Chloe Addo caught up with Stephen Roberts, the drummer in Athlete, to find out about the new album, touring the US and why Jamie T should have won the Mercury Music Prize.

Are you happy with the new album?

Yeah, we’re really happy with the album. We made the album ourselves in our own studio and it feels like its really really us. It’s kind of everything we wanted it to be. There was no producer and the record company didn’t really say much when we were making the album. We were left to it and we really enjoyed making it.

How would you describe your style?

I think it is really hard to define music, we haven’t got a particular band that we would kind of cling on to or one particular style.

A band like Kasabian, you could say the Stone Roses, that’s where its kind of coming from. Oasis sound a lot like The Beatles. But I don’t think we’ve got one band, or one scene; we’re not really into that whole baggy thing. We’ve always just wanted to write really good songs, just good pop songs that mean something.

All our albums sound really different from each other. We like to chop and change a bit; we’re schizophrenic in the music that we make. I think that’s something we quite enjoy. We see it as a positive thing.

How’s the touring going?

It’s good actually. We finished our UK tour about a week ago which was really really good. It’s great to be out playing live again as it feels like a long time since we’ve done it. We’ve got all these news songs and its really exciting to just go out and play them for the first time.

How does playing in the US compare to the UK?

Well, we usually just play clubs because we’re not particularly well known over there.
That’s quite nice actually; we play to smaller crowds in these sweaty places. There are some good places we find just travelling around. The crowds are really good.

Do they seem different from UK crowds?

Not hugely, they’re less kind of cynical, and really up for it and positive towards us.
When we went to America last there was this couple who just followed us to all the gigs, across America. We saw them at the gig every night. It was quite cool.

Do you have any pre gig rituals?

It always helps to have a couple of drinks. We used to get a bottle of Sambuca, as our kind of pre gig ritual. We’d go off and have some flaming sambucas before  we’d do an encore. That would kick start us into it.

We’ve heard a lot about your new studio, thinking of playing any exclusive gigs there?

I don’t know really. It would be a pretty small one. Think we are going to have a big Christmas party there but I don’t think we’ll have any live music. I don’t think we would be playing at it either, we wouldn’t get anyone in but it’s quite a good party venue. We quite often end back at the studio after a night out.

If you weren’t in Athlete, which band would you like to be in?

I’d like to be in Radiohead, or i’d like to be a fly on the wall in their studio. I think i’d be a bit intimidated if I was in their band. And I’d like to play drums in Beck.

Is there any band you wouldn’t like to be in?

I wouldn’t like to be in the Klaxons.

Why not?

I don’t know, probably because they won the Mercury Music Prize and I thought they were the least deserving out of the whole lot. But you know I haven’t got any big thing against them. I’m just not really a fan.

Who do you think should have won?

Jamie T, definitely. There were lots of people, but I think his records are really great and really stood out for me last year. The album has everything that you’d want from a new British artist. So I thought that was a shame. But never mind, usually when you win the Mercury you kind of get the kiss of death, don’t you. Maybe that will happen to the Klaxons.

Will you keep your fingers crossed?

Maybe a little bit (he laughs).

Did you get a chance to go to any gigs or festivals this summer?

I went to Glastonbury actually which was great. Probably the best thing I saw at Glastonbury was Girth Friths, from the Superfurry’s. I don’t know if you’ve heard the solo album he did over a year ago, Candylion, it’s brilliant. I saw him doing a solo thing, with a band, but it was just him playing his solo songs and it was absolutely brilliant. He was doing his mad thing as usual but in quite a different scene, it was quite interesting.

I saw Idlewild on Tuesday night, and they have just bought out their greatest hits. They were playing all the tunes you remember from over the years. That was really good. They’re a really underrated band, so many tunes that your like ‘oh yeah they made that’.

Do you try and blend in when you go to gigs?

I just go to them like anyone else.  I suppose the good thing is you don’t have to pay to get in. So that’s a bonus. We actually go out to loads and loads of gigs, so we’re always seeing what’s going on, especially if i’ve got a night off.

Who do you consider your musical competition to be?

I don’t think I’ve thought about it before. There are so many young bands around at the moment, British bands; there is an element of being competitive. 

What advice would you give to new bands?

I think the main thing is you have to make sure you’re enjoying it the whole time. I’ve got so many mates in bands, and I think they forget to enjoy the things that are happening around them. They’re always worrying about something else, trying to be better and bigger and you’ve got to sit up and just enjoy it. Enjoy the music and not be too concerned about things that in the grand scheme of things aren’t that important.

The new album ‘Beyond the Neighbourhood’ is out now.

Visit: www.myspace.com/athlete

Tour Dates;

6 Nov 2007 20:00 Lee’s Palace Toronto
8 Nov 2007 20:00 Highline Ballroom New York
10 Nov 2007 20:00 Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois
12 Nov 2007 20:00 Richards on Richards Vancouver, British Columbia
14 Nov 2007 20:00 Troubadour Los Angeles, California
27 Nov 2007 20:00 Joy Eslava Madrid
28 Nov 2007 20:00 Heineken Greenspace Valencia
29 Nov 2007 20:00 Jam Bergara
30 Nov 2007 20:00 Mephisto Barcelona
9 Dec 2007 20:00Uebel & Gefährlich Hamburg
10 Dec 2007 20:00 Knaack Berlin
12 Dec 2007 20:00 Prime Club Köln
13 Dec 2007 20:00 59:1 München
14 Dec 2007 20:00 Het Depot Leuven