ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 2, 2004
By Steve Newton
Since they hail from Leeds, England, you might think that the members of the Music view the Who’s legendary Live at Leeds album as sacred. But that landmark disc’s 14-minute–plus rendition of “My Generation” is not embedded in the consciousness of the Music vocalist Robert Harvey.
For one thing, it was released 13 years before he was born.
“I don’t think people [from Leeds] are that bothered about it,” says the 21-year-old singer, calling from backstage on tour with Incubus in Grand Forks, North Dakota. While Leeds University was perhaps the rockingest place on Earth when Pete Townshend and company hit the stage on February 14, 1970, Harvey explains that the city itself is no great shakes musicwise.
“There’s not much going on, really,” he relates. “The main venues that were there have been closed down; there’s only a couple of small things now. There’s a few decent bands that come through, but it’s not quite what it used to be.”
They may not be Who devotees, but the men in Music are definitely inspired by other prime movers of the ’70s. The L.A. Times describes the quartet’s guitar-driven noise as “a grand sound that mixes Zeppelin, Queen, and U2 into an electronics-spiked sonic storm”. Harvey takes the comparisons with a grain of salt.
“Umm, I don’t disagree with it,” he notes. “But everybody wants their own individuality. I mean, it’s always nice to be compared to great bands like that lot, but we just try and focus on expressing ourselves. Obviously, if we sound too like somethin’ else, we’ll change it.”
Harvey’s high-pitched vocal style won’t get him mistaken for Bono anytime soon, but an unmistakably Edge-y approach on guitar does permeate the Music’s latest CD, Welcome to the North. The follow-up to 2003’s self-titled debut, it was produced by Brendan O’Brien, who’s twiddled knobs for the likes of Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Bruce Springsteen.
“The guy can do everything,” raves Harvey. “He’s a great player on most instruments. But for me, his biggest skill–outside of the music–is understanding people. He got the best out of us in the studio, kept pushing us and helping us test ourselves more than anything.”
Last year the Music won new fans while opening for bands like Coldplay and the Vines, but the group will be on its own headlining jaunt when it plays the Commodore Ballroom on Monday (December 6), with Winnipeg’s fast-rising Waking Eyes warming up.
With gold albums in the U.K., Japan, and Australia, the youngsters from Leeds have done pretty well in a short time. Harvey is certainly pleased with how his band’s career has unfolded to date.
“When I think about the reasons why we first got together,” he says, “and how things have changed, it looks like they’ve changed in a good way. Our management helps us to just keep focusing on the music, without havin’ to deal with too many business things.”
Of course, there’s a wee bit o’ partyin’ to be had in between all that focusing.
“I got into the Guinness last night,” admits Harvey. “I can’t remember where we were, but we were in there from midday to like 10 o’clock at night. It was really messy.”