The moment we heard the shadowy, crestfallen opening moments of ‘Til Sleep, Leeds quartet Fun Adults‘s debut single, our attention was spiked. Then, as Huw Thomas’ vocals entered the fray – recalling an even-more-intoxicated Dave Longstreth (of Dirty Projectors fame) – we were busy Google-ing the band’s name for a reliable contact. The song hints at a group who don’t shy away from indulging far-afield visions. Wonderland sat down with Adults’ Declan Pleydell-Pearce, who discussed for the first time Adults’ intricate sound.
How did you form, and when?
After a few previous incarnations kicking about in the West Country, we cemented our line up in Leeds and began writing from the beginning of last summer. Whilst we’ve concentrated most of our time writing the songs we’ll be playing live, we’ve recorded one track, ‘Til Sleep, and are looking to go into the studio next month.
How would you describe your sound? It’s a finely-tuned thing.
Definitions can be a dangerous thing. If anything, we still feel that we’re working that one out for ourselves at the moment, playing and writing as a band. We’ve spent a lot of time reducing ideas down, and attempting to keep things concise. Simplicity is often hard to balance, especially considering that all four of us are writers. So if our sound is anything, it’s a marriage of our electronic and acoustic influences. We won’t ‘do an electronic track’, or vice versa, but there’s a sense that anything that came out of us would naturally include both, as that’s frankly what we love and listen to.
Where do you feel it fits in the context of contemporary British music?
We’d like it to fit somewhere, but perhaps not too comfortably. The context as to where we are placed is certainly not a conscious idea we have, and who and what we are likened to is essentially out of our hands. Take the contemporary releases of a band like Portishead. They manage to produce a sound which you can draw parallels to, but essentially remain unique. That sort of effect, as writers of music, is something we’d always look towards and aspire to. Of course that’s not to say our sound is somehow outrageously indefinable, but we just like the idea of getting on with things, without too much thought as to where we’re going to be placed.
What are you looking forward to most this year?
We’re very excited about writing more, challenging ourselves creatively, and hopefully producing better and better songs. We’re just looking forward to showing people what we do, and that means playing live a fair bit, so we’re excited to gig regularly in Leeds. More recording will be something we’ll look to do very soon too, we’re eager to get some more tracks polished off in the next month or two.
Any live dates planned, and when will your next release be?
We’ve got a few potential gigs in the pipeline, and one confirmed with Theme Park on the 29th February at The Cockpit. We’re also penciled in for Live at Leeds in May. As we’re going into the studio next month, we’ll just see what follows from there, in terms of releases.
Do you produce the music yourself? How do you qualify for this role?
At the moment our rhythm section Kyle and Dan tend to do most of the production. ‘Til Sleep was originally produced by Dan, but we’ve had some help from our friend Tom Howe with it too.
Name your five favourite bands.
Talking Heads
J Dilla
Bonobo
Prince
Grizzly Bear
And films…
Dan Jacobs [Drums]: Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
Kyle Molleson [Bass]: The Jungle Book
Huw Thomas [Guitar and Vocals]: Days of Heaven
Declan Pleydell-Pearce [Guitar and Vocals]: Four Lions
The image is a band portrait, by Dan Jacobs.
Fun Adults
Words: Jack Mills