We The Committee haven’t been on the block for long, but their cinematic take on indie rock is soon to melt even the darkest of hearts. After such a positive reaction to their eponymous debut EP in December 2010, the band have been working hard on a follow-up. Wonderland caught up with the north London band – now just two, Kirsty and Pat – to ask how they go about creating the music they do.
How did the band meet?
We met a while ago whilst studying music and decided to make a band together.
Do you all have similar tastes in music? Do you all enjoy listening to the same bands, artists?
Kirsty: I love listening to a lot of old jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James but also really like some modern R&B. I guess I really like anything that stems from a soulful foundation.
Pat: My favourite albums of last year were “Last Of The Country Gentlemen” and “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” so make of that what you will. I’m a
sucker for great lyrics, especially lyrics that are almost hopelessly honest and I like artists showing imperfections in what they do.
Who would you say are your inspirations and biggest influences?
This is a hard one because we both look up to a lot of people and what they’ve done. The thing they all have in common I guess is that they’ve produced something which is exactly what they’ve wanted to produce. I think that can be hard in today’s world as its easy to get bogged down with what other people want you to do.
You’ve been compared to bands like The xx, Phantagram and Best Coast. What would you say sets you apart from these creatives?
The comparisons we’ve had have been nothing but compliments, and we’re very happy with that. I wouldn’t say anything we do makes us better than these artists or sets us apart from them – we’re more than happy to sit beside them.
Has your interest in film influenced your sound?
Film has been as much of an influence to our sound as other artists have been. A lot of the songs talk about very specific moments and we in some ways envisage whole film scenes whilst writing. A lot of our music is about the atmosphere and space in a song – this definitely relates to an interest in film.
Would you ever consider scoring a film?
Absolutely. A little dream is to write the music for a Shane Meadows film. We love the honesty and grittiness of that type of film. We recently saw Shame and working on something like that would be great. The music certainly lends itself to slightly darker, more intimate films.
If you had to sum up your sound in a plethora of words, what would they be?
This is the worst question to answer, mainly because we’re still trying to work it out ourselves. At a push we’d say cinematic, haunting and honest.
You seem to have a very delicate and intimate sound. Does this come across in your live gigs?
We’re very much still developing our live show. We want to make it something a little different by incorporating film, but we’re not quite there yet. Thinking long term we’ve got a load of ideas that involve trombones and multiple drummers, but for now it’s just the two of us and it’s very intimate.
Words: Shane Hawkins
Photography: Kevin Morosky