SXSW Interview: The Minutes – ‘Why would anybody have anything good to say about us?’


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After hitting Austin for the first time back in 2010 as a band with over a year’s worth of toil ahead of them before the release of their debut album, The Minutes returned this year with ‘Marcata’ now fully established as one of the best underground releases of recent times, one which is already starting to deliver the kind of mainstream attention the Dublin trio so clearly deserve.

Right in the middle of this year’s South By Southwest festival, The Minutes joined Live4ever at our SXSW HQ in the downtown Omni Hotel to discuss the changes in both the band and the festival since they last visited, how plans are getting on for their post-‘Marcata’ career, and why they fully expect anyone with an opinion to voice to have only bad things to say about them…

Live4ever are here with The Minutes at the Omni Hotel in Austin after their second South By. We saw you two years ago at Billy Reilly’s for the first time. That South By compared to this? What was the difference?

Well it was our first time here so we were just trying to blitz it you know, play as many shows as possible, just to give people the most opportunities to come see us and check us out. And then through that we got a lot of attention from the Irish contingent that were over and that started us on this – signing the album deal at home and releasing the album eventually. So 2010 was the start of it all from the Irish perspective.

And now this time you’ve got five gigs in five days is it?

Yeah five shows. This time was more about meeting a network of other people that we’ve already maybe struck up a relationship with – some record labels and we’ve got a PR guy working with us so we’re doing a lot of interviews. Last time we were here we did an interview with Forbes…

…Two years ago?

No, two days ago – last time we were in the Omni. Marco was geared, made a fuckin’ show of us! He had a fuckin’ cowboy hat an’ all!



How did that come about, Forbes, out of all the magazines?

It came through the PR guy Chris who set us up with a couple of things, so that was one of them. Like Forbes – why the fuck do Forbes want to interview The Minutes!? They haven’t got a pot to piss in! But yeah it was interesting to say the least.

So your biggest show was at the O2 Academy just a couple of months ago?

Er yeah, the Academy in Dublin. That was our biggest headline show to date, which was about 850 capacity venue. We sold out with a week to go so that was a huge milestone for us. It was a great show as well.

And VenueOne, who Live4ever worked with on our SXSW party, filmed that? Did you get any response from the fans from that?

Yeah, people want to see it released as a DVD, so we might do some sort of release because we own the recording and the visuals, so probably going to do something with it.

That’s where music has headed to with digitalisation, and the records maybe not selling, revenue not coming from that – so if you’re selling the live show, which is what you have always focused on…

…It’s so important yeah, especially now as you say with record sales the way they are, you’ve got to get people excited about your band and willing to get up off their arse to pay for a ticket to see your show. It’s the only way we’re going to do it anyway. Unless a major comes along and tries to put a shitload of money into us!

What’s your feeling about South By last year and this year, vibe-wise? We sort of get a different vibe.

There’s a different buzz than the last time we were here. It was busier the last time, wasn’t it? It doesn’t seem as busy. Two years ago was our first time here as The Minutes, and when it’s your first time, it’s amazing. You can never beat your first time.

Talking to several people it seems like it has a tougher, rougher edge – you stand out on the street at night; so many cops compared to three years ago or even last year.

Loads of people are saying that. Somebody said at 2 o’clock last night there was cops like everywhere. We were drinking cans by the lake and we got ushered on by two cops on horses, which was really scary! There was torches in our faces, they were saying: ‘What’s going on? Put the cans down’, it was crazy.

So you’ve been playing a couple of new songs, right? How much new material have you got now moving on from ‘Marcata’?

Maybe four or five songs that we’re working on, but to be honest the last time we took a break to rehearse it was before that headline show – we wanted to do something a bit different – so I think we did three new songs during that, but really we were focusing on getting that show air-tight, so we haven’t had a long length of time to really focus and sit down. But the ones that are coming out we’re really happy with, and they don’t get into the set unless we’ve all approved. And they do change, even ‘Marcata’ has – the way we play it now is so much more different than when we recorded it.

Do you guys pay attention to the press? Reviews?

No fuck those c***s. It’s good if they write good things about you, but they could equally just write something bad about you. It’s one person’s opinion, and if you start listening to that and reading that shit…Like we got annoyed with some of the Irish press, and then just decided ‘You know what? That’s one c**t on a laptop. His own opinion, and it doesn’t really fuckin’ matter – it’s the masses that matter’.

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Does it hurt more if it’s someone you look up to, whose reviews you used to read when becoming a musician?

The best reviews we’ve got are from the UK, Germany as well, they’re constructive. In Ireland they’re just like, ‘I don’t get this!’. There’s a song in the middle (of ‘Marcata’) that’s an instrumental and there’s instrumentals at the start and end of the album, and they’re like ‘I don’t get this, why did they do this?’ and it’s like, that’s the concept and they don’t get it.

It doesn’t matter – the songs are there. They’re good songs – they’re not going to change the world, they’re just good songs and that’s it. Most people get that and know that if we keep going we can make better records which is obviously what we want to do. But it is one person – their opinion. Granted their opinion can be broadcast out to people through a column or blog or whatever. Some people can be influential on your career, but we wouldn’t be licking anyone’s arse to try and get a good interview or good review or anything like that.

You get a band yourself. You’re not going to read something somebody else wrote and judge the band on that. If you like the band you’re going to like them no matter what some interviewer wrote or some reviewer who gave the band two stars or one star. It’s all about what you get, so if you get it you get it.

You guys supported Noel Gallagher in Dublin. Any contact?

No – we were all wet and we’d just come in from a gig in Cork and were soaked and looked like a bunch of travellers. We were in the hall loading our gear in and we were having a shit day. And he was basically walking through the corridor to get to his taxi or whatever and he said ‘Are you The Minutes then?’, and we kinda just nodded our heads, and he didn’t even wait for acknowledgment he just kinda kept walking…Like he doesn’t need this, he’s outta here!

Do you know of anybody like that who’s opinionated about you, who’s heard your music?

There’s a lot of people in Ireland…that’s the Irish thing you know? Like we’re the same if there’s a band starting up and creeping through we’re like, ‘Hate them, fuckin’ hate them’. And we’re that band now that are creeping through and ticking along.

If Liam Gallagher slags you off some bands love it ‘cos you’re in the headlines for at least three days.

I don’t think it would even get like that with us anyway.

Why would anybody have any cause to say anything about us other than bad? We’re fuckin’ c***s, the three of us!

We’d just be like ‘fair enough’. But I don’t think it would make us be like, ‘Oh we’re going to be in the NME’. They used that in such a way did Oasis, like the Blur/Oasis thing; they’re always in the papers. All the tabloids every second day it’s Liam Gallagher with a two finger salute you know? So I think they knew that they could use the media in that way. Some bands shy away from it and some bands don’t.

We want to talk about your touring schedule – it’s been pretty hectic. What else is coming up?

After England we go to Europe for a month, then home, then festivals.

On your own tour or are you touring with somebody?

On our own. It’s the third time we’ve gone out on our own, with no agents, nothing like that. It’s just been us, our manager and local promoters. After the Flogging Molly tour we made good contact with the promoters that put those shows on, so they’re big promoters and we got in with a few of them. A guy in France is brilliant; he’s getting us great shows in France. We’ve got a new booker in Germany; she’s getting us great shows and great festivals.

So they’re placing you in shows as opposed to having to play 50-capacity rooms?

I’d say the rooms are going to be between 100 and 300, but if they do their job then there will be people there, you know? And right now we can see that they are doing their job. They’re proper promoters and proper bookers. All the shows are sponsored by radio stations and magazines so they’re doing a great job, and the guy in France is getting us some great festivals. We’re doing all these shows and it’s all great. The fees have totally jumped since last year, things are starting to pick up.

Rehearsal schedule in advance of shows?

We don’t rehearse…

You must rehearse if you’re not doing shows?

No, just the Academy.

What about before ‘Maracata’ then?

Oh yeah we were well rehearsed then. Because we were writing a record and we knew what we wanted to do we were putting in the time. But that was two years ago, that was the last time we really properly rehearsed, properly intensively done it for more than a week.

So you don’t feel you need it because you’re doing so many shows?

We’re doing so many shows it’s like the last thing you want to do is go into a room and just sit there and rehearse.

So what do you do on your days off if you don’t rehearse?

Look after the band. The business side of the band is like a day-to-day thing. It’s like a baby you have to look after. It’s constant. It’s the first thing on your mind when you wake up and the last thing before you go to bed. It’s very consuming. There’s always shit going on. There’s the label at home, and then after that there’s four or five people in all these different countries all working for the band on all different roles. The band is not just the three of us anymore there’s people all over the world working for the three of us. We started something and now there’s all these other people around.

The Minutes are currently on tour in Europe and will return to London for a show at The Borderline next month. For full tour details and all the latest news, head on over to the band’s official website.

The Lads backstage @ SXSW with Live4ever’s lovely Liz Lomax interviewed for VenueOne.com


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