News Mix #011: Teleman

Teleman includes members from the disbanded Pete and the Pirates. They’ve released two singles, ‘Cristina’ and ‘Steam Train Girl’, the latter on their own label imprint, and they’re already getting an envious amount of attention. P&TP’s immediacy is just about the only element that transfers itself from one project to the next. But it’s a vital component, one that’s helped land these newcomers on the Suede tour for some dates this Winter. Jonny Sanders put together an exclusive mix for Weekly, in turn making the now-four-piece even more tricky to pigeonhole. Anika and Beak> clash heads with Flaming Lips and Dirty Beaches. It’s tied into the sound of a band going by their own instincts, a course that’s put them in good stead for a bright future.

‘Steam Train Girl’ is being released on your own label imprint, Encona Records, why did you decide to do that?
We kind of don’t want to feel this pressure of getting signed, wanting to get signed, and we don’t really feel the need to be signed either. I don’t think it’s a very pleasant feeling for bands to…not necessarily whore themselves out, but to do certain things to try and attract attention and to court the labels, as it were. For me, it makes me feel a bit nervous and a bit cheap so it’s a much more relaxing way of doing things, if you’re lucky enough to able to do it yourself.

Teleman includes members of the disbanded Pete and the Pirates, why did you start the new project?
Well Pete and the Pirates finished completely and some of us were still hanging out together and we met Hiro, who is our drummer, and decided to start a brand new band. Basically because, well I’m speaking from a personal point of view, I have been making music for such a long time I don’t know really what else to do, so I had to do something.

Do you feel under any pressure from the loyal Pete and the Pirates fans?
No, not at all. We’ve constantly avoided reference to Pete and the Pirates as much as possible and I think it would be really nice if some of the fans were interested in this new project, even when they find out that some of our members used to be in Pete and the Pirates. We’re not trying to appeal to those people in any specific way and if we were we’d probably do some kind of big campaign. We would much rather people found out about Teleman in their own natural way, by word of mouth.

How have you found the transition from writing P&TP songs to Teleman songs?
I write songs quite a lot, quite frequently, and I don’t know if I’d say I was prolific, but the songs just keep coming. I don’t think I’ve ever kind of pigeonholed certain songs or categorised them being songs for this band or this project - I just write songs, really.

You’re supporting Suede across Europe this autumn, how are you feeling about playing with them?
Yeah, really excited and slightly, I wouldn’t say I’m scared, erm what’s the word?

Apprehensive?
Apprehensive? Yeah just because they’re giants of the indie world and it’s kind of hard playing to another band’s fans because everyone in the room has arrived to see Suede, so it’s a big act to follow.

You’re playing a host of festivals this year, including Glastonbury, Latitude and End of the Road, how are you feeling about taking your music out to a wider audience?
We can’t wait, we really can’t wait and we’re really excited. I think summer festivals in the UK are something that if you’re a band lucky enough to be playing at a few of them it will almost definitely be the highlight of the year. Mainly because we’ve just released our second single and we’ve never toured and we’ve really only done a handful of gigs, so we’re really looking forward to getting out into the world and playing to people.

Have you started recording the album yet?
The album is pretty much finished. We’ve got an album’s worth of songs and we’re just listening to the rough mixes at the moment. In a couple of weeks we’ll go in and just tie up the loose ends, and it’ll be done.

Is the album true to the first two singles we’ve heard, does the same sound run through the whole album?
Yeah it is, I think the first two are quite different in themselves as well. ‘Steam Train Girl’ is heavier with a faster tempo, there’s a bit more going on I suppose, in that song. I think we’re going towards this goal of just trying to create this interesting and engaging sound. At the end of the day, we want it to be beautiful and be a lovely record to listen to from start to finish.

‘Steam Train Girl’ is out on 1st July through Encona Records.

Listen to Teleman’s exclusive DIY mix below. Tracklist:

1) Anika - I Go To Sleep
2) Flaming Lips - Ashes In The Air
3) Anika - In The City
4) Atoms For Peace - Ingenue
5) Beak> - Mono
6) Can - Mushroom
7) Rozi Plain - Humans
8) Sweet Baboo - Cate’s Song
9) Fainting By Numbers - Watching The Wheels
10) Dirty Beaches - Lord Knows Best

DIY Neu Mix - #011 - Teleman by Diy on Mixcloud