Interview: Caretaker

Well initially we started as a four piece, and we were making discordant post-rock, but while Harry and I wanted to get more "mathy" and heavier, our drummer's heart wasn't in it, so we ended up parting company.

We soon got a new drummer in the form of Reuben front man Jamie Lenman, who was an old friend of ours. Despite all being on the same page musically, his commitments to Reuben sometimes left us weeks, even months without practicing during which time we'd end up re-writing bits of songs, or scrapping them, and just generally not getting a lot done. Jamie decided for the sake of Caretaker that he had too much going on, and left the band (and soon after disbanded Reuben too). Soon after, our guitarist John Hibbird decided he was also going to call it a day so that he could go and see the world.

Harry and I decided that we would carry on and the first step along the way was to recruit a new drummer. We asked my cousin Sam, who was 19 at the time, to try out and we haven't looked back since. After a few practices we decided that we could carry on as a three piece, and since then we've found it a lot easier going. We're writing songs a lot more efficiently now, and with Sam's busier style drums, plus me and Harry pushing ourselves, the sound is more dense and richer now than it's ever been!

I don't think we ever really plan too much. We've never been a full time band; Harry and I both work full time and he's married, and I will be too in a couple of weeks (!), and Sam's busy being a lazy student. Caretaker is what we do in our spare time, because we enjoy it. I think that lack of pressure is why we've been going so long - there's none of the usual stresses of constantly being on the road which often causes bands to split up or hate each other.

That being said, we have an album recorded called "Providence" which we will be releasing early next year. We're super pleased with how it sounds, so I expect there'll be a full tour of the UK to accompany it's release.

We've also got a lot of material for another album already written. It'd be great if we could get that recorded by the end of 2012 but life does seem to get in the way with us!

Oh, thanks! We've been together for about 7 years. We met through some friends that I used to work with. She's not a big fan of rock music, but she's very supportive and will come to see us play sometimes (although the heavier the line-up the less likely she is to come!). It seems to be a recurring theme that everyone in our families asks if Caretaker are going to play at the wedding reception. No. We're not. I don't think my Grandmother is ready for that!

Well, to put it in context, I was born in 1980, so I was a teenager through the 90s when I was getting into music. Back then I was more into indie or grunge. Bands like Nirvana, Pixies and Radiohead were my staples. The Britpop scene was huge while I was at school, and while there's some stuff from those days that still sounds good (Longpigs, Elastica), a lot of it was pretty silly and twee.

I think my first dalliance with the metal genre was "Troublegum" by Therapy? I must have been 15 or 16 and I remember getting home from the record shop and putting it on in the living room while my mum was reading the paper. By the time it got to the first chorus of "Knives" ("I'm gonna get drunk, come round and fuck you up") I'd decided that my mum probably wouldn't appreciate it, and I went off and listened to it in my room instead. I was pretty considerate for an angsty teen! It wasn't until my early twenties that I started to get into "metal". Bands like Tool, Isis, Botch and Mastodon were my gateway.

The riots are crazy. My own personal opinion is that the people who are rioting have no cause. They're just fuck ups who have nothing better to do with their lives that to break stuff because they feel they can. There's been a lot of debate about whether it's because of declining family standards, lack of access to further education, whether it's a race or class issue, and I really couldn't tell you the answer. I don't think there's any justification for their actions though, innocent people have been suffering because of it and it's wrong. Any cause behind the riots has been lost due to mob mentality.

We've not been personally affected, as we're on a brief hiatus (due to my impending wedding), but I've seen various gigs that friends are playing have had to be canceled. There was a CD warehouse that got torched as part of the riots that had a lot of stock for various indie labels, which was a real shame.

My favorite albums are usually the ones that have been with me for years, that I can listen to over and over or the ones that introduce me to a new way of doing things. Off the top of my head: “Inutero” by Nirvana, “Ok computer” by Radiohead, “Oceanic” by Isis, “Spiderland” by Slint, “Low” by David bowie, “Times of Grace” by Neurosis, “Luxury Plane Crash” by Scarfo, “The White Album” by The Beatles & “End Hits” by Fugazi.

Well, in our immediate neck of the woods, Winchester, there isn't really much of a music scene to write home about, let alone a metal scene, things have really picked up in London over the last few years in the DIY scene though. There's a glut of promoters and bands putting on cheap or free entry shows with fantastic line-ups from the underground scene. It's a really exciting time and we've made a ton of friends over the last couple of years because of it. In fact that's how we met Mike from Thumpermonkey who provided the guest vocals on our split EP with Undersmile.

It's from the play of the same name by Harold Pinter. "The Caretaker" was one of the pieces I was studying at college for my Drama A-Level when we first started the band. It's a pretty weird and dark play about two strange brothers who bring a homeless guy to their apartment. It's full of choppy dialogue that's frequently interrupted, sudden violent outbursts and long pauses. It just kind of seemed appropriate! We called our first EP "(Pause)" after the stage direction that appears so frequently throughout the text.

I'd love to tour in Japan, I think that'd be nuts. It's such a different culture over there I'd just like to see it full stop.

As to who I'd most like to tour with…hmm…I've always thought Shellac would be good fun to be on the road with. I saw them three days straight once and there sets were completely different each day, they're such an entertaining band to watch. I'd love to play some gigs with Envy, they're a real experience to see live, the intensity is almost heartbreaking. And lastly, how about The Melvins. I bet we'd come away with some pretty crazy stories if we toured with those guys - If we survived the experience!

No problem, it's been fun! Massive thanks go out to Undersmile who are on the split with us and Thumpermonkey Lives! for lending us their singer for a day. Also to Umair at Blindsight Records for sorting the whole thing out.

I also want to say some thanks to some of the fantastic DIY promoters out there. If you're in a band in the UK, check some of these guys out: Rip This Joint, End of Radio, Genin, Jimmy Evil, Li Grand Zombi to name but a few. As for bands, check out Silent Front, One Unique Signal, Ivys Itch, Ternary, Orders of the British Empire, Three Colours, November Fleet, Djevara, It Often Takes a War and Art of Burning Water.