FEATURE
An interview with Boston Manor
Feature
Boston Manor have been a force since their inception in 2013 and with their third album now out, they’re not showing any signs of slowing down. We talk to frontman, Henry Cox, about GLUE’s critical message, the current state of touring and his record collection.
Words: Renette van der Merwe
Photos: Edd Taylor (promo) // Danny DeRusso (live)
The scoop
We’re all looking forward to listening to GLUE on repeat today – congratulations on your third album! Do you think you’ve approached this one differently to the first two?
Thanks very much. I don’t think we changed the way we write songs, if that’s what you mean. We still got together at Dan and Mike’s house whenever we weren’t on tour and wrote together. A lot of the writing also took place on the road, which never usually works really, but due to us being on tour constantly it became a necessity. I suppose the only difference really is that we were very aware that this time we had to top an album that had gone down quite well. The previous two records were made with no expectations, which is a great freedom.
Liquid already has over 2 million streams on Spotify. Do you think that’s going to be the new favourite to perform live or do you have another trick up your sleeve?
We’ve been playing Liquid live for almost a year now; it is most definitely not my favourite song to perform live, haha. I was looking forward to having John come up and do his part on the tour next month, but sadly we’ll have to wait now.
“There’s a lot of discussion about the future & our responsibility to make positive change in the record”
How did the collaboration with Mr Floreani come about?
We’ve been really good friends with Trophy Eyes for years, we spent a large part of our formative years touring together. The song needed something extra, we’d already recorded John’s part, but I knew it would sound great in his lovely baritone register. It was as simple as texting him and him sending the part over a few days later. I think it came out great!
So we know bands aren’t able to promote albums by touring right now. How’s that been for you guys and has it inspired you to think outside the box a little bit more?
It’s weird; I knew that we needed a break from touring after last year, but I think I got a bit too much of what I asked for. I am sad that we’re not getting ready to go on tour and I am really excited to start playing these songs live. I have enjoyed seeing people get so creative and I’ve recorded a few acoustic versions of songs for some streams. But to be honest, you’re never gonna be able to replicate the real thing. I’m just trying to get myself in the best shape for when we can go out on the road again.
You’re touching on some serious subjects on this album, including male suicide and humanity’s inability to work together. Why did you feel now is a good time to put those messages out?
I don’t think timing was really a factor. It’s a message that I wanted to convey, really. But I do think that this record coming out at the top of a new decade is quite poignant; there’s a lot of discussion about the future and our responsibility to make positive change in the record, so I like the fact that we’re delivering that message now. It feels like we have a little bit of a clean sheet.
Lightning round
What’s the first album you owned?
Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
What’s the last album you purchased / streamed?
Tyler The Creator – IGOR
The best album to drive to?
Frank Ocean – Channel Orange
If you had to cover an album, what would it be?
Deftones – White Pony
What’s your guilty pleasure?
We all love a bit of Robbie Williams
Settle the argument
Vinyl or Spotify?
Music sounds better on vinyl, it’s super cool, you look very cultured with a big shelf full of records behind you and you get the artwork to look through, which is sick. However, Spotify is free and is largely responsible for breaking new artists now. So swings & roundabouts I guess.
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