Tonight, South London trio Happyness take to the stage of Manchester’s Deaf Institute in support of Avi Buffalo. Despite not being the headline act, the anticipation around their performance is palpable, as a sizable crowd gathers to hear their set. At first listen, Happyness could be mistakenly lumped in with the ever-expanding list of new British bands taking inspiration from so-called 1990s US ‘slacker rock’, but there is something about their wry-yet-bizarre lyrics and detailed studio meanderings that sets them apart.
As they launch into their performance, Happyness manage impressively to translate the intricate, fuzzy harmonies from their brilliant debut LP Weird Little Birthday into full-on, scuzzy garage rock. 'Great Minds Think Alike, All Brains Taste The Same' has a touch of Pavement or Grandaddy about it, with a catchy vocal refrain tinged with surf-rock vibes. Their on-stage persona is laid-back, almost nonchalant at times, but it’s clear the band is grateful for the attention they have been getting of late, even if they are modest about it.
The group don’t shy away from their penchant for weirdness, as singer Johnny introduces 'Montreal Rock Band Somewhere' as “a song about cutting off the singer from Arcade Fire’s head.” With an EP and album under their belt after forming less than a year ago, the band already have a great catalogue of songs to draw from. 'It’s On You' is a perfect snippet of pop rock, yet with lines referencing “John Coltrane’s retirement plan” giving the track the unique Happyness twist. Most of their tracks might only be a couple of minutes long, but this only serves to make them all the more fascinating as the band race through their set. The show draws to a close with 'Monkey in the City', all dreamy melodies and hushed vocals, sounding far less minimal than the album version.
On record Happyness are charmingly lo-fi, but their live set brings out a whole different side to their sound, as the group channels its complex and multi-instrumental record into a captivating stage show. The performance is over too soon, though, following a perfect blend of retro garage-punk and clever, sophisticated harmonies.
They’ve already released one of the most delightful debut albums of the year and now Benji, Johnny and Ash are set to prove they have the live credentials to complete the full package. The trio take some time after their set to chat about writing, recording and touring, and give us an insight into what the future might hold.
3rd October 2014, Deaf Institute Manchester
With thanks to Kemptation
So how long have Happyness been together as a collective?
ASH: As people we’ve been together for a long time, as we’ve been friends for a long time. According to our press release it’s since about 1973.
BENJI: But also simultaneously about a year.
JOHNNY: I think our first show was around November last year. We made some recordings before that and have been writing stuff together for a while.
This is the first night of your tour with Avi Buffalo. Are you looking forward to the dates?
J: We met him for about five minutes and he seems like a cool guy. It’s great to be asked to go on tour with him.
B: We’re going to Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow and London.
A: But we’re not going to Dublin.
J: Because we’re scared of water.
Do you enjoy touring?
B: Yeah, we love touring!
J: I think a lot of people’s knee-jerk reaction is to go, “oh yeah, touring is great” [laughs at Benji]. It’s definitely taken a bit of getting used to. We started in the studio and wrote our entire EP and album after only a couple of shows. It’s a little weird for us, as we’re so used to being our own band and having all the time in the world and no pressure, in front of variable amounts of people.
A: 190 tonight!
How do these venues compare to this time last year?
A: They’re about the same size but more people are coming. It was fun doing our first festival season.
J: More people come [to watch us] at festivals because they’re there anyway. And they haven’t got anything better to do.
Is it more about being on at the right time at festivals?
J: We played at the same time as Chvrches at Reading.
A: There was a definite moment when Chvrches started…
J: There was a sea of people sweeping across the ‘beach’ of our crowd.
Which acts have you seen or been influenced by while you’ve been on tour?
B: We saw War on Drugs and Mac DeMarco at Green Man, who were pretty awesome.
A: We did some dates with Speedy Ortiz, which were fun.
B: And Ezra Furman and The Boyfriends – they’re really cool guys; we toured for a month with them earlier in the year.
Do you remember individual shows or do they blur into one?
J: I think we definitely do. It’s great to be in front of a crowd that’s sort of tailor-made to appreciate you. Green Man festival was a stand out.
You’re venturing to the USA after this tour. Do you have any experience there?
A: We’re excited! We’re doing a week of eight shows.
B: We’re going to CMJ Festival.
J: We’re going to go and see the sea lions in Central Park zoo…we’ve just got to figure out how to get there.
The album is currently getting great reception. Do you get a chance to work on new material while touring?
J: We’ve just been in the studio for about 2-2½ weeks, writing stuff.
B: It’s kind of difficult to find time on the road to do what we do and take time to mess around in the studio. We don’t physically have the time or space to do it, but still when we’re on tour it’s constantly like new ideas and stuff, and listening to new music.
J: We’ll get ideas and put them together later.
So which do you prefer, live shows or working in the studio?
A: We started that way [in the studio]: that process of writing and being able to record at the same time.
J: It’s not always that concentrated; it’s a case of two or three weeks here and there.
B: Before we had a name, before we even called ourselves a band, we would hang out in the studio; write demos, then the album.
A: I think the name was the last thing to come
J: We booked our shows for November and they were like “…we need something to put on the flyer.” There was kind of a panic the week before.
B: People would ask us what our band was called and it was embarrassing.
A: I used to just make them up.
How was it translating the album into live shows?
J: It was quite difficult because there are only three of us, and on record there’s a lot more going on. We’re all pretty multi-instrumental.
A: I think one day we’d like to expand and get a fourth member – that would open up a lot more songs for us.
B: And then an orchestra…a choir… dancers….pyrotechnics…
A: Glitter cannons as well!
Where have you played in Manchester before?
A: The Castle.
J: Sounds From The Other City in Salford, First Chop Brewing Arm. They were really fun shows.
A: Johnny kissed a lobster at Sounds From The Other City.
J: I kissed a lobster on the face.
And what are your plans for the future?
J: We’ve got this tour, then going to America in November. Then, we’re going to write some more songs in order to make more records. We just signed a deal in Japan, so we’ll be going out there and releasing a single and album.
B: Some stuff in Europe. Carry on doing what we’re doing.
J: Wear clothes, convert oxygen into carbon dioxide
Has Win Butler ever acknowledged you cutting off his scalp in your lyrics to Montreal Rock Band Somewhere?
B: He hasn’t, but it was done with the most respect for him and his band
J: Have you ever met him? If you interview him, can you let him know we’d like to meet him? We’ll keep a sensible distance.
B: I’m just waiting for an email from the Montreal state department…
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