Gomez slam 'college rock' label

BY CHRIS SCHULZ

They're nearing middle age, haven't been near a university in about a decade and all the band's five members are married. Heck, some even have children.

So whatever you do, don't use the phrase "college rock" to describe British act Gomez.

Asked why reviewers still used the term to describe the band's eclectic sound and front man Ben Ottewell - on the phone from his UK home - is defiant.

"It's ridiculous. I think it's ... I don't know ... it's funny," Ottewell told Stuff.co.nz as the five-piece band prepared to head to New Zealand for a three-date tour in support of their latest album, A New Tide.

"We're all in our mid 30s and we're still being accused of being students. It's just bad, lazy journalism."

Gomez - Ottewell, guitarist Ian Ball, multi-instrumentalist Tom Gray, bassist Paul Blackburn and drummer Olly Peacock - have been tarnished with the "college rock" tag since winning the Mercury Music Prize for their debut album Bring It On in 1998.

Ottewell describes the win - which saw the floppy-haired, bespectacled newcomers beat frontrunners The Verve, Pulp, Robbie Williams and Massive Attack with an album full of catchy, low-fi, blues-inspired pop-rock songs - as "embarrassing".

"You've got to understand that we didn't even consider ourselves to be a band," he said of the band's humble beginnings. "We hadn't played any gigs or done anything. It was like this rollercoaster.

"We made these demos and everyone wanted them and wanted to sign us. So we got signed, spruced them up a bit, did a few gigs and won the Mercury Prize. It was all a bit too good to be believed.

"I still believe in those songs, they're good songs. But it's weird what happened to us. We were so young. I don't think we deserved it. It happened so fast - we were embarrassed by it."

Indeed, Gomez never seemed comfortable with the hype the award generated. They were dropped by their record label Virgin after 2004's heavier Split the Difference, but have released solid albums every two-to-three years - as well as several compilations - since their debut.

The best of these - 1999's Liquid Skin and 2002's In Our Gun - made full use of the band's three vocalists and experimental tendencies, especially on songs like Machismo and Rhythm and Blues Alibi.   

They've backed these up with quite brilliant live shows, including their last trip to New Zealand in 2007. Recent shows in Los Angeles and at Lollapalooza in Chicago in August proved Gomez were in fine, self-deprecating form, and - despite the oppressive heat - enjoying themselves more than ever.

But with the demands of family life now pressing - all five are married, while Ottewell has twins and Ball and Gray both have children - Ottewell said they tried to keep touring down to just four months of the year.

America was Gomez' main focus for tours, he said.

"If we hadn't started touring the States we wouldn't be a band anymore. Once things went kind of bad for us (with the label dropping us) there just wouldn't have been anything to do anymore.

"You can do a tour in England and be done in two weeks. You kind of hit every place you can hit. In the States you can be touring for three months and there'll still be places to play. It absorbs a lot of our time because we're kind of popular over there."

Having the song Little Pieces soundtrack a key scene on Grey's Anatomy had helped build their fan base - Heroes star Hayden Panettiere was spotted in the crowd during the band's LA show - but Ottewell said he'd never seen an episode of the hit hospital drama.

"Stuff like that helps - particularly when no one sells records and the radio won't really play us anymore (but) I've never seen an episode in my life. I've heard it's good, but I've never watched it."

With several of the band's members now based in America, Ottewell said he was "constantly exhausted" from all the travelling, but the band had embraced the internet and used it to write parts of this year's more acoustic album A New Tide.

"I think it's actually done us some good that we don't live in each other's pockets anymore. With the internet and all these great music programs on computers it doesn't really affect the writing either because you can just send each other music to listen to."

He said the band had changed a lot since the days of Bring It On - which was re-released last year to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

"I think we've kind of lost that slapstick amateurism that a lot of people liked us for. You're never going to get that back and you can't help it because you get good at what you're doing," he said.

"I don't really care, I really like (A New Tide). We worked really hard on it and the fans seem to love it. Everyone who I care about loves it. It's got a lot of light and shade in it. It's quite a dynamic record."

But absolutely no "college rock" was involved. Got it?

Gomez
October 16: The Bedford, Christchurch (With The Chills)
October 17: Opera House, Wellington (With Cairo Knife Fight)
October 18: The Powerstation, Auckland (With Pluto)

- © Fairfax NZ News