18 April 2011

Contact Music interview (2005)

Contact Music spoke to Liverpool based Ladytron member Helen Marnie about the new release of their album and all the up and coming festival dates!

Hi how are you?

Not too bad thank you!

I just want to know where have you been since "Light and Magic"?

We went to China and Liverpool. We've also come back from a festival in Berlin, and did a small tour of England and Scotland. Last night we played at the ICA. We've also finished the new album.

Onto the new album, it's your third and is due for release in August. Are there any songs on the album that sum up how you feel about it?

All of the songs are about feelings, the album is really diverse. There isn't just one song that explains our thoughts. Its more diverse than the other two albums, every song is very different and we approach them in very different ways. It's a lot darker than the other albums.

Do you have any favourite songs on the album?

I appreciate each one. "Sugar" is our first single and I love it, "International Deadline" is my favourite at the minute – they all do different things.

How was your time in the studio?

It was really good fun, it didn't take very long to record! But because of technical difficulties, it's taken longer to release. It was actually finished last September, and then we had a gap in recording. We recorded it in Liverpool because Reuben lives there. We had friends around which was cool!

Every album has been more progressive and collaborative; this is the most collaborative up to date. We worked with the guys behind Kasabian and Placebo. They were good fun to work with! They have a lot of gadgets and toys, we like that! They pushed us further, they'd be like let's try this and we'd give it a go. They would make us do things we didn't want to try!

So are the British audience going to like your new album?

I hope so!

Do you think you have loyal fans?

We have a very loyal fan base! You can really see that too because despite us not releasing anything for ages, our gig in Brighton sold out! We didn't even have any press.

Have you recognised anyone in the crowds?

Yeah, there's a guy called Craig, who I don't know what he does for a day job but he follows us around everywhere! He's been from New York to Australia.

Do you think you resemble anyone?

No just ourselves. It's really difficult to group our music with others. Whenever we do a song, we just approach it in our own way and do what we can! It's for other people to say! The first two albums were niche like, so it was easier back then.

You said you've just finished a short tour; do you have any festivals planned this summer?

Yeah, we're playing the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park and we're headlining the Reading and Leeds Festival. We're also going to be playing in Kings Cross the same weekend as Leeds. We have all sorts of European Festivals.

What could we expect from a Ladytron live show?

A cannonball! Tigers, fighting, visuals and some new songs. Live we play with the four of us plus a drummer and a bass player, it's probably a harder sound live than what you would hear on a record. The live show is more extreme.

Do you have any favourite venues?

We played in an amusement park in China which had miniature landmarks from all over the world! On the concrete Arc de Triumph there was a huge Ladytron poster – that was quite funny to see. We played at an exhibition of our friend's in Liverpool which was part of the Summer of Love. He had these crazy wallpapers; it was weird playing at an art show!

To end this I just want to know what's next for you guys?

We're going to be doing some recording sessions for radio stations; we'll also be shooting the next video and then rehearsing a bit more! Just festivals throughout the summer really!

I'd like to thank you for talking to us.

Ok thank you too!

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