Apple Eyes is an electro pop band formed in London in 2009. Taking their influences from the likes of Deerhoof, of Montreal and the Flaming Lips, they make catchy slices of pop that twist and turn unexpectedly beneath the surface. Their recent single, 'Wild Beasts' received radio play from BBC 6music's Tom Robinson, and the band have played shows with Allo Darlin', The Electric Soft Parade, The Puncture Repair Kit and the mighty Ooberman! Today we're chatting to Claire and Matt from the band...
Hi Claire and Matt, tell us about Apple Eyes
We're a female fronted indie/pop/electronic band from London. We started writing songs together in 2009, while we were playing in the indie band The Hidden Messages (together with our guitarist Kenny). We recorded a lot at home and had songs played on 6Music, but it wasn't until earlier this year that we started gigging with the full band – Claire, Matt, Kenny, Alex and Dan. We released a download single Wild Beasts last week. We're influenced by the likes of Phoenix, the Flaming Lips, Cornelius, Deerhoof and Elliott Smith, to name a few - you might hear bits of all of these in our songs.
Tell us about an unusual place you've played a gig in the past
This isn't strictly a gig, but we were invited to one of Tom Robinson's parties a while ago after he played our song on his 6Music show – it had a masquerade theme, so it was all slightly surreal with everyone wearing masks, but really good fun. In the early hours of the morning we were corralled into playing a few acoustic versions of our songs – we'd never played them live before, but we got through them and the audience seemed to like it. Of course, they were all wearing masks so there was no way of knowing for sure...
Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?
All of us are also members of A Little Orchestra, who are playing on Sunday evening – Claire & Matt on violins, Alex on bassoon, Dan on percussion and Kenny on all sorts of stringed instruments, including his newest acquisition, the harp(!). We haven't quite incorporated the bassoon or harp into an Apple Eyes song yet, but it can only be a matter of time. Members of ALO are also collaborating with Pocketbooks and Haiku Salut over the weekend which we're really excited about.
Claims to fame... Kenny and Matt were a couple of years above Aston Villa and England striker Darren Bent at school... they taught him everything he knows about the beautiful game. Also, Claire's cousin's husband's sister's ex-boyfriend used to drum for Ozzy Osbourne... does that count?
What attracted you to play the Indietracks festival?
Indietracks combines our two loves of indie-pop music and locomotion! When Matt was small his Grandpa built a little steam engine and railway line at the bottom of the garden, so he's going to spend the whole weekend talking about steam pressure and heat transfer. The rest of us are going to enjoy seeing the bands – particularly Pocketbooks, Model Village, Chris T-T, Edwyn Collins and The Hidden Cameras. This is our first time at Indietracks but we've heard great things about it. This is our first festival appearance and we're really excited that it's going to be at Indietracks!
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