InMe - 23th April 2003

eFestivals caught up with InMe on tour in Derby to ask them a few questions ...

Why did your debut album 'Overgrown Eden' take so long to be released?

Dave: We didn't have proper management before. Our new manager changed things around a bit, so that we could build it up a lot more. I think we were putting the album out prematurely, and we wanted to tour around a bit more and get a name for ourselves. So we thought it would be a good idea to put it back until January. It was kind of annoying because you just want to get your album out there, but in retrosepct it worked really well.

Joe: We literally came out of school into the rehearsal studio then straight into recording studio and never got a chance to play, so we just wanted to tour.

'Overgrown Eden' has received good reviews in certain media publications such as NME and Kerrang. Has this put more pressure on you for the next album?

Joe: I think we've had more of a mixed opinion than peope would believe. With this album we just wanted peope to know that this is the start of what we are going to do, we want people to know this isn't our best work that we will produce, we're hopefully going to keep writing. We've received a lot of good press, but we are going to write what we want to write. We are not going to be affected by what the press say.

Dave: we just set our own path for ourselves. We do what we want regardless of what other people think.

Did you have full creative control over the album?

Dave:Yes, we made sure that we got what we wanted.

How would you describe your album?

Dave: Mostly driven by melody and almost naïve innocence feel to it. It reflects theage of us growing up. It's a lot of elements of isolation, frustration, and confusion as well. It's good that it reflects those feelings, but it's ironic that singing about those things as brought us to a place where we are happy with ourselves. It reflects our journey to where we are now.

Are you going to catch any of the other bands that are playing at the Download Festival?

Dave: I think we are going to be busy, however we are definitely going to catch Iron Maiden. We should be free at the end of the second day.

Are there any bands that you would like to have seen live?

Dave:I'd like to see Pink Floyd live, because of their whole light show.

Did you ever goto festivals as an ordinary music fan?

Dave: Yes. We went to Ozzfest a couple of times, apart from that, just big gigs.

Joe:I really like festivals as they are a kind of different show to what you normally get. It's really cool as you get to hang out with bands that you don't get to see everyday. It's a bit more of a collective atmosphere rather than being on the road on your own.

Are there any venues that you would like to play?

Dave: We have actually already played there, although we were supporting. But I think we would love to headline the Brixton Academy, apart from that just huge shows all over the world.

Are there any venues you wouldn't play again?

Joe: I don't think so. I wouldn't say every venue, but every show has pros and cons, and we do try to find the pros out of every gig we play. At small shows, sometimes the equipment isn't as good, and it's harder to play a perfect show, but then just the vibe of the whole gig, and the fact that you are so close to the audience and everyone is sweating is really good. The bigger shows have other things to worry about.

What are your musical influences?

Dave: I don't think we have any direct influences, we just draw inspiration from each other instead, but Nirvana and Pink Floyd would be an influence.

Whats your view on downloading music from the internet?

Joe: I think it's cool, people shouldn't have to buy an album not knowing what is on it. If people are going to pay 15 or 16 pounds or whatever it is nowdays, you should have a chance to listen to it. But there is a point where people don't realise that by downloading material and not buying the album, you are ripping off the artist. Record companies are going to still make their profit, they won't take the cut, so eventually it will efeect the band. There will be more Gareth Gates in this world, purely because they make more money, and record companies won't be willing to take risks.

Dave: when we started, that was the only way we could build up a fan base. At the end of the day, personally I'd sooner have the cd.

Joe: I think samples are a great idea, if you had a two minute sample of every song on the album, people will still want to go out and buy it because it's not the whole thing, but you are still getting a good enough picture of what the album is.

Efestivals would like to thank Dave and Joe for taking time out of their hectic schedule to speak to us.

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