Credit: Found On Internet

Gomez have just released their fifth studio album, you know. What do you mean you missed it? Shame on you. ‘How We Operate’ was recorded with Gil Norton and is the band’s first ever experience of recording with a producer. The result is a direct, upbeat, melodic album that still retains the band’s trademark fuzzy textures and melting-pot mentality. It’s very good.

As the band take a short breather between tours, Daniel Robson got on the phone with bassist Paul Blackburn, aka Blacky, to reflect on ten years of Gomez. It’s all festivals, studios and label rockiness around here, you know. Oh, and poetry.

Blacky! How’s everything going in the world of Gomez?
“Everything seems to be going OK. We just played at Oxygen in Ireland and then T In The Park in Scotland. The weather was a bit crap in Ireland, but we got a really good reception. And then we went to Scotland – the weather was a little bit better and the crowd were phenomenal. We walked out and it was deafening. That was quite a surprise, and quite a treat!”

How about the US tour?
“We’ve done a couple. We did a US tour, then a UK tour, then went back to the US for a couple of weeks. We played the Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee, and then did a few support slots for The Dave Matthews Band. He’s one of the owners of our label.”

Are you still happy with ‘How We Operate’?
“Yeah, very happy. It’s always funny when you start off making a record cos you don’t really know how it’s gonna turn out. I suppose you have a set of plans that you’d like to go with. It’s very melodic with concise, well-structured tunes and good harmonies. I guess it might sound more straightforward, because the melodies are so good, but there’s still quite a lot going on texturally. In the past we’d throw pretty well everything on it, whereas this time a lot’s been stripped back so that you can hear the songs more.”

How was it working with Gil Norton?
“It was cool. He’s a cool bloke, a funny chap. Sometimes he needed to kick our arses into gear. This was the first time we’d ever worked with a producer, and I think there was a bit of both sides getting used to how the other side works. For us, we were like, ‘What’s he gonna do to our music?’ and I think for him, he’s used to walking in and finding the band pretty well prepared. We hadn’t been together that much beforehand so we were still getting the songs together when he came in. We only had a month and a half to get the whole record done. I think he was like, ‘Holy crap, how are we gonna get this done?’ But once we get on the case, we tend to work through things very quickly.”