bags between us - and we know we have to be up for work in four hours and we will still need to load out all our gear up a flight of stairs and into our practice room when we get back. Beautiful.

It’s been a sunny Autumn hasn’t it?
Yes its beautiful, I've been doing alot of walking about with my head up looking at the scenery as opposed to my feet.

At your last gig at The Firestation I felt like I was watching Talking Heads, how do you see yourself?
Jess - "Onstage, I can see the side of James and Dan's heads. I can't see Graeme or Andy, as they're behind me. To be honest, I try not to look at Dan onstage as he makes me laugh, or pulls my hair."

If everyone in the band is a tasty snack, what are you and why?
Shotgun a double decker.I really like them at the moment. I think they are good value and leave you fairly full.

Tell us something we don’t want to know about you.
We work morning jobs, my job often involves taking x-rays of people while they poo.
(I think I've seen your work on YouTube - Ed)

Are you a studio band or a stage band?
We love both.

Your single I Get It Wrong is out on 10th November on Shifty Disco, tell us about it?
A couple of years ago I was very quick with solutions/ answer to my friends problems, many of which I'd never even experienced. I'm still young but I'm now realising just how little I know and that I need to be quicker to listen then to make snap judgements/offer advice...its kind of about that. As a song it just felt like a really good introduction to the rest of the album and the new fuller/developed sound that we've come back with from being in the studio. Its also quite short which helps on the radio. It was originally called 'Trifle' but we thought it would be sensible to give it a bit more of a grown up title.

Why don’t you get a proper job?
This is a proper job. We work harder than anyone else we know, just so that we can incorporate a little creativity into our day.

Chesney Hawkes or Delta Goodrem?
Delta, I've just been watching neighbours.

Lemons or limes?
Limes all the way baby.

War or peace?
Piece.

Over 100 UK soldiers have died in Afghanistan, how do you feel about that?
I dread to think how many poor Afghans have lost their lives too.

What’s worse, a bee sting or a stubbed toe?
Stubbed toe. especially your little toe on a door frame, my brother used to do it all the time.

What’s the biggest gig you’ve done?
20 000 people in Barcelona.

When you’re writing songs, how do they come about?
James or Gra will come up with some chords/structure..they will then get andy to bash together some drums before presenting it to the rest of us, we then add all the bits and providing everyone is happy we record it. Lyrics and vocals are thought up last by me and sometimes Jess.

What’s next, where do we go from here?
We're obviously releasing some singles and an album in the UK first and then around Europe, Japan and hopefully America. We'll be touring very much and trying to make the best use of our Stake Holders who have invested in us and are sharing in our royalties, they are numerous and spread far and wide. People can follow our progress through www.inmyheaditworks.com .