A lot can happen in four years, it seems. It’s 2007. Alex Turner is dividing his time between shadow puppets and a follow-up to what NME labelled one of the greatest debut albums of all time. Kele is hunting for witches, the Klaxons have won a Mercury Prize and the Kaiser Chiefs are cashing in on a raging garage rock scene. Meanwhile, in a humble East London apartment, Dave Maclean is eating cold pizza and laying the foundations of his band, Django Django.
Slip into a modified DeLorean and punch in March 14 2012. The English press are circling and have their sights set on a supposed soon-to-be corpse; British indie. In the past four years they’ve lambasted Bloc Party’s Intimacy (most would say justifiably), highlighted the Kaiser Chief’s billing at Coachella and yearned for the Arctic Monkeys to replicate their debut LP.
They’re a harsh mob, those English critics; savage and quick to turn. Still, amidst their cynicism they’ve heralded their potential saviour: Django Django.
Unsurprisingly, the same guy who was collecting pizza boxes and forming Django Django – drummer/producer Dave Maclean – isn’t buying into the hype. Like influencers Hot Chip, he doesn’t gravitate toward mainstream success, instead preferring to tip-toe in the cracks between popular genres.
“A lot of that is tripped up by the English music press,” Maclean believes. “I don’t see music as what comes before and what comes next; I just buy records and listen to them. Plus I don’t think we’ll ever change the direction of British indie because we live outside of that world.”
“We’re neither electronic nor straight-up rock and roll. We’re a weird mongrel hybrid. As long as people are interested I don’t mind what they sit us in.”
Regardless of his unwillingness to be defined by current trend, it would be difficult for Maclean to deny the widespread appeal of Django Django’s debut LP. There’s a good reason for this; the album is a startling effort, a nimble beast that effortlessly leaps from rock to electronica and even folk, often within the same track.
When the band dropped an entrée of this eclectic style in 2009 with single ‘Storm/Love’s Dart’, fans thought a main course wouldn’t be too far away. However, instead of cashing in on its success, the band waited another three odd years before releasing a full-length debut. While some followers thought of this as a vintage case of musical blue-balling, Maclean explains that other factors were at play.
“When we originally released ‘Storm/Love’s Dart’ we weren’t a proper band. Basically it was just me and Vinnie [lead singer and guitarist] sitting in my bedroom after college. I guess we didn’t expect that much attention. When we did start to get recognised, though, we wanted to record and write as much as possible.”
“We also had to go through the process of getting signed and letting them [the record label] decide when it would be a good time to release the album. Looking back, it gave us a bit of time to get better live.”
Live is where critics believe the band readily excel, with one eager reviewer even comparing their stage set to “Tool and Rammstein going really avant garde”. Like cohorts Metronomy, they prefer not to use a backing track, believing it doesn’t add to the spontaneity of the performance. At a time when many artists are over indulging in pre-recorded loops and samples, Maclean’s philosophies are old-fashioned yet universally welcomed.
“You can have everything on a backing track but live music should be live,” Maclean explains. “There’s no sense in making it sound exactly like the record. In the end it’s about entertaining and making it fun for people who come along.”
As for bringing a show or three to Australia?
“I really hope so. It depends on how the record does when it comes out there. It seems to be the talk that we’ll be visiting.”
For followers it’s a tantalising prospect, though they’ll have their fingers crossed the band doesn’t take as much time waiting to tour as they did to release their debut. Regardless, when they do finally reach our shores, there’s little doubt they’ll be warmly appreciated.
Perhaps the English press got one right after all.
– Paul Bonadio
Django Django release their debut self-titled record in Australia on Friday 23rd March through Warner. Check out the clip for previously released single “Default”. AND, are find out what Django Django let slip about this year’s Splendour In The Grass.
Photograph © Pavla Kopecna
