Nothing But Thieves

You supported Darlia at Bristol Thekla last week. How was it? Amazing actually, one of the best shows we’ve done, especially in the UK. The crowd was insane and it’s a really cool venue.  Connor even stage dived last night for the first time, it was that good… I didn’t think they were gonna catch him.

You’ve got your own headline tour slightly after this one. Tell us about that. We head up to Scotland at the end of this tour. Then we start our own headline tour up there and come all the way back down again. We haven’t done our own tour in a while, so it’s gonna be quite exciting. We’re pretty much just doing laps of the country at this point. We actually just came back from touring Europe with Gerard Way.

That seems unreal, that guy’s a legend. What’s he like? It was pretty mad, because I used to watch his videos on Kerrang! He’s a really nice guy. He’s quite shy actually, but he really helped out Connor with his voice and gave him a few tips which was great.

Other than him then, who were your favourite artists growing up? Do you think there are any in particular that have influenced your creative pursuits? There’s quite a few, but it’s hard to pin point. For me, personally, it was Foo Fighters. They were a huge thing for me. I’m trying everything to get into Glastonbury to see them.

Which song would you recommend to people who haven’t heard your music before? There’s a song called If I Get High that we haven’t released yet, but we’re really excited to release it at some point. We play it at all our shows.

And does it get a good reception? Yeah, it really does. It actually got written really quickly. Some songs take a while to write but that song is exactly what was in our heads and we got it down into musical form straight away - it’s pretty cool how it came about. Ban All The Music, which is our latest single, is another song we’re all especially proud of.

Was that the one that was Zane Lowe’s Hottest Record In The World? Yeah it was. And we’ve just made the Radio 1 playlist as well which is so exciting. We’ve had a few small playlist entries but I guess this is our first big proper one.

Which album would you want with you if you were stranded on a desert island? I don’t know. It’s really hard. You know what, actually I’ve heard this question given to David Bowie before and he said Jeff Buckley’s Grace, and I’m inclined to agree with him. It’s just a really good album, it’s got a load of layers. It’s great.

If you were a serial killer what do you think would be your weapon of choice? Bloody hell, that’s deep. I’d go with something like a fork, or a toothpick or something. Something unsuspecting.

What would your last meal be if you were on death row? Um, that’s a tricky one for me actually. I know our drummer, Price, would have a KFC because he bloody lives off of it. I would probably go for… oh, something my Mum makes. Anything from my Mum. How nice is that? It’d be so comforting as well in my last hours.

Alcoholic drink of choice? Whiskey or beer.

Do you believe in ghosts? No.

If you weren’t playing music, what do you think you’d be doing? If you’d have asked me a while ago, I would have said that I didn’t know. This time last year I was getting my History degree, so it might have been something to do with that, but now I think the band is going so strong that I’d have to stay in the music industry. I’d like to be a writer, or a songwriter or something. To stay as creative as possible.

Do you have any weird talents or party tricks? I have a friend who can lick her elbow. That’s so impressive. I don’t think I can do anything like that. Again, our drummer is quite odd. He has no kneecaps.

What? No kneecaps? Did he lose them? Does he have artificial kneecaps instead? No. No, he lives without them. He was born that way, they didn’t get removed or anything. I think it’s hereditary actually.

I’ve never heard of anything like that before, I’m so privileged and sheltered. Does it affect him in any way, is it painful? No, not at all. I think he can bend his legs backwards the other way though. He survives.

What are some of your pet peeves? I don’t know. Um.. I’m gonna ask the guys. _[shouts]_ Does anyone have any pet peeves? _[laughs]_ Phil, our bassist, just replied “Price, our drummer”.

What song would you really like to do a cover of? Actually I think we’re gonna try to do a Led Zeppelin cover on this tour. So I think probably that. Although I would have no chance up against Robert Plant.

And what artist would you really like to collaborate with? I would love to collaborate with Thom Yorke, because he’s a genius. I’d love to pick his brain. Like, he must just have so much knowledge, and he must just know so many tricks and tips and stuff. Also, David Bowie collaborated with Arcade Fire on their last album and that would be an insane thing to be involved in as well.

There’s an album in the works, is there not? There is, and it’s pretty much done actually. We haven’t announced the exact date of release yet but it’ll be around August some time, just before festivals.

It’ll be a good Summer for you then. Any festivals booked? Just some small ones at the moment. I don’t know what I can announce yet, I don’t want to get in trouble. [laughs]

What kind of music are you listening to at the moment? We have a playlist for the van actually! I’m gonna consult our playlist and I’ll tell you what’s on it, let me get Spotify up. We’ve been digging the new Death From Above 1979 album, that’s pretty cool. Actually, we’ve been on a real Pixies hype too. They’re so good, for just two guitars and a bass and drums, it’s so original. Phil and I have been big fans for quite a while and the rest of the band are getting into them now too. They’ve always been quite a big influence for me. And another one we’ve been listening to a lot is Black Foxes - they’re from Exeter, or Exeter way somewhere.

Are you a fan of Nothing But Thieves? Watch them play at Exeter Cavern on 8th March. Full details here.