One on One with // The Whip

How would you sum up your sound for people who don’t know you?

We take music that has electronic and live elements and we mix them together in a way that lets you dance.

Your album, Wired Together, is out now – was it a good experience writing and recording it?

We’re just so glad to have it finished and out there so we can move on to the next one! we spent a year in the studio and started to go a little crazy, cabin fever set in! we we’re in a little box room in London working on it for a long time but we’re really happy to be able to put those songs to bed. We learned so much in making it and can’t wait to get on with the next one. we love playing live so much but need to remember to pay attention to recording now too!

What’s your favourite track on the album?

I like our new single, Movement. It’s a straight up song and has a nice disco vibe with a piano riff. I like singing it – good vibes.

What’s next for you guys?

We play a festival tomorrow night in Switzerland so I’m using the rest of the day to get new ideas together ready for next week with the guys! After that we’re playing a show next week in a competition winners house which should be fun, a full on gig in a flat in Manchester, no idea what it looks like either. Then we start our UK tour which should be fun, we’ve got some LED screens for a nice light show. We’re working on new songs in the middle of all of this too.

Who were your main musical influences growing up?

I loved a lot of different music: Sonic Youth, Daft Punk, New Order, Kraftwerk, My Bloody Valentine… Then a little later on I got in to a lot of Electroclash and electronic house music.

Which song do you wish you had written?

I guess when we started The Whip I’d been in a lot of bands and the last one, ‘Nylon Pylon’, had a mix of different instruments and dance music, but when I heard the Woulwax remix of Rocket Ride (Felix Da Housecat) I heard a really good balance of the two. Soulwax mix things up so well, it’s an education.

What would you like the band to do before the end of 2012?

We’re looking forward to playing all over the place. The UK tour first, then some Spanish dates, Austria, Japan, Brazil and Australia and some other stuff. We’d like to have the next album all wrapped up by the end of the year too. We’ve moved in to our new HQ and are starting on new songs next week when we get back from playing in Switzerland this weekend (it’s -10 outside where I am!).

Have you got any advice for new bands starting off at the moment?

Work really hard at it, you have to get in people’s faces and push yourself to get there, just for a while!

2011 was a crazy year for you – what stands out as a highlight?

It was good to finally get our second album out, it took us three years to make it! We’d been so busy touring that we never got around to paying enough attention to getting the new songs finished so we had to stop everything and get the job done. It won’t take so long to make the next one! It was nice last year to play China for the first time too. It’s a really different place to visit and we saw some crazy things.