HONNE

Congratulations on the release of Warm On A Cold Night - how does it feel to have released your first full-length album? It feels great. We’re both really proud of it. It just feels good to finally put out a full body of work. We put our heart and soul into those tracks over the last couple of years so we’re very happy to finally be sharing them with the world.

How would you describe your sound to those who might not have heard you before? We like to describe it as the kind of music you might listen to on a late night drive through a city, on a summer’s night with the windows down.

There is an impressive 16 tracks on Warm On A Cold Night - is there one in particular that you have a soft spot for? That is a tough one. I’d have to say the title track Warm On A Cold Night because that was the first track that we wrote that made us think “this is it, this is the HONNE sound” and it was also the first track we ever put out and it got us off the ground and moving.

Which of your songs is your favourite to play live? A track from the album called Treat You Right. It’s got a nostalgic feel to it that has translated so well to all the festivals and gigs we’ve been doing this summer. Not sure why, but it just feels really special when we play that one.

You played some great festivals over the summer - Glastonbury, Latitude, Leeds - how does playing to such huge crowds at festivals differ to playing more intimate gigs at venues? Is there one experience you prefer over the other? They are very different. I think on the whole, we probably prefer our own shows. I think there’s an atmosphere at your own headline show that is very unique. Everyone has bought tickets for that one band on that one night and they go to the show ready to have a good time. Festivals are great fun though, and a great way to get new fans if they come to check you out or wander past where you’re playing by chance. We love both anyway.

Someone That Loves You features brilliant guest vocals from Izzy Bizu - how did that collaboration come about? Twitter! We saw on a blog that she’d mentioned listening to us. So we messaged her on twitter saying “lets get together and write a track together.” She came round to our studio a week or two later and we wrote Someone That Loves You in pretty much one day. Izzy is such a great person to work with, so talented, energetic and a genuinely lovely person.

Would you like to do more collaborations in the future Absolutely. It’s something we’re thinking about a lot at the moment and we have a few people in mind that we’re speaking to. We’d love to work with a rapper, that’s at the top of our list. More vocalists too, of course. But at the same time, we’d also like to work with some other instrumentalists, strings, horns, pianists etc. Some great things can come from collaborating.

One At A Time Please explores the impact fame has begun to have on your lives - is that something you’re beginning to adjust to, as time goes on? It’s not like we’re dealing with anything crazy just yet! But it’s more about us wanting to stay true to our roots, not getting swept up in the craziness of it all. The music industry is a strange world.

Have you started thinking about album number two? What might fans expect from you, second time round? We’ve already started writing it actually. We’re feeling so inspired at the moment. I think the first time round we were writing lots of songs, and we picked the best and put them on an album. So it’s kind of more of a collection of songs on an album. But this next body of work we’d like to be written with the album as a whole in mind. I think fans can also expect a bit more variety, more collaborations and some fresh sounds.

You two met and first started making music at university - what advice would you give to current students looking to turn their music into a full-time career? My advice would be to take your time. Make sure you’ve got a fair few strong songs with a truly unique sound before you put them out there. Also, make sure you’re surrounded by the right people. Andy and I enjoy working together and that’s how it has to be, because if things go your way you’re going to be spending a lot of time together!