By the time Ipswich five-piece Basement released their breakthrough second album, Colourmeinkindness, in 2012, they had already broken up.
Vocalist Andrew Fisher had stepped away to pursue teaching, the band quietly dissolving just as their name began spreading far beyond the UK underground they’d emerged from. But in their absence, something strange happened – they got bigger.
Over the next decade, Basement became one of the defining alternative bands of their generation without ever really behaving like one. Their records, from the melancholy offering I Wish You Could Stay Here to the more polished Beside Myself, shaped countless modern emo, shoegaze and post-hardcore acts. Then came the TikTok resurrection of “Covet”, a song released more than a decade ago that suddenly found a new audience through algorithmic virality, introducing teenagers to a band whose members had spent years questioning whether they even wanted to continue.
Now, with the release of their fifth album WIRED, Basement sound less interested in nostalgia and look towards longevity. Produced by John Congleton and marking a return to Run For Cover Records (partnered with Civilians in Australia), the album arrives after eight years away and finds the band deliberately resisting expectations – including their own.
“We didn’t want people to feel apathetic about it,” vocalist Andrew Fisher says. “What would hurt me is if people were just like, ‘It’s fine, it’s another Basement record.’ That’s what we were trying to avoid.”
That sentiment runs through WIRED. It’s heavier in places, stranger in others, and more willing to embrace discomfort than anything Basement have released before. Fisher says the band spent years chasing ideas without necessarily knowing exactly what they were chasing – only that they needed to feel excited again.
“The moment where someone suggests something and it clicks and all members light up, that’s what we’re constantly chasing,” he explains. “We had so many of those moments on this record.”
That process involved abandoning certain ideas just as quickly as they arrived, shaping WIRED from the beginning. Fisher says the band spent years refining songs before ever entering the studio, experimenting with different directions and pulling ideas apart until they landed somewhere that genuinely excited everyone involved.
“I think that’s the beauty of being in a band, even if you have one person that has a really strong feeling about what they want to go for, there’s still three or four other people that are going to come in and challenge that.” he says. “We compromised and met in the middle to get to that place where everyone’s happy. And then ultimately that created the sound that we end up with.”
Rather than forcing a singular vision, Basement embraced the friction between individual tastes. Fisher describes the band’s influences as wildly varied, with each member bringing completely different reference points into the writing process.
“Duncan references Neurosis a lot as being one of his favorite bands, and I know their music only through him putting it on in the van, but he clearly draws massive influence from them. And that’s why a lot of our songs are so bass heavy, and when they are, the tone is insane.”
That mashup of influences ultimately became one of the defining characteristics of WIRED – a record that is both expansive and instinctive, but also deeply rooted in the chemistry between five people who have spent more than a decade learning how to work together.
Following the release of Beside Myself, Basement found themselves burnt out and disillusioned after their experience within the major label system. Fisher openly describes that period as leaving a “sour taste,” particularly when it came to the distance between the band and the people working around them.
“With a major label, there’s just so many people. And it’s not the same as knowing exactly who everyone is.”
Returning to Run For Cover saw the band reconnect with people they trusted. “The main thing with Run For Cover is that there was never any misunderstanding or lack of clarity around who they were and what they wanted from us,” Fisher says. “They’ve grown so much but they still have the same ethos, they still have the same passion.”
That sense of clarity also extended inward. Basement have maintained the same lineup since forming – something almost unheard of for a band that has survived multiple hiatuses, shifting industry expectations and the emotional strain that inevitably comes with spending years in close quarters.
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According to Fisher, the reason is surprisingly simple. “Really boring answer, but just talking to each other. We genuinely are friends and the way that our friendship has grown and changed over the years has been really interesting.”
He speaks candidly about the emotional maturity the band has developed over time, admitting that situations which once may have spiralled into resentment are now handled with honesty and accountability instead.
“I messed something up the other day and I think I made people feel not 100% with regards to how I reacted to a situation,” he says. “And I took myself away and realised that I hadn’t really responded well. And I apologised and asked to talk about it and wanted to know how people felt and they agreed it didn’t feel good, so I apologised and said I’d try not to do that again. But that wouldn’t have happened five years ago, and it certainly wouldn’t have happened 10 years ago. That resentment could have built up and built up and built up and I might not have had the emotional maturity to accept that I’d done something wrong. And at the same time, someone else might have not had the willingness to put up with it.”
Those conversations are what have kept Basement functioning when many other bands fall apart. “It’s such a charged situation because not only are you with people you care about, you’re away from your loved ones when you’re on tour, and you’re trying to be honest and open and share vulnerable musical ideas,” he says. “If you can’t just be open and honest with someone and say when you’ve had too much or if you need a break or you disagree with someone, then it’s just never going to work.”
That openness extends to the way Basement thinks about their influence too. Over the years, the band has become a touchstone for countless younger alternative acts, something Fisher still struggles to fully process. “When people say we’re the reason they started their band – that’s incredible,” he says. “The fact that we have been able to inspire someone to create music is just amazing.”
At the same time, he’s careful not to let that awareness dictate the band’s creative choices. “We’ve been caught up with that in the past, worrying too much about how songs would be perceived,” he admits. “But being through four LPs before this and having time off this time round, we’re way more aware of that. And we’ve actively been trying to not listen to that and let that affect things.”
Ironically, just as Basement stopped focusing on external expectations, the internet pushed them back into the spotlight again. “Covet” becoming a viral TikTok sound introduced the band to younger audiences who discovered Basement completely disconnected from the original context of the song. “The TikTok video that stands out to me is a fridge full of hot dogs,” Fisher laughs. “I just think the whole thing is crazy.”
Still, he recognises the bigger picture. Beyond the memes and algorithms, Fisher believes there’s been a genuine resurgence in young people gravitating back toward guitar music and alternative culture. “I used to work in schools and I noticed that shift,” he says. “Kids would be talking about going to see cover bands on the weekend or like, guitar bands. So I think there’s something happening at the minute.”
For Basement, that renewed attention feels like another unexpected chapter in a career that has rarely followed a predictable trajectory. And while WIRED may eventually find a second life years from now the same way Colourmeinkindness did, Fisher insists the band can’t afford to think too far ahead.
“I think you have to be focused in the present,” he says. “Hopefully if it’s good, people like it and they’ll continue to like it for a long time.”
Basement’s WIRED is out now.
