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Interview with India Electric Co

Go to:  India Electric Co artist's page.

You're from Devon in England. Tell me how you met.
We lived just twenty minutes apart near a town called Honiton and it was actually our Dads who met in a music shop that brought us together to do music as teenagers.

What was that meeting like? How did you both realize there was a synergy there?
We began working together 4 years ago on a small UK tour before setting out to write and record a group of songs that encompassed all our varied influences. It organically grew from there and before we knew it we'd gone From busking in Paris to playing Glastonbury Festival.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Aside from the artists we are inspired by, not one single place or moment but an ever changing variety of themes. For this new EP we've taken the country vs the city and our own personal experiences such as being property guardians in London and focused in on urban alienation.

I noticed in one of your shows you referenced some writers. Who is the English literature fan in the band?
We both like to read and take references from as wider sources as possible otherwise it's perhaps too easy to become self indulgent and insular. On our first record we paid homage to a W.H Auden poem, a 17th century sea shanty and a piece of work by Andrew Marvell.

Your music seems to be a wonderful eclectic mix of different sounds. Where does this variety come from?
We try to discover and listen to as much music and writing as possible and influences constantly evolve but at the moment the likes of The Gloaming, Maarja Nuut, Dawn of Midi and E.E. Cummings.

You're in the middle of a large tour to several different countries. What is that like?
An incredible adventure and learning curve. Exploring different landscapes, cultures (coffee shops) and getting to play these songs night after night and meet such different crowds is an extraordinary day to day life.

How are you finding the cultural differences between countries?
No matter where you go, music is a hugely important ingredient in people's lives and that unifies all the people we play to. As long as they can understand our Devonshire twanged voices then there's no problem!

I want to explore your style of music. Whom would you say have been your biggest influences?
Hearing The Gloaming's first album was a big turning point for us and it's a reference we continue to use. We've just discovered Moondog which hopefully will prove to be have a similar impact.

What is your process for writing, producing and developing a track?
Writing is done with 2 or 3 references as is production and we work together developing structure, melody and direction. Our recordings tend to be all about the space - we recorded the new EP in a National Trust Property in Hackney and in a Devonshire barn-like structure. We try to use traditional instruments in contemporary ways to capture the sound we aspire to.

You're getting quite a lot of buzz. What's it feel like to be considered a "band on the rise"?
That doesn't seem to come in to our day to day existence. We try and focus on performing and writing. Invariably someone's "band on the rise" is someone else's "band to avoid"!

You're touring with Midge Ure. Tell me about that experience.
It's as you can imagine a tremendous learning curve and a wonderful adventure. Learning and playing these songs of his is remarkable. We have huge fun on stage and off stage we constantly embarrass him by piling the sandwiches from the rider into our bag for the next day, accidentally wear odd socks at gigs and try and take him to trendy specialty coffee shops.

If you had to describe the tour with Midge in one word what would it be?
Unique.

Where can people find out more and get in touch with you?
indiaelectricco.com
Twitter, facebook, and instagram as India Electric Co
Or at gigs, we're thinking of getting a PO Box address soon so we can go back to letter writing.