We’ve talked about twothirtytwo a few times, most recently reviewing their new single, Stray, which will be launched at the Boileroom, Guildford, on 15 April. Our inbox and twitter is peppered with their witticisms, and so we thought we’d share the love and ask the band to answer a few questions for us. We weren’t disappointed with the results!
EP: twothirtytwo is an intriguing name, what’s it about? how did you come up with that?
232: The beauty of the name is in its ambiguity. Perhaps this is why people misunderstand its radical lack of punctuation. Like many signs it floats in a sea of reference preying upon context to stump its meaning. It’s what’s outside of the frame on the periphery of subjective truth that most interests us.
Or casually, as the crow flies, according to google:
232 is both a central polygonal number and a cake number
Uranium 232 (232 92U 140, 232U, U–232) is an isotope of uranium. It has a half-life of 68.9 years and is a side product in the thorium cycle
LEGO Bungalow Set 232
In telecommunications, RS-232 is a standard for serial communication transmission of data.
EP: How would you describe yourselves to anyone who hasn’t heard you before?
232: Pretentious, anthemic, hopeful down beat, poetical synth doom with a political undercurrent.
EP: How do you feel coming from Aldershot has influenced you musically?
232: Aldershot is a paradox. There’s not a lot of promise here. It’s the small town syndrome most young artists write about. Concrete, muted light, time rotting on the drag of the day. The plan for escape.
You may think of escape but where are you really going?
The cold militant interior of the place tarnished by too many Take Aways and a bleak nostalgia of a bygone hayday. We’ve seen plenty of fights. Most people avoid the place.
On the other hand there’s The West End Centre, cultural music hub of our youth & present day champion of live music. We’ve grown up alongside bands that’ve battled the world, sculpted success and ran out of gas. Their legacy still fresh in our hearts. There’s so much hope in seeing that at a young age and it stays with you. The ability to feel music, remember the joy of being there before the internet ruined memory. I (Andy) remember walking into the last ever Million Dead show by accident and thinking “Wooo what’s this all about? This is great!” and then it was gone. Reuben standing rampant on stage calling out tomorrow, come what may. The charge of Hundred Reasons as the masses flocked withering in emo ecstasy. Archie and the Instincts. Psirens. Vex Red. Strobe 45. HoldYourHorseIs/The Robot Vs. It all hit hard. And there were plenty of others, lost to the endless thud, heroes in their own right crashing in the good wave aiding The West End Centre’s success. Punk was a big thing, everyone wanted to be Green Day. The thing about the Westy is it’s never been scared to throw the dice. It’s always given bands known and not so known a chance at the wheel and it’s built a belief that still hits home.
EP: Who are your musical heroes?
232: Hero is a strong word. I’d say we’ve all watched too much MTV2, witnessed the rise and shine of bastardised commercial successes, seen documentaries glorifying the banality and madness of rock’n’roll delirium, seen despicable behaviour savoured as legendary, frowned upon soulless one trick ponies, and had our blood boil at the state of regurgitated 80’s dross.
Hand on heart, The Manic Street Preachers’ words still hit home. Bruce Springsteen was a working class hero. Brecht once performed in verse and Ginsberg has a very rhythmic spike to his words. Joy Division would have a fighting chance in the note book. Anyone that says karaoke is an art form needs to be hung. Basing a whole industry on what has come before leaves no room for visionary angels.
EP: Do any of you have any surprising musical tastes, that perhaps we wouldn’t expect?
Chris: Woody Guthrie, the sound of my own voice, buzz cut ukulele solos, 60hz hum
Rob: The soundtrack from Transformers (the 1986 animated movie), Shed Seven
Alex: Jazz, kendrick Lamar, Deathcore, Steely Dan
Jim: Katy Perry
Andy: Motown, Beat Poetry, Tom Petty, Verse from the 1st World War, Shoe Gaze Blast Beat, Rants
EP: Can you each sum yourself up in just one word?
Chris: Efficient
Rob: Reliable
Alex: Brazen
Jim: Precise
Andy: Charismatic
EP: You’re planning to launch your new single ‘Stray’ from your forthcoming album ‘Revisionist History’ on the 15th April, can you tell is a little about it? What inspired it?
232: The album title stems from the idea that history slowly slips into an over view of an over view, written with bias and it is culturally self referencing. Western history is designed with an anti other overtone, be that pre colonial otherness or post colonial middle eastern otherness. The tonality of Good vs Bad, Light against Dark is a structure inherent in society’s current way of thinking. It’s displayed in all your usual staples of narrative. These structures are archaic, polarise arguments and leave little room for constructive debate. We’ve crafted the world into barriers, a scale of economics and lost ourselves in comparison. We do not own the land.
So who is writing history if we are at the fore of it? What over inflated propaganda guides the scholar’s pen at the end of history?
EP: What are you’re plans/hopes for the future?
232: We’ve all been bullied into believing the hype that there is a future, where on paper it strains the eye. Common cause for concern is the state of a comfortable pension, the unstable nature of the housing market, an overpriced education and the blind sighted rhetoric of indifference our politicians spout. Change at a price or unbending austerity. Xenophobia seems to be the countrys call as blame culture is steadily becoming the new cool. Wisdom teeth don’t grow without pain and fringe parties with sense on their side see little of the lime light. Unfortunately people ignore tomorrow as they’re too busy scraping through today. Futures wilt to the baby boom. Bail out the workers.
Most of our chips are in writing songs and performing our madness live.
twothirtytwo will be at the Boileroom in Guildford on 15 April from 8pm. Tickets from the Boileroom’s website.
