Upbeat, eccentric 6 Music darlings release their latest burst of charmingly DIY folk-pop

You’ve been around for years but your debut EP, ‘Adventures in the National Geographic’, came out in 2009 – did it take a while to record?
Antony: It took ages to actually get the first one out. It was a self-release so we had to arrange everything, from artwork to distribution. It sounds clichéd but we are a very DIY band really, we do most things ourselves.

From that experience, do you prefer gigging to recording?
James: We always like playing in front of a live audience. I think we have a good banter with the crowd that we play in front of. It can get a bit intense if we’re cooped up in the studio, but even if we’ve played a song a million times in a practice room, it can still seem like a brand new one when we’re playing down the Albert. We do have fun recording ourselves though as it’s not quite as pressured as being in a studio.

Are you a DIY band aesthetically out of choice or necessity?
Antony: It’s a bit of both in all honesty, Geoff, the owner of Static Caravan, heard the first EP and liked it a lot and asked us if we wanted to release a single through him. He’s been really supportive and his approach is exactly the same sort of thing that we’d do ourselves.
Nathaniel: We enjoy doing it this way through an independent label, everything’s on our own terms, and we’re not being rushed into anything, which is all you could want from a label really.

You featured on O.I.B’s Christmas compilation ‘Krampus Is Coming’, with other great Brighton bands, Foxes! and Curly Hair. Was that fun?
James: We played a launch party for the compilation in December and it was great, a real coming together of all the best bands in Brighton and just a really great atmosphere.
Anthony: We think O.I.B records in particular have some really good Brighton bands on their label and The Freebutt get the best shows in town – the booking there is really good.

Any plans to do more collaborative projects/split releases with other local artists in the future?
Nathaniel: We’d like to do split EPs, It’s nice to recognise the music of another band and it’s a good feeling when playing music becomes a communal activity and not something competitive.

You’re off to Manchester to see Marc Riley for your second BBC 6 Music live session after our interview. How has the station helped you progress as a band?
Antony: Geoff at Static Caravan wouldn’t have approached us about releasing the next single if we hadn’t played the BBC 6 Music session the first time around. The last gig we had in London, a group of people came up to us afterwards and said how they’d heard us on the show and came along to the gig off the back of that.

So you must have some thoughts on the current petition to save BBC 6 Music.
Antony: We have quite strong feelings about it. It’s really hard for small bands to get onto the radio, let alone record live sessions, and if they get rid of BBC 6 what’s the alternative? James: It would almost be like urinating on the grave of John Peel.

What does the rest of 2010 have in store for The Hornblower Brothers?
Gary: We’ve got a tour coming together for next month to promote the release of our next single, ‘Give And Receivers’ and the single launch at the Latest Music Bar.

FYI
LIVE: Latest Music Bar Sun 11th
SINGLE: ‘Give And Receivers’/’Ghost Of Kerouac’ Mon 19th

WEB: myspace.com/thehornblowerbrothers