The Subways – Uncertain Joys

By starrymag | September 20, 2022

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

 

 

Q) How would you best describe your sound?

Billy: I like to think of us as a rock band with heavy influences from Motown and pop.

 

Q) Who are your Top 3 musical influences?

Billy: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Nirvana, Kylie Minogue.

 

Q) Tell us the story behind “Love Waiting on You.”

Billy: I wrote “Love Waiting on You” when I was feeling a particularly acute sense of yearning for the love of my life. I’ve spent so long away from her over the years, being on tour with the band and then reading English at Cambridge, so I felt compelled to encapsulate the painful joy thinking about her whilst away inspired in me. It’s about wanting to give everything up just to experience the simplicity of experiencing them: witnessing their moves, touching their skin, smelling their scent – and all bittersweetness in being kept from these.

 

Q) I absolutely love the video game theme for the music video for “Love Waiting on You!” How did you come up with the concept for the music video?

Billy: Thank you! Neil Whitman, the video’s animator and director, came up with the core concept of the 8-bit representation – and executed it perfectly. Our drummer, Camille, (knowing the deepest meaning of the song) proposed the idea of me being the Princess Peach waiting to be rescued by my Mario. I cried when I first saw that last scene, where my heroine realizes all that is needed to save me is Love.

 

Q) What has been the overall reaction and comments from fans since the release of “Love Waiting on You?”

Billy: We initially weren’t sure both how the song and the video would be received, but there’s been an overwhelming response of appreciation for and connection with them. It’s so difficult to gauge how fans (and others) might react, so you just do what you want and hope that it resonates. The video and the song seem to have really resonated, which has been pure joy for us.

 

Q) What message do you hope fans will take away from listening to “Love Waiting on You?”

Billy: It’s more of an expression of the experience of love in the absence of its source. Love is a life-giver, which doesn’t necessarily need to presence of the one who inspires it to perpetuate and grow. But be careful because love comes with a great deal of pain, born of worry, anxiety, insecurities, ego, resentment. Letting go is a huge step to take when you love – but is such an important one. This song is me struggling to reconcile intense feelings of love with letting go, as the yawning chasm of absence widens.

 

Q) “Love Waiting on You” and your last single “You Kill My Cool” are part of your upcoming album titled Uncertain Joys, which is set for release in January 2023. What are some themes you explore with the new album?

Billy: There have been a lot of songs and albums lately released that assert the affirmative powers of self-belief; but Uncertain Joys falls very far away from these. In comparison, it’s a big question mark. As a songwriter, I’m almost throwing my hands up as if to say, “What am I? Who am I? What am I feeling?!” And it’s accompanied by the band’s first foray into the world of synthesizers. It’s no coincidence that a few months after the album’s completion and following the breakdown of my marriage, I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (after years of showing symptoms of both Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia). More than ever, we’re living in a world that’s telling us that our grasp on personal and social affairs is more unsteady than it’s ever been. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking we’re the statues of marble we daily convince ourselves we are. We’re flesh and bone and the world around us wields powerful forces against us through innumerable means. But it seeks to find joy amidst the uncertainty.

 

Q) Which song was your favorite to write and record for this new album and what makes it so special for you?

Billy: The title track is, far and away, the best song I’ve ever written. I cannot wait for people to hear it and I cannot wait to get onstage and play it live for everybody. It’s like Outkast, Nirvana and Madonna all jammed at the zenith of the world’s sexiest LA party.

 

Q) With the release of Uncertain Joys, is there a tour in the works and if so, will you be coming to the US to promote the new album?

Billy: With a certainty that the album’s title undermines somewhat, we will be touring literally anywhere and everywhere. We love playing live. It’s why we do what we do. It’s why I choose to continue breathing even when the struggle seems impossible to bear. The US has a wild and beautiful little home in our hearts and we cannot wait to be back. Fingers crossed for 2023!

 

Q) Which song do you love performing live and which one is always a fan favorite at shows?

Billy: I love to play “I Want to Hear What You Have Got to Say,” which is the opening track of our first album, Young for Eternity. The intro lulls everyone into a belief that we’re about to play a ballad and then we all kick in with full force. Seeing the crowd surge as the drum kick pounds away is a breath-taking thing.

 

Q) What are you currently listening to?

Billy: I’m adoring Magdalena Bay’s Mercurial World LP. I loved their EP, A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling, but this new LP of theirs is sublime. Sonically and melodically a treasure trove of bliss.

 

Q) If you could collaborate with anyone on a new project, who would it be and why?

Billy: I’d love to work with the Danish band Mew. I’ve adored them since their Frengers LP, and I recently saw them play it in full at London’s Barbican Theatre. I spent the entire duration crying, and my best friend had to hold me still at points because the convulsions of my weeping were so worrying for him (and presumably others around). If I could spend the day in the studio working with them, well, it’d be the dream of a lifetime fulfilled!

 

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters of your music?

Billy: I’d like to say thank you so much for even just being there and for continuing to be there. You’ve no idea what it means to us and how important it is to us.

 

ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY BILLY LUNN