Tokyo Indie

A synagogue in east London is not the usual place you would expect to write an album, but it was the unlikely starting point for Charlie Fink of Noah and the Whale to pen their follow up to 2009’s “The First Days of Spring”. The maturation of Noah and the Whale is embodied in this new album, entitled “Last Night on Earth”. The band seem to have come of age, blossoming from the same scene which spawned Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons and Emmy The Great.

At this year’s Fuji Rock festival they made their Japan debut on the Field of Heaven stage, to an expectant crowd who were not afraid to brave the rain. After the show we were lucky enough to grab Charlie and Tom from the band to have a quick chat.

Tokyo Indie: So, you have just come off stage, how was it?

Charlie Fink: It was amazing, really great. I mean it is our first time in Japan! We’ve always wanted to come and for some reason we could never fit it in.

Tom Hobden: It’s a pretty good way to start though, Fuji Rock. There’s no bigger stage, the festival looks amazing.

TI:How did you find the Japanese crowd?

TH: Brilliant.

CF: Well, to be honest in England it if was raining like that the crowd would be a lot more miserable I think! They were really up for it, really happy today.

TH: Everyone is properly kitted out for it here, y’know, with their macs and ponchos and everything!

That’s Japan for you. You are straight out of the festival tonight, it’s pretty whistle-stop isn’t it…

CF: Well we were lucky actually. We had three days in Tokyo just hanging out.

TH: Yeah, we did quite a lot. Some of us went to the temples and did the kinda sightseeing thing. We went out and ate in really good restaurants and did some shopping. The food here is incredible. [Charlie nods in agreement]

CF: How long have you been out here?

TI: Me? Nearly three years now. Hang on, aren’t I supposed to be asking the questions?!

[Charlie and Tom laugh]

CF: How’s your Japanese? Can you speak really well?

TI: It’s getting there slowly.

CF: I bet it’s difficult!

TI: Tell me about it…Anyway, who would you like to see if you were able to stick around for the whole weekend?

TH: If we were sticking around? We would love to see Wilco.

CF: Yeah, and I have just been told about this orchestra…yellow something orchestra?

TI: Yellow Magic Orchestra?

CF: That’s the one! I haven’t heard them, but they sound incredible. From what I have heard about them they sound great. That’d be good.

TI: So it’s Australia next, it’s a pretty busy tour you are on, isn’t it?

CF: Yeah, It’s crazy. Japan today, a show in Australia on Sunday, then two more shows in Australia, a show in Canada and then Chicago.

TH: Then home!

CF: And all that is in a week. I hope we are still alive at the end of it!

TI: The new album is out in the UK. How has it been received?

TH: Absolutely brilliantly. What is it now, the third or fourth single on the radio now?

CF: It’s the third. It’s already done better than both the other two records combined, which is great. It’s hard to be coming back with your third record. A lot of bands nowadays don’t get to their third record.

TI: You see it as a long-term progression then?

CF: Yeah, I mean hopefully. I think that we are instinctive as a band, so we never really plan stuff. That’s how our records get made. Pressure doesn’t come into our heads that much really, I guess it makes you more ambitious as to what you can do because success affords you more opportunity. You get more time in the studio, more money to spend on recording y’know…

TH: But the end product has to be better than the one you did before.

CF: “Better” is a very subjective word.

TH: Well, more to our own ambitions then.

TI: How do you chart your progression though, how do you quantify it?

CF: I guess it is by not repeating ourselves. I think that is something we always try to do; to do something that doesn’t necessarily compete with what we have done before, just stretching ourselves in a different way.

TI: In the past you have worked with Laura Marling and Emmy the Great, does having a female vocal bring a different dynamic to the band?

TH: Yes, certainly.

CF: That’s the thing; the line up has changed quite a lot over the years. Like you say, the girls in the band and then the drummer has changed and we have brought in new members on this record. It keeps it fresh.

TH: It keeps everyone on their toes, doesn’t it? [Tom chuckles]

CF: Exactly!

TI: So who’s next then?

CF: To go?!

TI: It’s not Big Brother! I mean, who would you like to bring in? Who would you like to collaborate with?

CF: It’s like being in Willy Wonka’s factory and having so many sweets to choose from! I don’t know really…

TH: That’s a really interesting one, who would you bring into your band…

CF: It would be good to have something new, maybe a really great horn player…or maybe… [Charlie turns to Tom]Oh wait – you hate woodwind don’t you? Notoriously.

TH: Yeah, not into that. How about a tap-dancer?

CF: No, wait – maybe Tom Waits could come and play Marimba!

TI: Wow, I will be at your next show for sure! [They laugh] The first time I caught you actually was when you played in Leeds at the Adelphi…

CF: Oh, shit yeah! I remember!

TH: Absolutely. I think we played there a couple of times.

TI: Do you sometimes want to go back to those times when it was free and easy?

CF: To be honest it wasn’t that long ago really! Actually, I enjoy being a bit more professional these days. Having said that, there is a freedom that comes at the beginning which is something to treasure. I’m not sure if this answers the question, but I feel more comfortable being in the band now than ever before – both my role in the band and what the band stands for.

TH: The whole point of being in a band for a long time is that you working to make your role more defined…

TI: And to get Tom Waits on marimba!

CF: Exactly! That’s what everyone is working towards!

TI: So what has been the high point so far, what is the one moment you have looked back and thought, “wow”?

CF: Well we have just played Benicassim festival, maybe two weekends ago and it was like a crowd of 50,000 people watching us and that’s mental. That’s a crazy number of people! I couldn’t see the end of the crowd to the right of the stage. That was like “how the fuck did this band get to be playing on this stage”? That was amazing. But once that has happened you say; “right, that was fun, lets do that again. Lets do it bigger”.

Finally, aside from Tom Waits on Marimba, what’s happening in the future?

TH: Well, we have our touring booked up until next September.

CF: Quite often I find that we have quite a short attention span (in a good way). We want to keep doing different things. I at least have made a pact with myself and decided that on this record we were going to make sure we do it justice. That’s why we have never been to Japan before – we were moving so quickly from one record to the next. This time we want to make sure we get out and play to everyone.

TH: It seems like people want to hear it…

TI: Is there anything you want to say to your Japanese fans?

CF Party on Japan!

TI: Ha ha, It’s been a pleasure guys, thank you.

Words: Mark Birtles

Translation: Iona Nagata

August 26, 2011