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Formed in 2004 after their names were drawn out of a hat, Drive By Argument quickly bonded over a shared dislike of each other’s haircuts. However, given that they had been thrown together to work on a university project, they quickly got down to the business of making music and found that they had plenty in common in that area. They soon began gigging and in late 2005 released their debut single, ‘Sex Lines Are Expensive Comedy’, which sold out rapidly. Now signed to Lizard King (better known as the label that launched The Killers), the band release their debut album on 12 May, with their latest single ‘Dance Like No One’s Watching’ out now. Front man Stoke takes time out to answer the Qs. |
Q1 How did you start out making music?
Personally I've been playing piano since I was 4 or 5, I think, but didn't start writing music (well... dodgy punk songs) 'til I was about 13, which was when I got my first guitar. As a band we were thrown together as part of a university project and started writing together straight away. It came surprisingly naturally. I think because we didn't know each other as friends first, or at all, we didn't have any pre-defined respect for each other, we were freed up to say exactly what we thought.
Q2 What inspired your latest single?
It's difficult to say really. Musically we wrote it together in a tiny room off of Pollokshaws Road in Glasgow. It started with a few chords and things that I'd put together and came together really quickly. Although originally we were a little bit self-indulgent, and it was about 8 minutes long.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Usually it'll start with a single part, a guitar riff, a synth line or a few chords or whatever, and then we built on that. Occasionally one of us will come to the others with a song that's almost finished, but in the main, we just rattle ideas off of one another until we've got something we're all happy with. Lyrics and melody are usually the last stage. I like to take songs away and work on them personally. I'll usually write about what is affecting me at the time, or things that have affected me in the past.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Because of how we came together we all come from completely different musical backgrounds, so everything from The Faint, The Cure, Postal Service, Magnet, Death Cab For Cutie, Motion City Soundtrack, Bloc Party, Bright Eyes, The Knife, Ben Folds, Regina Spektor, Mozart, Bruce Springsteen, My Chemical Romance, Radiohead, Kylie, Mogwai, Idlewild, Mew, Biffy Clyro, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Broken Social Scene, the list goes on.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Experience away.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest single, and for the future?
That the people who hear it like it... and maybe buy it for their friends. For the future, to get our album out, and really just get out on the road again. We've always been more of a live band, and I'd like people to get the chance to hear the songs in the right environment.
published april 2008
