Interviews

Pulled Apart By Horses Interview

• 14th Jun 2010

One thing that's always a pleasure and never a chore is catching up with Pulled Apart by Horses, the first single (back to the fuck yeah) from their forthcoming self titled debut goes on sale TODAY (14th June 2010)… PABH bassist and vocalist Rob Lee tells us all about their love of horror, their impending marriage to each other and when they'll be playing to 50,000 people dressed in mirror-ball suits….

How are you feeling about the album now it’s so close to release, is this your best work yet?
It's our first album, so I'm really excited. I know times are tough as far as selling records goes these days,
but it will be really interesting to see what people think to it. I'm very proud of it already, I think it sounds great and
Tom and I spent a lot of time on the artwork, so I'm really pleased with how it looks too.
I think it's going to be a nice object that people will want to own rather than just downloading it, especially the 12″ which is on heavyweight vinyl.
It's the first album I've ever made actually, so it's like my first-born.

If you could sum your release up in a sentence, how would you describe it?
A very honest document that makes sense of us as a band.

The video for the single is a fantastic piece of work, the inspiration for it is evident… but why did you choose to take it down that path?
First of all, we all love horror movies. I'm a total addict, I like to stay up all night watching them. So we just thought it would be a cool experience and really fun to make something like that, which it was. We all came up with the idea and directed it ourselves and I drew up all the story boards for it. I suppose if you want a deeper meaning to it,
the idea is that there is this unknown “thing” that it attacking us, and we fight it off and find safety with the music that we're playing together. Which kind of fits with the struggle of being in a band these days, which is what the song is kind of about.

This seems to be a common question, but your band name is brutal… what inspired you to use it?
Again, I have two answers to this. One of the reasons is because we used to practice, drink and pretty much live at a pub called the Packhorse. It's a great place and very essential to the Leeds music scene, so we wanted something with the word Horse in there. The deep, oh-so clever and meaningful meaning is that it's a medieval torture technique, where four horses are tied to each limb and sent off in separate directions. We are the four horses and the brutal effect is the music we create. I've got a bit of a phobia about horses, so the name means a lot to me. They're so powerful, but also quite ridiculous, a bit like our band really.

Leeds seems to be a hub for some fantastic new up and coming bands, and it feels like there’s a great sense of camaraderie between everyone; do you think there’s something in the water?
Nobody drinks water in Leeds, just booze. They even wash in it. You turn the taps on and cider comes out. Leeds is one of those places where everyone just gravitates towards. None of us are from Leeds originally and you hardly ever meet anyone who was born in Leeds. It's a brilliant place, I love it so much, to the point where I sometimes get pissed off that I have to go to other places, but that's the thing. Although it's such a vibrant music scene, there's a danger of just keeping that music in Leeds. Everyone knows each other and goes to each others gigs. We were always very keen to play to and meet like-minded people all over this and other countries.

If you were all getting married to each other tomorrow (well, you never know?) who would you book to play at your wedding?
We might as well be married, we spend so much time together. We even sleep in the same beds together when we have to!
We always laugh that we're like a family, James is the mother who can't cope, Lee is the angry dad, Tom is the golden-boy who is quite naughty but always gets away with it
and I'm the little princess who's always whining and trying to get my own way. Wedding band? hmmm, that's a tough one, either Black Lace or The Gypsy Kings

You’re supporting Muse later on this year, how do you feel about supporting one of the most famous and highly acclaimed stadium bands in the world?
Not that fussed really. HAAA! No, It's incredible, I've always been a big fan of muse. I saw them years ago at Leeds festival when they weren't that big, playing in a tent just like we have. Now they're absolutely huge. They're an international band as well, which is great. They get a lot of stick from some people for being over-the-top and indulgent. You know, the hardcore DIY types, but when your audience gets to that size, you've got to up your game. If someone asked me, “do you want to be playing to 50,000 people dressed in a mirror-ball suit, flying through the air with frickin laser beams firing out of your guitar?” What would I say? “Nah, your alright mate, I'll just stick to playing smelly pubs in front of 3 people.” They've done all that, worked really hard and deserve to be where they are. I feel honoured to be supporting them.

In 5 years time, where do you want the band to be?
Playing to 50,000 people dressed in a mirror-ball suit, flying through the air with frickin laser beams firing out of our guitars. Who knows? We're very grateful for everything that's happened to us so far. The idea has always been to just hold the reigns and try to stay on for as long as possible and will continue to be that way. It's a total adventure and I don't want to try and pre-empt or pre-determine any of it. I just want to give it everything I've got and hope for the best.

You’ve been touring and playing together for a long time, do you have any regrets?
None whatsoever. There's been a few mishaps along the way, but they're valuable experiences that you learn from and become better as a band and hopefully as individuals.
Touring and being so close and couped up together for so long can be exhausting at times. But you just have to remember that the most important thing is the music you're making together and your personal ego problems are pointless in comparison.

… The single, Back to the fuck yeah, is out TODAY (June 14th) on Transgressive and the full album is out on June 21st…