Scanners Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Feb 24th 2010 11:38AM by Marc Byers
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London based rock group Scanners have come a long way in five years from the original two piece with guitars, synths and a drum machine. Now a foursome and fresh off their newest release 'Submarine', Scanners will ride their high from 2009 for a return trip to Austin and SXSW. Spinner recently spoke with Matt Mole [Guitar, Vocals, Synths] about what makes the band tick.

How did your band form and how has it changed since formation?
We [Sarah and Mat] were playing some gigs around London armed with a drum machine, guitar and synth. We got talking to Amina [synths] at a gig and told her we were looking for someone to play synth full time. She told us she hated keyboards and we took it from there. She loves them now. Tom [drums] had left the West of England to come to London to study drums and make his fortune. Instead he found us, and we have been making him appreciate there is more to life than money ever since.

How did you come up with your band name?
Some of us are big Patrick McGoohan fans. Also as film buffs we like Cronenburg's work, he picks stories that not many other directors would tackle [Naked lunch, Crash]. We were attracted to 'Scanners' because of the idea of being able to read minds and that becoming too much to bear. We also like the bit where the head explodes.

We still love the name, though it has been described as Google Kryptonite. Many people searching for us on the internet find many great opportunities to buy a wide range of advanced scanning equipment!

What are your musical influences?
Our influences are hugely wide and diverse. In fact we suffered a lot in our early days being described as "eclectic." People can't handle too much variation in sound, especially those in the industry.

We all like the obvious ones: Dylan, Prince, Bowie, PJ Harvey, the Beatles, Kate Bush, Radiohead, but also I'd say TV on the Radio, Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend and composers Steve Reich and Avro Part.

Describe your sound in your own words.
Dark, dirty and beautiful!

What is and who picks the music you listen to on the road while on tour?
We drive ourselves on tour and have found that the best way to pass the long hours between towns is those incredibly long DVD series like '24' with Jack Bauer. That way sometimes you're actually looking forward to getting back in the van to find out if civilization has been saved or not! We are fairly democratic with our iPods and usually it comes down simply to who has the most battery left.

What's your musical guilty pleasure? What's hiding on the iPod?
I don't really feel guilty about any music on my iPod. Some of the other guys might not enjoy ZZ Top as much as me but I don't feel guilty about it!

Have you played at SXSW before? And what is your SXSW 2010 Festival Survival Kit?
We played in 2007. Last time there was free alcohol everywhere but you had to pay for water. So to survive the rum and cokes and when you're short of cash, definitely take some water! Being English, we bring teabags and some earplugs for the noisy places.

How many shows are you playing at SXSW? Will you be checking out other bands that week, and if so, who are you excited to see?
We have just two shows set for now, Urban Outfitters and our showcase at Elysium. In 2007 we played every day, even twice a day which didn't give us a chance to see many bands. We're hoping this time to be able to see some other bands. We are excited about seeing our friends Oh No! Oh My!, who aren't playing this year but live in Austin. Also we'd like to see Fool's Gold if we get a chance. To be honest, I don't know who else is playing.

What's the craziest thing you've experienced on tour?
While playing in New York, before sound check, we were just walking around and the director of the show "Law and Order" asked Mat if he'd be on the show. We've never seen it.

Beatles or Stones? Explain.
There's always debate over this and why is it always an either, or, thing. We like them both! If we must choose most of us, except Tom, lean towards The Beatles. Amina's their biggest fan as there isn't anything she doesn't know about The Beatles. Also, what about The Kinks?

Marc Bryers is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.