Relentlessly touring the country without a sign of major mainstream breakthrough is tough for any band. The unglamorous, sleepless lifestyle and all-too-frequent battles with record producers and labels almost falls into routine. But ten years on, Manchester trio I Am Kloot are far from feeling sick, tired or bitter; instead oozing warmth, friendliness and all in all, a sense of gratitude. Pete Jobson (bass) greets me with familiar North-Eastern tone, as we discuss the coastal lifestyle he left in pursuit of a bustling music scene.
“I was a sucker for the reputation for great partying and music. Manchester has an amazing heritage for music, and that’s why I came here.”
Jobson relocated when he started college and soon stumbled across Johnny Bramwell (vocals, guitar) and Andy Hargreaves (drums). Far from being a typical band of “Madchester”, the band picked their name to remain flexible and to avoid being tarred with the same brush as other Mancunian acts.
“It’s a weird name, there’s no doubt about it. We wanted to do different kinds of things and you could do a lot of different things under the name of Kloot – music for films or events or whatever. If you’re called something like The Strokes, you’re going to be a in a rock and roll band, you’re going to have to play youthful music, the older that you get, you’re going to look like a bit of an arsehole when you’re 40, singing about teenagers. We wanted to do something a bit more interesting rather than we-do-rock-a-roll-and-wear-tight-trousers.”
The group have also had a little trouble with the name ‘Kloot’ whilst playing abroad.
“We played in Holland, and in Flemish, Kloot is a term of abuse… It’s the word for scrotum. Of course we didn’t know that at all, and the first time we were there, we were getting picked up from the airport and there was a guy standing there with a sign. We were about an hour late and everyone was taking the piss out of him for holding up the sign. He explained to us what it meant, and we were like ‘for f*ck’s sake! It’s a made up word!’ Who knows what people are going to think of the band – some kind of comedy outfit or some crazy punk heads. But Holland’s one of the best places to play, it goes really well – we sell a lot of tshirts.”
The band have always fared well in Europe; playing their first gig in Paris to a small crowd where, memorably, one girl fainted due to “low blood sugar levels.” But Jobson warns wannabe musicians about potential dangers.
“Touring around various other countries we’ve probably all ended up with what we thought was a woman but actually turned out to be a man – I don’t know which lads haven’t done that. You’ve gotta be careful.”
And careful, the band have been. Releasing their latest album Sky At Night at precisely the right time to be considered for a Mercury Prize nomination proved to be an excellent move.
“We released our album in the Summer so it could qualify for the timescale of when the Mercurys were announced, and it was something Garvey would joke about when we were making the record. We kind of tried, but you can never expect to get that kind of recognition. It was a real bonus when it happened and we were buzzing. It really helps your profile amongst people who love music, and also in the Media. They pay a bit more attention to what you’re doing.”
“It’s like a new day for us.. which is a bit weird after ten years!”
Jobson describes the album as moody, romantic, and the “smoothest LP we’ve ever done.” Themes of terestrialism and nightlife runs throughout, with songs such as ‘It’s Just the Night’ and ‘The Moon is a Blind Eye’. Sky At Night was produced by Elbow’s Guy Garvey and Craig Potter, who are long term friends with the band.
“Guy produced our first LP many, many years ago. We’re best buddies really, we have been since we started. Elbow started at the same time as us, we helped each other out and lent each other money and got through the best we did. We’ve always wanted to record with Guy and Craig ever since we did the first one but unfortunately they were busy doing their music and it never crossed over. They were always recording when we wanted to record! We used to release LPs on the same day.”
Luckily, working in such close proximity with friends was a success, and usual producer-band tensions were absent during the recording process.
“We’ve had the odd kick-off with producers because they’ve got ideas to something you don’t want to do, but luckily on this, there was none of that – it was like working with your best mates. You know they were very, very talented and so it was the best recording experience we’ve ever had, by miles.”
The whole process was life changing for I Am Kloot who, prior to recording, were without a manager, label – or much money. Elbow had just finished the promotion of their Mercury award-winning album The Seldom Seen Kid, written about a friend of the band who died suddenly in 2006.
“They had a lot of time and they had a studio and a lot of space. Their influence on it was massive. The idea that you’re really comfortable to try any ideas, whoever had an idea could try it out. Guy did all of the string arrangements, Craig did piano, it was everybody all in. There was a lot of input and it was one of the first times we could try anything we wanted to try. In the past, it just wasn’t possible. We had this one producer and he was like, look, I’ve produced the Rolling Stones. And we were like, so f*cking what? He wasn’t really happy about that.”
When asked what else was different this time around, Jobson expressed the importance of having adequate time to develop and produce songs.
“Usually, you tour and gig to make money and you have a couple of months where you need an album’s worth of songs, but under that sort of pressure of time, you write stuff that you just have to use, that with more time you probably wouldn’t. We had about fifteen songs, some didn’t make it, some did. We thought the running order and transitions were very important, it’s a very smooth LP. There were some really upbeat tunes with were quite anthemic really, but they just didn’t fit with the idea. There are a few things knocking around that we’ll probably use later.”
How does Jobson feel about the band’s future? “Brilliant. It’s like a new day for us, which is weird after ten years.”