They started their band as good friends. They enjoy playing in big crowds, but think that also small places can make a good show. They get excited about playing new songs to the audience. They hope to play in Latvia one day. They are from Melbourne (Australia) and they think that coffee is what one should get once there. I catch them at Flow festival in Finland in 2008 after they have recently released their second album In Ghost Colours. Who are they? Right! Cut Copy! This is an interview with Mitchell Scott, the drummer of the band.
M.S. Are you from Riga?
Not originally, but right now I am living there.
M.S.: Wow!
You have released a new album. How is it different from the last one?
It’s always kind of hard to describe your music, but in terms of how it’s different – it has been four years, there’s 4 year gap between the records. I guess your tastes change and your playing ability changes and after playing live so much we all have got a little bit better playing and a little bit better producing music. So the way we feel now – it’s a progression. We also have a lot more time in the studio to make record. So whereas the first one with a lot more of out of time and a little bit recording the record was made and mixed this time we had a lot of time in the studio – 6 weeks that we could do – so we had a lot more time for the record, a lot more complete ideas.
I got a feeling that you are braver in this album and dare to say more…
That’s probably true too. We sort of tried a few different things and different instruments. So, a lot more singing and a lot more lyrics, different styles as well and yeah – being more comfortable with trying new things and a sort of progression in getting the ability to try new things as well.
How do you divide the tasks? Is there a main guy?
Dan would be the main guy. He does the majority of song writing and he writes the lyrics too and then we sort of all work on things. So, I guess we all have our influence with Dan being the main one.
Now you are touring. Which has been your greatest show so far?
It’s really hard to say. We had some really good shows and we were really lucky. We played a show in Australia with Daft Punk and there were like 40 – 50 000 people. Just a really big show basically in a big stadium! So that was really fun! We played a show in Madison Square Garden in New York with Franz Ferdinand. That was really fun, but it’s always fun playing a small show too. Nothing that really stands out about it except for that it becomes really fun with really good energy from a crowd. Yeah, sometimes a small show where everything goes right can be one of the best shows.
Do you somehow make your shows different from region to region?
It’s definitely different when playing in different places because maybe people haven’t heard the music so much before and that makes a show different itself. When we start playing new songs it’s so interesting playing new songs which nobody has heard before and just seeing how they work because once the songs have been on the radio or people have heard them we sort of know how it works. So, it can be really fun playing new songs for the first time and seeing how the reaction is and often it’s true when you go to a new place and people haven’t heard the song it’s just like the music has to do the job on its own.
Have you played in Finland before?
This is our second time. We were here about 3 years ago and we played a show in a club. I remember that was awesome. Then we had no idea what to expect and the record wasn’t even released here that time, so it was really such a good show and it’s a shame to come so late back here.
So, you have expectations for today’s show…
Well, a little bit. We played really good last time and hopefully this one is good too.
Have you thought about coming to Baltic States and Latvia?
That gets decided on a booking agent or whatever it is. It’s often the club or festival who gives you the offer to get you over to the place. So I don’t know whether we have an officer in Latvia or not, but could we have an audience?
Yeah!
Cool! We would love to come one day.
What are you yourself listening to right now? Have you discovered any new bands?
Right now I am listening to the new Sebastien Tellier record. It is really good!
How has the Internet changed your band’s life?
I think people can get the access to the music a lot easier. People can more find about it. It’s so much easier. So, it can be a really good way to find about the band. You put a remix and you notice that on a very next day people are talking about it.
Do you get a lot of feedback?
Yeah, there’s a lot of feedback whether on MySpace or feedback from people on blogs.
Do you care about it?
Yeah, you read the reviews. You do care. It’s always difficult thing, the key thing is to make music you are happy with.
Before you started a band you were good friends and used to go to the gigs together. Are you still doing it?
Sure, the time we have. That’s one of the good things about us as a band. So, the base is that we all are just good friends and I think it makes touring better. You know, the time you need to spend on touring is crazy, yeah I think we really have a good base as friends.
What do you like to do apart from music?
All kinds of stuff – to go and see bands. When we are home we try to catch up with friends and eat nice food and have good coffee at home.
What should I do when I am in your home city Melbourne?
In Melbourne you should definitely go and get some coffee. That’s sort of big thing, we are big coffee drinkers. Melbourne does that really well. Melbourne is not one of the most beautiful places like for example Sydney. It’s amazing. Melbourne is kind of the weather is not nearly as nice and it’s maybe not as nice as Sydney in that way. But it’s really cultural place, so it got really good museums and galleries and really good music scene, so probably you can go to see some bands play and [enjoy] really good food. So that’s probably the best thing about Melbourne.
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