On the Outside…

_For those unlucky few who haven’t heard your music before, can you explain your sound and what you’re all about?_

Well, my sound is folk. It used to be called acoustic but then a load of bands came out and said it was folk! I guess you could say it’s angsty as well! All I’m about is just playing music and having fun. It’s good to have an outlet, otherwise I might be miserable in real life.
So what have you been up to since the release of This is Not What You Had Planned in 2008?
I’ve been recording an album which took two years! And I recorded Exclamation At Asterisk Hash with Jim Lockey and Oxygen Thief in 2009. I also performed at 2000trees Festival and I did the warm-up for Frank Turner at Reading at Leeds which went very well. I guess the main thing which happened recently was I got signed to the lovely Xtra Mile!

_It literally wasn’t going to be anyone else was it?_

Yeah, who else could I be signed by? I’m pretty sure Frank Turner and Chris T-T had a lot to do with it!

_You’ve been knocking around the music scene for a while now but you’ve never released a full album. Are you excited about the release of your debut album Outside There’s a Curse this week and what took you so long?_

Well… What a question! This is the best interview I’ve had so far! I mean, some of the questions are a bit harsh but yeah, I had been knocking around for absolutely ages. I am very excited about the release and the end of the tour, which is also Monday, because I’ll be able to get some sleep. It terms of why it took so long, it was mostly to do with the funding so I moved out of my flat in to a friend’s box room, but then that wasn’t big enough because I was recording the album on an 8-track, and I had to use people’s floors. Eventually it got done though! The release took so long because when I was geared up for it, Frank told me to send it to Xtra Mile. So I did and they called me up and said they’d like to release it!

_Lots of false starts then! What can we expect from your new album?_

Oh it’s sh*t! Expect loads of sh*t, it’s rubbish! It’s still quite folky and there’s like a full band on some of the songs. I wrote in six of my friends and we formed a seven-piece band for some of them and sometimes it’s just me by myself. One of them we did in front of a live audience in a studio, which was lovely and everyone made loads of noise, then some of them are very quiet and moody, especially the Postal Service cover! That’s nice. I like that. So, generally it sounds like what I sound like.

_So apart from Postal Service, would you say you have any other major influences?_

Definitely Elliot Smith, Death Cab for Cutie, Mr. F. Tur ie. Frank Turner, and (the extra cuddly) Chris T-T.

_Stop reading my questions! You know the answers aren’t on there don’t you! Well, it isn’t a surprise anymore but I wanted to ask you what your favourite song on the new album is?_

My favourite is ‘They Will Float Your Body Out to Sea’ so I put it right in the middle of the album and there’s a song called ‘Tell Avril Lavigne I Never Wanted To Be Her Stupid Boyfriend Anyway’ which is also very good. I’m looking forward to the lawsuit! Someone tagged me on Twitter the other day from the Virgin Red Room saying “Tell Avril Lavigne I Never Wanted To Be Her Stupid Boyfriend Anyway, best/worst song title of 2011?” And I thought yes! Any press is good press, but I could do without this, Virgin.

_I’m going to quote you saying “I could do without this Virgin!”_

Hahahaha! Yeah, they’re not one of my favourites, I can do without them! Anyway, next question…

_Ok! You’ve been touring with Oxygen Thief again, is this for nostalgia’s sake, or can we expect another Exclamation at Asterisk Hash style split-album? _

Yeah, we missed each other so much that we just had to get in the car and do it again! He’s actually got an album coming out this year but we’ll probably do another split album again in the future. I’m just really happy to get my album out at the minute! But it’s good to be trapped in a car for long hours with someone that you’ve never argued with before. We just drive across the country and listen to the Karate Kid soundtrack and everything is fine.

_Do you have any favourite up-and-coming British bands at the minute?_

I like Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun. He’s supporting Frank Turner’s smaller shows this year so that will be good for him. Who else do I like other than that? Does it have to be British bands and do they have to be up-and-coming or can it just be bands that nobody has heard of? Because there’s this amazing band from New York called the Two Man Gentleman Band and one plays the banjo and the other plays the stand-up double bass. They do kind of like good-time 50’s style, vaudeville numbers. In terms of other bands there’s The Quiet, Quiet Band and they’re not quiet but they are a band so 33% of their name is true! They’re sort of dark, marauding folk and their songs are about serial killers.

_What’s next for you in 2011?_

Hopefully I’ll do some touring again in the summer and some more festivals like 2000trees again. I’ve actually booked in to start recording for a new album on the 6th of March, so yeah, it’s going to be all go.

_Ok, finally, what shall I ask the next band I interview?_

I’d ask them: “What’s better, being punched in the face by a man? Or being punched in the face and then pushed off a cliff, but surviving and then selling your story to The Sun?”

_Ben Marwood’s brand-spanking debut album Outside There’s a Curse was released on January the 31st_