There’s something deliciously underdog-like about Sky Larkin. The Leeds three-piece are the Jackie’s Army of the English music scene. They’ve unfairly had to labour through some landfill indie comparisons to get where they are, but where they are is pretty exciting – at the release of their debut album The Golden Spike on February 6th on Wichita they’ve support slots with Stereolab and Conor Oberst to reminisce on, the patronage of Arts & Crafts-signed Los Campesinos! to be proud of, and have created a sound that’s pleasingly hard to place your finger on. There’s simply something indefinably magnetic about their record. It’s earnest and it’s easy to love. Who doesn’t root for the underdog? Heartless cretins, is who.
From your music to your Sky Larkin cartoon strip there’s something innately early 90’s American alternative and college rock about Sky Larkin – Is this the kind of music you were raised with?
It’s definitely been an influence, and from spending time in the Pacific Northwest I definitely see a similarity and affinity between there and the North of England. The weather, temperament of the people, and the community focus of the music scene especially.
The band is a very much a fan-oriented one, are you more interested in catering for the people who love you already rather than pandering to find new fans?
We’d like to communicate with lots of people but do of course want to cultivate the friendships we’ve made, and the internet certainly facilitates that.
Do you find it difficult to get attention in Britain where the press is orientated towards more sensationalist bands – Is it enough to be just fantastic songwriters anymore?
I think we’ve never pandered to that kind of press or tried to invite that kind of attention, I think people are perceptive and will see through a front, even if it takes a record or two for things to come apart at the seams. We’ve enjoyed doing things the way we have and hope that the fans we have appreciate that we haven’t compromised anything for the sake of column inches. Sorry if this is all coming across pretty blunt, I’m in a venue in Belgium and have just woken up!
Where did the idea of releasing the last single as a watch come from? Do you think that offering a sort of physical prize for buying the music devalues the music itself at all?
I think that the object and the song became severed with the birth of the mp3, and rather than see it as a threat we wanted to choose another object to align the song with. The watch is relevant to the concept of the song and has lyrics on the face so I hope will be a more potent link to the spirit of the song than an unplayed 7″ in a collector’s record box.
Why ‘The Golden Spike’?
I first heard of it in the artist Robert Smithson’s writings. It was driven to mark the meeting of the rails when the American railroad was completed. It was an object infused with distilled significance and that’s the feeling that immediately came to mind when I thought about what it’d be like to hold our album in my hands
You’ve said the essential thing about the band is that you don’t rest on your laurels – What are you pushing yourselves towards next? Has the band got a long-term vision?
I think that to take the mystery out of it would be to lose the fun! But I hope that we always follow up the ideas we have and follow our instincts
What’s Sky Larkin’s favourite thing about Sky Larkin?
At the moment I really love the screenprints that Jack Hudson has done for our euro tour, so pretty!
Sky Larkin’s excellent new album, The Golden Spike is out now.
