Introducing Interview: Habitats

From starting out recording songs in a friend’s bedroom, tropical indie quartet Habitats have now played London venues such as The Shacklewell Arms, The Lexington and the Old Blue Last.

Having just released a new EP, Habitats create uplifting, sunny tunes with jangly riffs and an infectious groove. We caught up with the band to find out more.

Can you tell us about the formation of Habitats?
I really want to use football terminology here and say 4-4-2 but that would just be silly now wouldn’t it…We’re just 4 youthful scallys born and raised in the region of Hampshire that shared a common interest in music, drama, skateboarding, surfing and doing impersonations of East End gangsters and Lord of The Rings characters.

Why did you decide to infuse the traditional indie sound with tropical beats?
Hmm, well it certainly wasn’t scripted. I guess we just liked the idea of creating a sound to get everyone moving/dancing. People don’t dance as much at gigs anymore, it’s all about the sardine shuffle and grind these days, so it’s nice to try and peel everyone off the wall from time to time.

Which bands/artists do you take influence from?
Rubber, Hair, wedding and tribute …. Warhol, Monet and Blake. The entire line-up for Primevera has probably influenced us in one way or another as well.

How would you describe your EP for those who haven’t heard the release?
In a nutshell, it’s dance music with guitars and loose harmonies. But there is a bit of something for everyone.

Which track on the EP would you recommend our readers check out first?
Tricky one that ain’t it as they are like our children, and you can’t really pick a favourite can you? Maybe the last track ‘Jungles’ for its sassy instrumental build up.

In terms of a live set, what can we expect from Habitats?
Hopefully a bloody good time and plenty crowd surfing! We put everything into our live show and if you catch us on a good night, it can usually resemble a Monty Python sketch hopped up on a bag of orange sherbert.

What do you guys have planned for the rest of 2016?
Well we are playing The Bodega in Nottingham on the 24th of March…pretty sure we will be on the festival circuit again this year but no announcements as of yet. Other than that we will be back in the studio and writing new tunes.

Anything else you wish to add?
The name Claire is a Latin baby name. In Latin the meaning of the name Claire is: From the feminine form of the Latin adjective ‘clarus’ meaning bright or clear. Also distinguished. Famous bearer: Twelfth century St Clare (or Clara) of Assisi founded the Poor Clares order of nuns.

Fair enough! Huge thanks to Habitats for answering our questions.

Jungles, the latest EP from Habitats, is out now.