How would you describe your sound for people who don’t know you?
Ben S – Dark indie pop, big choruses, sexy guitars, cool beats with that aura of familiarity that you just can’t place… In a word, EPIC!
Ben W – Yeah, it really is influenced by decades of popular music. I suppose a lot of it is instantly catchy but with a depth that makes it unique. Vast soundscapes and heartfelt lyrics.
What’s next for you?
Writing and demoing our new material in preparation for our album, which is to be recorded this summer. We also have a few shows in London coming up and one or two festivals which we are really excited about.
Who are you influenced by?
Ben S – We are all influenced by different things. We have a common love for music, but it’s not just music that influences you – it’s anything from films, to books to conversations you have with friends or people you meet. Hearing new bands influences me, which keeps the songwriting process evolving.
Ben W – I suppose for me in relation to the sound of Ideals it’s bands like Interpol and Joy Division, but I listen to a wide spectrum of music that worms its way into how I write my drum parts. I listen to Indie, but also a lot of Hip-Hop and Punk Rock.
Right, you’ve got a choice – you can headline Glastonbury or release a definitive, generation defining album – which one would you choose and why?
Ben S – Generation defining album, of course… Glastonbury would be calling after that.
Ben W – I have to agree, as there’s no point playing to a crowd that size without something to back it up.
Who were your main musical influences growing up?
Ben S – That whole Britpop movement was pretty impossible to ignore, so that shaped our musical tastes from an early age. The first music I can remember is the Beach Boys and I used to always put their records on. The ‘Rock Revolution’ bands in the early noughties are pretty important to me, BMRC, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, The Strokes and all that lot. The thing is, finding one band opens up the door to a whole new set of bands, so it’s ever growing. Liking BRMC got me into The Jesus and Mary Chain and so on…
Ben W – I’m still growing up.
Which song do you wish you had written?
Ben S – Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division. I convinced a friend I had written it for a short time.
Ben W – Untitled by Interpol. It’s just so simple and so beautiful, the lyrics ‘surprise, sometimes, will come around’ are a hopeful contrast to the music and so I suppose it is optimistic in a haunting kind of way.