Music, Style & Culture

Battle

Battle rate somewhere between 10 and 11 on DIY scale of aceness. So much so, in fact, we thought we'd catch up with Jason Bavanandan for a quick chat. Yay!

Battle rate somewhere between 10 and 11 on DIY scale of aceness. Recent single 'Children' blew our minds, despite being less than blindingly obvious as a single choice. So much so, in fact, we thought we'd catch up with Jason Bavanandan for a quick chat. Yay!

You've just finished your headline tour, how did it go? Any tour shenanigans to report?
We're a very 'straight' band so most of our time is spent arguing over who gets the music supplement from the daily papers. Our guitarist Jamie loves the occassional half, but that's really as far as it goes. We did once make the mistake of consuming curries before a club gig in Sheffield; Tim the bassist engendered blasts of ill-wind while I struggled to keep vomit at bay. I tried. I failed.

Are you pleased with how your single 'Children' has been received so far?
We're truly grateful for the level of support and encouragement witnessed during this tour. We're not a pop band so we don't rate our audiences against those of bands such as The Kooks, The Fratellis, et al. Sometimes the entire audience will just stand, stock-still, listening with seemingly undivided attention. It's like the anti-moshpit and it's ridiculously touching.

Did you do anything to celebrate it's release?
Some of us went a bit crazy in 'M&S Simply Food' that day and bought far too much Sushi, but we've since learnt to approach the unknown with respect. We played an instore in Bury on the day of the release. Just the four of us with three acoustic guitars, a shaker and shop-full of people. There was no PA so we gingerly perched ourselves on the counter and played. It felt scary and nervy and totally worthwhile because the occasion was unadorned by its lack of a stage with flashing lights and speakers and amps. It was so naked and, dare I say it, 'real'.

The video for 'Children' is fantastic, who came up with the idea?
Thematically, it is the song which best encapsulates why we are called 'Battle'. The director Ben Rollason wanted to push ideas in the song which deal with struggle and adversity, so we all met in a cafe in Stoke Newington, fired ideas around, got very excited, drank too much tea and left with well-deserved headaches.

How's the album coming?
All done and waiting for its September release. It's entitled 'Break the Banks' following a freaky dream in which I narrowly escaped boarding a train made entirely of water but was saved by our drummer Oli who ran at me shouting the words, "Break
the banks! We break the banks!".

What can we expect from it?
A band playing their heart out, facing each other and drenched in sweat. It was essentially recorded live, so it's not without its mistakes and duff notes but that somehow makes it work. There are some new tracks which we've started playing live and they've been really well received. The funny thing is that we're too close to it to objectify it. To me, it's supposed to be a kind of 'indie soul' record but it's not up to us to define it.

How many members of Battle does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None. You see, we now have techs for that kind of thing don't you know...

Finally, tell us something not many people know about you.
Some of us have an un-Godly fascination with early 90s dance music.