Review Fix chats with The Affair’s James Robinson, who discusses the band’s new EP “Stained Gold,†as well as their creative process and goals for the future.
Review Fix: How did you guys get together?
James Robinson: Four of us met at Hull University, drawn together by a mutual love of Wild Beasts’ ‘Two Dancers’ album and Yorkshire puddings. We then found the Big Man from Hull (Liam) patrolling its mean streets, and our quintessential quintet was complete.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Robinson: Usually Dan or Liam (both guitars) will start off proceedings by bringing some musical meat to the table. Michael (drums) will then add some percussive stock for a rhythmic flavor, before myself and Jack (bass) Â garnish it with some lyrical seasoning. Once I’ve thrown in the vocal vegetables and left it to stew on our indie induction hob of musical dreams, the creative process is complete, and you’re left with another tasty AFFAIRS delight!
Review Fix: What do you think makes this band special?
Robinson: Probably our luscious hair and boyish good looks! Seriously, though, I’d say that our sound is pretty unique – I’d like to think that anyway. We’ve had many people try to compare us with other bands, usually because of my vocals, but no one has been truly able to pigeon-hole us and label us definitively. I’m happy enough with that.
Review Fix: How would you describe your style?
Robinson: Stylish, sophisticated doom pop from another dimension. Let’s go with that.
Review Fix: What are your goals for this album?
Robinson: If people enjoy it and get something out of it on an emotional level, that’s good enough for me. The best kind of music is music that moves you and makes you feel something. If the E.P. can do that for people, like other artists’ records have done for me, I’ll be very pleased.
Review Fix: What’s the standout song? Is there a story behind it?
Robinson: They’re all bangers! I wouldn’t say there’s a standout as we’re all very proud of it as a whole. If you do just want to check out one song, though, our latest single ‘Runaway’ from the E.P. is out now, with an accompanying video on our VEVO.
I wrote the words after witnessing the exploits of another member of the band after a particularly big night out. It’s about getting smashed and having fun, but also what comes with that. Most of the lyrics came to me the next morning, on a particularly productive Megabus journey from Manchester to London.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Robinson: Hopefully we make enough money so we no longer have to take Megabus everywhere! Other than that, we’re headlining Tooting Tram and Social on 15th July for ‘The Remedy’, a night hosted by Radio X’s John Kennedy. We’re then heading back to Hull for Humber Street Sesh on 6th August.
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