A few weeks back Amsterdam Event Guide invited one of our favourite local bands The Stutters to interview one of our favourite non-local bands, the brilliant We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Stutters front-man Mical Noelson met up with Michael Palmer (guitar) and Darren Lackie (drums) just before their phenomenal gig in the Paradiso small hall to talk about making music, creating identities and Tony Adams.

MN (N) – So since you’ve been here, have you had chance to explore the city?

M – Well, the ones that have been here before are out exploring

N – They left you?

L – Yeah to do this interview, ha ha

N – Oh sorry guys

L- Yes you bad, bad people

N – I’m sure you’ll get loads of time after the gig

N – Do you guys get along when you’re on the road?

L – Yeah, we have loads of fun

M- Especially last year, three of us lived in the same flat. So on average we spend about 23 hours a day with each other and on tour its 24, so it’s nothing really

N – So what inspired you to start the band? You already knew each other from when you were young yeah?

L – Well we played with other people. Adam and Sean started off when Sean used to play the drums and then they wanted a new direction. So then I joined, then Michael joined a wee bit later and we played our first gig April 2003. That was our first four-piece gig. We just joined a band because it was fun, we all played instruments, we were all friends, just something to do. We never once thought we’d be coming and playing in Amsterdam, stuff like that.

N – Was your name back then the same as it is now?

M – No, it was changed after about two years

L – Yeah , we had a bad name before that, ha ha. It was The Winkle Experience. There’s a story behind it, it wasn’t just ohhh winkles

M – Just that was what everyone else was like!

L – Ha, yeah. So that’s why we changed it

N – Do you know what that means over here? It means the shop experience

L – But what’s winkle in German? Means small I think

N – But in Scotland it’s your penis?

M – It could be anything you want it to be

L – Nine times out of ten, it’s your penis

N – So how did you come to the name We Were Promised Jet Packs?

M – You know those awesome Ricky Gervais pod-casts? He said something about hover crafts, blah blah blah, Jetpacks and it went on the list

L – We had a big list

M – With things numbered and it got late and we said, lets just pick one and yeah, that was it

L – We really have to come up with a more exciting story. People are always hoping we’d come up with something good and we just say that and you see the interviewer going ‘ah..’

N – So how do you go about writing your songs?

M – Adam will come with a guitar part or just something to start with and we’ll talk about it for a bit, then jam it for a bit and then hate it for a while, change something and then love it

L – Sometimes we’ll be sat there like ahhhh, we just need one bit and someone will come up with something and that’s it, we’re all happy

N – Well I’m a little bit disappointed in that because that’s the way my band makes music and I was hoping you had some sort of magical thing you guys did, ha ha. Bit of my own investigation there sorry

N – Were there specific artists you looked up to when you first started out?

L – We listened a lot to Biffy Clyro, the older stuff

M – The first three Biffy albums really

L – They were pretty big albums for us. Early Kings of Leon and they all listened to The Stokes. A lot of local things too now that we’re actually friends with

N – Well you’ve got a chance to plug them now if you want?

M – Well theres a band called Dupec from Edinburgh , Lyons, ah there’s so many. Over the Wall, especially, especially them

L – There’s so many more out there

N – So that’s www dot myspace slash.. all those bands

L – Ha ha yeah, just like that

M – Just go to ours and it’s just our top friends but make sure you go to ours first!

N – Lets talk about your songs, get a little deeper! They seem quite dark at times, what are they all about?

L – We’re just four depressed people who sit in the dark all day, with the curtains closed ha ha

N – Yeah, shouldn’t you be wearing all black?

L -These are the darkest clothes I’ve got (he’s wearing a light grey t-shirt), should’ve seen me yesterday

M – You were very bright

N – So I had some questions for the singer, as you said he writes most of the songs

M – I’ll answer for him

L – Yeah lets try it

N – OK, so the song Quiet Little Voices, I’ve listened to the lyrics and they seem to be a bit sinister, maybe about a murder or something?

L – When I’ve heard him (Adam) describe what the lyrics are about before. It’s something like, when you go to sleep as a child you have no worries, you just go to sleep and now you have all these things going through your head. That could be completely wrong but I’ve heard him say something similar before.

M – Its not like specific events, its just, you know… stuff, can’t think of the right word

L – He doesn’t really go into it so we don’t go into it

N – Ha ha, like stay away from it.. it sounds weird

M – Yeah I’m out

L – He’s a weirdo

N – So how does it feel when you’re up on stage? Is it a really powerful thing for you?

M – Definitely, if it sounds good on stage it’s just incredible

L – You don’t even need a busy room. If it sounds great, then nine times out of ten we’re having a great time. Actually no, if it sounds great we’re always having fun and if it’s busy its twice as good, a good feeling as I’m sure you know too

N – Well I usually have crappy sound so no, ha ha.

L – We now have a sound guy

N – Manager / sound guy?

Andrew – tour manager

L – Friend. Shepherd.

M – Friend first

N – So he holds the bucket when you’re puking at two o’clock in the morning?

N – You’ve just released your album to critical acclaim and urm, there was no question there ha ha

L – It’s a good statement. It’s true, we released an album.

The rest of the band, lead singer and guitarist Adam and bassist Sean join the interview.

N – To me, the songs of the album feels quite big and the sound feels more intimate

M – Well we didn’t think it sounded like that, we wanted it to and if you say that’s what it sounds like, that’s amazing

N- In my band, I’m the lyricist and whenever I’ve been in an interview situation they never ask about the lyrics . So is there an underlying thing between the songs? We were talking before about the lyrics and I might have got it wrong but in Quiet Little voices it sounds like it’s about a murder and a victim

A – I think every song I have people can think it’s about a murder, I don’t really mean it like that. Sometimes I read about domestic abuse and stuff like that but its not like that. I’ve never had any domestic abuse issues or anything like that, ha ha.

L – A wee skeleton there

A – There was that time I gave my mum a dead leg! Ha ha. No, it’s just the way it comes out. Usually I write lyrics and sometimes they’re about things that annoy me, that I can’t really do in real life or something that I can’t handle. A lot of the songs are about the really simple, get up, eat, play, pretty much what I do now.

N – Well they mentioned the band name’s about being a kid

A – Yeah. But not everything’s black and white, especially as you grow older

N – Did you make a conscious decision to sing in your own accent?

A – No, but there was definitely a point. When I was younger I used to sing a lot more posh, like really posh and then I started to relax a bit more and feel a lot more comfortable and started pronouncing things. So a couple of years ago I started to lean that way. A lot of Scottish bands, well every Scottish band now sings that way. It’s all a bit sickly

N – Soon you’ll get English bands with Scottish accents. But in a way, through that you’ve given yourselves your own identity

N – What can people expect from your shows?

Sean – Adam sweating

A – A big red head and face. Lackie does the windmill

L – Sean staying perfectly still. He can stay perfectly still whilst wearing a really warm jumper on stage and not sweat a drop

S – I stay to a half meter radius

N – Like old defenders in football that wouldn’t go past the half way line

L – He’s Tony Adams

N – Well it’s been great talking to you, good luck tonight. Look forward to seeing you and good luck with the tour

We Were Promised Jetpacks are back in Amsterdam for the London Calling Festival at the end of November so make sure you don’t miss them.