Longwave

Longwave are a band who despite being lumped in with the whole New York scene have written an album which defies specific location or time. "The Strangest Things" is an album which is universal in it's appeal and is one of those slow burners that rather then be thrust into the spotlight with a blaze of hype will simply sell steadily by word of mouth. As the band were out on their debut UK headlining tour, Designer Magazine caught up with Steve (vocals / songwriter) and Dave (bass) from the band to talk about their journey.

Q: You've played in the UK and Europe before with the Strokes and The Vines, but I guess tonight must be special because it's the first headlining date you're playing where people will actually have had chance to listen to the album "The Strangest Things". How do you feel about the album now it's out?
Steve: I actually had a conversation early on recording the record with the producer Dave Friedman and asked him if he though the songs sounded too different to each other, and he actually was really worrying that he though they sounded too similar to each other. So it's interesting when I meet someone like yourself and you say each song sounds different.

There's a lot of confusion in the words on the record and introspection. And it comes from the fact that when we made the record we were going through a period where we'd lost our drummer. We were unsure as to whether or not we were going to continue and I hope there is a hopeful quality stemming from the record.
 

Q: A lot of fans in the UK won't have heard the bands first album "Endsongs". How are the two albums different?
Steve: The making of that album was very different. We recorded and produced it ourselves and everything was done by ourselves until we got it mixed and did the vocals at another studio. I guess there is more of a band identity on "The Strangest Things" because the first record was largely just my songs and we hadn't played many shows as a group.
 

Q: When I hear Longwave I don't necessarily think of them as a New York band, it's more universal. How do you feel about the whole New York Scene?
Dave: I like the fact that people are paying attention to New York on a global level, but I don't think it's much different than it's ever been. There's a lot of great band and there's always been a lot of great. Maybe now there's a lot of bands that are getting attention who don't deserve it, or maybe they do, but we'll just have to let time tell. I'd like to think that we ride over it all and we don't just get known for this band that we part of NY 2002 / 2003.

Steve: The only thing that happened with the New York scene is that the Strokes did really well over here. And then there was the Liars, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Radio 4. But when you get past them there's the French Kicks, Interpol, The Realistics, The Walkmen, Nada Surf, The Moldy Peaches and us...and none of those bands have anything to do with garage rock or the New York scene so if you add them all up there are so many bands that don't sound like that.

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"The Strangest Things" is out now on Hummer Recordings
For more info
www.longwavetheband.com
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