On Thursdays Del Owusu interviews someone on the Fresh On The Net Radar. This week: The Islas…

Congratulations on the release of Who’s Your Money On?, how does it feel?

Thank you! It feels great to have released it, we were really happy with the demos we had, and when we had the finished song it felt very classic us: catchy, three minutes and just has our indie jangly vibe all round.

What’s the story behind the song?

I must say lyrically that I think it’s pretty weak in comparison to some of our other tracks, it was one of those ones that I had the melody way before I had the lyrics, which isn’t usually the way I write. I came at a complete block and was watching How I Met Your Mother, and the lead character was in a bit of a rut so I wrote it quite quickly in his view. I liked the “Murder in the blue skies” as a metaphor that there’s always darkness or sinister things in the brightest of days that can come and change the mood. So pretty melancholy, but I like writing lyrics like that!

You’re a duo from Norwich, how did it all begin for you?

We met back in college and have played with many different bassist and drummers since, but we’ve always written together. The Islas was our second project and I feel we’ve really got our sound figured out now. Music doesn’t come as frequently as we used to when we were younger, but I think we have a nice balance where the song has to be good enough in our eyes to make it out and the bar can be quite high.

What did you listen to growing up?

All manner of things, my Dad was a huge musical influence. Key artists would be Paul Weller, The Clash and The Smiths. They were biblical in our house.

You were recently played on Made In Chelsea, and have been featured as an Amazing Radio No.1. What’s been a real pinch me moment for you?

The Made In Chelsea one was really cool, that’s a few times we’ve been on TV shows now including BT Sport and This Morning, which is pretty cool. We also played a show in Rouen, France which was one of my favourite ever shows. We were welcomed so well and people were amazing for us. That moment will stay with me forever.

Your last major project before this was the Oblivion EP, what’s your favourite track from it?

Ah that’s like choosing my favourite child! I would say the title track Oblivion. I love it lyrically and musically, and when Ross played that riff for the outro we all just looked at each other knowing it was pretty much perfect.

What was the easiest and most challenging part of recording it?

Easiest is probably laying guitar for me, as I am rhythm and it’s the main kind of structure of the track, so I definitely has the easiest job, and then challenging is probably the bass in recent times, because we’re not bassists ourselves and we don’t have a designated one, so we’ve had to do it between us. A lot of bass lines are 20-30% done before it comes to laying it down!

What’s a funny story from those sessions?

There’s been a few funny fall outs that have cracked us up looking back now, but one that sticks is when Ross unplugged a small cable on my pedalboard before I went to record and I didn’t notice. I became more and more annoyed and aggravated and he didn’t tell me for at least 30 minutes. Obviously he and the boys found that funny as each minute went by and I got more and more red faced…

(Note: Nathan is probably one of the coolest dudes I’ve ever met, totally unflappable 🤣)

COVID impacted the creative industry in a big way — what kept you motivated?

It was really tough, but without Covid we’d have probably never written Oblivion. I remember just thinking how good an opportunity this is, so I kept myself busy by writing song after song, and then thankfully a few stuck and we managed to get out of that period all OK!

The last three years have been a time to reflect, what did you learn about yourselves?

I think we learned to stop taking things so personally and seriously. It’s really tough out there for young musicians and especially working class ones like us, so we take every win in our stride and stop focusing on the people who don’t play us, or don’t listen, or don’t like us. That is absolutely fine and music is subjective, so focus on the people who do like your music and the people who listen to it.

Did you pick up any new skills?

I’ve started learning how to play the piano, which has been really good for me! I’ve fallen back in love with music and that’s been great.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I’m loving Alvvays, Japanese Breakfast and Peach Pit at the moment. All Northern American indie bands, and they’re all very different, but truly brilliant.

What’s next for you?

We’re excited to be releasing our sister EP to Oblivion up next, and we cannot wait to see what people think about it! 

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