Gigslutz Interview: Mari Lane meets TRIPWIRES

I arrive at the notorious Camden Barfly excited to see Reading four-piece, Tripwires – a band who, despite having been together since school, are just releasing their debut album, ‘Spacehopper’.  Sitting on the rather well-worn sofas in the bar, I am lucky enough to talk to drummer Sam and bassist Ben, who apologetically introduce themselves as the “boring half of band”. I assure them, however, that they need not be so self-deprecating; I have, after all, been listening to the album all week, and was quick to notice the strength and prominence of the band’s rhythm section.

Having initially formed the band as boys “probably over ten years ago”, Sam tells me how close they have become as friends and how – when on tour, especially – “it’s good being with people you like!”: a valid point considering the band have recently had to spend three weeks together in Brooklyn recording ‘Spacehopper’. I ask how they found this experience of recording their album so far from home – “It was pretty exciting” replies Ben, “Going from Reading, where nothing really happens, to New York. And it didn’t even feel like we were just visiting, we were experiencing it almost as though we lived there, and I think this really helped the album”. Sam goes on to tell me how he found the trip quite surreal, but very enjoyable – “Walking twenty minutes to the studio every day, all day drinking Polish beer from the deli round the corner… going out to bars at night, then the same again the next day”.

Despite the Polish beer and nights out, however, Tripwires clearly worked very hard on creating their, greatly anticipated, debut. “It was a long process, overall” explains Ben “although some songs came a lot quicker than others.” Sam goes on to tell me how both the writing, and recording of, the album is very much a collaborative process – “Though Rhys tends to write most of the lyrics and chords  we then all jam together and form the structure and detail as a band”; though the writing is not completely evenly distributed, therefore, the half of Tripwires that I am lucky enough to talk to assure me that they are certainly not “one of those bands where one guy does it all”. It must help, then, that the band have “pretty similar” tastes in music, including a lot of Kurt Vile, Fleetwood Mac, Yo La Tengo and Talk Talk: a pretty wide-ranging mix, it seems – “Yeah, we try to keep it quite broad…we don’t just listen to one particular genre, we just tend to go naturally, and see what inspires us”. I leave Ben and Sam filled with excitement, and a little anticipation, about their first proper headline gig – “It’s great, now we have the album out, when we play songs live, there’s a chance someone might recognise them… though if you f*** up, everyone will know!”

On that note, I set off to investigate the first band of the night, of whom I have high expectations, as Sam has informed me that Tripwires “handpicked” all the support: “We tried to choose bands that have a similar sound to us…” Ben clarifies, “It’s just nice to have an evening that flows nicely”. And certainly both ‘Parlour’ and ‘Sky Between Leaves’ do not seem at all at odds with the headline act. It seems, therefore, that Tripwires have kept their word and the evening does indeed flow pretty nicely.

As Tripwires make their debut as headliners, their set up strikes me as rather unusual – with Ben the bassist taking centre stage. The rapport between him and Sam, however, is a highlight of the whole live set- the rhythm section, therefore, succeed in completely obliterating their earlier assertion of being boring. With a set filled with tracks from their debut album, the creators of ‘Spacehopper’ put on a show which succeeds in captivating all in attendance. With just the first few chords of ‘Tin Foil Skin’, the Barfly becomes intoxicated by the whirring reverb and resounding vocals, and it becomes clear why Sam concluded that this is his most enjoyable song to play live, with its incessant, hypnotic beat. And, although ‘Catherine, I feel Sick’ – the band’s current single – does not have the most romantic title, this sweet-sounding song gets the crowd’s hearts racing and their minds engrossed in the effects-laden melody. The rousing set comes to a close with (apparently Ben’s favourite track on the album) ‘Wisdom Teeth’, and enthused fans are left craving cacophony and mourning the enchanting atmosphere that Tripwires have created.

With an inspired debut album, and successful headline slot under their belt, what next for Tripwires? “Now we have the album out, everything we do can just build on that… To tour it would be nice, hopefully in Japan and America. We’re just enjoying it, it’s all a lot more fulfilling now we can focus on the music and aren’t constantly trying to publicise ourselves.”

Mari Lane

@marimindles