Hey, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, Internet's busiest music nerd. Hope you're doing well. It's time for an exciting, exclusive conversation. On the cusp of releasing a brand new album, Forever Howlong, tonight, we have Black Country, New Road with us: two members of the band, Charlie Wayne and Georgia Ellery. I'm basically engaged in an ongoing process of doing these Zoom interviews where I get every member of the band on, so I appreciate you slow-rolling each person in the group in these interviews.

You guys should remember, back in 2023 they had their live record, Live at Bush Hall. Now since the lineup change that really shook up a lot of the singing and songwriting duties, the group are on the cusp of releasing this brand new record. Tonight, we're going to talk about that record and anything else that comes up in the conversation. Charlie and Georgia, thanks for coming through!

Charlie: Thanks for having us! Yeah, it's a bit surreal to be here. I remember Tyler and Lewis did the last one, which must have been four years ago, I think. It was a long time ago. I was doing my last exam in university, and I couldn't even watch it. I was writing about ancient Greeks in a library, haha. But I heard it went well! Thanks for having us.

Anthony: Well, hopefully this one... I think you guys have actually the opportunity here to do even better than the last one. I mean, I would say improve on the last interview. It's like...smash to so hard that it makes them jealous for underperforming the last time around. That's what I say.

Georgia: And then Luke and May have the task of like, bringing the bar up.

Anthony: Yeah. Do you think they have the ability to even hurdle and jump over you guys, or no way?

Georgia: Absolutely not.

Charlie: I don't know, I thought they do. I mean, I thought when Luke and May get going, there's no stopping them! That's it; game over!

Anthony: Okay, so this is the peak. Alright. We're hitting the peak here. Good to know. Good to know ahead of time. Alright, so just to generally start wading into the album: obviously, it's dropping tonight. We're talking about a big phase of change and evolution in the group's career at this point with the first studio album after things having been switched up. Before we get into specifics, give us a general heads up — give the fans a heads up. What do you feel like we're in for here? What should we be expecting? Should we be expecting anything?

Georgia: That's a good question. Yeah, it's a sprawling album. It's obviously three different singers and songwriters. I feel like there's something for everyone on here. If you're into the fantastical lyrics, if you're into pop stuff, if you're into dramatic stuff. It's very sunny — not all of it— but I think it's not dark in tone. I think it's quite bright in tone and the sounds we've got. I hope you guys enjoy it. I think we will probably agree: it's like a transitional album.

Charlie: I think in the way that so much of our work is figuring out what the band is in real-time, and then nothing has ever really felt like it's ever properly stood in the group, this is a continuation of that, but in a studio setting. I think that we learned a lot from doing the live album and purposely didn't consider it to be an album because it just wasn't and isn't. But this is, I guess, a reflection of the band in that same setting with lots of different singers, lots of different ideas going on and trying to figure out the through lines between those different ideas, and grasping those different, for those different places to create something that is uniform and can be expressive, not just in a live setting, but also using lots of different expansive sounds and different instruments and not being limited to just performing it live — like, seeing what can rip, super large.

Anthony: Georgia, if you could dig a little bit more into what you had mentioned there about the tone because that was something that I was feeling off of not only a lot of the material from the last record, but the singles on this album. It does feel like instrumentally and musically — maybe even lyrically a little bit — that things are feeling brighter and more positive in a way. Again, I guess you already feel that assessment has some truth to it. To what would you attribute that? Is it like, a mood shift within the band itself, or is there something writing-wise within everyone that this emotional palate just seems like the direction to go in?

Georgia: Well, practically, we lost an electric guitar. I was playing mandolin quite a lot, so that's bright. We've got harpsichord, we've got Banjo, nylon string, acoustic. So, all these instruments just make it lighter, and Lewis got some whistles and flutes: different flutes, like wooden flutes, so that makes it brighter. Then obviously, we have higher-range voices, so that makes it higher in tone. But yeah, I think the emotionality in the lyrics, as I said: it's like, sprawling. It goes to lots of different places. There are some quite dark songs lyrically, which sometimes we've paired with upbeat, brighter arrangements and chords and stuff to... What's it called when you...

Charlie: What? Like juxtaposed?

Georgia: Yeah, when you pair the two things together to add a bit of another layer to the songwriting. But yeah, I guess some of the songs are optimistic, but you guys, you've only heard three singles. So, maybe once the whole album is there, it might feel a bit more balanced.

Anthony: Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, still, though, even if that balance is there, a song like "Besties" is a very interesting and bold song to start off with, not just because of how large the instrumentation sounds. But, it feels unique in the current music landscape, be it either in the underground or the mainstream, in that you don't hear a lot of songs — and maybe I'm reading this wrong — that feel like such a genuine expression of connection and companionship in a way that's almost wholesome. Is that an incorrect read? It feels uniquely wholesome in the current music landscape. I'll say that.

Georgia: Yeah, I mean, we're pretty wholesome people.

Charlie: Yeah, I don't think this was particularly like...

Georgia: Yeah, it is! That was one of the inspirations for it: it's that genuine connection for the lyrics anyway.

Charlie: Yeah, I think that it is something that has been observed about the group, and something that we have definitely leaned into to some extent, definitely around Bush Hall. Maybe to our detriment, or maybe we overly emphasized it: this idea of unity and friendship. I think it can come across as a little bit twee. I think, particularly as the music feels lighter, it doesn't necessarily indicate that it's just one angle. I don't know. I think that particularly going from a place where the music was pretty dark in quite a lot of ways, it can suddenly be relegated to this, 'Oh, they're just making sunshine pop! They're all friends; they're going on about how friendship is great and cool!' There is definitely an element of that, but it can be seen as unemotional or one-dimensional if you're looking at it just from that way. Actually, I think in a lot of ways...Friendships in every way have so many different layers. I think that this album, particularly that song, explores those different layers and the good and bad parts of any connection, particularly friendship.

Georgia: It's true. The song's got different layers, if you want to read into it, but I am going to own it and say that it is about fucking female friendships and how sick it is to have friends! That's what it's about, in one way. Yeah.

Anthony: Yeah. I mean, speaking to the layers, I was struck by that final lyric on the song, and I was wondering if you wanted to speak to that a little bit because you said something about being like a "walking TikTok trend, but the color runs out in the end." And I was like, that's a very curious way to finish things off.

Georgia: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah...

Anthony: And it's like...It strikes as a little, I don't know, interestingly anachronistic because the music does have this almost theatrical, vintage quality to it, and then you're hitting us with this very bold reference to the modern.

Georgia: Well, when I wrote it, and when we sung it for the first time, everyone was a bit like, "Oh...!" I was like, 'Yeah, just trying something out. What do you think?' And they were like...well you [Charlie] were like, "That's maybe something Isaac would do. Yeah...!" Fuck it, I'm owning it then.

Charlie: ...Yeah!

Georgia: I don't know. I didn't think too much about it. Yeah, the lyric isn't plucked from anywhere.

Anthony: Maybe you could tell me if this is true or not from your perspective as a creator, but I feel like in a lot of modern music and pop music sometimes, there is almost this hesitation to not dig into or reference the modern, technological world that we exist in, whether we want to or not. I don't know if it's due to maybe a deep dislike of it, or maybe it just feels weird, or maybe there's a fear or concern that it'll be dated at some point...But it just seems like there's usually a weariness about that. You headed into that line pretty boldly, and I loved it.

Georgia: Oh, good! I mean, it's good to be bold. I don't really have a problem with it. I think I've done it in lyrics before. It doesn't shake me like it shakes other people, but I get that it does.

Charlie: I quite like it when songs reference stuff from the period, on like...

Georgia: "Facebook Story!"

Charlie: That's exactly what I was going to say: "Facebook Story" on Blonde. Like, that's sick. It's obviously super outdated now, but it's like-

Georgia: It's like a time capsule.

Charlie: Yeah, exactly. It's cool!

Anthony: Yeah. There are all those classic rap songs that have references to pagers or stuff like that. I love hearing that stuff because it does take you back to a time and give the song a sense of place. With that being said, there are these consistent themes of connection in layered sorts of ways. With that being a focus artistically, is that also a focus on a personal level, too? Because what also makes the group stick out in the modern music landscape is that you're a relatively large band with a lot of different gears, members, writing duties, stuff like that. How do you guys — with things being so divvied up in terms of responsibilities — keep those working relationships going and things well-oiled so that you're able to work, write, and tour effectively in such a collective manner?

Charlie: I think the size definitely helps all of those things work. I think the only difficulty with the size in a lot of ways is the fact that it's quite an expensive band to run. And we are in an extremely fortunate position where this is our full-time job, so we don't necessarily have to worry about it. In a lot of ways, having six people is great! You have so many different ideas constantly in the room. We've known each other for a long time; we've making music for a long time together. Those relationships have...formed gradually, and it doesn't feel temporary. It feels like they're always changing a bit, but they're good, solid friendships. Whenever we're making music together, everyone respects one another's opinions and their instruments, and everyone knows their place in the whole process. We talk a lot about stuff, and when we go on tour, it's so nice to have space rather than just being in a smaller band or even a solo artist. Just the space and the people to talk to. Yeah, it's just nice; it's a good thing! It definitely causes much more cohesion than conflict.

Anthony: You were talking about the writing process a little bit: in your experience, is it helpful? Does it make things happen faster to have other people contributing ideas and either signing off on things or putting in the work to make something come together? Or does a bunch of different perspectives slow things down because you have to democratically decide what direction to go into?

Georgia: Yeah...that can be a bit slow: the voting and trying multiple, different versions of the songs' structural ideas. That can be time consuming. But yeah, like you said, you've got six people noodling in a room over a song. When you're playing it through for the first time, a lot of ideas come together very quickly, and we can get good states of flow, especially when we stop talking... Because we talk a lot, don't we? It's like, 'Hang on, where were we?' But things can also go really quickly because we recorded in a studio. We recorded in three weeks, and that's like, 'a song is A!' and then...overdubs at the end! Then things go really quickly. You're getting things tracked and down. It didn't take us three years to make this album; it took us a year and a half. Some things are longer, but then some things are shorter.

Anthony: With the process of writing and recording this album, was it always decided that the material that you're working with here was going to be wholly new from what we heard on Bush Hall? Because obviously, with that record coming out in the fashion that it did, and fans having had the time to really come to love a lot of those songs, I'm sure at some point they expected, 'Are we going to hear studio versions of all these tracks and stuff like that?' At this point, does that material just read to you guys, 'That's a moment, that's an era, and we're just moving forward from that'?

Charlie: Yeah, totally. I think that is the reason why it's even out in the first place. I think we really wanted those songs to be on a studio album. We wouldn't have put out Bush Hall; we would have just waited. Doing it in the way that was the live video and then being able to listen back to that is exactly how those songs were written. They weren't ever conceived as an album; it was like a performance. I think it reads as that. The songs, to some extent, read in that way. I think it's meant to be listened to as a set. Those songs definitely exist in stand-alone format really nicely, but they are written together, and they should be reflected upon as just that, really. I think to take one, cherry-pick stuff, and then put it onto any album...

Georgia: It wouldn't feel right, to be honest.

Charlie: It'd just be weird, I think. We're trying to create this musical world, a little bit. I think if you take something that already exists and feels like it's done in a way — something that's already out and then putting it in a new context, I think, was not something that ever even really came to mind. I don't think any of us even really properly considered putting any of those songs on the new album, really. I don't know.

Georgia: You could definitely imagine and hear in your head what that might sound like, but I agree with Charlie. That was that world, and that was that time, and we're good at bookmarking periods of time. We're interested in what's new and fresh for us. We don't like having to repeat. We're playing these songs so much live on tour, and they'd got to the... As good as some people may feel like they are, we got to the point where we were like, 'We are done playing this. We're done! We're not going to fucking bring it to the studio and hash it out even more!'

Charlie: That's actually such a good point. I couldn't imagine going to the studio and being like, 'Fucking hell, I have to go and play it again!'

Georgia: No, it's not fun! This is the exciting thing for us. I think for loads of people playing music, I think. You're on to the next thing. You're following a creative path; this direction it leads you here. You're not into the same music you were into a year ago. Why write the same music?

Charlie: It's not those songs are done. Like, we'll still play them.

Georgia: Yes, we're going to play them still.

Charlie: But just like, creatively, I think it felt much more satisfying to think about doing new stuff and create something new rather than to bring something from the past into a new context, maybe.

Anthony: Do you guys feel like the studio material with this new record is its own cohesive vision, like the Bush Hall record was? And if so, what about it, I guess, either thematically or instrumentally, is creating that essence, as opposed to the live performance concept that made the last album its own thing?

Charlie: I think the idea behind this album was always to create something which would only really properly be realized in a studio context fully. I think we always prioritize live performance in a really massive way. It's always been a huge focus of the band, but we've never gone into a project thinking, 'We can make this as good as it can possibly be in a studio.' None of us really have that much experience in a studio. I think that going in to do an album was always a bit of, 'Let's see how well we can make this sound in a room together, with everyone playing and getting really good takes.' With Ants From Up There, we just did it, tracked it all basically in one room with very minimal overdubs. The guy that engineered and produced it was our live sound engineer, Sergio. He would come up to us, and he came into the studio. He'd never done a record before. That was the ethos of it. We knew from the outset this was going to be a totally different project altogether, just in terms of approach. We knew that Tyler, Georgia, and May weren't going to want to use any of the vocals that they sang on if we did track it all in a room together. That was the jumping off point. In the same way, the vocals are very much the focal point for the record in a lot of ways. Those had to be treated in quite a meticulous environment, and so did everything else. We wanted it to be nice and detailed. We didn't want to limit ourselves with all the instruments we used. We wanted to experiment with different spaces. We wanted to record stuff, have it in mono, and then broaden it out to full stereo. We wanted you to hear lots of different environments, play lots of different instruments, and not feel limited — just to be expansive, I think. It's quite a long-winded answer, but yeah, it was like...I don't know...

Georgia: Yeah. We were worried going like, 'Cohesion, cohesion! What's the through line? Okay, we've got three female voices on it; maybe that's our through line.' But to be honest, I think when you're there in the studio, and you're using all the same instruments, and they're being treated by a producer, I don't know...The fact that us six are playing is probably the through.

Charlie: Yeah, but I think also thematic lines and stuff like that are...

Georgia: We reference each other's songs. There are a couple of songs that were made in tandem with each other towards the end.

Charlie: I think you can be super overt with your approach to cohesion. Like, we did with the last album: we have a motif which repeats at the beginning and at the end of the album, and it crops up in a lot of the different parts.

Georgia: Yes, that was very... conceptual.

Charlie: Yeah, it's kind of conceptual in that regard...

Georgia: And done by Isaac...The lyrics all thematically linked. Obviously, we did have that conversation. 'How can we link?' But it felt a little bit oppressive on us as songwriters because we're very different, and we want to talk about different things in our songs.

Charlie: But then those reflections...Even though there wasn't necessarily a conversation that established through lines throughout the record, it just became apparent throughout the writing process that songs start to reflect one another. The three voices have such a distinct palate that were used in lots of different ways. There are also these songs that are these big, quite epic songs that each you, May and Tyler have. The songs that each of them have, which reflect really small, tiny bits of a day and equally explore different emotional spaces but from totally different ways. I think that's interesting, and it's cool to have it on the same record.

Anthony: To dig into that specifically, because there are a lot of questions about this popping up in chat, how are the vocal duties on this record divvied up as opposed to Bush Hall? Is it just those three voices on the album as far as leads, or is there something else?

Georgia: Yeah, it's just this.

Charlie: Yeah. Well, I guess they're probably speaking about...

Georgia: Oh, yeah, backing vocals. Yeah, no boys.

Charlie: No boys!

Anthony: No boys allowed?

Charlie: No boys allowed on this one. This was a, "No boys!" only; no boys!

Anthony: We tried the men on the live album. It didn't work out. We were like, "No, this is...

Georgia: No, no, no. it wasn't like that!

Anthony: I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm joking.

Charlie: Haha, you shut up! You shut your fucking mouth, haha! Lewis was obviously singing on Bush Hall, and then he decided that he'd...

Georgia: He wasn't enjoying the shows.

Charlie: Yeah, exactly.

Georgia: He wasn't enjoying the shows as much, and so he wanted to focus on saxophone.

Charlie: Yeah.

Georgia: We weren't trying to make it an all-female, vocally-led album. That happened as a byproduct.

Charlie: Yeah, totally.

Georgia: And it's boys next time!

Charlie: Yeah, all boys next time.

Anthony: I wanted to ask — especially since "Happy Birthday" was hitting me in a different way than some of the other singles so far — is all the writing done on these tracks just from an authentic, personal, like, first-person perspective? That song — the vocal delivery and the storytelling on it, specifically — comes across almost as if we're hearing the story told from a narrator or another person..To me, it felt almost like the person who was writing it is maybe more writing about it from the experience of like, 'Oh, I'm dealing with this person who's telling me how I should be thankful about my life or the place that I come from!' and something like that. I don't know if that's an incorrect read, but it felt almost as if that song was performed almost in character in a way. Is that the case?

Georgia: I mean, they're Tyler's lyrics, so I really can't comment. I don't really know.

Charlie: Yeah, I think it's one of those things where they are Tyler's lyrics, and it's like... I don't know whether it's necessarily our place to say.

Georgia: My guess is as good as yours!

Anthony: Well I mean, that does clear up something interesting. As you guys are making these songs or supporting each other in the process of making these tracks come together, how much into each other's process are you letting each other in? Is it something that you keep personally because that's a choice, or is it more of an unspoken, 'I'm not going to dig too much into it as long as I like the song'? Like, 'I'm not going to ask them what their motive behind each line is or whatever. Your creative process is your creative process.'

Charlie: Yeah, I think that's the MO, really. I think that if you want to know, you can ask, but I only found out what the lyrics to "For the Cold Country" were last week when I looked at them on Spotify.

Anthony: Wait, are you serious?

Charlie: Yeah, genuinely!

Georgia: I mean, that's kind of been the case...Like, we did not know what Isaac was singing until the album [Ants From Up There] came out!

Charlie: But also even if we did, it wouldn't really be unless it was something extremely-

Georgia: Yeah, like potentially, maybe a veto on the TikTok line if the band had said, "Gross, get rid."

Charlie: But generally, it's their domain. It's in the same way that I'd be fucked off if someone told me to completely change my drum part....And actually the lyrics are specifically more important in that way. It's someone's very... They are personal. Unless you're invited into that world, I don't think you really have a say, really.

Anthony: With that level of privacy and personal control over the songs, and there being different voices and a democratic process of deciding the writing, and the recording, and so on and so forth...does the band at this point have a voice stylistically and sonically? If it doesn't, does that even really matter? Is that something that you guys even concern yourself with?

Georgia: Well, I think we are changing stylistically. We have changed. We have some things that...The way in which we play our instruments, and the way they talk to each other — interact — has always been there, like...Well, from off my head: Me playing the violin, and Lewis playing the saxophone. We've always played lines together. That has continued into this album when I'm playing violin. And when I'm not playing violin, he's doing lines with me when I sing! Those sorts of things, which are very specific, but if you would listen to the band...I mean, we certainly notice it playing it because we look to each other and it's like, 'Oh, are you going to play a third above me?' And likewise, you and May playing your stuff together...

Charlie: I think we've actually had a lot of fun with the little mandolin, and I've been like...I follow you quite a lot with the mandolin bits.

Georgia: It's those sorts of things! Those are like, the tropes of the band, I think. And the fact that we're a large band, and we've got piano, and we got guitar, and then we've got like, sax and violin. Those are the things I would probably say make Black Country, New Road: it's the instruments. We're going to be changing styles of songs, and music, and genres, I'm sure.

Charlie: I'd be super surprised if the next album sounded like this album — but in the same way that the album before this didn't really sound like the first album. The changes are constant. But the band has... I think the thing which remains the same is the way that the band communicates with each other, and the way we play together, and the weird soup of ideas that we all have, and these different influences that, I guess, direct our playing styles. That's the thing which is maintained.

Anthony: Speaking of surprises, with obviously the entire album not being out yet for a great deal of people, we don't know fully what the entire reception is going to be yet. But if you had to guess, for people who are watching, what track or tracks' moments — if you could whittle it down to one or a few — do you feel like listening to it for the first time might be the most surprising for fans who are hearing the album for the first time?

Georgia: Oh, well, I mean...probably "Besties," but you guys have already heard that!

Anthony: Well, I mean...I guess throughout the rest of the album that we haven't caught quite yet. And "Besties" was a surprise. "Besties" was a surprise, and a good one!

Charlie: I think people will probably be surprised generally, especially the people who know the band through Ants From Up There and know the band...associated with a very specific style of music. It is definitely a change from that. It's a departure. I think it inhabits a very particular emotional space, which is definitely explored in some ways in this album, but not really in the same level. Not from the same way. I think that it's... I don't know. I'm not really sure what I was trying to say...I think,"Two Horses..." That's one of those tracks that is maybe indicative of stuff that we have definitely done in the past. I was thinking about this day. It's similar to to "Sunglasses" in some ways because it's got this defined A-section...

Georgia: Mmm, don't get them hyped up!

Charlie: No, no...! But it's got this really defined A-section and then B-section where there's a real change in style, but in the same way that like, "Sunglasses" kind of does...But particularly for my drumming, it's very similar. But it's got that same...I don't know...! But stylistically, it's totally different. I guess it's similar in the way that the band remains the same, but we're playing completely different styles of music.

Anthony: From Georgia's original answer there with "Besties," I wanted to ask you guys as far as the general feelings within the band about this point of evolution and how fans are interpreting it now. Obviously, we've had a bit of a buffer there in time to process this change through the live album, and that record had the positive reception that it did. As of right now, are there any still jitters or concerns about how people are seeing and reading the band after a record that is as beloved and successful as Ants? You still have to wonder — but simultaneously, with you saying, 'Oh, yeah, we went with "Besties," and maybe that's the most surprising song on the album — it sounds like on some level, you're leaning into that. It's different, people aren't going to know how to fully take it maybe, but fuck it, let's just go fully into it. It's going to be what it's going to be. Let's not just ease it at this point.

Georgia: Yeah, totally.

Charlie: Yeah, Of course.

Georgia: We're always in front of the... We're running ahead of the... We've got the music; we've made the music. We have settled with it before these guys catch us. I forget that sometimes. I'm like, 'Yeah, let's just go!' But maybe that's a nice thing to do as well.

Charlie: I think it's a good thing; t's a great thing to do! I think it lets you feel in control of it. It's a cool thing! Also, I think it would be boring if we tried to make music that was just the same. It would be bad; it would be worse! We literally couldn't!

Georgia: Yeah unfortunately, we don't think about you guys when we're writing at all.

Anthony: Honestly, that's fine.

Georgia: I don't think you would like it if we did that! Just speaking now from the heart to you guys.

Anthony: What about the decisions when it comes to presenting the band itself and this record? To kick that off, if you could get a little bit into the cover art on the album. It's very peculiar. What is that: colored pencil drawing or painting? It's a very peculiar series of images. I wanted to know how they were created and decided upon as far as fronting this new era of the band's music.

Charlie: I mean, this is one of those things where sometimes I wonder whether artists are really different from quite a lot of people. Even though I think the artwork is amazing, and...I think we all do! It's actually one of those things where like, we take fucking ages to decide on the color of a T-shirt, let alone something as important as an album cover! Basically, Luke followed the artist Jordan Kee on Instagram. He'd followed him for ages.

Georgia: Literal years!

Charlie: And then he was going through his art. As we became apparent that we did need an album, he was looking through and getting the group to meet together, and he sent me some of his artwork. It was almost... It literally took, I think, about maybe a day, less than a day, for us to all completely agree to using Jordan's art and actually also using the artwork that eventually became the album cover and then all the singles covers. It just happened so quickly. It's something really, I think...It's just great. I find it so...

Georgia: Yeah, we all had an immediate good reaction to it, I think. I don't know. I'd say it's quite American.

Charlie: It is American.

Georgia: It reminds me of... Yeah. Jordan is a skater. Was a skater?

Charlie: I think he skates, yeah.

Georgia: So it's got a bit of that. There were more pictures than just one that we liked. We had a series, and they had this celestial theme to them which tied all together, which helped the album title as well, personally.

Charlie: Yeah, definitely...When you know, you know sometimes. I think it was the same with the Ants cover. It was like, 'Oh, yeah, that's it!' I can't really describe to you why it's really good. It was the exact same with this. It was like, 'Okay, that completely makes sense.'

Georgia: Because the sunset— oh, I don't know if you know the names of the pencil drawing for "Cold Country." That pencil drawing I thought it was... It's called "Sunset Goose." I thought it was someone like... with this crazy look in the eye. It's like, "Hey, it's me! Cheeky!"

Charlie: It is cheeky!

Georgia: It's lovely! But actually, the goose is the thing flying underneath the face. It just had a "Fuck it" energy that was the MO of the album, to be honest.

Charlie: What's the guy on the front? He's a cool guy! The guy in the front is just like...he's just chilling out.

Georgia: He's got his sunglasses on.

Charlie: He's got his sunglasses on! He's just holding the...you know...anyway.

Anthony: Yeah. I love how with this and Ants, those images are a part of a series. It's like you're getting different bits. Also with the group presentation, I wanted to... I don't know what the... I guess I was curious as to whether or not you guys have ever had a struggle or a second guess in terms of showing the band, marketing the band, trying to get yourselves out there and understood as a collective musically. Because it seems like increasingly, especially in the music streaming age, that a majority of the success stories and most marketable artists that you see out there are a solo act. It's another solo act, and not only is it a solo act, but it's a solo writer/producer doing everything on a laptop in their apartment. Maybe they're working with two producers and several behind-the-scenes people slipping in there covertly to make it seem like what they're doing is as individual as possible. And again, it's just interesting to see you guys not only going against the grain with that, but in a way, it seems like you're consciously celebrating your collectivism and trying to get people to understand this is not just from the voice and the perspective of a single person. I just wanted to know if that was an important message to get across in the way that you guys put the band out there.

Charlie: Yeah, totally. I mean, that whole world, that music industry world that you're describing, is so alien to me; I wouldn't even know where to necessarily start. All I really know is being in bands, and being in bands with people that I've I've known since I was really young. The industry is just... It still exists as a monolith. I don't really know what it is. We were super lucky to be in this band together, and I think we're super lucky to have been doing it for a long time. So it has always just been quite organic, and all the decisions have always just been made as a group. I think we navigated the ups and downs of how that is together whilst feeling quite grounded. I think that even though the band has definitely benefited from a pretty fast upward trajectory— thanks to lots of different internal and external cogs in the music world — it's always felt fairly insulated to just us playing music in rehearsal rooms and then on tour when we've eventually gone on tour. I know the industry obviously does benefit, or it does encourage solo artists and they're easier to control, but I'm always super surprised at how many epic bands there are, particularly like young bands from England and Ireland that are constantly just seem to come out of nowhere and are just like, brilliant and feel frenetic and not quite fully formed. It's always happening.

Anthony: It does feel like right now you guys — and at one point as well, Black Midi — set a bit of a trend with that. Now it seems like there are more and more bands coming out of your neck of the woods who, I don't know, have a bit of a similar vibe. I don't know how much of this you care to keep track of, but I've seen some people online call it the "Windmill scene."

Charlie: It's much better than calling it "post-Brexit rock" or whatever, or crap name. It was like, those are both way worse than "Windmill scene."

Anthony: Is that what it was being called at one point? Is this like post-Brexit indie, post-Brexit rock? Is that what people were saying?

Charlie: Yeah...

Anthony: Okay. Well, yeah, I'll take "Windmill scene" over that any day, I suppose. That's good. Whatever you could label this under — and maybe it doesn't even need a label to begin with — but it does seem to be a bit of a trend to see these groups that you were just referencing. Is there anything from your perspective with your proximity to all of that that you can attribute to that trend? What is causing these groups to crop up out of nowhere? What is causing, I guess, the intense interest in it, and the sonic and instrumental similarities that some of them, and overlaps that some of them have?

Georgia: Well, I don't know. Being in a band is fun.

Charlie: It's cool. It's cool and fun.

Georgia: It's nice to play music with people and not alone. I think it can be a grueling task, probably doing stuff alone. Yeah. So maybe that's why? But I guess, band culture has always been strong; I don't know whether it's ever died. It feels like the majors are signing loads of bands these days, especially from here.

Charlie: I think also like... I think even though some of the bands... I guess part of the implication is that we have influenced the sound of some of those bands. I think that maybe it's true. But in general, I think some of the best new bands just sound like how the epic bands have always sounded like. Like, my favorite band at the moment sound like Modest Mouse and Silver Jews and Pavement. They are coming from the exact same place that we have: through small venues in the UK.

Anthony: Shout the band out, though. Give the band a shout out.

Charlie: West Side Cowboy. Epic band.

Anthony: Were you just gatekeeping there? Did I catch you gatekeeping?

Charlie: No, not at all!

Anthony: Are you sure? You might have been gatekeeping there.

Charlie: Oh, no, no, no!

Anthony: Okay. All right.

Charlie: Oh, no, not at all. I'd never gatekeep!

Anthony: So you would never gatekeep, and you guys would never want any Black Country, New Road fans to gatekeep Black Country, New Road. Is what you're saying? You disavow all gatekeeping?

Georgia: Black Country New Road is for the people!

Charlie: Yeah, get out of it if you do it! They're for the people. Get out! They're for the people.

Anthony: Okay, good. Good to know! Did you want to tell us a little bit about some of the tour dates that you have coming up, especially stateside over here? Because I know those are going to be coming up in the spring.

Charlie: Yeah. Thank you so much for mentioning. Of course, we're going on tour. We're going to the States in May. I guess it starts in Chicago properly. We're doing a couple of small shows at the Bowery Ballroom, but I think tickets for that might have gone. We're playing in Chicago, I guess in the middle of the month, maybe the first week of the month. Then we'll go down through the Midwest, and then all the way up from Utah and then down the West Coast from Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, all those places. Yeah, so if you're around...!

Anthony: Oh, I definitely would like to come to one.

Georgia: So which one will we see you at?

Anthony: I know you guys are probably going to do a New York date. I mean, I would probably like to come to that, something like that. Boston, too? Are you guys also doing Boston? Will you give a Boston shot?

Charlie: I think what will probably happen is that we'll probably do an East Coast tour sometime, like, later next year.

Georgia: Okay, but the New York one: maybe we'll see you there. Yeah.

Anthony: I also wanted to ask you, Georgia, with your creative endeavors being split up between this and Jockstrap, if there's anything in that front that fans can look forward to as far as new material — stuff that you're doing within the confines of that duo — or are you mostly just focused on this new record, tour, Black Country, New Road, right now? How do you balance those two worlds, and where are they at right now for you?

Georgia: At the moment, Black Country, New Road. Go, go, go. Having a bit time off Jockstrap. But actually, we do have two gigs this year in the US! We're playing in Seattle, and we're playing in New York. Maybe I can say that? I've said it! So fans can look forward to that. They can come see us. But yeah, there will be more in the future. Just right now, it's this.

Anthony: And as you continue on both of those fronts, do you find your creative voice or process coming from entirely different places, whether you're writing for this band, or whether you're writing for Jockstrap comparatively?

Georgia: I feel like these songs that I've contributed to Black Country New Road, I've written with the instruments we play in mind. That's been my parameter. And to an extent, what the usual topic of songs are about within what we've been writing recently. Not that they're the same, but having also parameters on that a little bit. It's been definitely something new, I think, with Jockstrap. I just write whatever because it's going to turn into...It's never how I originally write a demo. It always changes, so I have to... So it's always going to go somewhere else with that. But with this, I have instruments to write, too.

Anthony: Okay, well, guys, thank you for coming through! We're all excited to listen to the new record once everyone here can hear it. I appreciate you taking the time and giving me what's going to be my best Black Country, New Road interview because my next one with your remaining two members, as you've said, is going to be worse than this one. Although I still think you should encourage them to outdo you guys.

Georgia: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's going to be game on.

Anthony: Yeah. I mean, as long as it doesn't create any weird tensions in the band; I don't want to be the source of any arguments or anything.

Charlie: Too late, man. It's too late.

Anthony: Too late? It's already happened?

Charlie: Oh yeah, it's joever, man. It's done, sorry.

Anthony: Okay...Well, I apologize for that.

Charlie: No, it's now our problem.

Georgia: We'll let them know you've said sorry.

Anthony: Okay. All right. Well, I hope you guys have a good rest of your night. Thank you again for taking the time, and have a good one. Thank you.

Charlie: Thanks for having us!

Georgia: Cheers!