“I’m kind of bored of London to be honest. I want to make the move to America soon,” says Robbie Furze, of electro-rock duo The Big Pink, the project created alongside Milo Cordell.
Furze, who performs at Great American Music Hall on April 15, is talkative and his confident, distinctly British voice sometimes slips into softer tones as he elaborates on the differences between British and American listeners. “It seems to be a much more positive vibe for us out there. Once American listeners catch onto a band, they stay with the band, and in England there’s no concrete loyalty,” he says.
Besides the band’s preference of our side of the pond, Furze had a lot on his mind as we sat down for a long-distance phone interview. The Big Pink just released their sophomore album Future This last month, and though the sound on the new album can wear the label of electro rock like their previous album, Future This holds entirely different emotions. Furze admits that the band spent more time focusing on keeping “the end goal of good shows in mind. When you do your debut record you don’t really think about the fact that you’re going to have to tour it for so long.”
The Big Pink’s debut album, A Brief History of Love, was released in 2009 and was well-received. The hit single “Dominoes” was not only popular enough for the airwaves, but also earned the award for Best Track at the NME Awards in 2010. A Brief History of Love has a bittersweet contrast of liveliness and slightly jaded lyrics, a youthful combination that rendered the record marketable to the mainstream and still allowed it to maintain a sense of depth. However, Furze noticed that “ it was solemn at times and that would translate in the concerts. There’d be a kind of melancholic vibe going on and we were jealous of people who would get crowds jumping and creating a higher energy than we were getting,” he says. “We wanted a record that’s very positive and we wanted people to dance and jump around at our gigs. We wanted it to be more upbeat.”
Future This, he says, is more extroverted. “We’re very happy people, so I think that comes across,” he says of Future This, a record with a name inspired by a 1980s skate company slogan that Milo found online. Furze says that the album is also a gift to the band because it represents their future as an established band.
The Big Pink just released a music video for the expansive first single “Give It Up”, and Furze says their next video will focus on “Lose Your Mind.”
“I think we’re going to do the live version for the video,” Furze says “It’s got a bit more of a dance element to it. It’s nice to have the complete audio and visual sides of each song. If I could I would have a video for every song on the record.”
The band is already working on new music, and Furze gave me a brief preview of an early track with industrial-inspired drum beats. “By the end of the summer I think we’ll have some new stuff to play live.” With two new band members, drummer Vicky Smith and “noise master” Zan Lyons, it is likely that The Big Pink’s sound will evolve. Furze describes their newer creations, of which we can expect a full album next May, as being a combination of “complex rhythms [and] high energy.”
In addition Furze mentioned the band’s desire to collaborate with other electronic-leaning artists like Glasser and Gang Gang Dance, even mentioning setting up a mobile studio to enable The Big Pink to easily record with other bands.
Still, Future This is very new, and The Big Pink is all set to hit the summer festival season. They just returned from SXSW where they celebrated a good time in the Austin sunshine.
“The shows are quite stressful, but they were all really good. We went out and partied with a lot of our friends there. It’s pretty nonstop.” With Coachella quickly approaching, it seems that The Big Pink won’t be resting much over the next few months. This year is the band’s second time playing Coachella since 2010.
“Last time was amazing,” says Furze. “We played on a Sunday at about 6pm. We were up against Thom Yorke on another stage. This time we’re playing on a Saturday at the Mojave tent.” The band will also be DJing an official after-party before driving up to San Francisco for a show at The Great American Music Hall on April 15, then back down to southern California for three stops in LA and the second weekend of the desert festival.
Furze describes the band’s live shows to be “an organic electronic live experience.” The band’s image of working hard and partying hard holds true, and Coachella will not be all work and no play for The Big Pink. “I want to see At The Drive In,” says Furze. “We’ve got to be careful not to party too hard on that Friday, but I think we always find the time to have fun.”
The Big Pink performs at the Great American Music Hall on April 15. The show starts at 8pm and tickets are $17.