The Minutes Interview

Ahead of their Whelan’s show, we spoke with The Minutes about ‘Live Well, Change Often’, their previous Dublin gigs and more.

Louise: You released your new album in May ‘Live Well, Change Often’, how does it differ from ‘Marcata’?
The Minutes: We used a different process this time round. LWCO is more of a studio album whereas ‘Marcata’ was primarily a live record with very few overdubs.

Louise: Do you feel you approached it differently to ‘Marcata’?
The Minutes: It was attacking in a totally different manner. We’ve learned a lot about how we want to work in the future. On the whole it was an arduous process.

Louise: It was recorded in Fader Sound Studios in Vancouver, how was that experience?
The Minutes: We’ve had better experiences in our lives that’s for sure. It was tough and we were far from our comfort zone. But the herb in Vancouver smoothed all edges and dulled all sense of time.

Louise: Who’s the main writer in the band?
The Minutes: We all have an Input. But the majority of this record we wrote together which was new for us. It’s all a learning process.

Louise: ‘Cherry Bomb’ was released in March; did you expect it to be so well received? What is it that, that song has?
The Minutes: Probably not as well as it did, no. We always hope our music will do great things. Within the rock spectrum we are fully aware that it’s a rare thing to get as much mainstream airplay as we did. ‘Cherry Bomb’ is a groovy fuck. It’s got a bounce to it. Plus yer’woman who sang the vocal made it fairly catchy too.

Louise: Do you all take a hands on approach to your videos, do you think that’s important?
The Minutes: Most times we let the Director we work run the show. We’ll always have the final say. We find it’s better to let the film makers make the films and the musicians make the music. Unless you have a very clear vision of what you want.

Louise: Tell us a little more about your new single ‘Hold Your Hand’, which is released on the 24th of October?
The Minutes: It’s one of the first songs we wrote for this album. We’ve been playing live for a good while and it always gets the crowd moving. For us it’s one we never leave out of the set.

Louise: Can we get some inside information about its video?
The Minutes: At the moment we’ve no video! We’ve a great live performance video courtesy of the dudes at Press Record. That’s pretty much the calling card for HYH right now.

Louise: You sold out two Whelan’s gigs in May and August (AMAZING!!) How were they?
The Minutes: They were great. The first one was special because it felt like an age since we had played our own headline show. The crowd both nights were great.

Louise: Are you excited to get back there on the 26th? Will there be any surprises?
The Minutes: We’re always excited to play in Dublin. And Whelan’s have been great to us. There’s always a surprise at a minutes show!

Louise: You’ve been touring all over the world recently, is there any one place that sticks in your mind?
The Minutes: We’re off to Germany in February and that’s always been good for us. We like it there and they seem to like our music. So I’m gonna go general and say Germany.

Louise: Do you have a favourite musical moment?
The Minutes: At our last show we lost all inhibitions and let the music play through us. It was great. We worked off feel and relied on nothing more than Instinct. It’s a supreme feeling to know that we can still play like that.

Louise: Thank you so much, have a blast in Whelan’s and everyone needs to pick up ‘Live Well, Change Often’?

The Minutes are playing Whelan’s on October 26th. Win a pair of tickets to their show!

Interview by Louise Tighe