We wanted to bring across the sound that we hear when we play – ISLAND discuss upcoming EP, share tour life stories and consider desert islands.

“Central London traffic is the worst” – I think as I rush again through the city trying not to be late, again, for a scheduled chat with a band.

Having finally arrived at the venue, surprisingly on time, I bump into ISLAND who, as it turns out, weren’t told about this interview. Well, considering the fact that I was super late on the first occasion we met I guess that makes us even.

It is a Wednesday night when I sit down to catch up with the London-based four-piece who are about to take to the stage and play in front of a sold out crowd at London’s heart, Scala. The show rounds off the band’s first ever headline European tour.

How has it been then?

Excellent! – I hear from James Wolfe (bass).

Pretty awesome, lots of amazing cities, lots of great crowds, really unexpected actually – says Toby Richards (drums). I don’t think we were really expecting to go into Europe and have people who were interested in our music.

We were really privileged – adds Jack Raeder (guitar). We weren’t expecting that after all.

Any highlights?

We don’t want to offend anyone – Rollo Doherty (vocals/guitar) starts.

Paradiso was amazing – Toby ponders. It’s a beautiful venue and the crowd was beautiful.

Reeperbahn! – says James.

Hamburg was pretty great – Jack recalls. And Southampton.

Yeah, Hamburg and Amsterdam two personal favourites – Toby tells. Up until tonight. We’ll see.

What about the crowds? Any big differences?

Absolutely! – James expresses.

Especially the Dutch crowds are very appreciative and very quiet when we’re playing songs – Toby explains. Which is great because in England you kind of get used to people talking over your songs and when you have silence it’s a bit weird at first. But then you realise that they’re actually enjoying it and you get much bigger reception.

The band spent a few months on the road playing shows in France, Germany, Netherlands and the UK. I bet they have some interesting stories to share.

I pushed everyone’s gear down the stairs – Jack tells. It was a little bit like a slow motion, everything flying through the air, a lot of stuff going down and tumbling down the stairs.

We had a little stage invasion from an interesting woman – Rollo recalls. We think it was a woman; a woman with a low voice. It was during the song ‘Waves’ and Jack’s pedals were breaking.

She was going on and off again – Jack adds.

And the promoter thought it was part of the show so the security didn’t even come and put her off the stage – Toby ponders.

Is that true? – Jack asks.

Yeah, they had no idea – Toby sums up. That was a good story. What else? We had a nice little steak dinner on the rooftop in Berlin which was pretty nice. I don’t know, no other real big stories at the moment.

Lots of hours of driving – says Jack.

I’ve got a pretty high score in a game Crossy Road – Rollo remarks. I think I’m pretty up there, me and Jack looked up the high scores. I think I’m gonna be a champion so maybe my time in the band is limited.

And all say “Yes!” in response.

We’ll support you whatever happens – says James.

It’s a time commitment, isn’t it? – Jack adds.

These guys are really supportive with my crossy roading – Rollo rounds up. You should play.

Maybe I should, but what if I beat Rollo’s score?

We really wanted to capture the actual energy we bring across in our live set

ISLAND have announced the release of their sophomore EP giving the world two tasters so far, songs Waves and A Place You Like. The forthcoming EP, suitably titled A Place You Like, due early next year, is a follow-up to their 2015’s critically acclaimed debut EP, Girl. But before that happens, the band reveals the ideas behind the tracks and discuss the recording process.

Each song is a different story – Rollo explains. I think what was cool about ‘A Place You Like’ was that we wrote it in pretty much a day and recorded the next day. We kind of went full circle from the place we started our first recordings. We did lots of different recording methods and then finally ended up going back to the studio in Oxford. Then we nailed down the technique of recording live which we really like, so I guess that kind of is a place we like.

We really wanted to capture the actual energy we bring across in our live set and not lose it through the recording – Toby continues. Everything we did was really natural and just came together.

The first EP we recorded and mixed completely ourselves so it was a very big learning experience – Rollo adds. Very long process, we did day and night shifts.

We’re still getting there – says Toby. There was an aspect of us when we were a bit, not afraid, but sceptical about going into the studio and capturing what we wanted. But I think with this, the four of us feel like we’ve created something that we feel actually resembles the sound that we wanted to bring across to people.

The sound that we hear when we play – Jack adds.

The producer Mike Hill helped to steer us in the right direction which I think is the road we were always supposed to go down but we didn’t necessarily know that – says Rollo.

Big fan of Mike – Jack sums up.

Tracks All You Ever Needed Was Love and Dreaming Of have landed on the EP, alongside two already mentioned songs, but are still a little bit of a mystery especially if you haven’t caught the band on their recent tour. What’s more, there might be even more new music on the way.

Well, we’re playing a brand new song tonight that we’ve literally just written while we’ve been on the road in Europe – Toby unveils. It’s called ‘Feels Like Air’ and I’m sure it’ll be coming to public ears at some point. Maybe in like two years.

But there are two tracks of the EP which haven’t been released yet and we’re playing them tonight – Jack clarifies. Two of my favourite songs probably.

The song ‘All You Ever Needed Was Love’ is about a theme we commonly go into which is loneliness, but then at the same time hope because I think we live in a pretty lonely world even when there’s so much connecting everyone – Rollo tells.

Especially in London – James adds.

Yes, especially in London – Rollo continues. And ‘Dreaming Of’ does what it says on the tin, it’s basically just about dreaming of the ideal situation but you know, it was all a dream.

‘All You Ever Needed Was Love’ was an interesting one because a part of it we’d actually written maybe a year ago and sort of shelved that song – James reveals. And then we started writing this song and we couldn’t find the right section so we brought back the other one and it just fell into place. That’s a pretty interesting one, like recycling old stuff that doesn’t get used.

Lyrically what it was in another song fit perfectly – Rollo sums up.

As the conversation unravels we talk some more about favourite tunes. There’s a lot of love for All You Ever Needed Was Love and the title track A Place You Like, but as the guys underline it is always different when you play a song live.

ISLAND is like blank canvas

We have discussed in the past the consequences of choosing ISLAND for a name but we’ve never really delved into how it came about.

I think it’s a simple story – Toby explains. It goes back a few years when we were pretty nameless for a long time. We’d been thinking so hard about what to go for, what would suit the sound, what would work and what wouldn’t, that we spent a long time with no name.

Much too long – Jack adds.

A lot of names you hear and you already have an idea of what the music should sound like – Rollo clarifies. Genuinely when I’ve heard the names of certain bands I thought “I don’t think I’d really like to listen to them”. I’ve only realised that The Horrors were fucking good the other day. Just the ambiguity of ISLAND worked for us.

It’s a bit like blank canvas – says Jack.

It was simply a word that James said – Toby tells. At first it spun around the room and one day we were like “We don’t have a fucking name. Let’s just have a name”. So that’s what it was, one word. We didn’t want anything long or long-winded. It does the job and looks great. We’re happy with it.

We should probably announce that – James suggests.

Alright, since we’re on the island topic let’s play a game. I might have watched too many movies about desert islands anyway.

Imagine you’re about to take off to one. Two things you would take along?

And after a while I get first picks.

Hmm… probably… personally… can I say my girlfriend? – Rollo asks.

A comfy bed would be up there I think – Jack tells.

My girlfriend and a bed – Rollo decides.

Can we do four, just one each? – Toby asks.

I might do something more interesting – Rollo seems to be changing his mind.

What would yours be? So Jack’s is a comfy bed, right?

Not sure if I want….

Well, it’s surely not as easy as I thought.

I think a comfy bed is a waste of time if it gets wet then it’d just be shit – says James.

I’d probably bring a brewery – another one from Rollo.

You can probably make your own brew there – Jack suggests. I’d like to know what was going on in the world, like a newspaper or a radio would be really nice.

The guys consider even more options at this point.

I think, for me a dog – what appears to be Rollo’s final answer.

Probably an inhaler – James explains. I’m pretty screwed without it.

Mine would have to be a sweet treat – Toby reveals. I can’t go anywhere without that.

A pudding trolley – Jack sums up.

Well, definitely not my first guesses but it sounds like a pretty good island. I wish I was going.

The band’s sophomore EP, A Place You Like, is due for release on Feb 3rd via Beatnik Creative.

ISLAND have also announced they will be playing a headline show on May 3rd at Heaven in London.