Taking influence from the likes of Brian Eno and Hawkwind, London’s Telegram have spent the last two years developing their raw yet charming sound up and down the country, earning themselves a pretty substantial following at the same time.
They recently released their third single ‘Inside Outside‘ on Dan Carey’s Speedy Wunderground label. We spoke to the band’s drummer, Jordan, about the track and how the last two years have been for the band
Your latest single, Inside Outside has just been released on Speedy Wunderground and it’s absolutely incredible. How do you think it compares to Regatta and Follow?
Thanks! Inside Outside shows different elements of our moods and sound to the previous two songs. More ethereal, you could say. With this one we wanted to take the pedal off the metal, initially anyway.
How do you think the year or so since Follow was released has impacted the band, did you approach recording differently for the new track?
It has definitely strengthened us in a live sense; we’ve got a lot of shows under our belt and know each other better as a result of spending so much time together. Follow gave us the opportunity to travel the world and meet great (and not so great) people. I guess we went in to record the newest single with the excitement of those experiences still swirling around our heads.
You’ve played shows with a pretty varied range of bands at this point, from The Horrors to Fat White Family to Sleaford Mods, does it give you encouragement that you can play to a wide spectrum of fans and impress all?
I like the fact that we’ve established our range and lack of boundaries from the off, it means we turn up to each show not knowing what to expect from the crowd and other bands which keeps playing live exciting. However, the crowd response on many occasions to our ‘less conventional’ support slots is one of sheer bewilderment and confusion. Impressing all isn’t strictly accurate and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We like a challenge.
You went on tour with The Horrors last year, and it seemed to me like there was next to no one at those shows that wasn’t equally as excited to see you, is a headline tour on the cards for yourselves in the near future?
Now that we’ve cut our teeth, we will undoubtedly move on to our own shows in the near future, right now we have our studio hats on!
Staying on the theme of live shows for a moment, you’re very much a part of the scene in London with the likes of Novella, The Proper Ornaments, Astral Pattern and others, do you think London is pretty much the best city in the country for exciting new music at the moment?
Not necessarily. The reality is that London is the city in the country with the fastest exposure, so bands are often picked up on easier than in other cities in the country. However, this is a two-sided coin; there is also a lot more competition in London and the fact that bands get exposed earlier on means they need to be at the top of their game from the off.
Finally, if you had to listen to one record for the rest of your life what would it be
I would probably have to go for Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age. ‘Tis the gift that keeps on giving.