Interview Post War Years: ‘We’ve Had Our Ups & Downs’

Post War Years have been busy bunch these past few months. Having recruited James Rutledge to produce their latest EP, and legendary director Tobias Stretch for their latest video, the band have been pulling no creative punches. Fresh from their tours with Matthew Dear and The Naked and Famous, percussionist maestro Fred tells us more…

What’s the journey been like to reach the ‘Glass House’ EP?
It’s been exciting to say the least, our debut album came out quite a while ago and we’ve spent a lot of time since touring, writing, rehearsing, ranting and generally existing. So, obviously we’ve had our ups and downs, but at this point in time we’re getting to do what we really love, and no one can really complain about that, can they?

What was it like working with James Rutledge?
James is a great collaborator, we love what he does and it has been great working with him. He’s one of the most forward thinking producers around at the moment and gradually people seem to be starting to pick up on that. He’s also an encyclopaedia of music, which definitely helped to broaden the range of influences on this record.

With four band members and three vocalists, has there ever been a fight for the spotlight?
Not really, we’ve been doing this for near 45 years now so I think any of that kind of nonsense got left behind a long time ago. We do sometimes enjoy a cuddle.

The video for ‘Glass House’ is pretty freaky! How much creative input do you guys have with your videos?
The videos are the result of many long brainstorms in which everyone dreams up the most surreal imagery they can and Toby makes sense of it in his own very unique way. We wanted to try and create a continuity between the videos such as you might expect across an album. You’ll find recurring themes and characters across all the videos. We see Tobias’ music videos as a piece of art in their own right; the idea is that they could exist on their own regardless of the music that accompanies the narrative.

You’re releasing ‘Glass House’ on iTunes and vinyl. Do you think it’s still important for bands to release hard copies?
Music, like art, is collectible. For some people it is enough to listen, but others want something solid, a memento. A music collection for me, like many people, is something to keep, nurture and cherish.

Coming from London, you must have had a lot of creative influence thrown your way. What’s stuck out as a major influence?
Meeting people like James Rutledge, James Yuill, Boxed In, Kwes, The Invisible and The Laurel Collective definitely inspires us to improve our game. London is full of people making interesting and intricate pop music at the moment, and that makes it an exciting place to wake up.

You’re playing London, Brighton and Manchester next month. Got any juicy gig stories to tell?
We were once on the motorway in the van and Tom bit into a peach, the nectar spilling gently over his bearded chin and onto the floor.

What’s next for Post War Years after ‘Glass House?’
We have another four track EP coming in the Autumn, then all eyes turn to our album which is currently being finished. It’s quite an exciting time for us at the moment, we’re confident that we’ve created something unique in its composition, so it’s great that people will be able to listen to it. Apart from that, we’d like to maybe get into more remixing and perhaps score some music for a piece of film, there’s a lot to fit in.

Post War Years’ new EP ‘Glass House’ will be released on 16th July.