INTERVIEW: The New 1920

The New 1920 are a South Wales indie-rock outfit pieced together from the remains of several Cardiff bands and currently turning heads here and in the US, with single Torpedo Libido winning ‘best of the week’ accolades from New York radio stations and Xfm alike.

With tours alongside Lostprophets and Kids In Glass Houses leading them into the New Year, Beren Neale spoke to lead singer and songwriter Colin Francies about finding himself in the midst of a community of musicians, his preference of Jack Bauer to Darth Vader, and why his band doesn’t translate well into a cocktail.

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Your single Torpedo Libido and B-side Tidy Ride echo At the Drive In as much as the American pop punk of Blink 182. What made you go for the incredibly lucrative indie-rock direction?

Ha! Well, I was playing in a punk band, Douglas, for years and when they dispersed in 2004 the new tunes I had were written on an acoustic guitar, so I didn’t have a plan for a particular sound and didn’t think about going in any direction. It’s only when the guys started building on top of that we got our sound. They’re just straightforward tunes. It’s not breakthrough stuff, but I’m not at that level of songwriting.

You’re always going to have people comparing bands and how they sound, and we’ve been compared with everyone from Ash to McFly to At the Drive In. Some of the best songs that I know, like AC/DC songs, are all chord progressions, but as long as you’ve got enough creativity people will like it and you won’t be known as ‘just another indie band’.

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Is there a story behind the band’s name?

I used to work in a cocktail bar and I found a cocktail menu from back in the 1920s and flicked through it and found the name.

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Is it any good?

It’s disgusting. There are a couple of ways to make it, one of them is with absinthe, but it’s like a Manhattan – whiskey-based, with orange curacao. It’s for the seasoned pro. Flicking through old cocktail menus is brilliant if you’re ever short of a song title. I’ve named songs after them in the past.

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What’s happened since the release of the single, last November?

We did The Full Ponty festival with Lostprophets, which is a one-day festival in their hometown of Pontypridd, Wales. That was the start of everything for us as a group. A load of wicked bands played, like The Blackout, Kids in Glass Houses and Gallows. Then our rhythm section decided to leave. So we had a swap over, with Ryan (Jenkinson) and Drew (Elliott) joining me and (guitarist) Pete Leakey six months ago. Then we went on tour with Kids in Glass Houses up in the North, which was just incredible – with them and Boom in the Diamond Industry. That was like a Mannequin Republic showcase tour.

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Mannequin Republic?

The label we released the single on. It’s owned by Sam Duckworth (20-nothing force behind Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.) So the tour was a bunch of bands that he puts records out for. It was a real community vibe. And it’s still not up – we’ve just played with (Seattle band) Minus the Bear in London and with Funeral for a Friend in Cardiff National Arena.

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How did you get on with Lostprophets?

We’ve known each other for 12 years, so it was great. They’ve been working really hard, so they’re pretty savvy with the music industry. I’ve always listened to what they’ve had to say because they’re clued up and they’ve got platinum discs to prove it.

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Do bands need a campaign plan to succeed in the music industry today?

Well, all of us have done our time sliding around in the back of the van, so with that experience we do see the music industry as exactly that – an industry. You’re in the business of releasing records and going on tour. And if you’re lucky to have people in the business to take advice off, there are a lot of corners you can cut.

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Another Cardiff band, Losing Sun, got Dave Prowse, aka Darth Vader, as their manager and that seems to have worked for them…

No way! I heard that Kiefer Sutherland has put together a record label and a management company and apparently he took some time out to go on tour with one of the bands. That’d be amazing – turn up to the gig with Jack Bauer.

(Ed’s note. It is indeed true about Darth Vader – read the interview here.)

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Who would be your top manager choice?

Oh I don’t know man… Yoda! But out of the two of them I’d have to say Kiefer. You could walk around with any 6’8 man and say ‘that’s Dave Prowse’ and people wouldn’t know, but there’s no mistaking Kiefer.

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Can indie-rock be popular without becoming predictable?

Well people latch on to a certain sound and it gets saturated – there are bound to be bands that you’ll listen to and you think, ‘why the fuck did someone sign that?!’ Loads of bands are put out there for the sake of being put out there. But on the other hand, when people say ‘you’ve got to write songs that are breakthrough’, well, it’s quite nice to write songs that are predictable because it’s good singing and jumping up and down dancing. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s a place for prog rock and math rock and progressive hardcore, or whatever you want to call it, just as long as people keep on writing good songs.

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So you don’t overcomplicate things in The New 1920?

As far as I go, I get really nervous playing songs on an acoustic guitar in front of my boys. I’m not that great a guitarist and when I play it on the acoustic I’m worried that it’ll sound too simple. It’s the old story of verse/chorus/verse/chorus/melody/chorus. But just because I can’t make a song that people will think ‘no one’s ever made a sound like that before’, it’s not going to stop me writing songs. Like I say, it’s that little something else that you put around that song to make it your own.

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Any immediate plans or releases for 2008?

We were in the studio yesterday, recording some demos and we’re looking to record the EP in January or February and then hammer it out there. Every band is a work in progress, but as long as we keep on hitting the road and releasing songs I’ll be happy.

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For more on The New 1920, check out their myspace.