2006年6月HMV免费杂志The Scene对Tom的采访报道

INTERVIEW WITH TOM ON A FREEBIE MAGAZINE OF HMV ‘THE SCENE’
June 2, 2006

Keane were the music sensation following the release of their last album ‘Hopes and Fears’. Can their latest record, ‘Under The Iron Sea’ live up to expectations? Dominic Brendell caught up with lead singer Tom Chaplin to find out more….

“our sound is uniquely ours”

Your music has been compared to many different bands, but how would you describe your sound?
Our sound is uniquely ours. With Hopes and Fears we used piano, voice and drums in a simple way, really just substituting the sound of the guitar with a piano. On the new album we tried to push each instrument as far as it could go – every part, sound, lyric and melody is an outpouring of a lot of bad feeling we had inside us. That’s why the piano sounds so enormous and often unrecognisable as a piano. The drums are louder and funkier. The vocal performances were all done as performances – ie not in a sterile vocal booth with a pair of headphones on. We took our simple sound and went extreme with it.

What do your families think of your success?
They continue to treat us with the same combination of pride and anxiety that they had for us when we were kids. It’s just that the goalposts have changed these days.

Do you read your own press?
Only the bad stuff. Helps to keep the ego in check.

What’s your most memorable moment of the last year?
Although so many great things happened last year (Live8/Make Poverty History especially), I’ll probably end up remembering it as the year we nearly went our separate ways as friends and as a band. We stopped talking to each other about anything, preferring to disappear into our own private, empty worlds. Thankfully, the chance of making another record allowed us to talk those issues out through our music. Whether it was personal things between us or the stress and anxiety that being alive in this day and age brings about, it’s all there on the new album.

What would you do if you had 24 hours to live?
Throw a big party for all the people I love. Tell them how much I love them and apologise for all the mess-ups. It’s a weird thing to think you’d do all that if you only had a short time to live but most of us live our whole lives without ever getting round to it.

Spending so much time together do you guys ever get sick of each other and does anyone have any bad habits?
Constantly and plenty. But it’s like a marriage – the weirdness and the imperfections are the things that make you laugh at/with each other.

What’s the nicest thing you’ve ever done for someone else?
Flew to New Zealand to surprise a friend of mine, who I haven’t seen for two years. Turned up on his doorstep, woke him up and asked him what was for breakfast. Was he surprised? Yes.

Tell us about your new album?
It asks a lot of questions about the three of us and our relationship with each other. It asks questions about why being a member of our generation is so confusing and anxiety-inducing. It’s a very scary place to go but then music should confront and question the very darkest secrets and problems that you have.

Where can we see you this summer?
Go to www.keanemusic.com. We’re doing too much for me to tell you here.

If Keane were on a desert island, which 5 albums would you want to have with you?
The Smiths – Singles
Nick Drake – Pink Moon
Radiohead – OK Computer
The Beatles – Revolver
Rufus Wainwright – Want One
I’d also have a secret compartment built in my suitcase for my iPod.