Firmly grounded in retro roots

The British press has called the Music 'potentially the most important group since Oasis'.

It's no surprise that Robert Harvey, shaggy-haired frontman of the Music, is obsessed with artists who were around well before he was. Three years after the Leeds quartet were touted as the future of rock, the band haven't moved on from their retro influences.

"New music don't interest me at all," says the 21-year-old. "I can appreciate some stuff that's going on - the Streets, the Rapture - but it's difficult to get really into it."

Perhaps he's conveniently forgetting that he went to see a new band the night before this interview.

"They were good," he admits, making an observation about the singer that could apply to himself. "She had a different voice, really high-pitched."

It's thanks to Harvey's Perry Farrell-style falsetto, Stuart Coleman's loping bass, Adam Nutter's trippy guitars and Phil Jordan's block-rockin' drums that the Music have divided opinion since their arrival on the scene in 2001.

They sold half a million copies of their first, self-titled album, quickly built a reputation for their live shows and won praise from British music paper NME which called them "potentially the most important group since Oasis".

Meanwhile, critics derided the arrogant name and for rehashing their heroes, complaining they sounded like a washed-up version of the Stone Roses, U2 and Led Zeppelin. Some of the more caustic of reviews called them pretentious or cocky.

"You don't go anywhere being cocky, do you?" reasons Harvey. "The English media love trying to create them moments and sometimes you've just got to say what they want to hear, just to shut them up. But it's a mistake. We did that when we were younger and said things and now when we look back it's like, 'Oh god, what were we talking about there?' Which I'm sure I'll do in another two years.

"You've got to build a barrier. I can see why people go absolutely anal with it all, because you do get told that you're good a lot. You've got to separate yourself from that and almost numb yourself when people are talking to you, because you don't want to become anything but yourself.

"This band started because we all enjoy music, we all enjoy expressing themselves. And then someone said, 'Do you want to go around the world and do this?' And we went, '[Expletive] yeah'. We didn't write music for people who were sitting on the computer talking on a message board."

The Music's new album, Welcome to the North, may not convince those scribes otherwise but it shows the band have done a great deal of growing up in the past few years. There are still plenty of excessive, psychedelic moments but Harvey's voice has mellowed a tad, and now that he's an old fella he can no longer just thrash it like he used to.

"It's difficult to do it while keeping your musical integrity and not becoming just a [expletive] sell-out," he says. "When we recorded the album we went to find a producer who could help us reach people but still get our point across."

That producer turned out to be Brendan O'Brien (Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), who honed their freewheeling rock'n'roll into a tighter, more professional sound.

"We know we're a great live band now and I don't mean that in a big-headed way. I just think we're confident and aware of what we can do. Before we were just getting a room and making a load of noise. A lot of it was very good noise and had a good groove - it felt great just to get out of the system. But now, I think it's at a point where, after two years' touring and experiencing the world a bit, we've grown as a band, become tighter and more accomplished musicians as well as broadening our minds."

That has come about as a result of their relentless touring schedules, playing everywhere from London's Brixton Academy to the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan and the Big Day Out here three years ago. Fans will know that when Harvey gets on stage he goes a bit wacky - one reviewer noted he danced as though bobbing apples with his butt.

When they're not touring, they're taking time out in Leeds. The band all live within five minutes' walk of one another. Harvey says he wouldn't live anywhere else, because his family and friends are all here, even though the album title, Welcome to the North, is both a patriotic and ironic statement about their hometown.

"There's some cool bars in Leeds but in terms of clubs and stuff, it's hard to find somewhere where you feel comfortable where there's good music and you feel you're not going to get slaughtered when you get outside," he says.

"I just prefer to sit in a room and get hammered and talk to people; sometimes in a club you can't find that.

"It's not as bad as it used to be. It's become a lot more cosmopolitan which I like. In terms of race and culture I like that a lot because it opens people's minds."

Travel has influenced his appreciation of home, he says. "The world is a small place full of amazing things and people. Sometimes I wish we could be like the wind and go from one side of the Earth to the other but it takes a long time.

"You do get exposed to a lot of the harsh realities in the world as well. I'm a pretty sensitive person and I get a bit upset about things every once in a while - the whole war situation, it just gets you down.

"But you haven't got a choice where you're born, have you? You are what you are."

BDO Performance

*Who: The Music

*Where: Blue Stage, Big Day Out

*When: 2-2.45pm, today

* If you can't be there in person, join us for continuous updates throughout the day at nzherald.co.nz/bigdayout