Boston Manor – Welcome to the Neighbourhood

By starrymag | July 29, 2018

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

 

Q) Which artists inspire you?

 

Henry: I think inspiration and influence are two different things. In terms of influence, we listen to a lot of 90’s bands like Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, Nirvana, etc. To use the example of NIN, Reznor always was, and still is, fiercely uncompromising in his art and the way he creates. That’s very inspiring in itself, but equally there’s a lot of contemporary bands that inspire me. I think bands like Code Orange & Turnstile are doing really exciting things at the moment; rejecting any limitations or expectations that scenes and commentators have put on them and just totally doing their own thing. Another artist like that I admire is Brockhampton. They’re fully absorbed in their own world and create everything themselves, from their artwork to their merch to their videos. We try to do the same as much as possible. I still design all our merch, we’re self-directing a bunch of our own music videos and whenever we have any other creators work with them we try to be as involved as we can. I think the visual side of your art is something people really overlook today.

 

Q) Please tell us the message behind your song “Halo.” 

 

Henry: It’s a song about addiction of any form. On the surface it’s about heroin addiction which is a real problem where I live, but I wanted to write about the toxicity we all face from time to time and how we can become dependent on that stuff, even if you don’t realize it’s toxic.

 

Q) What is it about “Halo” that you think resonates with fans?

 

Henry: It’s quite a desperate song, so I think that comes across pretty well. I’m not proclaiming to have any answers to this stuff. I’m just calling it how I see it. But it’s also a big change of pace sonically for us, it’s heavier, darker, etc. So, I think the fans are getting a kick out of that at the moment. I certainly am.

 

Q) How does the video play into the message of the song?

 

Henry: To be perfectly honest, it doesn’t. We knew this would be the first thing people saw and heard when we announced the album, so we wanted the video to just convey a general vibe and aesthetic that is consistent throughout the album. The main goal was to just give people a feel for what was to come, and I think we did that pretty well.

 

Q) Henry, you recently talked about the importance of bringing issues to light and getting people to think more about what’s going on in the world. How do you feel your music does that?

 

Henry: I mean, that’s not for me to say. It’s difficult when saying stuff like that because it can come across like I’m saying I know everything. People throw around these blanket statements like “we need to wake up man” and you just end up sounding like some old has been rock band throwing out these vague hollow statements about easy targets like politicians. All I’m singing about is how I feel, which I hope may resonate with other people who feel similarly. I’m just generally dissatisfied with a lot of what I see, think and feel on a day to day basis; it goes beyond popular culture, social economics and politics; It’s a deeper feeling and it keeps me up at night. I don’t have this perfect soundbite to throw out there. I’m just pissed off and scared.

 

Q) What can we expect from your sophomore album Welcome to the Neighbourhood?

 

Henry: It’s different. We’ve pushed our creative boundaries and I’m really excited about it. They’re by far the best thirteen songs we’ve ever written. They’re heavier, darker, groovier and they’re songs that you don’t hear every day. I can say that confidently.

 

Q) You had the chance to work with producer Mike Sapone for this album, who produced albums for such acts as Taking Back Sunday and Public Enemy. How do you feel working with him influenced the sound of Welcome to the Neighbourhood?

 

Henry: Sapone is awesome. He knew exactly what kind of record we wanted to make. Equally he shares loads of the same influences as us. We would sit and talk shop about music for hours on end. His knowledge of music, specifically electronic music (which is something we have brought in to this record), industrial sounds and analogue synth really helped us shape the sound of the album. He’s a mad scientist. He would come in with all these weird synths and samplers from the 80’s and just start fucking around with them. It was really funm and we learned a lot. We’d be like, “Hey Sapone, how do you make that sound that sounds like a robot underwater on this Nine Inch Nails song,” and he’d just pull out some weird alien machine and he’d be like, “Oh, you just do this this and this.”

 

Q) Of all the songs on the new album, which one is the most personal to you?

 

Henry: The last track on the album is the only song that’s about me. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite but definitely the most personal.

 

Q) With a UK tour this fall, what can fans expect from a live Boston Manor performance?

 

Henry: We’ve become known for having a lot of energy when we play live and with some of these songs being so different we’ve been working really hard to try and figure out how to maintain that intensity live. It’s really exciting. The new songs we have been playing so far have had the rowdiest reaction of any of the set, it’s been mayhem.

 

Q) In 2014 you released a split with the band Throwing Stuff. If you could, who would be your dream collaboration?

 

Henry: That’s a tough one. Honestly, I’d like to do something with a hip hop artist of some sort. I think that could be really interesting.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your music?

 

Henry: Thank you for helping us do what we do. We’re lucky but we work damn hard for it and we won’t let you down.

 

 

All Questions Answered By Singer Henry Cox