Athlete: We work hard but we enjoy what we do

Sep 14 2007 by Emma Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

Emma Johnson catches up with Athlete as they prepare to play the Carling Academy, Liverpool

STAMINA is essential for an athlete and, like their namesakes, Athlete the band seem to have it in bucketloads. Since releasing their first single in 2002, the lads from Deptford have barely stopped, churning out three hit albums and performing in between.

You won’t hear them complaining, though.

“We do tend to work sometimes harder than we should, but we all enjoy doing what we do so it doesn’t feel too much like a job,” says bassist and backing vocalist Carey Willetts.

While their first album, 2003’s Vehicles and Animals, sold over 250,000 copies and earned them a Mercury Music nomination, it was Athlete’s follow-up, Tourist, released in 2005, that really got UK music fans going.

The album topped the chart in its first week of release, largely due to the huge success of the haunting track, Wires, which was played up to 10 times a day by the major radio stations, and the follow-up single, Half Light.

It later emerged that the heartfelt lyrics for Wires – which surprisingly only made Number Four in the singles charts – were inspired by frontman Joel Pott’s own experience when he discovered that his new-born daughter, Myla, was seriously ill and had been taken into intensive care.

The album’s tone did give Athlete something of a reputation as “a serious band”. “We are a very serious band – we banned laughing on tour,” Cheshire-born Carey deadpans before laughing at the suggestion.

“The last album (Tourist) was a much more narrative album. It was very much about things that happened to us while we were on tour. I remember, when the album came out, us all discussing two songs on the album and whether we would tell people what the songs were about.

“We almost weren’t sure whether we wanted to give that part of us away to other people or whether we just wanted to let it mean whatever it meant to them. But there is something that happens when you put a record out – it stops being so personal – it’s not just yours any more, it becomes everyone else’s as well. I think that’s a good process to go through.”

Choosing to share their experiences musically certainly paid off from a critical point of view as Wires bagged the band the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 2006.

Unsurprisingly, the quartet (Carey and Joel are joined by drummer Stephen Roberts and keyboard player Tim Wanstall) were delighted with the accolade – especially as they beat off stiff competition from fellow nominees Gorillaz and Kaiser Chiefs.

“That was amazing, that was so good. We knew we were up for it but we spent the week before convincing each other there was not a chance that we were going to get it. It is one of those awards that are supposedly by people who know and for them to say these are really good songs that really meant a lot,” says Carey, 29.

“Also, it is one of the only awards where you all get your own trophy, so that’s good. Mine is on the floor keeping my kitchen door open. It’s very heavy.”

With the benchmark set, Carey and Co are currently waiting to see whether their latest album, Beyond the Neighbourhood, will achieve the same sort of acclaim.

Things have started well – it charted at number five at the weekend.

“I don’t know whether all bands say this but I do feel like this is our best record yet,” says Carey, who grew up in Crewe, the son of a rector.

“Maybe it’s the way we recorded it. We wrote, produced and recorded it ourselves at our own little place so it just feels very much like it is us as opposed to us with a bunch of people.”

“The first thing we ever put out was an EP we produced and recorded ourselves and that’s what we got signed with so it’s always something that has been there but up until now, I don’t think we have felt confident enough to do it,” Carey continues. “This time we thought let’s just give it a go and it ended up being a really cool experience.

“We felt like we had the time to do whatever we wanted which was really nice because we have never really had that before.”

For anyone turning on to Athlete for the first time at the Tourist stage, Beyond the Neighbourhood may not be the experience you are expecting, given its much more upbeat sound and pace.

“It feels like we are getting a reputation for doing very different albums but it’s not intentional, it’s just the way it works,” says Carey. “Beyond the Neighbourhood is definitely different, it’s got a lot more guitars on it, it’s quicker and it’s more electronic.”

But it is very definitely Athlete, as fans will discover when the band hits the road for their latest UK tour, which kicks off in Liverpool at the Carling Academy next month. And Carey is more than ready to get back on stage.

“I’m really looking forward to it, it’s probably one of the most fun times playing gigs having people enjoy what you are doing... that’s good.”

Meeting at the age of 14, Athlete started jamming in a converted church before getting their break when a demo was signed up by Regal Recordings. It was obviously a dream come true for the young musicians but Carey laughs at the cliche they are “living the dream”.

“It just feels so normal to us,” he says. “It doesn’t feel like this extraordinary thing. We all wanted to be in a band and we have not really ever had normal jobs. In that sense, we are kind of living our dreams but it feels normal but then we’re all lucky to be doing it.”

When the UK tour is over, the lads will be taking to the skies for a second tour of the US. Maybe then there might be time for a little rest.

“It would be nice to have a bit of a break,” says Carey. “Part of me would like to go and experience something else, to go and live somewhere else for a few months and have a different perspective on life to write about. Whether we will get to do that we will have to see.”

* ATHLETE are at the Carling Academy in Liverpool on October 15.

emmajohnson@dailypost.co.uk