Music, Style & Culture

Chapman Family Values

Spouting off, hairspray and the harsh reality of being in a ‘forgotten indie band’.

Whether you like your music with a side order of politics or not, Kingsley Chapman isn’t shy about making his voice heard. In a time where many artists are asked to keep their opinions to themselves, finding one with a point to make is a refreshing change. Harriet Jennings talks to the Chapman Family frontman about spouting off, hairspray and the harsh reality of being in a ‘forgotten indie band’.

Can you describe your debut album, ‘Burn Your Town’, for those who may not have heard it yet?
You only get to make your debut album once so we wanted to make something that was completely honest. We recorded a song called ‘Kids’ two years ago; off the back of the publicity we got for it we could have recorded an album then, but it would have been ten versions of the same song. Taking a bit of time out and concentrating on what we wanted to do worked a hell of a lot better. We matured as people and actually learnt how to play.
We were really inexperienced, so everything was a bit of a struggle. Getting to where we wanted to be in the end was a ‘nice little journey’, if you wanted to use an X Factor-ism. What we’ve ended up with hopefully is a soundtrack to what I see on the news. We wanted to make something relevant to the times that we’re living in.

It’s quite a dark, angry album at times.
I think we get tarred with this ‘dark’ brush, but it’s a bit cartoony really. It’s quite easy to wear a Cure t-shirt from 1983 and spike your hair up, wear some shades, talk about graveyards... We didn’t want to have this big dark opus because we wanted to suggest to people that yes, things are pretty bleak, but there is something a bit more inspiring, hopefully, within it. We just wanted to be honest to ourselves.
I’m from Teesside and when I open the door I don’t hear Ellie Goulding singing a lovely song - it’s a bit grimmer than that. When I open the door, I see the North East coast and I see litter on the streets. I used to live in a house where you’d see people at 9am, 10am having a can of lager for their breakfast. I don’t hear Mumford & Sons traipsing through council estates with acoustic guitars. I think escapism is alright but I find it odd that there’s nobody documenting the times that we’re living in.

You’ve been compared to bands like The Horrors and The Cure. How do you feel about that?
I don’t know. The biggest similarity between those two bands is that both singers have quite high hair cuts. My hair isn’t really that high. I’ve got a fringe and I don’t really use much hairspray. Saying that though, our bass player Pop does take quite a large bottle of hairspray on tour that could probably put a hole in the ozone layer.
But, The Cure are legendary. One of my favourite albums of all time is ‘Disintegration’. It’s just immense. I can put that on and be on a different planet for an hour. So if anyone wants to compare us to The Cure, that’s fine by me.

You’ve openly talked about problems you had as a band after touring with La Roux back in 2009. Do you have any regrets about decisions you made at that time?
Regrets is probably a bit harsh. I like reading about music so I understand from a punter’s point of view how things look. If you read about a band in a new bands feature one week and then you don’t hear about them for the next six months, you think they’re gone. We pretty much had that scenario; you get that initial buzz from everyone thinking you’re class and then don’t follow it up.
The reality of being a forgotten indie band was a bit difficult. I’ve spoken to people who genuinely do like us and they just presumed that we’d fallen off the face of the planet. But actually, behind the scenes, we did a lot last year: we recorded an album with Richard Jackson, went over to Japan, went out to SXSW, played a few gigs in Italy - we were busy, but public perception probably assumed we were dead and gone.

You’re very politically active online. Do you feel you should be using your position to champion causes?
I’m a bit worried about it to be honest. I’ve probably mentioned a few things in the past that I maybe shouldn’t have. I’ve always got in the back of my mind that it might not be a little pop or rock star’s place to bleat on about political issues. You don’t really need another Bono or f**king Chris Martin. But, I think it’s wrong to not have an opinion on these things.
I think that’s the reason why pop stars come and go: they haven’t got an opinion. People should be able to have a voice. The stuff that I say, my own personal opinions - it isn’t stuff I wouldn’t say to my friends in a pub. I just see being in a band as an extension of that. I’m not trying to persuade anyone’s opinion. If they’re a horrible hard line Tory, I’m not going to try and strategically alter their political allegiance. But if you can make anyone think, then that’s a good thing.

The Chapman Family’s debut album ‘Burn Your Town’ is out now via Electric Toaster.