After more than a year on the road, London Grammar are enjoying some rare, if not brief, down time in the UK capital before saddling up to do it all again in 2015.
Still basking in the glow of 2013 debut album, ‘If You Wait’, Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic 'Dot' Major find themselves in the enviable position of being one of world music’s hottest acts. Reid’s brooding, soaring vocals and Rothman and Major’s respective guitar, key and percussion talents have combined for a brand of enthralling, emotive music that has connected with fans the world over and won the trio an Ivor Novello award, among other accolades.
Talking from his bed in London, Major says being at home “feels like being on holiday”, so little time has London Grammar spent there throughout 2014. “We have a little studio space where we’re writing some tunes,” he explains.
“It’s nice to get back with the guys and just write music again because obviously that’s why we got together in the first place – for the love of writing music. It’s been great to see our friends in the evening and do boring, standard shit like going to the cinema and hang out.”
Few things have been ‘standard’ for London Grammar since the release of debut EP ‘Metal & Dust’ in early 2013. It’s been a whirlwind, and one that’s not been without its share of challenges in recent months. Local fans were sent into a deep depression in July when the band pulled out of Splendour In The Grass and two sideshows at the last minute, citing illness. That started an unfortunate run of cancelled or postponed gigs across the UK and US, some due to Reid’s vocal fatigue and family illness while others – like the rescheduling of this month’s US tour to early next year – being put down to ‘scheduling conflicts’.
Some affected fans have been vocal in their criticism of the band, and Major can understand why. “It’s been well documented that we’ve had some problems with touring that we’d booked in,” he says forthrightly.
“It makes us really upset to disappoint anyone. When it’s [touring] not managed perfectly it gets really difficult. It got to a point where we had our schedule and it was almost impossible [and] at some point you have to make a decision based on health and [the] long-term.”
In hindsight, one could see it coming. The early hype that greeted single ‘Hey Now’ in early 2013 was sent into overdrive when London Grammar appeared on ‘Help Me Lose My Mind’ on Disclosure’s world-beating ‘Settle’ album a few months later.
By the time the album and first single ‘Strong’ dropped, fans were frothing to see London Grammar live, feeding the early days of a “crazy schedule” that would put strain on Reid’s powerful voice. “When you’re doing the first album you learn so much, about what you’re capable about more than everything,” explains Major.
“When you start touring you basically go out there, and everything comes along at the same time as you’re doing it and everything’s such a good opportunity but you don’t really have time to plan anything.”
Despite July’s cancelled tour, local fans appear forgiving, with several shows for their March Australian tour already sold out. London Grammar’s appeal both in Australia and in the US and Europe reflects the pull of their “emotionally-affecting” music that defies a label or genre.
As Major explains, the concept of genre is “quite limiting”. “As a three we didn’t come together for a love for a particular artist or a particular sound,” he says. “Our influences are quite different as a three and I think that’s part of what makes our music a bit different.
“The only thing I’d say that’s consistent in our music and [that] we love to listen to is that we all love melancholy music – slow, quite down-tempo and emotional music.”
While their ambient, ethereal sounds are commonly, if not always correctly, placed in the indie-pop and indie-rock camps, their collaboration with Disclosure suggests club links, too. The trio were originally signed to Ministry Of Sound, and their original work has found favour in clubland on the back of remixes by everyone from Riva Starr and Dennis Ferrer to Tensnake and High Contrast. “That’s always been an area we’ve been associated with,” admits Major.“In terms of the music we make it’s not something we consider. We don’t think ever as to how it would be in terms of it being a club record. It’s a case with a lot of pop music but with us, from a production point of view, we’re always on top of sounds that are happening at the time.
“[And] I think a lot of the electronic production in our music is very modern in an electronic sense. Some of the … sub bass and electronic beats are pretty heavy.”
London Grammar Tour Dates
Thu 5 Mar - Perth Festival, Redhill AuditoriumSat 7 Mar - Brisbane Riverstage
Mon 9 Mar - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Thu 12 Mar - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Sat 14 Mar - Festival Hall (Melbourne)
