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 the earlies interview
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.Burnley meets Texas. And gets drunk. The voice down the phone sounds a world away from The Earlies on record, their lavish music shot through with high Southern States vocals. Keyboardist, arranger and “dictator”, Christian Madden’s Burnley burr is as lowdown blunt as it gets. “We seem to make it f**king well difficult for ourselves,” says Madden, referring to his band’s philharmonic-scale orchestrations. “We’ve got a horrible lumbering load of old equipment to carry about, a lot of people, and yeah, it’s a right logistical nightmare. But it’s good when it happens.”Formed on a Lancashire-Texan axis, Christian and fellow Englishman, Giles Hatton, hooked up with Americans Brandon Carr and John Mark Lapham via the bar in a Manchester recording studio. The four-piece then expanded to be joined by numerous others, the majority gleaned from Burnley’s music scene. Now on a wave of acclaim surrounding their debut LP, These Were… The Earlies, the band have been practising hard for a forthcoming tour, culminating in a slot at the Green Man Festival. “We’re trying to rehearse,” explains Christian. “But there’s 11 people and it’s been farcical. But trust me, these things pull together in the end.” This apparently shambolic state of affairs – they’re actually excellent live – belies the band’s sparkling depth of musicianship and songwriting, crafted from a Pet Sounds-like palette of layered harmonies and psychedelic build-ups. Yet it’s to late-60s country rock that The Earlies look for their white soul: “We listen to a hell of a lot of country and country rock,” explains Christian. “Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Townes van Zandt, Gene Clark … it influences the sensibilities of the writing, but we don’t necessarily sound like it.”  The Earlies confess to having made much of their new LP on the sauce. “The production side is done with a good sober ear,” explains Christian. “But a lot of the playing is done lubricated, and it works. You get people playing a lot freer on the improvisations.” The band use “improv” to get their ideas out but are well aware of the need to rein it in before things get too bloated. “We’re always running the risk of getting into that territory,” he says. “I have to confess to being a serious prog rock fan. You have to be careful though, you can’t be epic for the sake of being epic.” Christian has done stints working in a cardboard box factory and a tap manufacturers to fund his musical vision. The Earlies are full of big ideas, they’re an ambitious band. “Yeah, we’re like f**king Britney Spears,” concludes Madden, laughing. “We all thrive on ambition. We’ve been groomed for stardom. Ever since I was five me mam’s been trying to get me on the Ready Brek advert.” Get yourself a bowlful of The Earlies, it’ll make your head glow.
Stuart Turnbull
The Earlies – These Were…, released 26 July 04 on Names.
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