Interview - The 18 Carat Love Affair
Words by Camille Daroux
If you are the kind of music listener that is able to enjoy Girls Aloud as much as Suede, London-based new band The 18 Carat Love Affair might just become your next obsession. Taking their name from the self titled Associates song, the band formed in October last year, played their first gig in December and have been on the rise ever since. DH caught up with Steve Horry (lead singer) and Patrick Barret (bass) in their favourite pub in New Cross for what was their first – but definitely not last - interview as a band.
This five-piece outfit makes music in a very clever way, using everything they like as an inspiration, be it Rihanna, Serge Gainsbourg, electronica or musicals. When I asked them which song they wish they had written, “every song!” was the answer, closely followed by Girls Aloud’s Biology and La Chanson de Jacky by Jacques Brel. Rather random, right? Their sound, however, manages to let all these influences shine through while remaining brilliantly coherent. Their oh so British twist makes it all even more enjoyable; Nicola Roberts, politics, 60s TV and football also being some of their obsessions.
They say they are “really really pop”, although rock music also plays a huge part in defining their identity. Indeed, as they state it, “good rock music is good pop music”, and this is not something we would oppose: think of David Bowie, for example. They’re definitely not taking it too seriously, which certainly feels like a breath of fresh air in comparison to all the self-righteous bands around. Things they would like people to say about them include “quite good”, “zeitgeist-defining”, “life-changing”, “sexy” and “drunk”. Well, they did tell me that forming their band was a drunken idea, after all.
To my mind, The 18 Carat Love Affair is definitely a band people should get excited about and I really expect we’ll get to hear a lot more from them this year. So what are their plans for the future? Sell 5 million albums, headline Glastonbury, marry Nicola Roberts and then get into politics. More seriously, rumour has it they already got record labels interest –which they find really “surreal”-, and they hope to release their first single soon and play some festivals over the summer, so keep your ears peeled.
Posted Mon, June 22, 2009
Comments on Interview - The 18 Carat Love Affair
Haha “drunk”. I love when people don’t take the trivial aspects of life seriously.
Oh, and more Camille Darroux please.
Posted by: Cowgirl | 22/06/2009 at 14:02