BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB

Ride Your Fixie

Finding themselves in the very common position of being liked and respected, but not quite shifting a proportionate amount of records, British indie pop-rockers Bombay Bicycle Club are making a calculated effort to redress the balance with their third studio album A Different Kind Of Fix. JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD sat down with drummer Suren de Saram ahead of their performance at The Astor Theatre on Wednesday, March 14.

One of Britain’s most enduring modern indie acts, Bombay Bicycle Club have always refused to slump into irrelevance, weathering the sneers of rock snobs who dismiss them as twee ironists and remaining unapologetic champions of the joys of pop, allying thrumming beats with timeless songwriting craft to make something moving and lasting out of the allegedly disposable.
Their last album, 2010’s Flaws, was acoustic, and was nominated for an Ivor Novello songwriting award. The new one, A Different Kind of Fix, drummer Suren de Saram explains, is nothing like it.
“We didn’t feel that we needed to tie this record with the acoustic album, because for us that was just a side project and we didn’t feel that we needed the new one to make sense with it,” he says. “All three albums have been pretty different, so there’s no sort of master plan, we just go along with it. Our taste in music is always changing, we’re just trying new things really. [Lead vocalist] Jack [Steadman] was listening to a lot of dance and electro music and learning about building songs around a loop and sampling, cutting and pasting so that inevitably found its way onto the record.”
Embracing pop music, while still keeping a sharp edge, the band are hoping their new sound will attract new fans and help them secure funding to keep touring the world, if only for a few more years.
“A couple of years ago [guitarist] Jamie [MacColl]’s dad suggested we all take up a trade, become plumbers or something and make some money, but we’re enjoying it too much right now to even be bothered thinking about proper work and careers,” de Saram says.
“We’re not delusional, we realise it’s not going to be forever. If we’re honest with ourselves, it’s probably only going to last for a couple more years. Then we’ll probably be forced to find proper non-music jobs or go back to university or something. That’s why we’re putting our all into it while we still have something of a captive audience. We want to keep this thing going for as long as we can.”
For now, de Saram says the band are aiming to conquer Australia during their impending tour, although he admits that punters are often perplexed by their live shows.
“We play with a lot of energy and movement, but we’re quite quiet people so we don’t talk a lot on stage, we pretty much just get up there and play the songs,” he concludes. “People often find that odd.”