Andy had a chat with Innerpartysystem earlier in the week ahead of their sold-out show at the Camden Barfly.
PT: Welcome back guys. How have the shows been so far?
Kris Barman (keys/guitar): Really, really good!
Patrick Nissley (vocals): Last night was sold out, In Birmingham. Last time we played there was really awesome, lots of kids really freaking out! We knew that at least some of the shows would be good; none of us expected them all to be this good!
PT: How would you describe an Innerpartysystem show for someone who’s never seen you before?
Patrick: It’s aggressive…
Jesse Cronan (synths/programming): Definitely loud! If you base us off of just listening to the album, you’ll be mistaken. We put a lot more, a lot of energy into the live show.
Kris: If you suffer from epilepsy you probably shouldn’t come see us play!
PT: You played the Linking Park/Jay Z Project Revolution festival over the summer. How was that experience for you?
Jesse: That was just totally unbelieveable.
Patrick: I think no matter who went out there, the crowd would have been psyched. So many of the other Project Revolutions had two stages going on but this one, there was just the one so everyone was focused and paying attention to the same bands.
Jesse: We were the first bad to go on, so we were there to hype everyone up at the start of the day.
Patrick: It definitely helped us, because a lot of people who come to the shows that we’re playing now say to me they saw us at Milton Keynes and now there coming to see us on our own shows. I think when people see us in a smaller place; they get more of a feel of what the band is about. That was awesome, just massive.
PT: Do you notice a difference between UK and US crowds when you play here?
Jesse: Oh god yeah. I say this to everybody who asks what it’s like to play the UK. In my opinion, people are so much more receptive over here about music. It just seems everyone’s a lot more excited.
Patrick: In the States things are a lot more ‘cliquey’. Not everywhere but in general. Like certain people will go to certain shows, over here, if it’s good, it’s good and people will come see you.
PT: As a band what influences you?
(Jesse passes his ipod to me.)
Jesse: Just write all these bands down!
Patrick: I used to be in an emo/hardcore band with Jared, and I never really thought of myself to be into any sort of scene. I’ve always been listening to electronic music when like Nine Inch nails came out, and when Chemical Brothers came out, with their first record, I love them. I was also into hardcore though, everything. Anything that I think is good, I’ve never pigeonholed myself into one style of music.
Jesse: I know that Patrick used to say tears for Fears were a real inspiration for him to start the band.
Patrick: Oh yeah they’re amazing!
PT: AS a band, you seem to be about more than just music, you put a lot of effort into your videos, and you’ve released a bunch of teaser videos on the internet as well. Is that something you find something lacking in bands today?
Patrick: I don’t know about lacking, but I think it helps people to cling on, grab interest.
Kris: It’s another facet of the band. A lot of other bands make the cliché ‘this is us on tour goofing around’ video; we put a lot thought and effort into things. It’s another form of media for people to get into.
Jesse: I think nowadays, the more content you have, the better. Between remixes, videos and everything it’s good for people to be able to access more than just a record.
PT: You’ve utilised the Internet and Youtube especially to great effect as a promotional tool. How different would things be for you without it?
Kris: I honestly don’t think this band would even exist without technology. I mean the EP was made completely on pirated software y’know!
Patrick: Basically the way we got our name out there was through Myspace and the Internet. I think it’s almost impossible to not do that anymore. In this day and age, it’s such a huge part of society now, you can’t ignore it. That’s the way people get their information.
Kris: It’s free advertising too!
Patrick: A while ago when I was in my old band, we would take CDs and just put them in record shops and say to people ‘if you like this kind of music, pick this up’. That was a way of promoting us, now you can just put everything on the Internet because everyone’s on it. Except for like, my grandmother!
PT: It’s been a while in the making but the album has finally come out. What are your proudest moments of the record?
Jesse: The album’s pretty diverse; I don’t think I would say there’s one song that encapsulates what we are about. I’d want someone to listen to the whole record then tell me what they thought were the best songs!
PT: Can we expect you back again soon?
Patrick: There’s nothing concrete, but the closest thing I’ve heard is April!