Indie wonders ‘The Coral’ are back in town with glorious new record ‘Move through the dawn’ and a highly anticipated live tour. James Skelly caught up with Damian Robinson to chat about the new record and the band’s love of Newcastle’s Riverside venue.
A month after the release of new album ‘Move through the dawn’, how are you finding the response to the album?
I’m a bit surprised about well the album has gone to be honest. Both this album and our previous one have been really well received and it’s quite a shock. To be honest, I’m kind of surprised by a lot of the reaction we receive for almost anything we do.
‘Move through the dawn’ feels, musically, like the opposite of ‘Distance inbetween’ this time with a Beach Boys and Wrecking Crew sound. How much does the challenge of writing in new musical style motivate the band?
We try to change our styles on most albums to be honest. What seems to be mportant to us is that we try to switch things up, musically, in between albums. In order to be inspired we need to be aware of different music sounds and influences, and once we’re inspired we try to run with our ideas.
You’re a bit of a workaholic with writing and touring Coral tunes, and then with the work coming out of Skeleton Key Records. How do you balance your time?
(Laughing) I wish I didn’t have to be a workaholic to be honest, I’d like to retire and live on a yacht. Not really, I just love making music to be honest, and it gives my life a real meaning. You’ve got to have a meaning to your life haven’t you, otherwise you’d just end up being a jelly fish or something. We do like to try to have a balance with our families as well on the music. We rehearse even if we’re off tour. We’re an old school band and we don’t play to clicks so it’s important to keep working.
You’ll be back in Newcastle to support ‘Move’. You tend to start your tours up here, is there a specific reason?
Funnily enough, our first show back from our time away was in Newcastle, at the Riverside, so we have good memoires of the city and the venue. Newcastle is always a great place to play with a great crowd. We’re bringing She Drew The Gun and Cut Glass Kings out with us on this tour so it’ll be a great show of good music. It’s always nice to start the tour at a venue we know appreciate good music, and we appreciate the reaction we get up North.
‘Move through the dawn’ is out now. The Coral play Newcastle Riverside on Wed 3rd October.