INTERVIEW1
In Russian & English
December 2009
http://gothicrock.ru/din/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.246


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INTERVIEW2
Pix Magazine
October 2009

When did you start playing music as a band and how long have you been gigging for?
Detachments have been experimenting with live stuff since spring 2008. We started really getting it together live last November really.

Where are you all based?
North London; Archway to be precise “N19 - A-Town” down - as in the US hip hop slang, A-Town being Atlanta – I saw that feebly felt-tipped on the road sign outside my flat.

You seem to be fast on the rise, already playing shows for a Tony Wilson charity event and your records being produced by the likes of James Ford. Nice going, how do you hope the future will pan out? Is there any particular way in which you’d like to take your music?
I would prefer the rise to be even more rapid - like that of Napoleon! We do want to reach the masses in some kind of capacity, but with a certain amount of mystery and privacy intact - something almost impossible to do nowadays it would seem. I’ve always said, since I started playing music in bands, that I’d like to be in a group that’s a modern equivalent to Neworder - they avoided the celebrity media circus. And musically - they could do indie, they could do electronic and make it all cohere. Going back to your question - I can’t really consciously plan where the music is going to go in the future, my artistic responses are dependent upon unforeseen life events. What I do know is that early next year we’re gonna be working closely with James Ford (he’s taking over production for the whole album) in his SMD studio in Shoreditch/Hackney/Bethnal Gn borders which, strangely enough, is one minute away from the moody estate where I lived for a coupla years when I first came to London. Direction-wise - Mr Ford prefers the dark, futuristic side of our sound, it’s gonna be very exciting bringing his studio wizardry in.

What was it like in the studio with Andy Weatherall?
His studio is a strange, subterranean base/grotto/labyrinth. I’ve come out of there high on some decent quality stuff quite a few times - everyone down there seems to be casually smoking the reefer. Lots of focused, head-nodding to the beats down there. Plus there’s often one or two very shadowy characters nipping in and out of the place. The joint’s got a vibe.

The impact of Joy Division on your live shows - from your shoes to your guitars, your movements on stage, everything recreated a great sense of nostalgia for that era, is your music strongly influenced by that of the 70s and 80s? And is there a Manchester bands focus?
Their shoes? I have no clue what their shoes were like I’m afraid. Thinking about it – our look has evolved naturally – the sharp look derives from being into Mod as teens - I used to be really into my sharp clobber, same with Olli – he was a full-on Lambretta riding enthusiast scooting from Newcastle to Brighton. We’ve merged that sharp, mod aesthetic with the austere, military-type shirts that we use to play on the Detachments (detachment as in military unit) name, and the look suits the at times militaristic sound. I’m quite into military history - something I may have picked up from my ex-RAF dad. I’m especially into the Napoleonic Wars.

To be honest I think direct Joy Division comparisons are a bit lazy - I’ve seen this happen before with e.g. Interpol who actually sound much more like The Chameleons than JD and also White Lies who are obviously much more Echo & The Bunnymen. I think people project who they want onto a lot of bands. Perhaps Mr Curtis and I have similar psychological make-ups, maybe that’s why people say I remind ‘em of him too, fuck knows - I suppose I do have a quite nihilistic, misanthropic streak.
The essence of Post-punk - I like, I guess I’m indoctrinated in that irreverent, DIY punk spirit, also I’m an artschool grad like most of those bands. When I first met him I remember Andy Weatherall name-checking all these Factory bands that my stuff reminded him of and I’d not heard most of ‘em which he said makes what we do even more amazing. I do like the sheer, austerity and enigma of those early 80s Factory bands –Section 25 and early ACR. I do like the 70s and particularly the 80s – I think people were really striving to push things forward in those days – from the Post-Punk manouevres to the House/Techno explosion at the end of that decade, so for me - to be into the spirit of those times means we’re into doing something from the more forward looking end of the spectrum. Most of the 90’s was so trad 60’s obsessed. Also - the dance music just became slick and formulaic, very little has changed in the empty noughties, creatively - things seem to have really slowed down.

Guess I’ve always seen Manchester as the source in some ways – I was born there for a start, My dad’s side are Mancunian with Irish roots, my Ma moved there when she was 18 (from Singapore). That city’s got a great musical history – plucking random stuff out of the air e.g. 808 State, The Chameleons, The Smiths. A very rich tapestry indeed. The city was an underdog in the 70s and 80s – guess it had something to prove and fight for. Via Neworder I discovered Joy Division when I was about 15. I was startled by the starkly brutal and bleak sound (I had Substance which starts off with the Warsaw stuff) from a shadowy, mysterious time in British music history, I found it very alluring - was drawn in. I got Unknown Pleasures and Closer a few years later at Artschool – I used to turn to those albums when I was going through rough patches. Joy Division dared tread where others would not, they represented the ultimate – exploration of the extreme final limits, making them untouchable. I’d only listen to Closer when things were really fucking bad. Joy Division deserve that unique, special reverence they command.


Are there any other bands you cite as influences or bands you would like to work with?
80s Depeche Mode is a massive influence, also Mezzanine by Massive Attack, LCD Soundsystem, The Cure, the cinematic beat-scapes of Wu-Tang, My Bloody Valentine, Kraftwerk, very early Human League (but not the dodgy lryics), 80s Pet Shop Boys, the early noughties Electro scene and of course the great man himself - Sir David Bowie – all formative influences. Then there’s many more little, unexpected influences - I don’t know where to start, e.g. most of new single ‘Circles’ was originally inspired by early 80’s Prince. Who would we wanna work with? James Ford, Trevor Jackson, Weatherall, Peter Hook…oh, we’re already working with them! Ha. Ok, I demand to work with Bowie!!

You’ll be playing joy division covers at the Manchester show, are you looking forward to it? How do you think you’ll go about bringing Ian Curtis back to life?
We’re playing a couple of Neworder tunes we’ve re-invented from a forthcoming tribute album –Ceremony - which is dedicated to Tony Wilson. We feel honoured to be involved. Proceeds go to the Salford Foundation Trust, it’s put together by some folk out in Florida. Recently Peter Hook got in touch to request we complete the short set with Love Will tear Us Apart. Mind-blowing. So I recently actually sat down and properly analysed Ian’s vocal technique. I remember reading how he used to listen to Sinatra for tips on interpretation and delivery and that became evident upon close listening. Ian C’s singing on that song resonates with a real sensitivity and sincerity that I don’t automatically employ. In comparison I realise how detached and cold my delivery is - I probably sing a bit more like Kraftwerk. I’m currently learning the love Will Tear Us Apart lyrics and I’m going to base our vsn on a JD Peel Sessions vsn in which the vocals are sung in a slightly different rhythm - it’s more rapid fire and slightly punkier. When I sing it I’m going to get inside and really feel the song, I’ll probably have to close my eyes. His texturally rich sound comes from a really deep visceral level – the diaphragm must be relaxed in a certain way which I think comes from a deep soulful, dangerously melancholy state.


How do you feel you differ from New Order or Joy Division in the sense that in which way is your music a more C21st approach to post-punk?
I think we sound more like e.g. early Human League and the semi-psychotic sounding Section 25 overseen by LCD Soundsystem than N.O./J.D. Most of my approach to writing I learnt through Depeche Mode. Obviously we utilize modern production technology. Also we absorb new things we find exciting (e.g. we’re partial to a bit of Dubstep) - we think of our vision as Futurist. The original post-punk lot say they were documenting their environments and their times, we’re in recession now too - maybe that’s part reason why people are gravitating towards us. If the post-punks were on a wave of energy made by the Punk explosion where do we stand? I’d say we’re a cold, nihilistic response to the sterility and vacuous predictability of modern, consumerist life.

Where will you be playing next? And where would be the dream venue or destination?
We’ve got at UK tour coming up, check our myspace for dates. In addition to The Salford gig we’re doing with him - Hooky may be joining us as a secret, special guest on one or two nights somewhere. Final date is at Camden Barlfy Nov 30 - Weatherall’s DJ’ing too - be there. Dream destination? A gig to a 1000 fuelled up people somewhere in Antarctica. Or the moon.

What can we look out for, any releases in store for Detachments?
Circles/HAL is out November 30th. 7” - Side1 produced by James Ford, Side 2 Andrew Weatherall. There’s loads of remixes coming out too, look out for those – there should be the first wave of white labels going round the clubs as we speak. Early reports indicate James Murphy is really into the Beg To Differ remix, Annie Mac has played the Martyn remix on her Radio 1 show, Optimo have been playing the King of Town mix for several weeks now – apparently the place goes mad!


Thank you for answering! We hope to see you somewhere on stage soon!
A pleasure.

2009

43/67
Pure Groove Records, Farringdon
HAL, I Don't Want To Play, Flowers, Fear No Fear, Out of My Hands, Circles, Art of Viewing
This gaff used to be in A-Town, N-19. Miss it we do, but they didn't have a nice bar and a stylish cafe back then. We had fun doing this mad little instore. No inhibitions. 8/10

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UK tour nov/dec 2009
66
London, Barfly, mo30nov09 (Circles release)
HAL, I Don't Want To Play, Flowers, Fear No Fear, Out of My Hands, Perfect Kiss, Circles, Take Cover
Wow, a lot of folks turned up for our 'home'coming/Circles release event. A rather jubilant gig. Crd 7.75/10. Band =7/10


HAL, I Don't Want To Play, Flowers, Fear No Fear, Art of Viewing, Perfect Kiss, Circles, Take Cover...
65
Bath, Moles, sa28nov09
Didn't look like it was going to be that intensely busy. people came out of the catacombs though - bopping a bit before more and more let go to hit the dancefloor. Finally ENCORE! we gave them 'Out Of My Hands'. We like the West Country and it's hint of a dissident spirit of independence - Bristol/Bath/Glasto thing, you know.
Sold some stuff. Got back in the van and set off for London.

Pretty countryside on way. Dreadful traffic in Bath though. Found a pub carpark. nursed single drinks til 4:45 load in time.
Tour taking toll - now all stretched thin to exhaustion point - especially oli having to drive that knackered van for 2 wks.
At load in - saw, above the venue, a shop called Bonaparte's - a miltary miniature ornaments specialist - it was closing though. Natch.
Crd 7/10. Band =7/10

64
fr27nov09
pm: Oxford
Pretty good gig.  Sold some stuff.
Then we had to trek over to SwindonTravelodge in order to be ready for Bath gig.
Steak and dumplings + root veg.
Crd 6.25/10. Band =7/10

63
am: The Lowry, Salford
Got up about 7am. rolled out at 7:30am - beers time (had got an early night previously - 10:30pm - but woke up at 2:30am-ish).
our rusty LDV rocked up the hotel in the famous rain and nestled itself next to MBWs, Aston Martins, Mercs etc.
Peter Hook stepped in whilst we were running through Perfect Kiss,'very strange to hear that one'.
Then it was press time - photo Sebastien and Hooky for Manchester Evening News, interviews on Channel M: Hooky + Sebastien&Jake.
Also interviews with Pulp magazine (M'cr Met mag) and Student Direct.

Plush setting. Fancy room of about 20+ tables. Northwest businessmen in attendance - the sponsors of the trust.
Speeches from budding actors, classical musicians, sportspeople. Salford Foundation Trust is a grant giving charity helping young people to develop their skills and talents and to support their aspirations. Sebastien & Dertachments were sat next to Hooky on a table of 10. Wine o'clock for Sebastien & boys.
We got up did Perfect Kiss, Cricles and finally Love Will Tear Us Apart

joined by the great man himself Hooky. Surreal. Magnificent moment. What a buzz.
The food was delicious, the chicken fell of the bone perfectly. Mad sitting next to the living legend that is Peter Hook. He was a good laugh, liked his attitude - he's still got Punk-rock at heart.

Manchester, day off, th26nov09
Travelodge - Sports City.
Rambled down road to Manchester city centre for lunch. Bit of shopping then spent most of day in HMV basement playing Xbox. ProEvo10: Sebastien's Man City twatted Jake's finetuned Arsenal 2-1. Then we got stuck into Rock Band (Beatles vsn) all taking turns on different instruments. mangaed to do ok despite in the background, the staff were playing death metal at a very antisocial volume level.
Wandered round acoupla bars, Jake kept bumping into old friends.
Back at Travelodge had ordered a curry.
Went to sleep at 10:30ish  but woke up aboutr 2:30am and couldn't sleep no more! Pete and Sebastien watched art-films and Hip Hop Othello at the Lowry on BBC2 Blast til til we had to get up proper.

62
Stoke, Sugarmill, we25nov09 (wretched nadir of the tour)
In brum hostel, watched (they had projector and sourround sound) a bit of that Twilight film... until crack! the bulb blew.
AA came round and comfirmed the van's power-steering completely fucked. 'Tour over' we kind of thought. fuck.
We cancelled 1 rm at the Stoke Travelodge. Eventually we though fk it let's keep on keeping on and took the van up the rd to Stoke to see how it would perform. Obviously very difficult steering but we made it.
Bastard beurotwats at Travelodge wouldn't give us our rm back 'computer says no' situation. Sickening.
Went to a Little Chef and got skanked. Oli was bitterly disgruntled with his portion.
Sat in a deserted pub watching footbal peacefully sipping Glenfidich until a drunken parents and son combo of  locals staggered in
demanded jjjygermoisters, literally falling over they were.
Stoke gig - freezing backstage rm. kept ourselves amused with lob-kicking a plastic bottle into a bin -  a 6th form skiver's game from Pete.
Also got on with practising Love Will Tear Us Apart.

gig: What a nightmare the gig. Crowd consisted mainly of boorish, yokel, lad-rocker types steadily trickling out confused. The sound was completely FUCKED. The bumbling soundman couldn't save us from the malfunctioning in-house gear. Things kept cutting out! We were all
very disappointed indeed. DELETE MEMORY.
Crd 2.5/10. Band 7/10. Sound 3.5/10
Stoke Travelodge 4 to a room. gotta laugh or you cry!

61
Birmingham, Hare & Hound, tu24nov09
got thrown out of Travelodge by irate cleaners.
sunny drive from yorks until we reached Birmingham - forboding skies.
Venue in a rtough n ready Stoke Newington-esque High Street.
Soggy fish n chips taken up to our cozy backstage room. Nice fireplace. oldschool.
Held the crowd despite them not knowing us. Some fucker trod on our one remaining neon striplight.
luckily - good smoke machine +atmospheric dimmed blue lighting as requested. Pretty good gig.
Crd 6.75/10. Band 7.5/10
Accom: some hippy-ish backpacker's joint. 6 to a rm. Never again! Feel sorry for the 2 random girls in there having to put up with the fumes.Crap night's sleep all round.

60
York, The Duchess,mo23nov09
Despair! in Glasgow we needed to call AA - flat battery. all totally exhausted too. anyway we soldiered on down to the city of York. Huge venue. Trudged to Nandos.
Huge venue - we feared tumbleweed, but it turned out to be a really nice little gig.
Bowie was played before stage - good for tuning in. Also the young support band 'Ten' played amazing cinematic music on their string instruments. Good to relax to. Enjoyed the gig. Positive vibes airbourne. Met pete's folks also SImon Carr's and some greek fans who informed us we're pretty popular in the Greek underground scene
who we sold some stuff to.
Crd 7.25/10. Band 8/10
Tadcaster Travelodge.

59
Glasgow, King Tut's, sun22nov09
Pete missed his train to Newcastle so went direct to Glasgow. Jake arrived in Newcastle
picked him up in the Jag, went gliding round Newcastle. Then commenced the trundle up to Scotland in the LDV.
Got the CD player working - Johnny Cash was in time to windscreen wipers. Smiths singlaong ensued. Arrived in the dark and the rain of glasgow.
Chilli concarne.
Had our 2 neon blue strip lights diagional on either side of bass drum - looked cool. Receptive crowd, pockets of suss really going for it. We're known up there. Opitmo next - King of Town RMX of Cricles - a moment to be savoured! Sweet.
We all went back for a gathering at brithday boy Shaun(friend of TINAE) - cheers for putting us up! sofa time once again.
Crd 8/10. Band 8/10

morpeth and newcastle, day off, sa21nov09
Pete and Jake stayed in Manchester.
Olli and Sebastien drove to Morpeth via the land's highest M-way.clouds skimming the landscape.
Angel of the North looked powerful and perhaps somewhat sinister.
At oli's dad's gaff in Northumberland - SHOTGUNS. Oli and Bastien went for a trudge in the fields, blasted off a few cartridges.
Jag to Newcastle.
Hung out with a bunch of locals. Got pissed on white wine and vodka then went into the Toon.
Sebastien memory blackout! Later on after passing out he got escorted out of club by an unforgiving doorman.

58
Manchester, Ruby Lounge, fr20nov09
Had english breakfast at Olli's antie's. Delicious.
Sunny drive to the Northwest. Manchester: Went shopping in centre.
With Red Stripe rider watched that new Whacko movie backstage that olli had streamed or downloaded.
Crd 6.5/10. Band 7/10
Good to chat with various folks and friends after.
Everyone got quite pissed (except of course for poor old ollie(driving duties to Oldham Travelodge)

57
Bristol, Start The Bus, th19nov09
Relief at a short drive.
Arrived at Olli's antie's 4-star BnB. City Centre lots of graf. Winter Bristol didn't look as appealing as it did last summer.
Huge backstage roooms, being converted into art gallery. Pete got on the BMX. nice inhouse burger.
Got a few people going in hard on the dancing.
Got to guesthouse - realise olli'd left his Macbook at venue! NIGHTMARE!!!!!! raced back, luckily it was still there. phew.
Crd 6.5/10. Band 6.5/10  (guit cut out a bit)

56
Cardiff, Barfly, we18nov09
i think we got another fucking ticket for the van in LDN. Good to depart the South of England.
Atmospheric drive over Severn Bridge - impressive structure. Arrived in the evening, dark. Opposite venue - the ancient walls of Cardiff Castle. Impressed by Cardiff City centre.Very modern. Gentle ambience. Christmas carols from an east european type trad band etc. German Christmas market stuff.
Backstage:- fridgepacked with Red Stripe - oh yes. + we got our reuested rider munch. On door backstage looked like the staff had really gone to town on shit related bandname jokes - e.g. 'Editurds', 'Coldplop'. We added 'Red hot shitty peppers' - yeah it was all quite amusing at the time, it can be quite biring waiting around.

Gig was pretty good. Liked the smoke machine - could really trip out in Fear No Fear.
Sold quite few records after.
Crd 6.75/10. Band 6.5/10 (guit cut out a bit)
all shared a cell-like rm in a hostel. remained cheerful though!

55
Southampton, Joiners, tu17nov09
Archway(N) to sarf of the river Deptford(SE) to pick up Pete...hang on is there another
Mi6 buidling in far south London? nope, sat nav had taken us back up central - to the River...Nightmare! 3hrs to get the fuck out of LDN traffic. Good interview before gig. S'ton - vJoiners has been graced by a lot of big-hitting bands over the yrs. Some fans who'd seen us at Truck Festival were there. More of a positive vibe than 1st night. Sold some records!
Crd 6.5/10. Band 6.5/10
Drove back to London.

54
Brighton, Freebutts, mon16nov09
Olli had driven the rusty, Y-reg LDV Convoy down from Northumberland, the lad was knackered, popped into his archway flat and accidentally dozed off for 11min and ended up with a parking ticket. bugger.
On motorway - crack! grit hit windscrn, little hole/crack. scarey.
Brighton: fish n chips then (after Olli came top on arcade Guitar Hero entering 'Detachments') strolled to the end of pier to peer into the black void, and glimpse the might of the night-waves angrily rolling.
Gig: small, feeble(little speccy types with arms folded) crowd - hard work. not a good start. to top it all - public, screaming showdown from/with mgt at end.
Crd 4.5/10. Band 6.5/10
Drove back to London. All somewhat vexed.

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53
Oct 15, Thu 21:25, 93 Feet East, Brick Lane, London
1.H.A.L. 2.I don't want to play 3.Flowers 4.Fear No Fear 5.AoV 6.Circles 7.Take Cover
First gig in London since Spring. Sounded really good. Can tell there's a recession going on - Sept 2008 when we played this joint we had dry ice and impressive lighting, the lot. This time - just the most basic lights. But you can't keep a good band down. Lots of affection from folk after. Must've been pretty good. Wait til we're back from the UK tour - Nov 30th Barly - be there LDN.

52
Sept 27, Sun 00:25am, Ekkofest Festival, Bergen, Norway
1.H.A.L. 2.I don't want to play 3.Circles 4.Fear No Fear 5.Human Shield 6.Flowers 7.Art of Viewing
Rainiest City in Europe - Bergen. We went up to the top of a mountain and all we could see was cloud - sublimely zen, then suddenly the city/harbour below mistily revealed itself - we were all quite blown away by the ethereality of Bergen.
Thisisnotanexit label-mates Spectral Empire and Brain Machine DJ'd before us. A large crowd began to gather. After our first tune we realised our metronome(for drummer Pete) and sound-effects HD were failing to produce signals! We didn't panic and proceeded with professionality, with a all-hands-on-deck sense of (emergency)urgency. Anyway none of the audience seemed to notice the missing, subtle electronic textures. We fucking played probably our best gig ever, the crowd loved it, the space was full, people were going for it. V is for victory. We were all very satisfied with how we pulled that gig off, Sebastien was in shock for the next 2 hours. We were told by some that that seriously was the best show of the Ekkofest. Aftershow - everyone proceeded to amble through parties until 6am. good times.

51
Sept 12, Sat 21:30, NuMusic Festival, Stavanger, Norway
1.Human Shield 2.Flrs 3.I Don't Want to Play 4.Circles 5.FNF 6.Out of My Hands 7.Art of Viewing 8.Take Cover
Overall treated well at festival. Band satisfied with good performance, shame our gig clashed with some Faust. Shook hands with Liquid Liquid after! Good to see Trevor Jackson out there too. pete nearly got into an incident with some Russian jailbird. lastly we all had a rave to Kode 9 - ribcage quaking sub-bass, awesome.

50
Sept 6, Sun 13:30, Offset Festival, Hainault Forest
1.I Don't Want To Play 2.Flowers That Fell 3.Circles 4.Fear No Fear
5.Out of My Hands 6.Human Shield
Strange time to play main stage for a band with a danceable edge.
Interview with Artrocker after.

49
July 26, Sun 18:45, Truck Festival, OX
1.I Don't Want To Play 2.Flowers That Fell 3.Circles 4.Fear No Fear
5.Out of My Hands 6.Human Shield 7.Take Cover
In the Beat-Hive electronics/dance-tent - Bastien on just vocals + a bit of keys/electronics, Olli on bass. Best performance yet.

Crowd kept coming in and we held them. Kids dancing at front, everyone else nodding and swaying - mission accomplished. Detachments ready.




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(GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND TOUR 10+14=24 +24(2008) =48)

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14
May 20, 23:30, Sat, Proud, London
1. Human Shield 2. Windows Are Closing In 3.I Don't Want To Play 4.Flowers
5. Circles. 6. Fear No Fear 7. Take Cover
Pretty good despite the hapless 'VJ' failing to activate our projections until FNF.


April 29, 21:30, Weds, Fleche D'Or, Paris
1. Human Shield 2. Windows Are Closing In 3.I Don't Want To Play 4.Flowers
5. Circles. 6. Fear No Fear 7. Take Cover

Amazing, great looking, celebrated venue - bustling, Good sound. A pleasure.


April 28, 22:30, Tu, Buffalo Bar
1. Human Shield 2. Windows Are Closing In 3.I Don't Want To Play 4.Flowers
5. Circles. 6. Fear No Fear 7. Take Cover
Mainly crap lifeless crowd, crap venue.


April 04, 22:30, Fri, Queen of Hoxton
1. Human Shield 2. Windows Are Closing In 3. Flowers 4.Messages
5. Circles. 6. Fear No Fear 7. Take Cover
Pretty fucking good gig. Decent sound too. Effective energy transmission. Personages dancing.


March 25, 21:15, Dublin Castle, Camden
1. Human Shield 2. Windows Are Closing In 3. Flowers 4.Messages
5. Circles. 6. Fear No Fear 7. Take Cover
yeah. not bad. solid, tight. not too much atmosphere in the room.


March 04, 21:35, Hoxton Bar
1. Messages 2. Windows Are Closing In 3. Flowers 4.Circles
5. FNF. 6. Take Cover
in front of our amazing projections played well but the crowd were static and standing back, not enough people moving . we fucking hate that. Playing dance beats to that kind of situation is shit. good feedback after show though anyway.


Feb 28, 23:45 Sat, Barlfy, Camden
1. Messages 2. none love. 3. Windows Are Closing In 4. Flowers 5.Circles
6. FNF. 7. Take Cover
When a single magpie sits in your path and then flies in face you know it's possible you might be in for a bad day...a lot of things went wrong, including Pete (drums) having to pull out with a perforated eardrum(!good job we have 2 drummers in the camp) to vital bits of kit missing with only 10minutes to stagetime. After a grim start , latter half of the gig - things really came together...Detachments were flying after midnight. People were dancing, good response from crowd.


Feb 13, Fri, The Railway, Winchester
1. One Love 2. HAL. 3. Windows Are Closing In 4. Messages 5.Flrs 6. FNF. Take Cover
Quaint, gritty, eccentric little venue, that surprisingly hosts many a notable act.


Feb 12, Thu, Proud Galleries, Camden
1. One Love 2. HAL. 3. Windows Are Closing In 4. Messages 5.Flrs 6. FNF. Take Cover
Projector rolling with footage put together by Bastian.


Feb 08, Sun, Fiction Non-Fiction, Oxford Rd, Manchester
1. One Love 2. Windows Are Closing In 3.HAL 4.FNF 5.Messages 7.Flowers That Fell 8.Take Cover
There was a TARDIS behind us onstage here.


Feb 07, Sat, The Kill Club, Wrexham, Wales.
1. One Love 2. Windows Are Closing In 3.HAL 4.FNF 5.Messages 7.Flowers That Fell 8.Take Cover
Strong gig. Cool little venue - bustling. Great music policy.


Jan 29, Wed, The Windmill, Brixton, London.
1.HAL 2.Windows Are Closing In 3.Circles 4.Flowers That Fell 5.Messages 6.FNF 7.Take Cover
Reasonable execution of standard manoeuvres


Jan 18, Sun, Lock Tavern, Camden, London.
1.HAL 2.Windows Are Closing In 3.Circles 4.Flowers That Fell 5.Messages 6.FNF 7.Take Cover
Small stage (only room for drums) - so we played just in front of it - face to face with with audience. Played strong to a really buzzing crowd - venue totally jam-packed.


Jan 9, Fri, Old Blue Last, Hoxton, London.
1.Heard A Lie 2.Windows Are Closing In 3.Flowers That Fell, 4.Circles 5.Messages 6.FNF 7.Take Cover
Aggressive collapse. Mess. All apologies

At 2:06pm on a rainy Wednesday, 7-October2009
we shambolically tumbled into Diesel-U-Music, London
to present a takeover show: 2pm-4pm
LISTEN HERE <------ (link hear it on mp3)

We dropped a bunch of our favourite tunes
by e.g. ESG, Kate Bush, The Chameleons, The Chills, Section 25, Sally Shapiro, Colder, R3mote, Scott Walker, Steve Reich

+ there's a few exclusive tracks from Detachments
+ live session including Fear No Fear
and CIRCLES - video of live session right here <---

+ loads of other tunes in the mix providing interesting links



We were exhausted by the end of the show - and it is evident!
Sherry and beer depleted.

Circles
James Ford, Sebastien Marshal, Tim Goldsworthy

H.A.L.
Andrew Weatherall, Sebastien Marshal

Circles(A)/ H.A.L.(B) is out in November 2009

Flowers That Fell
Trevor Jackson, Sebastien Marshal

Messages
Trevor Jackson, Sebastien Marshal

Fear No Fear
Sebastien Marshal



We are pleased to announce James Ford (SMD, Last Shadow Puppets, Arctics, Klaxons, Florence & The Machine, Peaches, Test Icicles) is now taking care of the rest of the album which is planned for a spring 2010 release.

1Aug09.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/6mix/

H.A.L.
original AND rmx
fresh from RGC studios
spun by
Sir Weatherall.

CALLING DESIGNERS/TYPOGRAPHERS! OK, QUITE SIMPLE... DESIGN US A LOGO AND WE MAY WELL USE IT FOREVER. How about that! We'll be eternally grateful and credit your name . Think about the font, the kerning - you know the script - STRONG, ICONIC TYPOGRAPHY to stand up against all the other b(r)ands out there. Send JPGs to :- thedetachments @gmail.com

May 19 Tu; Belgium; Southside Antwerp estate - an old Merc swerved up to the pavement. Startled, we stood back. Out stepped 3 huge, pumped up Russians in trackies and with shaved heads. We gave em the cash, one gave us a very strong joint, then we rolled out in the new van, encrusted in sordid, cheap bling. Climbed out to fill her up at next garage, suddenly the Russians reappeared, they'd followed us. Blearily handed over more papers. Strange, trippy. In the evening we headed to art gallery to play live takes for Detachments cover of Perfect Kiss cover for Tony Wilson charity/New Order tribute album Ceremony(USA). Looked at watch expecting it to say 12:30am - turned out to by 4.30am! Time flies... --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 21 Thu: Despite 1-man-support act/ designated driver Angry Pete(the German) being onboard, bass man Max drove to Frankfurt AM airport (which was nowhere near Frankfurt) to pick up guitarist Lew and drummer Pete. Turns out the lads had been on a turbulent flight full of panic-stricken Americans, literally crying out in terror. Darmstadt: Saying fuck it to local road rules we drove along a square directly into venue - Schlosskeller - quite a big club. Went out to the square for some quite posh nosh. Unfortunately the venue was a bit quiet due to it being a public holiday - Fata's Day. Angry Pete looked completely lost onstage, after one of his songs he murmured 'fuck you...no fuck me'. The patches of crowd remained, disinterested and non-plussed. Detachments hit stage and got half the crowd full-on dancing. Shaky start but pretty good overall especially considering this was our first gig in weeks. Back at our unmanned, robo-hotel room Angry Pete, crouched against wall slurred he was having a 'psychobilly(sic) crisis' and needed to be back in Heidelberg with his 'dudes'. This spared us the embarrassment of having to fire him, as we were a bit worried this may have led to an incident. What a farce though. --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 22 Fri: Wunderbar fruchsaft in the autohotel. Made a packed lunch too. Drove south to Heidelberg to drop the failed support-act/driver off. Then we had a look for a garage as our van - Boris - keeps cutting out when she's going slow. Drove northwest to Köln AKA Cologne. Wonderfully sunny day. Went shopping, got some large bier bottles 50C each, wandering round the high street. One of the lads fell in love with a blonde, Teutonic goddess stood statuesque behind the counter in the chemist. Before or after soundcheck, Pete and Sebastien had a wander round the park (full of chilled out young folks peacefully boozing and barbecuing), hilarious encounter with 'beer bike' full of middle aged German women http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/2842557285_590bc7d07a.jpg?v=0 Went out for pizza. Spoke to some old suity-bloke on adjacent table that turned out to be some kind of media big shot. Detachments hit the stage at venue Subway. Some girl in the crowd proclaimed "I Don't Want To Play" - 'the best song ever!!'. Scanners (UK) were great live. Had a good chat to singer who also advised us to get our merch stand properly organised. We got rid of 8 vinyls - 6 were taken without permission but we got money back. Script-revising cloakroom attendant refused to guard our stuff but Sebastien made friends later talking about Pinter. Scanners gave us their beer crate. We went back to Boris to listen to what turned out to her theme-tune LCD Soundsystem's "Get Innocuous" (comes on after every ignition) and have a few more beers. Lew smashed a few falling out of his pocket. Club got wall-to-wall packed, we all had a dance - all drunk. On way home - Lew and Pete got lost (vandalising bikes). Max and Bastien drove back later and spotted them. After that meandered down street for 2 x kebab each nightcaps + back at bunk hostel; Barroca multivit drinks (official tour hangover-cure drink). --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 23 Sat: Sunny AM - Lew and Sebastien went out shopping for leads and pwr supplies to replace missing gear. Glorious sunshine and fantastic vistas on 8hr drive east to Leipzig. Boris increasing in strength! 120KM(previous maximum) to 140KM p/h. Got lost in city centre. Had to call promoters to save us. At venue chatted to some American guys who'd moved to Leipzig and seemed to love it. When we hit the Sweat! stage the crowd were already all at the front ready to go mad. Fucking brilliant. Real energy exchange. They were familiar with material too, shouting out for various Detachments tunes. Belgian Max didn't like the Brit-type post-Libs-esque tunes (they were indeed crap just like Eight Legs) the DJ played later and stormed off back to hotel. English Pete, Lew and Bastien staggered back to Hotel Ibis in rain, got lost, nearly got set upon by some German thugs who were disgruntled we didn't have a light. Lost again. resorted to getting a taxi to take us 3min round the corner(s). nice hotel, Sebastien got his own quite luxurious room, fit for a lead singer/songwriter. --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 24 Sun: After breakfast and pampering at Ibis, drove back to venue to stay at rooms with the promoter. Sunny midday - ended up in square surrounded by a cyclist rally. Many cyclists drinking beer and scoffing sausages. Wandered round pleasant, calm, town centre, then out to park, got steadily pissed. Evening: band wandered down past student quarter, got some unsatisfactory pasta. Shittiness. Ended up in some eccentric piano bar 'The Flowerpot'. Met some Brits - a drunken crooner bloke from Bolton/Brum who'd moved to Leipzig and seemed to think it was the bee's knees. It probably is compared to Brum. --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 25 Mon: Another amazingly sunny day. Resorted to raiding golden arches at service-stations. Drove in Kassel and found venue instantly. Arm - a sort of art commune. "Hi - I'm Sebastien", "Hi fucker" - Fokke he was called! He wore yellow, half-mast trousers, bright blue shoes, red t-shirt and funny shades. Englishers wandered round the town in the sun, not paying for everything. Max stayed back at venue doing his work for the website he works for. At 5pm - we asked soundmen if we could practice in the venue, to try out new song. We didn't get power till 7:30m what a joke. Sloppy hippies. Gig reflected shambles of elongated soundcheck, clueless soundman. Young indieband support act Atlas were surprisingly good though. In our first play of Perfect Kiss we played percussion on orangensaft bottles - that bit worked anyway. Overall not such a great night though. Slightly disappointing. --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 26 Tu: Woke up on mattresses in a commune sort of open-house. Coffee on balcony, surrounded by loads of plants. Cloudy weather. Drove all the way back west to Frankfurt. Stayed at some chalets near Offenbach. Sun back out. Got out Robbie the flyaway football. Also BB gun. Then made an art film. Promoter took us to Radio X for interview. Promoter Matteus (top bloke) took us out to restaurant/bar for quality Schnitzel. Did a good little gig! Good response from friendly crowd. Ended up at a lap-dance place later, but we didn't like it too much - something sad about those gaffs. Passed a dude injecting himself in street on way back to Boris. Auf weidersein Frankfurt! --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 27 Wed: Drove all the way east-northeast yet again on that same fucking road to the old GDR. Destination Berlin. Pete's hip-hop CD collection (via Denzel our MP3 player, inserted directly into Boris) dominated stereo. 8-hr drive. Perfect navigation from Sebastien, splendid driving from Max. Stayed in Friedrichstein district at a hippie-ish kind of house. Cheers to Ulrich for putting us up. Watched United get squashed by Barca in bar. Wandered into a Dubstep night in a dark, warehouse looking sort of venue. Got given free weed. Felt sleepy. On dancefloor - some mad fat speccy cunt on crack or something stepped to Pete and Max, he seemed to want to punk-dance but everyone just thought him a nob. On way back, looked up and noticed a dude hanging off balcony whimpering. "Don't do it....Relax man....Climb back up, not down...you'll be ok,...Now get some vasser". We saved him! gave him a round of applause. The geezer probably thought he was Spiderman and had got himself into a scrape. Dunno what time it was when we got back in. 4am-ish again. --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 28 Thu: Day out in Berlin: Alexanderplatz Bratwurst, bowling alley for an hour, Currywurst, Brandenburg gate, Holocaust memorial, Alexanderplatz, bit of shopping. Got back to accommodation to watch DVD. Eve: Drove to Magnet venue. Backstage we were nextdoor to some insane yanks from other band. Menu: Thai Green curry (from this point on - Sebastien ill for remainder of tour). Hit stage literally ready to FIGHT. Proceeded to drink the place dry. Sebastien mingled. The lads went off dancing - the DJ played a Max Moreau tune. Max drove the lads back. Sebastien got a cab. All got back in 7am. Fun night. --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 29 Fri: 1pm set off to former GDR town Halle, charming place. Took us ages to find venue in winding, one-way system. Oh GPS - where for art thou? Promoter Mattias came to save us. Took us to Greek restaurant "first we make eat, then we make indie party". Klub Druschba. Gig seemed pretty good. A lot of cats there. At merch stall a kid said he thought we didn't give enough, his mate had seen us at Leipzig and had been blown away by Detachments. Got on the biers. Sebastien went behind bar to serve band from behind counter. Some bloke gave us a bag of skunk free. Lew attempted to fizz max's bottle and instead smashed it all over floor. ETC. Towards the end only the hardcore remained - including a bunch of dodgy, huge skinheads. MStepped out into broad daylight puking. All crammed into Boris and skidded off back to hotel. Mad night - big up to Mattias - Danke Schone. --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 30 Sat: At hostel realised we'd left some stuff at venue, but couldn't get hold of promoter. Whoops. Had shower for first time in 7 days. Cloudy grey weather now. Inner forearms still aching from Berlin bowling. Unable to click fingers without pain. Another long, now grueling drive. On road to Heidelberg got paranoid vibes about something evil awaiting us there. name of the club something Devil - Zum Teufel, on the autobahn we kept seeing cars with 666 reg plate, also on map we kept going throuhg places with prefix Bad e.g. Bad Hoffheim, also the black , number of beast car kept appearing in front and behind also the shuffle went onto some very spooky Aphex twin tunes whenever the car appaeared. Avoid drugs there was the conclusion.Heed the warning. HUGE backstage room with all the facilities we could think of. Met Santiago - the German Columbian dude who organised the tour. Seemed a good bloke. Angry Pete did a slot. Steered clear of drugs. The venue filled up. Good gig despite one or two technical hitches. Sebastien did a keyboard based jam with Pete whilst waiting for other computer to come back online. Lew and Sebastien hotfooted to backstage after final song but both wee dragged back to perform encore of Flowers That Fell. The crowd wanted more and Santiago loves that song - apparently he listened to it for 3hrs on repeat first time he got it. Everyone then went on to a party at an old watertower. Had to access main room via enormous spiral staircase. Sebastien too ill to drink champagne though. All dispersed to various places to crash at end. --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- May 31 Sun: All exhausted now. Drive to Suisse - arduous. German landscape had got monotonous so was good to reach another country - as expected - very picturesque approaching Aarau. Green hills, winding roads, in sun. Accommodation at KIFF venue, in the Kunst Raum. You can't call us that! Ruined shoes kicking Robbie in car park. Didn't speak to The Veils (headline act) backstage. What is it with this inter-band frostiness/rivalry shit? It seems to happen majority of the time. The Swiss band that were 2nd on bill were acting shitty to everyone apparently. MASSIVE STAGE. $$$$lights, $$$$$gear. Serious, big league venue. Felt great being on there - did a good gig. Felt in control. Enjoyed it. CDs got snapped up after show. People were impressed. Had a fiercely competitive game of table football. After a few more bottles Lew and Bastien went to sleep early 2am. Max and Pete continued for a couple more hrs. --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- - --- June 1 Mon Got hopelessly lost trying to find the Easy Hotel in Zurich, drove back and forth across river countless times. Exasperated and exhausted and depressed- Sebastien supplied with useless map lost the will and handed over control to back-seat guys. A GPS, A GPS - kingdom for a GPS! Eventually located hotel in red light district. Stelios' rooms were like his planes - plastic and orange. We'd been joking about how they'd look but didn't expect it to actually be true. And not even a plastic cup to drink water from! Went for a pint in town-centre at the Irish bar. Got back and noticed we'd left Boris's door wide open! Opposite where a couple of hookers were standing! Pete and Sebastien went for another wander in the picturesque Zurich streets, by the river. Were given money to get some nosh. Converted back to sterling worked out at £12 each for a kebap! Sat around pub type venue - Hafenkneipe. Saw some recent NMEs with Detachments in. Got up onstage for last gig of tour. Boom! - bass amp went down. After a few mins - got it up and running again, good show. Sneaked off at end but got dragged back for encore. DANKE SCHONE, MERCI BOUCOUP, GRATZI, THANKYOU. Ordered a Bloody Mary and drove Boris back to hotel. Dragged ourselves round red light streets, got some wine in a strip joint, refused to get any dances though. Got out, got some pizza, cost us about 60E. Suisse is too expensive for the tourist. In the middle of the night, from within the throes of a nightmare - Sebastien woke up room-mate Pete, crying out for help.

OUT APRIL 27
Produced by Trevor Jackson
Formats: on 7" vinyl and download

Remixes:
New project from Crystal Castles drummer Cameron Findlay; Parallels,
DFA’s Capracara, Hardway Bros, Max Moreau and a cover version from cult bloggers 20jazzfunkgreats.

Single includes exclusive B-side: "The Far"
ORDER: The Flowers That Fell here


ALTERNATIVE SINGLE OF THE WEEK - In New Music We Trust  BBC Radio 1.
SINGLE OF THE WEEK - Drowned In Sound.
Airplay: Lamacq Radio1.
Xfm, NYC Top Shop playlist,
NME Radio A-playlist...



MYSPACE FEATURED VIDEO
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=54222207


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Behind the scenes photography
by Paul Hughes