Nothing But Thieves

Nothing But Thieves are going from strength to strength. Having bagged RJ Mitte of Breaking Bad fame for a cameo in their latest video and proving a phenomenon in the States, the Southend troupe are returning home for a triumphant homecoming tour. We caught up with guitarist Joe Langridge-Brown to see where their heads are currently at.

2015 was a runaway success for you as a band. What were your personal highlights?

2015 was the first year we had people actually turning up to the shows, so that was nice. We also played our biggest headline show to date at the electric ballroom and that was a pretty big moment for me. My dad had taken me to see Richard Ashcroft at the Electric Ballroom when I was a kid, so to headline was a great feeling. There was a signed Richard Ashcroft poster backstage so I text a photo of it to him, really cool.

What was the most interesting feedback you received?

That I have the hair of Kurt Cobain but not the talent. Can't argue really.

And the most questionable?

We were once asked if we really needed a drummer and a bass player or whether we could put them on a backing track. It was by a record label, which I won't name.

How has the success altered your ambitions as you head in to 2016?

I'm not sure it really has. We've always taken things at our own place and that's not gonna change. We want to write the best songs we can and play them the best that we can every night. Sometimes you just need to keep it simple.

You are kicking off 2016 with the single If I Get High - tell us about the song...

Collectively it's one of our favourite songs that we have. It was written in like half an hour and felt completely natural. I won't go into details as to what it's about as I like to leave it up to the listener but whenever we play that song, no matter how the gig is going, everything seems to kick up a gear which we're very much grateful for.

And the video...

It's cool innit. The whole idea of lucid dreaming really added to the concept of the song

RJ Mitte's appearance is pretty memorable. How did that come about?

Apparently he was just a fan of the song and our band which is pretty cool. He came to our headline show in LA, really nice guy. He nailed the video as well.

Are you Breaking Bad fans?

We are. It's actually one of the only TV shows we've all seen.

If you were a character in the series, which would you be?

Struggling to think of any character I'd like to be... It's not the happiest of shows is it? Heisenberg I guess... A dark character arc but at least interesting.

You are on tour again - what trick do you have up your sleeve?

I don't want to give too much away but we're playing a new cover of one of our favourite songs, I've loved playing it every night. Also for the tech guitar geeks out there, I've just bought a Masf Possessed. It's the most insane guitar pedal I've ever heard.

What song do you enjoy playing most live?

Currently really enjoying a song called Drawing Pins. I get to improvise a bit which keeps it interesting.

Who is the greatest live act you have ever seen?

That's hard to say... Greatest show I've ever been to was when I saw Foo Fighters at Wembley stadium. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones came out to play a couple of Led Zep songs, it was fucking inane.

Lastly, if you could hook up for a jam session with someone dead or alive, who would it be?

I'd probably say Johnny Greenwood. He's just so inventive. I love musicians who put a different spin on music and he certainly does.