So far Diagrams have released an ep with five songs, why did the go the ep route and is there a full album on the way?

The E.P. seemed like a good way to make people aware of the band ahead of putting out an album. I think it can be hard to get noticed with so much great music around and it would be nice if a few people have heard of us before putting an album out. Hopefully that will happen early next year.

 

How would you describe your songs and influences to people who have not heard your music before?

 

I think of it as alternative pop music with a bit of electronica and the occasional hint of funk...and perhaps a whiff of folk. Influences amongst many include Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, New Orleans Funk and Pentangle.

 

Is Diagrams a side project to Tunng or have you parted ways?

 

I left Tunng on good terms a couple of years ago so this is something totally new.

 

 

 

When writing material do you ever think about where or when people will be listening to your songs?

 

When I was writing and recording this record I tried not to think about how I'd perform it and in what context. I really wanted to play with different ideas and styles without feeling like I needed to keep things simple for when I got to the live stage. I think in general when I'm writing I think more about the song and how it feels than where it will ultimately be performed.

 

You are playing The End of The Road festival next weekend, will you be hanging around to catch other bands and take in the flavour of the festival?

 

I can't get there until Saturday as I'm in charge of bringing the gear in the van, which is a shame as I was really looking forward to Tune Yards on Friday night.

I'll be staying after the show for the rest of the weekend though and I'm really looking forward to it. It's just such a lovely festival with great people and atmosphere. My first plan after our show is to get a hot cider and go and watch wild beasts.

 

Will it actually be your live debut at End of the Road and who will be in the band?

 

This will actually be our first ever gig so I'm both excited and terrified. There will be Tom (drums/vocals) and Astra (keys/vocals) from a band called the Robot Heart with me, John on Bass, Max on electric guitar, Ben on trombone and viola, Quinta on clarinet and violin, Lizzie on trumpet and Emma on Baritone Sax. I'm still not entirely sure if we'll manage to have a rehearsal with the whole band before the festival as everyone is quite busy. 2 weeks ago we only knew 3 songs so it's going to be quite an exciting challenge to be ready in time. I think I'll sleep better on Saturday night than I have in a while!

 

What music will be playing in the van on your Road Trip to the festival next weekend?

 

That's a good question. It depends on how strong willed our Tour Manager and driver, Arnuad is and what his taste in music is. He's working with us for the first time and has been really great helping with all the planning, so I feel quite indebted to him. I don't know what he likes so it could be fun finding out. On the other hand if I get to choose then I might go for something relaxing to ease my nerves... maybe Jackson Browne's 'Late for the Sky' or some Juana Molina.

 

How important are the social networks Twitter,facebook, myspace etc to you when promoting the band and ep?

 

I don't really know much about this. I have a blog at diagramsmusic.com which feeds through to twitter and facebook automatically and it feels like facebook is somewhere where people do discover you at the moment so I think that makes it quite important. Myspace seems to get less attention from people. I'm not a big social networker but it interests me.. there's a lot of potential for connecting with people who have similar interests and beliefs to you. I think it's early days for it all and something more exciting is going to come along sometime soon in the form of a new technology or software that makes the whole thing more relevant to you as an individual and takes out some of the nonsense.

 

The ep artwork is pretty special where did that come from?

 

It's by an artist called Chrissie Abbott. I'd seen her work around and had wondered who she was for a long time but hadn't managed to find out. Then the label showed me some artwork and by pure coincidence it was by this artist I was looking for - who was Chrissie. If you google her she has a website and blog with lots more great stuff on them. 

 

Your label (Full Time Hoby) was affected by the recent Sony fire during the London riots, what has been the effect on you the band?

 

The main loss for us is that all the remaining E.P. stock has been destroyed including the remainder of the screen printed vinyl we had made. It means running off lots of cdr's when we want to send cd's to people! For the label it's a big loss of time and sales, as they're not able to ship stock to stores. The best thing people can do to help is to buy a digital release from them. They've got some great bands... I can recommend Timber Timbre, Mica P Hinson, School of Seven Bells (Alpinisms was one of my favourite albums last year) and The Leisure Society. You can get all their digital releases at Sandbag. Here's a link..