World Wide Webb @ UK

• 15th Oct 2003

Fresh from releasing their third album ‘The Webb Brothers’ and currently on a tour with The Darkness, The Webb Brothers looks set to make the transition from lo-fi heroes to mainstream superstardom. I talk to newest member James about what it’s like playing in a band with two of your brothers, and why it’s taken so damn long for them to release a new record!

“Well, it’s been a bit of a struggle gaining momentum to record the new album. After the Warner takeover, the band had no real direction, and it took a long time for us to be back on track. We took six months recording all sorts of demos, and eventually we were picked up again.”

What is the biggest difference between your latest self-titled album and your last album ‘Maroon’?

“From a personal point of view it was a lot different for me because I had just joined the band as a full-time member. We co-wrote a few songs together, songs which I’m extremely proud of, and which meant I had more say in the input instead of just simply playing keyboards. I was slowly being incorporated into the band, and this album has a lot more keyboards in it, which also meant it took us longer to finish it.”

Are you enjoying playing in the same band as your brothers?

“The good thing about playing in a band with your family is that you share the good times and the bad times, the greatest times or the lowest points. But the best thing about it is that if you do have arguments you can really speak your mind and not worry about the other taking offence; we’re brothers and we know we love each other. But we don’t have many arguments anyway; we’re hardly the Gallagher brothers! Seriously though, I really can’t think of many bad points about playing in a band with your brothers.”

A lot of people think of you as a British band rather than an American one. What do you think of the present British music scene?

“I love the Super Furry Animals, and The Darkness, who we’re currently supporting, I’d like to see them go right to the top, especially in America. There’s a bit of romance between American bands and English bands, you love us and we love you lot. The cool thing about the British scene is that weird bands can still make it to number one, something that wouldn’t happen in the States. It’s a little depressing over there, all DJs and the same old stuff clogging up the charts.”

Where are you going to take this album to? What’s next for The Webb Brothers?

“We’re going to take our time promoting this album, but we’re going to be playing to 22,000 people on this tour, which we’re really looking forward to. Hopefully we’ll win over some new fans; we’ve got a lot of T-shirts to sell!”

And so I leave James to catch up with the rest of his brothers. “The Webb Brothers” is a melancholic piece of work with truly beautiful moments; it seems The Webb Brothers MK II has taken their first step to realising their potential. Jimmy must be proud.