News Temples: ‘It’s Important For A Song To Always Be A Different Experience Live’

are the latest psych-fusing outfit demanding warranted attention. Unlike label mates Toy whose sound features more subtle twists of psychedelia, Temples create a full blown ‘out-there’ experience with tracks basking in vibrant colours and mind-blowing pop melodies. The group’s immersive sound has already won over an all-star fanbase with Johnny Marr and Suede praising them. The Heavenly Recordings newbies have provided the icing on the cake for a golden year of psychedelic music, which has seen an unexpected projection into the public spotlight. Tame Impala’s ‘Lonerism’ set the precedent and Temples look set to continue the trend. These guys might just be the British band capable of dethroning the Aussies of their psych rock crown.

We caught up with band to find out about the recording process of their debut single and how it feels to be part of the coveted Heavenly Recordings label.

For people yet to experience Temples sound how would you describe it?
Cinematic, grand, experimental while never losing sight of a song.

Your music sounds like it has been shaped by previous eras of music, what bands have influenced your sound?
The Byrds, Marc Bolan, Soft Machine, bands that could write pop music while sounding alien and unfamiliar. We love the primal sounds bands that were experimenting with in the 70s. Prog, glam, folk and electronica, there were literally no rules in the early 70s.

As far as debut live shows go Green Man is an impressive place to start, how was this?
It was a surreal experience, we’d only been a band for a month or so. It was just exciting to perform songs we had recorded a week or so before.

For anyone heading down to a Temples show, what can we expect from your live experience?
An extension of what you hear on record. It’s important for a song to always be a different experience live. We love to see where we can take songs on stage.

Despite your short existence as a band, what have been your favourite shows so far?
Playing with Moon Duo in Leeds was great, their live show is another experience all together. Playing at Cave Club was great too.

You are signed to Heavenly Recordings who has an incredible crop of bands, what do you make of the label?
We are huge fans of the label, TOY, Stealing Sheep and Edwyn Collins. It’s an honour to be part of such a great indie label.

‘Shelter Song’ is a brilliant debut single. Could you tell us about the processes used to record the song?
It was recorded by mainly experimenting with sounds and effects, not being afraid to put things in the red. Very little was calculated though, we found sounds we liked and ran with them. It’s very west coast influenced though, bands like The Byrd Quicksilver Messenger Service, everything is built around the 12-string guitar.

Psychedelic music appears to be in a pretty strong place at the moment, what do you make of the current scene?
We think there’s always been lots of great psychedelic bands around, with cult followings, and it’s great that they are coming to the forefront of new music and getting the recognition they deserve.

What can we expect from Temples in the next few weeks and going into 2013?
We’re touring into December with Stealing Sheep, and playing a Christmas show with The Allah-Las, we’ll be writing lots and we’d love to have another record out next year.

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Temples play the Shacklewell Arms, London tonight.