Death From Above 1979

Concorde 2, Madeira Drive, Brighton, Sunday, June 28

AS they prepare to play a sold out show at Brighton’s Concorde 2, Jesse F Keeler recalls Death From Above 1979’s lowly origins back in the early 2000s.

“Sebastien [Grainger] and I were living in the same house together and had both lost our jobs at about the same time,” he says.

“We were in this house, with all these instruments there from other bands.

“We couldn’t afford beer or cigarettes as we didn’t have any money. We were just making our own fun. It’s never going to be the same as having an idea and being able to go upstairs and do it.”

From those simple beginnings came the classic 2004 debut You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine, mixing Keeler’s bass riffs with Grainger’s powerhouse drumming and intense vocals. Listening today one can’t help feeling Royal Blood must have it in their record collection.

But after an intense two years of touring, Keeler announced the band’s split through an online forum.

Speaking to The Guide last week he says it was largely the pressure on the band which caused the break-up.

“When we were younger we never said no to anything,” he says. “We were afraid no-one would ask again. No-one had paid me to play music like this before.”

Both kept active in the industry following the split, with Keeler launching electronic duo MSTRKRFT with producer Al-P, and Grainger teaming up with Joshua Reichmann.

But the pair reunited in 2011 for a series of comeback shows, and ultimately to work on long-awaited second album The Physical World.

Keeler says things have changed a lot, both in terms of the band’s operations and attitudes.

“We actually started hiring professionals who know how to do stuff,” he says. “It’s much more organised. If I would rather be home with my kids than do a show everyone is cool about it. I’m not rich or anything now, I just don’t care! If I’m going to do something it’s because I want to.”

Part of this attitude came from the year he spent on tour between 2005 and 2006 knowing the band was going to end.

“That freedom was exciting," he says. "I learned a lot. When you think you’re never going to do something again you don’t care what the repercussions are going to be. I could do whatever I wanted on stage, play how I wanted, and not have to worry. I’ve never stopped thinking that way when I’m performing.”

He admits it was interesting seeing the album’s stock rise in the years after the split.

“When it first came out some people liked it, but it wasn’t like it was universally approved of,” he says. “Not that I want to compare them, but I don’t think people appreciated David Bowie’s Low when it came out. At the time people hated Led Zeppelin 3.

“Enough time passes and the context of how people listen to the record changes completely.

“I was pretty proud that it was something people wanted to talk about in interviews.”

The Physical World is a more polished beast than its predecessor, but still packed with hooks and great songs like Virgins, Trainwreck 1979 and the band’s most political statement to date Government Trash.

“I’m an atheist about government,” says Keeler. “I don’t believe in it. When Seb showed me the lyrics to the song it was exactly what I wanted to hear.”

The album was produced by Dave Sardy, someone Keeler describes as “like a passive aggressive dictator”.

“He was like: ‘You can do that if you want, if you don’t want to make a good record,’” he says. “’It’s up to you, I have sold some records though’. It’s funny in small doses!

“The only pressure we had was not letting people down. I have friends who send me awesome albums they’ve made, who then have to go through the process of finding a label. It was a different process knowing we were making a record people were excited to hear.”

Some things have changed since Death From Above 1979’s first experiences with the music scene though – not least the rise of social media.

“I’m getting asked by management when I’m going to make an Instagram account,” says Keeler. “Isn’t it enough I have a Twitter account? I deleted my Facebook years ago because I didn’t care what anyone else was doing – if you’re a friend of mine you have my phone number.

“I think Twitter’s name is so honest – it’s a little thing that goes away, a brief fleeting sound, not a call to arms. I’m amused how many people ask me questions through Twitter – it’s like a perpetual interview.

“I remember when this record came out people on Twitter were saying: ‘This record is awesome – I can’t wait for the next one.' We could take twice as long to make the next one – I could be 58 when the next one comes out!”

Support from Dark Horses.

Doors 7pm, SOLD OUT. Call 01273 673311 for returns.