With the release of LP5, we caught up with Dutch Uncles to speak about their new album, ‘Big Balloon’, killer tracks, festivals and Bradley Walsh.
‘Big Balloon’, is to be released as your 5th studio album. What sets this album apart from previous material that we have heard?
We tried to go straight for the jugular with this album. Faster, louder, weirder, more energetic, more guitars. We played the songs to death in the practice room which allowed us to record as a live band for a change! Then once the foundations had been solidified, we heaped a load of DU style instrumentation on top of that. String quartet, tuned percussion and for the first time a brass section! Classic DU.
Successful track, ‘Flexxin’ which is taken from your album, ‘Out Of Touch In The Wild’ was a favourite amongst fans. Do you see a killer track waiting to be released on ‘Big Balloon’?
When Robin first brought the title track ‘Big Balloon’ to table, as soon as we listened to the blips and bleeps of the midi version we knew the track was special. Big bass line, guitar riffs, solid rhythms and a pop structure. Plus Duncan wrote the lyrics in next to no time, which is also a good sign of a future hit!
Releasing the album early on in the year sets you up for a good rise towards festival season. Are there any festivals in particular that you want to tackle this year?
Well, in all our years of being in a band we’ve never done Glastonbury, so that’d be the one to tackle!
Within 2016, Jack Garratt, Zayn Malik and Blossoms were all pipped to the post by Bradley Walsh, who won highest selling British debut artist. What do you think of this?
Bradley Walsh??? Who’s he?…..*quickly googles*… Ah, that guy off telly. Well I can tell you that I ain’t planning on listening on to his twaddle. But big up Blossoms, they’re Stockport lads like us and they got some big tunes to boot.
In today’s music society, we consume music in many ways, Streaming, Downloading, CD’s, Vinyl, Live Performances. Please could you rank these in order of importance to you and explain the reasons?
Live – The one thing that can’t be downloaded and ruined. Get out of your house and have fun.
Vinyl – Tesco even stock them now so they must be good!
Streaming – I used to download a lot of music illegally, but thankfully streaming came a long! Phew. Now I can afford to explore, sift and decide which gigs to go to or what albums to buy.
CDs – Still good for the car.
Downloading – Wastes precious computer storage!
