Go! Team

Impressive Memphis Industries collective the Go! Team have just brought out their much-anticipated new album 'Proof of Youth'. Dazed Digital chats to founding member Ian Parton. Dazed Digital chats to the founding member Ian Parton about advertising, Mark Ronson, and whether or not the Go! Team have abandoned their DIY elements that informed 'Thunder, Lightning, Strike'; recorded mainly in Parton's parent's kitchen.

DazedDigital: So, was the new record a lot more expensive and recorded in a more conventional way?

Ian Parton: Pretty much but there was still nothing too fancy about it. I still tried to avoid the digital domain as much as possible. It was a world away I guess making this one, because we were a band, we'd played the world, we'd played live and we had more time, equipment, knowledge, know what I mean? When we first started playing the first album I still had a job.

DD: The band that were brought together for your first show in Sweden are still pretty much together…
IP: One girl left, but yeah it's pretty much the same line-up. It's kind of unusual because we were brought together from loads of different places - we weren't exactly mates or anything like that when we first started. It's interesting we've gone the distance.

DD: Where does front woman Ninja get her energy? She's remarkable.
IP: I know. Sometimes she's asleep five minutes before we go on stage and I'm thinking 'she's never gonna pull it off tonight' and then she's doing cartwheels and stuff. She doesn't drink or anything. She's pretty straight edge. She never has hangovers, she's always fresh.

DD: Talking of fresh - you've managed to avoid being pigeonholed.
IP: Without a doubt. We've done well to avoid any NME style scene creation if you know what I mean. I think that's a bit of a victory. They like to dream up scenes don't they? Haha.

DD: The producer du jour at the moment is Mark Ronson. His style is enthusiastic but it's fairly retro.
IP: I think he's bollocks.

DD: Have you heard his Dylan track? I heard it on Radio 1 and its rather synthetic sounding.
IP: Fucking argh. That album of his is the pits man. I heard it in the pub. I was like 'fucking hell'!

DD: Your tunes have been used in TV ads.
IP: No they haven't. It's really annoying when people say we've been used in TV adverts.

DD: What about that Zane Lowe ad?
IP: Oh yeah, that was a BBC thing. That was something I couldn't stop. I haven't done any British TV adverts. It's sort of plastered all over various TV makeover shows but I can't really stop them doing that. It's wicked when they used us for the Winter Olympics, but if see somebody wallpapering a living room...

DD: Would you do an advert?
IP: I've turned down so much. I've personally sacrificed hundreds of thousands of pounds, so when people say 'you've done all these TV adverts' it's like 'ah fucking hell'. Does it mean nothing? But I've had to cave in twice to fund tours or not be dropped by EMI - things like that. But 90% I've turned down. I could have been the sound of Muller Fruit Corner."