The xx By Night
BRM has done it again. We've hunted down, captured and documented the most innovative and exciting artists to recently emerge on a number of different scenes. All month long we’ll be running interviews with our discoveries to help get you ready for what’s to come in 2010. But to get a complete look at our full list of emerging artists, check out our current winter issue.
Even if you suspect the buzz surrounding The xx can’t possibly be fully deserved, after lending an ear to their dark 2009 debut for Young Turks, The xx, it becomes harder and harder not to admit to their instrumental virtuosity, young as they are. Even more impressive, since guitarist Baria Qureshi abruptly left the band in November 2009, the remaining three (Oliver Sim, Romy Madley-Croft, and Jamie Smith) opted not to bring in a replacement. They just picked up the extra guitars and kept on going – to America, back to England, and on to the venues of Europe.
During CMJ, however, the band remained intact, and BRM followed their whirlwind tour of venues around New York to the Soho Apple Store, where fans outside already lined up for the free show they’d play that afternoon. Sim and Madley-Croft were soft-spoken and not yet jaded, despite the chaos looming just outside their (real and metaphorical) doorsteps.
BRM: Often you’re still referred to as a “teen band,” though you’ve all since turned 20. Does this bother you?
Oliver Sim: A lot of the songs on the album were written when we were 16…[but] we’ve become better instrumentalists since then, and more complex lyrically and instrumentally. Our earlier songs were a lot lighter. We’ve become a lot darker and a lot more complex. [When I wrote those songs] I hadn’t had much experience in love.
How far back do you all go?
OS: I’ve known Romy since kindergarten. We’ve all grown up together pretty much. We met Jamie and Baria when we were 11. The xx is the first band any of us have ever played in.
Romy, is it true that your parents didn’t know you played music until they heard one of your records?
Romy Madley-Croft: I was very shy. If you’d told me when I was younger that I would be performing I wouldn’t have believed it. It was a surprise [to my parents] when I started playing a guitar and singing along to get the rhythms. I was home and listening to something I had done and [my dad] was like, who’s that? And I was like, it’s me.
Have your parents been supportive of the band in general?
OS: Our parents came to our first concert a year ago, but since I didn’t carry on with school, I was lucky [that they didn’t say] “What the hell are you doing, go get a job.” My dad let me do my thing.
You just started touring this year. Is it strange to see how fans respond to you in these places?
OS: Even outside of London was a bit strange, and when the shows sold out. People just knowing who you are is a bit strange. People singing along was strange, in other countries.
The school you all attended in London [The Elliott School] is known for graduating successful artists like Hot Chip, Four Tet and Burial. Were you conscious of this when you were attending, and did it influence you?
RMC: Hot Chip is ten years older than us, and so is Burial. [Actually] the only [famous alum] we knew about when we there was Pierce Brosnan, James Bond. That was our claim to fame. It’s weird coming to other countries and hearing people talk about our school like that. We didn’t know it was special when we were there.
Do you think there’s something about this particular school that encourages creativity, or is it just a coincidence?
OS: There was just a lot of freedom. It was a massive school. You could pretty much wear what you wanted. There was a lot of time to go into the music room and play around with instruments, just picking things up yourself, really. I don’t know if that was them giving us time to be creative, or if they just didn’t care.
Now that you’ve been touring for a month or so, has it turned out to be what you expected?
OS: A lot of these places I’d never get a chance to visit. I first visited New York two months ago. The only downside is you show up in a city, do soundcheck before the show, then get back on the tour us and wake up a in a different city. You don’t get to see too much.
Had you ever been to New York before?
RMC: We only played five or six shows our first time in New York. We went on a sightseeing boat trip, saw the Statue of Liberty and went ’round the city.
OS: It was so hot when we were here. It was July. I knew Central Park was big [before, but] it’s huge.
Where are you looking forward to going after this?
OS: I’m looking forward to seeing more of America. New York is quite European, I’ve heard.
What’s your most memorable touring experience so far?
RMC: Our bus broke down in Munich, Germany. We had to take all of our equipment on a train all the way to Italy, to Bologna. It was a long day. We started traveling at ten am and got there at ten at night, and it was straight onto stage. It was just us and our suitcases. [The train] went from Munich and then through the Alps, and the mountains. It was 12 hours on a train to Bologna. People were really into it and really singing. It made me really grateful that we didn’t cancel it. It was a really nice show. It made it all worth it.
Are there any bands that changed your life?
OS: Young Marble Giants, I can identify with them. I get it. And The Kills. Just seeing two people without a live drummer sharing the vocals. That was really fun. And also Coco Rosie.
Oliver, can you confirm the rumor that you’re a huge Aaliyah fan?
OS: My sister was initially, my older sister. I have four older siblings. [They listened to] Aaliyah, TLC, and Lauryn Hill. I’m even a fan of Beyoncé. Even if you’re not a fan, I recommend you see her in concert. The show is really impressive.
Do you see any of that pop and R&B influence in your own music?
OS: I don’t know what to label as an influence or something that I just really love listening to. I don’t want to deny it and say it’s not. You never know how things work their way into what you do.
Why do you think there’s so little crossover between R&B and indie rock?
OS: Some people stick to the genre they’re in. We’re the iPod shuffle generation. One minute you could be listening to Nick Drake, and then you could be listening to…
RMC: Drake. 
OS: Or Drake. It’s not so much about genre or albums, it’s about individual songs.
So do you think there’s a future for the album as a form of music?
OS: I think that’s why we put our singles on 7-inch vinyl. We put a lot of effort into our artwork, just to have a physical copy. For the songs I like, I try to buy the album, so I could see how they were made and how they go together. It gives more insight into how [it was made].
Your tour schedule for the next few months is insane. Are you worried about burning out?
OS: It’s only been one month of touring. We’ve got one year left. In a year from now, things might be different.
Why do your songs have a dark sound to them? Do you write at night?
RMC: [When I’m] half awake and half asleep a bit delirious, I quite like that. That’s when I’ve written my favorite songs. I don’t consciously force the night sounds in, but they’re there.
Your sound is about as far from goth rock as it gets, yet you always dress in black. Do you get that label a lot?
OS: I call myself goth.
RMC: I’ve always worn black; I feel comfortable wearing black. [We were eating lunch the other day] and a guy came all the way in the restaurant and gave me a flier for goth night, out of everyone in the whole place.
OS: There’s no denying the connotation
What are your plans for after the tour?
RMC: I’m looking forward to going back into my night mode. Naturally if I’m left alone I revert back to being more awake at night. I just want to get creative again, really.
On your records, you always sound like you’re having a good time. Is that because you’ve been friends for so long?
RMC: We don’t usually have to write together to understand each other. We have a quite a bit of understanding with one another. We don’t always have to explain everything. It makes life a lot easier. The songs are downbeat but we have fun together.
Words by Claire Shefchik
Photos by Peter Frey and Andrea Martin
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