INTERVIEW: Sky Larkin
Bands these days have many reasons to thank the internet. Without it there'd be no MySpace, iTunes or Last.fm, no YouTube, MOG or Tunecore.
There'd probably also be no Sky Larkin.
According to singer and guitarist Katie Harkin, the Leeds band pretty much owe their existence to the wonders of the web.
"It's strange," she says of her early days working with drummer Nestor Matthews. Pals from school, they'd once been in a band together in their home city, but it wasn't until Katie moved 200 miles south that Sky Larkin began their long gestation in 2005.
"I went down to London to study – that's where I started writing," explains Katie. "I didn't graduate until 2007 so we were a long-distance band for a long time. We kept exchanging ideas through the power of the internet."
Initially the band tried out a few local shows in 2005-6 with Lindsay Wilson on bass, "but," says Katie, "Lindsay wanted to concentrate on being a guitarist" – she now plays with Mother Vulpine. So they brought in Doug Adams – a Welshman who was studying music technology in Leeds – again via the web. "He joined over Internet Messenger," laughs Katie.
In 2007 Sky Larkin released a brace of singles through Leeds label Dance to the Radio and were featured on the compilation albums Something I Learned Today and Out Of The Woods And Trees.
They also appeared on the unsigned stage at Leeds Festival – but things really took off last year when they clinched a deal with Wichita Recordings, home of Conor Oberst, Bloc Party and The Cribs.
At the band's request, they jetted over Seattle to record their debut album with John Goodmanson. "We liked records he had made before with Sleater-Kinney and Death Cab For Cutie," says Katie. "We were lucky – Death Cab For Cutie let us borrow their drum kit and amps. We just took our guitars.
"It was great to work with John. We didn't know what to expect but we're happy with the way it turned out."
From the look of the videos for their forthcoming single Beeline and its predecessor, Fossil, I, Sky Larkin seem very much at home in the USA.
However, says Katie, they have no plans to relocate there just yet. "We feel as a band at home anywhere. We're definitely from Leeds. I grew up here. It's always going to be my home.
"But it's something I find liberating about music. You meet people you never thought you would meet and go places you never thought you would go."
Many of those places are reached "Postman Pat-style" in their trusted old Royal Mail van. It makes a change from the traditional Ford Transit. "We've driven it as far east as the Czech Republic and as far north as Glasgow," says Katie.
"If you have the means to drive yourself you can get offered stuff like that. We take a lot of things into our own hands. For instance, the artwork for our album was done by an art collective from Leeds, Nous Vous – they've got their own website www.nousvous.eu."
It seems Wichita was also happy to give the band their head. "They said, 'We're not going to tell you what to do.' They're very accommodating. There's a lot of artistic freedom involved."
This month Sky Larkin embark on a UK tour with fellow Leeds band Pulled Apart By Horses and various local guests. The shows go under the banner "Huw Stephens presents...", with a nod to the BBC Radio 1 DJ who's become the band's unofficial patron.
"It's been good to feel someone as influential as him has space in his heart for us," says Katie. "We did his Christmas party at Maida Vale."
Beeline is released on January 26 – as a conventional download and a distinctly unconventional analogue watch. "I imagine we must be (the first band to ever do this]," says Katie. "I thought there are so many 7-inch singles sold and never played, it would be good to have something which is useful. Around the face of the watch it says, 'Discuss the moment and beeline', which is a lyric from the song, so there is a connection."
The album, The Golden Spike, follows on February 9. In between the band play at the Brudenell Social Club on January 31.
Pre-ordered copies of The Golden Spike include a live version, recorded at the Brudenell. "We wanted to reward people that are putting a lot of faith in us," says Katie.
After the UK, the band play concerts in Europe then in March they're scheduled to play the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.
"I'm looking forward to the barbecue," says Katie. "I've heard they have a great barbecue and beer."
Tickets for Sky Larkin's Leeds gig are available in advance from Jumbo and Crash Records.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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