Liars

Dazed Digital catches up with cult band Liars, who tell tales on their new album, NWA influences and being lady killers with Interpol.

Dazed Digital: Your new album Liars has such a different sound - you like to confound expectations... how would you describe it?
Angus: It's really honest and direct. We looked back at the 'teenage years' - seems like the time when you're most affected by music. If you look at your own consumption on music through those years, you can look at the development of your identity through that. It starts off for me with the things I was supposed to like - Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince. I think what happened for me was that hip hop started up - people like NWA, it was kind of like our rock 'n roll. Hip hop had that aggression and intensity that I guess Madonna wasn't giving me. You keep looking for things that relate to you, Guns n Roses, whatever, then you get a bit more sensitive and listen to The Cure and The Smiths y'know? It was really nice to be able to reveal that a bit more in this album.

DD: How did it feel to get such a great response in London at White Heat and Field Day?
A: It did feel like the audience knew our new stuff better than we did which was a little weird. We're supporting Interpol on a US tour in September. It's a real challenge for us playing arenas, we'll have to find a way to translate our sound.
We're pretty excited about it - they're a band that we share a lot in common with actually.

DD: Really? I heard they're lady killers?
Julian: Well, we're kind of like lady killers too. More literally.

DD: We've got this behind the scenes video from you guys that you shot in Berlin - why choose Berlin?
A: We've recorded there previously so it's the first time we've gone back to somewhere we've worked before, it felt like it was a good place to work.

Click play below to watch an exclusive video recorded at the Liars' studio in Berlin with Sailing to Byzantium