Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

Ever since "Dead Disco Dancer" first found its way onto our music playlists, Swide has long been a fan of London-based post-punk band, O Children. We caught up with the O Children bassist, Harry James, and got to know the band a bit better.

Band members Tobi O'Kandi, Andi Sleath, Gauthier Ajarrista and Harry James, collectively make up one of music's most anticipated bands of 2010, O Children. While their music may be described as "gloomy and dark", we envision nothing short of a bright future for the band that has been said to be "heralding a new coming for the sound of 80’s Goth" [source].

Swide got the chance to interview O Children bassist, Harry James, where he shares stories of the band's early beginnings and hopes for the future.

How did you come up with the name O Children? Were there other names you we played under beforehand?

We had a pretty ridiculous name originally... which isn't really worth going into. O Children is the name of one of our favourite Nick Cave songs. It's a really great name with connotations of something new, fresh and exciting.

What were you guys doing before forming O Children? 

Tobi and Andi played in a band called Bono Must Die for a few years. Gauthier and myself had moved to London for University, but we'd been playing music our whole lives and the urge to be in a band came back to us once again.

How would you describe your sound? 

I think we have managed to create a sound that is totally unique. As a band we have such a diverse music taste, our sound constantly evolves with what we're listening to. If your sound isn't changing then you don't leave yourself much room to be individual.

Listening to your music, we can’t help but notice a certain similarity to a certain 80's post-punk band…who are some of your musical influences?

There are obviously strong influences from 80's post punk, and collectively was the sound we were all listening to when starting the band. We're all fans of Nick Cave, Bauhaus, Scars, Josef K etc... Individually though, our influences stretch from acts like Donna Summer, Daft Punk, Michael Jackson to Queens Of The Stone Age, Deerhunter and Nirvana.

What has been you’re most memorable gig thus far?

Personally, playing Club NME and Koko were some of our best gigs. Playing at such a big venue for such a big crowd really made us feel like this is what we're all about. We're supporting Gary Numan in a few weeks though…so I'm sure if you asked me after that I'd have a different answer.

Photo by Guy Stephens

Where would you guys like to play that you haven’t already?

Somewhere abroad…Japan maybe? Everyone I speak to in bands seem to have a great time when they play over there.

What were some of the challenges you all experienced being a new band?

The hardest challenge is to constantly make exciting and individual new music. You constantly have to challenge yourself to write better songs and never rest on your laurels. It's also quite hard to dedicate your whole time to a band, especially at the beginning when you’re not making money or anything. You have to balance making a living with everything your passionate about. Lucky for us, we've got great managers and a great label that help us out.

What’s the best part about being in a band?
Everytime you’re on that stage, it feels great. Playing music to an audience is a feeling that can't be recreated anywhere else, as well as touring with 3 of your best friends. You get to share some great stories and some really interesting ventures together, some of which I'm sure I’ll always remember.

You guys got the chance to shoot with Hedi Slimane…Can you tell us how that came about?

He just really liked what we were doing… he was in London at the time and wanted to shoot some of his favourite bands in London. Luckily enough that included us. It was all very quick though, we didn't get to hang out with him or anything, he was just working non-stop when he was here.

Harry James shot by Hedi Slimane

You've been teasing us for some time now with singles like “ Disco Death” and recent track, “Ruins", when can we expect a complete album?

The album should drop around the summer, we're just adding the finishing touches to it now.

O Children-"Ruins" directed by Love Hate Productions

Will you guys be playing any festivals that we can look out for?

I'm sure we will be… the offers are starting to come through, so just keep your eyes peeled.

 

Photo by Hedi Slimane

myspace.com/ochildren

 

The single for "Ruins" is set to be released April 19th, 2010 from Deadly People Recordings.

 

With special thanks to Harry James of O Children

 

Timaj Alwan

 

Source: Harry James of O Children

Photo credit: Hedi Slimane, Guy Stephens, all others with kind permission from O Children 

TAGS: o children post-punk music group musicians tobias o'kandi gauthier ajarrista harry james andi sleath deadly people recordings ruins online magazine recordings