Interview: Big Deal @ NME Radar Tour, Fibbers 5/5/11

I break the tension with pleasantries whilst I hunt for my notebook – how are they? “I’m a little carsick... I get carsick...” responds Kacey. Ah. “We travelled up from London; we had a day off so went home for a night, slept in our own bed, that kind of thing...” Big Deal were signed to record label Mute just last Christmas. I ask how long they’ve actually been playing together. “About a year?” Alice looks to Kacey for reassurance. “Yeah, we started writing together about a year ago.” I follow up by asking how they met and get the feeling I’ve touched on a sensitive subject. “From the singles ads,” replies Kacey, laughing, and looking a tad embarrassed. “We met through... sort of a mutual friend... Who was actually Alice’s mum, who I worked with, and she told me Alice was in a band, and I was in a band, and she always talked about her band so that’s how we met.”

Touring can be tough for new bands – constant travelling, playing to unfamiliar crowds – the NME Radar Tour is their first major outing, how are they finding it? “It’s quite nice!” Alice enthuses. Kacey rationalises: “It’s a bit early, right now we’ve only played four dates so we’re still ‘Wow it’s a hotel, this is amazing!’” Had they toured with previous bands? “We did a bit of touring, spent quite a lot of time sleeping on peoples’ couches or in their basements,” remembers Kacey. “Living the dream!” laughs Alice. “This one’s been really nice, it’s been really good.” No couch surfing this time? “No couch surfing yet!”

So are they still really excited about it or do they find it all a bit overwhelming? “No it actually hasn’t been that overwhelming yet, we’re sort of really well organised-” Alice interjects “Someone is, not us!” Kacey: “The people at the label are really well organised, so we know exactly where we’re going to be and there’s not too much going on in between the gigs which is nice so it hasn’t been overwhelming at all. It’s just been really fun so far.”

I’d been poking around their myspace page that morning. I understand they used to record in their bedrooms? “We still kinda are...” (she laughs) “Not for the album though!” Kacey adds, “We actually thought about doing it that way...” I bet the label liked that idea! “Yeah they definitely did, it’d be much cheaper! But you get much better quality in the studio.” I suggest recording in their bedrooms my create a fairly intimate sound – is this hard to recreate on stage? “Yeah, I think a lot of things are a challenge to recreate on stage,” agrees Kacey. “Actually it’s interesting because when we practice in our bedrooms it’s always just acoustic, so I actually really like getting on stage where we can plug things in and make them a bit dirtier, and a bit louder.”

I bring up the mention of a forthcoming album. Kacey looks to Alice: “You wanna talk about our album?” “Album?? Yeah album...” she says, laughing. “Due in August I think, yeah August...” “It’s being mixed right now,” Kacey explains. “We recorded it really quickly,” he continues. “We did it in seven days, we did 15 songs in seven days. The label we’re releasing the record on, they have their own studios across the street from their offices, which is kind of funny because they could drop round at any moment, but they don’t, which is good!” To make sure you’re actually doing some work? “Yeah exactly! They came in like a few days in and they were pretty shocked at how much we had gotten done. I think there may have been a bit of disbelief, we did it pretty quickly, but because of the nature of what we’re doing... we don’t have a drum section or anything so we weren’t having to wait around for people, so it was done pretty quickly.”

Speed is something Big Deal seem to have on their side, scoring a record deal after just a year. Kacey tells me they’ve been really lucky. “I was in another band back in LA and another one in London, and it was hard, it was really hard...” “It worked this time,” smiles Alice. “Sometimes the stars just kind of align sometimes and you have to just go with it.” But Big Deal aren’t ones to ignore the lessons of past experiences. “I think you appreciate it more when things go right,” she comments. “Also knowing how important it is to keep things moving forward, and not to enjoy it too much! Just keep working.”

It’s a big step to be taken up by the Radar Tour. Over the past few years it’s produced some pretty big names – Editors and Bloc Party spring to mind. Kacey tells me it’s something they’re really excited to be involved with it. “And also to be playing with people that we like, whose music we think is good,” remarks Alice. “Yeah we’re really big fans of Anna Calvi and Grouplove!” he adds hastily. “They’re both just incredible bands with really good songs. That’s been the best thing about it so far definitely, being able to enjoy the bands that you’re playing with.” Alice interjects – “It’d be quite draining if you hated who you’re on tour with!” Kacey laughs. “Yeah night after night! But this is really a pleasure.”

The NME Tour closes on 17th May, at London venue Koko. I ask what their plans are following this – can we expect them on the festival circuit this summer? “It’s all kind of in the air,” Kacey explains. “I mean we’d love to play as many festivals as we can but there’s just a lot of competition, hopefully we will. We’ve got a couple confirmed but we think it’ll be much better to get out on the road more once we have the record done. If you hear one song from a band, it might be enough to go see them, but you know, it’s better if you’ve got a lot done.”

The competition between new bands is strong at the moment. Music is thriving, but the industry itself is struggling to survive the digital age. I ask how they think the music industry can cope. “Yeah it’s interesting when you put it like that – ‘music is thriving but the industry is dying’,” Kacey replies. “The new technology means musicians can record at home, like we did, and it enables us to get it out there and share it with people, but that same tool is the reason why the music industry is dying. I guess... I don’t know...” “We were talking about this in the car, weren’t we?” asks Alice. Kacey was probably too busy feeling a bit sick at this point... “Yeah I think I was concentrating on not vomiting,” he agrees.

Live music is now paying more than record sales - for the first time in recent history, at least. How important is playing live for Big Deal? “Yeah it’s good because there’s only two of us so playing live is really easy, touring is really easy, just with the logistics of it. One of my favourite bands I never got to see live because they just couldn’t afford to move 25 people! We can kind of support ourselves... We enjoy playing live a lot.” Alice comments that it’s really different playing outside of London. “How so?” I ask. “The atmosphere’s a bit different.” Kacey explains: “We’re still at that point in London where if we do a gig there’ll always be people there that we know-” The rent-a-crowd? “Yeah, the rent-a-crowd, right! It’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s definitely nice to play to people who haven’t heard our set; they can form an opinion a bit better. I think because of that the energy’s a lot better, when you’ve got people who are hearing your things for the first time. Helps us figure out what works and what doesn’t work. It’s definitely more of a challenge but it’s also more of a reward.”

True to form, Big Deal delivered on the night. Their set was comprised of enchantingly humbling songs that seemed intensely personal, speaking of adolescence with a fantastic honesty. Their followers, Grouplove, played a highly energetic set proving themselves to be a very good live band, making me wonder if they’d be able to keep this up on record. Anna Calvi ended the night with an astonishing set, demonstrating some incredible talent, both with her unique vocals and guitar playing. But Big Deal won it for me.

For more photos of the gig, including Anna Calvi and Grouplove, click here.

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