FB:<\/strong> With the records that Paul\u2019s made recently, I think it\u2019s almost like people expect or take it as a given that the only reason people would want to work with him is that he\u2019s made successful pop records. I think that\u2019s actually one of the downsides of being successful, in his case! But it\u2019s not that – the reason Paul\u2019s done so well, and he absolutely deserves to have done as well as he\u2019s done – is that he has such fantastic ears for melody. He doesn\u2019t have a formula. It\u2019s hard for us to fit into someone\u2019s rules in a work environment, and what was great about working with Paul is that it was completely free.<\/p>\n ITL: <\/strong>It\u2019s true that some producers have a kind of rubber stamp, I guess, in terms of how they work.<\/p>\n FB:<\/strong> Yeah, it starts with a sonic template or a personality or their sound or whatever, and then it ends up getting diluted and diluted to the point of where it\u2019s like, \u2018a sound\u2019 in three easy steps. And that\u2019s not something I\u2019d want to do.<\/p>\n ITL:<\/strong> I don\u2019t think making an album in three easy steps sounds like a good idea.<\/p>\n FB:<\/strong> I might do it as an exercise, but I wouldn\u2019t do it more than once!<\/p>\n ITL:<\/strong> In contrast with the more open approach to the new record, you\u2019ve mentioned before that the songs for Luminous<\/em> maybe were a bit safe or too rigid for your taste.<\/p>\n FB: <\/strong>It wasn\u2019t the songs. The demos from our studio I really loved. I felt like it was the final mixes, and maybe I wasn\u2019t getting my personality across in the final vocals. A lot of time went into it, but I think that maybe all the ingredients somehow didn\u2019t quite come together in the way they could have. It\u2019s a shame, because I think there\u2019s an amazing record in there. Though I don\u2019t think we ended up with a bad one, and for some people, it\u2019s their favorite Horrors record. I don\u2019t think my opinion really matters in that case, it only really matters up until it gets released.<\/p>\n ITL:<\/strong> It does sort of belong to the world, at that point.<\/p>\n FB:<\/strong> People say that you give it away, and I that is true. Some of the most amazing records in history have been hated by their creators.<\/p>\n ITL:<\/strong> Going back to the new record, then, you\u2019ve mentioned the phrase \u2018anti-composition,\u2019 in terms of an approach to song craft and going against traditional means of arrangement to make something sound fresh. I\u2019m always interested in hearing how people move through that process and arrive with a finished song or record – how does that approach work for you in the context of a band?<\/p>\n FB:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ve been particularly successful at that. My view of our songs is not that they\u2019re hugely inaccessible, and I don\u2019t think that structurally they\u2019re so deconstructed. I suppose if you were to listen to another ambient artist where there are only traces of songwriting under the surface, maybe you could call that anti-composition\u2026I think in the end, in terms of spirit, we\u2019re a punk band that likes a certain atmosphere and to create soundscapes, and I think we could move into decomposition. I don\u2019t know that we\u2019ve really done that yet.<\/p>\n ITL:<\/strong> The songs definitely still come through. A song like \u201cPoint of No Reply\u201d has some openness to it, but there\u2019s a melodic anchor in there.<\/p>\n FB:<\/strong> Definitely, I would say that one is a good example of what could have been a straight ahead pop song, and it was pulled back from that. I\u2019d argue that it\u2019s better for it.<\/p>\n ITL: <\/strong>I would, too. So how does putting together a live setlist for a more unconventional record work, and how\u2019s the North American tour been so far?<\/p>\n FB:<\/strong> If I\u2019m honest, thinking about what other people want to hear doesn\u2019t really come into it. I\u2019d like to lie to you and say that we\u2019re that considerate, but I don\u2019t think we are! I think it\u2019s a gradual change. For example, we\u2019ve been playing \u201cIn and Out of Sight\u201d and \u201cMirror\u2019s Image\u201d together like that for months, and recently, we decided they worked better the other way around. Sometimes, you just don\u2019t realize those things for a while.<\/p>\n The tour\u2019s been great so far, and it has been a while, too long, in my opinion. Although we\u2019re not considerate in terms of setlist, the audience is still hugely influential in terms of the energy you get back. It\u2019s probably the single biggest defining factor. We played a show recently in Toronto, and the crowd was insane. It just gave the whole show life.<\/p>\n To catch The Horrors on tour, click here<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1st5-1024x835.jpg\")
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