After ten years of almost non-stop touring and recording I Am Kloot had reached rock bottom. As a potential last roll of the dice they teamed up with Elbow’s Craig Potter and Guy Garvey to start work on their fifth album, Sky At Night. “When we recorded it we were at a point where we had no money, no manager, no record company, nothing,” bassist Peter Jobson explained.
“We just had to make it the best it could be and if everyone was happy every song was as good as each other, that was the benchmark. Listening to the record it’s the one time where we’ve made a really high quality LP with some of the best songs Johnny (Bramwell) has written. For the first time since the first record we had a thought out idea with cohesive songs and a message.”
Throughout the recording process there was feeling amongst the Manchester trio that they were creating something special. “Guy kept saying, “You’re going to get nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and probably even win it”. We released the record in time to be nominated for the award but you could never expect to be nominated. The Mercurys are superb for the level of the exposure that you get. We are very proud to be involved with the other musicians that were nominated, and a lot of really great things that weren’t,” Jobson added.
After being one of the UK‘s best kept secrets the band had to come to terms with the media attention that came their way. “We went to the ceremony where the nominations were announced and did a press run for TV and radio. We had never had that level of exposure before or that interest so it was really weird. On the day of the nominations we were a bunch of northern oiks to be honest, we were just not used to it.”
The critical acclaim brought with it a wider audience, which pleased the band who take pride in their live shows. “Since we started it was always about gigging and when we started this record it was the first time we had stopped. Over the last ten years we’ve done as many gigs as possible to sustain ourselves, to keep going. We’ve sold more records than ever, the word is spreading and we are all buzzing. We’ve been doing it for ten years now and it’s always been a word of mouth thing but there’s more and more people coming.
“The records we have done before have always been made with live gigs in mind. Before there was only three of us and we recorded what we could, with this new one we recorded what we wanted to fit the song. Then later on it was like “We are going to need ten musicians to do this”. Which is great having a couple of string players, a sax player, guitar, keyboards and everyone is singing as well, it’s a much fuller thing.”
Encouraged by their success the band have been writing news songs which could be debuted on their upcoming UK tour. “When we’ve been sound checking we’ve been writing. It’s sounding great, so if we get it together there might be some stuff we haven’t done before. We are in the process of writing so there’s a strong possibility.”
After touring Australia for the first time in May I Am Kloot plan to begin work on a new album, following a similar process used for Sky At Night. “There’s a lot to be said for taking your time and doing something with the people that you love and trust. We’ve learnt a lot about making records by not rushing it and saying 'that will do'. It’s got to be perfect or it doesn’t get on the record, whereas other times we could have done better. Our standards have been raised by Guy and Craig and I would love to work with them again.”
Published in the Daily Echo, Friday 28th January 2011.
“We just had to make it the best it could be and if everyone was happy every song was as good as each other, that was the benchmark. Listening to the record it’s the one time where we’ve made a really high quality LP with some of the best songs Johnny (Bramwell) has written. For the first time since the first record we had a thought out idea with cohesive songs and a message.”
Throughout the recording process there was feeling amongst the Manchester trio that they were creating something special. “Guy kept saying, “You’re going to get nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and probably even win it”. We released the record in time to be nominated for the award but you could never expect to be nominated. The Mercurys are superb for the level of the exposure that you get. We are very proud to be involved with the other musicians that were nominated, and a lot of really great things that weren’t,” Jobson added.
After being one of the UK‘s best kept secrets the band had to come to terms with the media attention that came their way. “We went to the ceremony where the nominations were announced and did a press run for TV and radio. We had never had that level of exposure before or that interest so it was really weird. On the day of the nominations we were a bunch of northern oiks to be honest, we were just not used to it.”
The critical acclaim brought with it a wider audience, which pleased the band who take pride in their live shows. “Since we started it was always about gigging and when we started this record it was the first time we had stopped. Over the last ten years we’ve done as many gigs as possible to sustain ourselves, to keep going. We’ve sold more records than ever, the word is spreading and we are all buzzing. We’ve been doing it for ten years now and it’s always been a word of mouth thing but there’s more and more people coming.
“The records we have done before have always been made with live gigs in mind. Before there was only three of us and we recorded what we could, with this new one we recorded what we wanted to fit the song. Then later on it was like “We are going to need ten musicians to do this”. Which is great having a couple of string players, a sax player, guitar, keyboards and everyone is singing as well, it’s a much fuller thing.”
Encouraged by their success the band have been writing news songs which could be debuted on their upcoming UK tour. “When we’ve been sound checking we’ve been writing. It’s sounding great, so if we get it together there might be some stuff we haven’t done before. We are in the process of writing so there’s a strong possibility.”
After touring Australia for the first time in May I Am Kloot plan to begin work on a new album, following a similar process used for Sky At Night. “There’s a lot to be said for taking your time and doing something with the people that you love and trust. We’ve learnt a lot about making records by not rushing it and saying 'that will do'. It’s got to be perfect or it doesn’t get on the record, whereas other times we could have done better. Our standards have been raised by Guy and Craig and I would love to work with them again.”
Published in the Daily Echo, Friday 28th January 2011.
