Django Django have something to tell you about sticking to your guns
- Text by Tom Fenwick
Musicians know better than most that the road to success can be paved with stumbling blocks. But what does it take to get past potholes in an industry where even the strongest acts can trip up?
A couple of weekends ago while we were down in Brighton for the tenth annual Great Escape Festival – Europe’s largest emerging music showcase – we asked artist both new and established a simple question to see if we could get to the bottom of the issue:
Is there anything you know now, that you wish you’d known before you started out?
Here’s what they said…
Django Django
Jim, bass: “Tommy has this really annoying little snore.”
Dave, drums: “He sounds like a baby fox, which you’d think was quite cute, but it’s really not.” [Laughs.]
Jim: “But apart from that I guess the biggest lesson we learned was to stick to our guns. When we were first being offered record deals, labels tried to get us to work with outside producers. But Dave was always determined to make stuff our own way and wanted to produce the record himself. When you start a band it’s your thing, so it seems strange to hand a huge part of it over to someone else, and I think our first record vindicated that idea.”
Dave: “Totally. If you’re talked into something that you think it doesn’t sound right or seems dodgy then stick to your guns… and obviously don’t sleep in the bunk next to Tommy.”
Saycet
Pierre: “Patience. You must wait, because things will come. Ten years ago I was very impatient, I had to get my work out fast I wanted to make an album every year. I always onto the next thing… but now I don’t care.
“It’s been four years since the release of my last album, but people who like my work and follow my career know it takes time to produce something good, so they’ll enjoy it regardless of when it comes out.”
Spector
Fred, vocals: “Of course, so much… And with the benefit of hindsight I’m sure we’d do a million things differently, but what would be the fun in living if you knew how everything was going to end?
“Take your work seriously while not taking yourself seriously is the only rule I live by.”
You might like
Huck teams up with Eastern Margins for a special SXSW London showcase
From Shibuya to Shoreditch — Taking place at Village Underground on Monday, performances will come from MONO, Nina Utashiro, Ena Mori, Jianbo, LVRA & Soda Plains.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Analogue Appreciation: Shura
I Got Too Sad For My Friends — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. Today, it’s English singer-songwriter Shura.
Written by: Shura
After Assad’s fall, Syria’s musicians rebuild from the rubble
Spaces Between the Beats — Following decades of dictatorship and 14 years of civil war, the country’s classical and creative scenes have an opportunity to build from scratch. Andrei Popviciu speaks to the people hoping for a flourishing new era of art and sound.
Written by: Andrei Popoviciu
At Belgium’s Horst, electronic music, skate and community collide
More than a festival — With art exhibitions, youth projects and a brand new skatepark, the Vilvoorde-Brussels weekender is demonstrating how music events can have an impact all year round.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Tony Njoku: ‘I wanted to see Black artists living my dream’
What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s avant-garde electronic and classical music hybridist Tony Njoku.
Written by: Tony Njoku
Block9 reveals its Glastonbury Festival 2025 plans
Party and protest — The nightlife hub will feature a bigger-than-ever Saturday daytime block party across The NYC Downlow and Genosys, and a huge collaboration with artist-activist group Led By Donkeys.
Written by: Isaac Muk
