The Temperance Movement – Uber Rock Interview Exclusive
Written by Ben Hughes
Sunday, 15 September 2013 03:00
If you are not already familiar with the name The Temperance Movement expect that to change soon. Formed less than 2 years ago they have been selling out gigs on just the strength of their live reputation with no album to promote and just that old friend word of mouth. Now they have a record deal and their highly anticipated self-titled debut albumcomes out on Earache on September 16th on limited double coloured vinyl, retro blue cassette and some tired old format called a CD.
They play laid back but uplifting rock ‘n’ roll music, just like bands used to do it, taking in the sounds of everyone from The Faces to The Black Crowes. The album was recorded pretty much live in 4 days, capturing the feel and essence of a Temperance Movement show, they are as authentic as you can get.
Uber Rock caught up with vocalist Phil Campbell and the guitar duo of Paul Sayer and Luke Potashnick just before they were due to hit the stage at Bingley Music Live to get the inside info on the recording of the album, what the future holds for them and find out why they just might be the next great British rock ‘n’ roll band.
So guys, The Temperance Movement may be a new name to many readers, can you give us a brief summary on how you guys got together?
Luke: Yeah sure, Paul and I knew each other from guitar circles, playing different gigs together and stuff. I knew Phil from sharing bills with him when I had been playing with other people and he was doing his solo thing that was more of a folk thing. Paul and I got together and started jamming some ideas out, we started thinking about a singer and I said I know this guy Phil. We got him down and very quickly we just got on with it and started writing songs. Then once we had spent a good 9 months writing songs we decided to start putting the rest of the band together and again we all knew Damon and Nick, we tried a few rhythm sections out but those guys were amazing, and we haven’t looked back since. We will have been together 2 years in November and it’s just moving really quickly.
There seems to be a growing underground buzz about you guys at the moment, and even before you were even signed people were raving about your live shows.
Luke: Yeah, that’s what’s been amazing, it’s just been about going out and playing and each time more and more people turn up, it’s just a real buzz you know.
I think that’s what keeps people coming back, the fact that you guys play a lot and are so tight live, especially considering you have only been together a couple of years.
Luke: Yeah, I think we have all played a lot of music and toured the world playing music and I think this was just a chance to all get together and play the music we really wanted to play. We haven’t been together that long but this music is just in us, it’s what we listened to growing up and have always been inspired by, so to just get up and play is a huge thrill for us and we’ve kind of got an idea of how we want to sound and were getting there.
You recorded the album pretty quick as well?
Paul: Yeah in four days.
That is pretty quick, I think that’s the best way to do it, after all that’s how bands always used to do it isn’t it?
Paul: It was definitely the best way for us to do it, to have us sound the way we wanted it to sound, as you were saying about the live show, we really just wanted on record to present how the band sounds live as best as possible.
I think you have done that.
Paul: Yeah, so we didn’t want to spend ages doing overdubs and different takes.
Why did you choose Earache then, because you guys sort of stand out on that label don’t you?
Luke: We do but it had got to the stage where we had done so much ourselves and we kind of knew we had to get a label on board to take it to the next step. We’ve all been involved in major record labels and stuff and we didn’t really want to go down that route because it is a rock ‘n’ roll band and that’s quite hard for major labels to fathom these days. Dan from Earache was one of the first people to hear about us and approach us and it started off as “well maybe they’re not big enough.” Then we kind of chatted to them more and he was so enthusiastic we realised we had a guy who was going to work as hard on it as we did rather than just get lost in a sea of bands on a major label, and touch wood so far Dan and the guys at Earache have just been amazing. They get the music, they get what it is and they understand what we are trying to do with it, at the moment it really feels like they are trying to help which is great.
Was it always the intention to go with a label, did you ever consider going down the self-financed route?
Paul: We thought long and hard about doing it ourselves, we gave it a lot of thought, but we realised in the end that having the help of the right people would really work for us. So when we came across the guys at Earache, it was kind of an easier decision because before that it was hypothetical and we didn’t necessarily want to give much away in return for what might not be the right kind of help.
Phil: I think you can’t let it be diminished the amount of work that was done before Earache came along as well. I mean they came into a situation where we had an EP that was pressed and ready to go, a fanbase, all the social media set up there was a huge amount of work done before hand. So we kind of like got our character sorted out and then they came in and it was much easier. If we had just been signed by a major or an independent like say in maybe November 2011 or something like that, I don’t think it would be the same sort of project. Of course now they come up and say “well what about this or that” and we all discuss whether it’s a good idea or not.
Luke: We are very protective and very opinionated about any decision the label might make, so far they have been really understanding.
They give you complete freedom then?
Luke: Yeah, as Phil says we did a lot of hard work on it ourselves, we are very proud of it and because we set out to make music we wanted to make, not to sell loads of records or anything like that, it just so happens that more and more people are turning up to gigs and that’s just amazing.
Gigging is where it’s at really isn’t it, I mean bands don’t really sell records like they used to do they?
Phil: That’s how it should be though, a band should be great live, yeah you should love the records but you should go and see them live and that’s where they should be able to do it. It’s rubbish going to see a band you love and you’ve heard the record and then they’re just like rubbish live.
I think that’s why recording your album so quick works as well because you don’t get a chance to go in too deep and analyse, it’s just there laid down as you are live. You’ve released the album on various limited formats, coloured vinyl and cassette, whose idea was that?
Phil: That’s Earache, that’s what we can do with a label.
Luke: That’s a good sign of Earache actually, we said we want cassettes and they were like “are you mad?!”
It’s a nice sort of retro thing isn’t it, just to have as a collectable?
Phil: It’s blue (all laugh).
Luke: It sounds really good.
Phil: I’m choosing the car I buy based on whether it’s got a cassette player (all laugh).
I think it maybe brings people our age (or my age anyway) back to their childhood when they first bought albums, being able to buy a cassette even, in this age of digital media these things make the release of an album more of an event don’t you think?
Luke: I agree with you that it’s all about going out and playing live especially for a band like this, but albums are still important. It’s still a statement, it’s a point in time, you can’t go back on it and it’s not like a show that will be forgotten about, it’s got to be done right. I guess not as many people buy records like they used to but there’s still people that get into them and really listen to them hard, those fans are important and we want to give them something to be proud of.
Too right, so is it you three that write the songs generally then?
Luke: Yeah.
And the lyrics, do you all write lyrics?
Phil: I think we all write, but I probably write a few more lyrics, but if there’s one that everybody’s hating then it’ll get changed (all laugh). If you’re singing then you’re phrasing things and it’s probably best if you can write a word or two. But there’s different ways of doing it, like they’ll sit on an afternoon and work out a song, here’s the intro section, here’s the verse part, here’s the bridge to the chorus, here’s your chorus and it’s a song already. All it takes is for me to sing over the top of it, there’s a bunch of stuff waiting for that to happen again just like the first lot.
Luke: So far there’s been no set formula a lot of it’s been done while Phil’s in Glasgow and we’re in London and we’ve been sending stuff up and down.
Phil: Or you’ll be working on a song that’s hard and then in the middle for a break (Phil motions playing guitar) you’ll play this riff that becomes the start of ‘Be Lucky’ and then ‘Be Lucky’ is written in 10 minutes or ‘Take It Back’ is written in 10-15 minutes because you just want to do something that’s not this song that you are trying so hard to write.
It’s funny, I was watching you guys at The Brundell Club in Leeds and when you jam some songs out I was watching to see who takes the cues, you know who cues for the end of the songs, I couldn’t really see who does it or if you do at all.
Phil: That’s me I’ve got a hand for that, I don’t know if anybody else sees it (all laugh).
Luke: He’s got so many hand gestures we don’t know what’s going on.
Paul: You know, is that a dance or is that a cue? It’s impossible to know sometimes.
Luke: We did 50 shows over the summer and we’ve got another 50 coming up for the autumn and it sort of becomes pretty subliminal, occasionally we fuck it up but not too often.
Generally I guess people don’t notice though and you can usually cover it up?
Phil: When you’re jamming and stuff and when you go into different sections that’s where we have some fun and you can hear there’s little sections in the songs where you can extend things out, and that’s us having a laugh, that’s us having a really good time. Those are the points where we go ok nobody knows it’s going to happen.
Luke: I think that was the thing we were really keen to do as well, there’s an element of that on record, you know ‘Pride’ has a very long outro section, ‘Serenity’ does and we wanted to serve that up. Live you can really do it and have people in the room with you and you know we are all big fans of The Black Crowes and god knows they can do that really well. You get it right and it’s got a gospel element to it, it’s really uplifting for you and the crowd and that’s what we are trying to achieve to get a real sort of feeling of togetherness and we get a real buzz of that, hopefully everyone does.
You guys remind me in many ways of Vintage Trouble, not really music wise but just the way you approach things. Touring extensively in the UK, recording your album quick and doing really good, consistent live shows and it seems to be working for you. You get a lot of people turning up to your shows through just word of mouth, have you noticed the difference over the last few months?
Paul: Oh yeah, when we sold out The Scala, 800 people it just blew our minds. There’s people turning up because they are passionate about it and 800 passionate people in a room sounds massive, after the third song we had to wait a while until we could start playing again it was just unbelievable, so yeah we are really grateful for it, we are having an absolute ball.
Great, so the album is out on September 16th then your touring the UK and Europe, that takes you up to the end of November then what?
Paul: Then I think we take a little break over Christmas and then more of the same next year, touring the UK and Europe again and further afield as well hopefully Australia, Japan and getting over to The States.
Have you been out to The States yet as a band?
Luke: Supposedly in August next year, but we will see what happens.
Maybe now you’re on Earache there’s a good chance of a support tour with Rival Sons maybe?
Luke: Well we have already played with Rival Sons, they’re label buddies now and they are great but so far we have just tried to do our own shows and build it up that way and carve out our own thing you know.
Great, ok guys that’s all for now have a great show and see you on the road.
http://www.thetemperancemovement.com/
[Live photos by Ian Taylor]
To visit The Temperance Movement store on Amazon – CLICK HERE
