Young Guns: “We were struggling to write music that excited us”

“It was mostly a case of us taking some time wherever we were,” begins Young Guns’ frontman Gustav Wood. It’s been well over a year since the band decided to make a start on their third album, but after a successful stint in the US, their initial plans were halted. When their last album’s title track ‘Bones’ hit alternative radio across America, the five-piece became the talk of the airwaves, and a slew of tours followed. The band came up with a solution: to begin work just about wherever they could.

“Our American label have a really great studio in the centre of [New York],” he continues, “so we thought we’d go out early. We did some stuff then and in San Francisco.” It sounds quite glamorous, but Gus assures it was more a means to an end. “Although it was written over time, here, there and all over the place, it does feel cohesive,” he reflects. ”The record sounds like a real reflection of where we are in the band, and we sound supremely confident and, I think, like a band who has figured out what they want to sound like. I’m really excited about it.”

The creation of their third album has seen them try to incorporate some new elements to the mix, too. “In the beginning,” the frontman admits, “we were struggling to write music that excited us because the things we were writing - or we felt we should be writing - were sounding like songs that could’ve gone on the last record. That wasn’t something that we were interested in doing at all, we wanted this one to be a separate entity. We definitely looked in different places for inspiration on this record.”

It’s also going to be, the band hope at least, an opportunity for them to become less defined by their genre. “It’s never about not being in rock music anymore, it’s just about not being pigeonholed. I’d like to think that’s not our defining trait. I think we’ve managed to do that.”

Taken from the August issue of DIY, out Friday 8th August. Pre-order your copy here.

Young Guns’ third album will be released later this year via Virgin / EMI.