Reporters have done a lot in the last year: as well as releasing a 7 track mini-album, receiving acclaim from various magazines, critics and sites, they have also attended multiple BBC Introducing sessions. James Reynolds decided to check out what was going on with this indie-rock duo from Buckinghamshire, in a brief Q&A session.

Hello again guys. Well done on your gig at The Purple Turtle the other night. Where’s next?

Thanks! Next gig booked is 22nd April at The Buffalo Bar, Islington for Club Fandango. We have other gigs before then tbc.

What were you doing before all this?

Relatively little really, same old things like school and playing live solo and in other bands. Would much rather be doing what we’re doing now than go back!

How did the duo come about?

I used to play little acoustic gigs around Milton Keynes when I was 14 or so, and I met Josh when I supported his former band, so we knew of each other. We then found ourselves both wanting to do the exact same thing, so set up Reporters!

You’ve had interest from NME, released a 7 track album on your own label Phret Records and played at venues up and down the country. What’s been the highlight?

I wouldn’t say there’s been one particular moment that’s been the highlight, every week something happens that’s bigger than the week before. At the moment we’re just loving every minute and hope to be doing so for a long long time. It was great to release our mini album early last year and then an EP in October, but we’ve also played so many great gigs – too hard to choose!

In your bio, you cite that Frank Skinner described you as “amazing”. What’s it like to receive all this recognition for your work?

You can’t complain really, but we try not to focus too hard on it. We value people like Frank’s opinion, but also the opinion of ordinary music lovers we meet. It’s great to hear that people like what we do, but we don’t ever want to get complacent. We try to keep on improving and making better music and a better live show.

Any plans for another album or are you focusing on gigs right now?

We have lots of plans up our sleeve. In the set we play now, none of the songs were on the album or EP. There’s nothing we can talk about yet, but definitely some exciting things ahead!

Indie-rock’s pretty popular at the festivals at the moment. Where, if anywhere, would you most like to play and why?

SXSW that’s just happened in Texas looks pretty cool, and of course there are the obvious UK ones like Glastonbury or Reading. Would be great to play to so many people who are into the music, with everybody just there to have a good time. Hopefully one day we’ll be able to!!

Do you think you’ll want to be doing this when you’re 50?

We play pretty youthful music – don’t think it would be right to play this kind of style when we’re that age, but definitely will still be making music. Look at somebody like Damon Albarn, started off in Blur and has continued innovating for twenty years. We want to be doing that sort of thing.

What makes Reporters the Reporters?

I suppose, firstly, the fact that there’s just the two of us. At the moment there’s a few two-pieces, such as Drenge and Slaves, knocking about, but they’re all a bit heavier than we are; I don’t think there are many two-pieces playing the type of music we play, or at least I’m not aware of any. I think the new stuff that’s in our live set combines lots of different influences and pulls away from the Libertines/Strokes-esque music we used to make. We’ve grown up a lot over the past year and are definitely finding “our sound” rather than just nicking somebody else’s.

Where do you draw inspiration from when songwriting?

There’s not one place in particular, or a blueprint for every song I write – I just pick up the guitar and it might be a certain album or artist I’m listening to that inspires a melody or lyric, and then it stems from there. Song writing’s the main thing for us, I think I’ve written and recorded something like 30/40 songs over our year and a half existence. The more I write, the better I get at it – it’s quite a natural thing for me.

 

Thanks and good luck!

James Reynolds