Interview: Saint Etienne

Saint Etienne are one of the few bands to survive the early nineties indie-dance scene with their credibility and creativity intact. At first known for fusing indie beats and sensibilities with swinging sixties melodies and stylings, over the years their music has developed, they’ve never been afraid to try something new and their albums have been nothing but eclectic. Yet they have always been focused on great tunes, strong lyrics and a sound that is always inimitably Saint Etienne. Singer and co-songwriter Sarah Cracknell spoke to us about touring, recording, writing and what inspires the band.

Obvious question, you’ve done a fair few gigs and festivals this year, do you enjoy touring?

It’s one of those things where before it starts I get a bit panic stricken, but once you’ve gone on tour you just have to go ‘I’ve gone now, so its fine’ and I love it. The people we tour with are all brilliant and great to work with. We’re very careful about getting a good gang together when we go on tour, as nobody wants to be stuck with someone who drives them mad, especially as you have really early starts, late nights, travelling between venues and it can be quite intense. So we surround ourselves with brilliant talented people and its fun. And when we are on tour we usually base our days around food, finding interesting food, places to eat and having a bit of time to explore the town or city we are in.

Why did you choose to play Bristol, I can’t recall the last time you played here?

We toured Home Counties the new album earlier this year and we played, London, Manchester, and all the usual places bands play. But then we do try to go to places which may not that obvious for a band to play, we like to go off the beaten track and try different venues sometimes. Like we recently played Holmfirth at the Picturehouse, we played there before when we showed a film and we decided to go back because it was such a great venue the first time and it was again. It was packed and everyone seemed really into what we do. I had a great time. So it will be good to go back to Bristol again.

Are you playing many old songs on this tour?

We’ll be playing mainly old songs as we did a lot of songs from Home Counties on our June tour, and we want to do something a bit different so we’ll be fitting in some Christmas songs. About three Christmas songs in fact and lots of old favourites.

Which do you prefer touring or recording?

Touring and recording is so completely different it’s hard to decide, almost impossible. I do like being in a studio and being creative. I work very intuitively with Bob and Pete, and that’s one of the things I enjoy. Often one song will be written by all three of us, someone may come up with the melody, then someone with the words and then it all just fits together.

Is there a new album in the pipeline or is it a bit soon after Home Counties?

Not at the moment, because we’ve only just done one, and there were God knows how many years between that and the last one. We’re all doing other things too, well the others are I’m just lazing around a bit. Bob is writing a prequel to Yeah, Yeah,Yeah his history of pop music and he’s having to do loads of research for this one, looking into things like Big Band music and what came before pop and then writing about it and Pete is doing a masters in composition. We’re a very highbrow band you know.

You’re one of the most English sounding bands ever, listening to a Saint Etienne track makes you feel like you’re in England or London, same as listening to Bowie’s Berlin trilogy you feel like you are in Berlin, did your music evoking a genuine sense of place evolve that way or did you think about it?

When I joined Saint Etienne they’d already had 2 singles out with different singers, but when we met we realized that we were kindred spirits. We’d been buying the same records, the same sorts of clothes, watching the same Sixties films, and London was a real draw to the three of us and it just stemmed from there. We’re all from the Home Counties, hence the album title, within touching distance of London and so we write and wrote about what we see and feel about the city. And we’re all still endlessly fascinated with, and in love with London.

The songs reflect England as it is rather than some weird idealised version that some bands indulge in, was that a conscious decision by the three of you?

We just write instinctively, we don’t have a massive overview of lyrical content, we just write about what is going on. This was especially the case with Home Counties, there was lot happening in Britain and the world like Brexit, Trump, so there was a lot would that would have been very hard to leave out. We‘re not a table thumping political band, but some things just have to be looked at, you can’t just ignore what is going on in the world and in Britain. Though we are about celebrating Britain really, because we love it and would not live anywhere else and that probably shows in our music.

You’re also a band with a genuinely eclectic sound, if you record an album like Tiger Bay which was pretty different to Foxbase and So Tough is that a group decision or is it pushed by one of the three of you?

We’ve always written collaboratively, and it can start with someone saying ‘Have a listen to this I really like the bassline or the style of the bass’ and we’ll take it from there. We’ll use an idea if we like it and if it works and and that’s probably why we are pretty eclectic and our albums don’t all sound the same.

Saint Etienne have a dedicated fan-base, why do you think people stick with you so fiercely? 

I don’t know. One of the things we do try to do as much as possible is do stuff for the people who like us. For example if someone is a member of the fan club we give them lots of music which hasn’t been released elsewhere, send them Christmas and Valentines cards, things like that. As music fans we know what it’s like to feel that bands give something back to us, they seem to love us so we try to show that we love them back. And they stick with us.

What inspires you the most musically?

It changes all the time, that’s what makes each record sound different. We tend to theme our albums once we have a theme, it gives us something to write about. For Home Counties we’d done a couple of songs and Bob saw a book in a second hand shop or a charity shop called Home Counties he brought it into the studio and said we should call the album after it and then we had that theme. And we decided to theme the last one Words and Music so it became about how music has affected your life. How when you hear a song, you can be transported back to the place where you first heard it or where it was playing at a significant moment and it’s so intense sometimes you can even smell what the place was like and how you felt all over again.

Are there any new bands you’re listening to that Saint Etienne fans should check out?

We’ve got a brilliant band who were supporting us recently and they’re supporting us in Bristol too. They’re called The Fernweh, from Liverpool and are very good indeed,  I also like Girl Ray and Jane Weaver, they’re both very good too.

And finally as it is is your Christmas tour, what’s your favourite festive song?

One of my favourites is one that we are doing on the tour it’s called I Don’t Intend To Spend Christmas Without You there are couple of versions one by a singer called Claudine Longet and the other by Margo Guryan. You should check it out.

Saint Etienne play SWX Bristol on December 8.

Tickets are available through www.ticketweb.uk