The Feeling interview: "We used to be insular"

It's been five years since the indie-pop tones of The Feeling first debuted among the airwaves, and in such time, the London-based five-piece have released a pair of successful albums as well as picking up an Ivor Novello award for their songwriting abilities. With their new LP Together We Were Made out this week, which includes a hook-up with dance duo The Freemasons and one Sophie Ellis-Bextor, we caught up with frontman Dan Gillespie Sells to find out if they're suffering any release-week nerves.

Your latest single 'Set My World on Fire' has a tribal feel to it; what inspired that?
"I started with a Calypso beat and gave it a simple groove. I wanted to get away from the standard starting points for the whole record, so I thought about the least fashionable thing I could do and I suppose that is what it was. It always ends up being a simple pop song about love though - even if that's not what I'm trying to achieve."

Does the rest of the album follow in a similar manner?
"I wouldn't say that, but then again our lead singles rarely represent the album. Our record's are very varied, which is very difficult for us because we get known for a certain thing by radio and the record company always suggest we put out the more radio-friendly song. It has always worked because it gets us radio play and that's fine, but there is always a lot more to the record. It just seems a shame that we can't put out something a little more interesting. This record is a lot more experimental than previous ones."

What else influenced the record?
"I listened to a lot of Talking Heads before making this record! We just listened to all our favourite pop songs from the past. I listened to Mowtown and a bit of world music, too. We went to different places with the record, which is why we ended up working with the Freemasons. I grew up listening to dance music in the '90s and wanted to be able to have a bit of that influence in there as well. Our way of doing that was getting people on to the record who knew what they were as opposed to doing it ourselves. The Freemasons were able to push those elements even more."

Did that make it trickier to make?
"We spent a lot more time making this record and actually played the stuff on to tour before releasing it, so I think that has informed the choices we have made about the material more so than on our previous albums. Join With Us was great, but it was difficult because there was a splooging of ideas that only reflected a limited amount of time. There has been a lot more living going on in this record - we've had much more to write about."

How did the collaborations with The Freemasons, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Roisin Murphy come about?
"It was part of becoming more experimental that we decided to include the collaborations. We had never really worked with anyone else as we used to be quite insular. When we've worked with other producers it's always seemed a waste of time because we have such a clear vision. People have expected the Sophie Ellis-Bextor duet for ages, but we wanted it to happen when the song was right and it felt natural to do it. She sounds brilliant on it. It was the same with Rosin Murphy - we had a song that needed a female vocal, but instead of just getting anyone we wanted someone who would be natural with the band."



What do they add to the record?
"They add a new character and flavour. I love a good pop duet and it's a dream to do that with artists who have character in their voice and have a great vocal style. Both Sophie and Roisin have a really clear musical style about them."

Why did you decide to include a double-disc extended version of the album?
"We recorded 40 tracks for this album and managed to whittle it down to 25, which was still too many to put on. We then got it down to 12 for the standard edition, but the ones we left off we still liked and so decided to include the double-disc edition with them on. Rather than keep them back for the next record we thought it would be better to put them out there now for fans to listen to. We have a dedicated fanbase who would like to have the extra material and we thought it would be better to do a double-disc album than a deluxe edition."

Do you feel pressured to live up to the chart performance of your previous efforts?
"No, that's record company business - I don't get involved in it. It's only important for us to do well enough for them to let us make another record. I am concerned with sales figures in respect to the fact that I want to continue doing this for a living and having a major record label behind you makes that easier. Once you've made a record and put it out there, you've made those artistic choices and you have to live by it. You can't make a record to try and sell more, because I think that's a slippery slope, artistically speaking."

Electronic music is dominating the chart; do you think guitar-based music is poised for a comeback?
"Oh it will. It always swings one way and then swings another. It's natural for people to get sick of a certain sound and then move on to the next one. It's all down to commercial playlists on radio. We just make the record we want to make and hopefully we're naturally going with the flow. We live in the societies and cities where this music is played so it's only normal for us to be influenced by what's around us. I wouldn't want that to happen in a cynical way, it has to happen subconsciously."

Have you decided on the next single yet?
"Well I know what I would like, but it's probably going to be different from that. That's not to say that we have to do everything the record label says, it's just that we need their support. I would want it to be 'Another Soldier' because it's a really unusual and interesting song, but the chances are radio wouldn't play it because it's a bit controversial."

Together We Were Made is out now. Watch the music video for 'Set My World On Fire' below: