NO MORE SOFA SURFING - THE DRUMS TAKE ON THE CAMDEN CRAWL

JUST five months ago fledgling Brooklyn band The Drums were crashing on a friend’s couch in Camden, playing their debut European show at Kentish Town’s tiny cult venue, The Flowerpot.

This weekend the very same New York four-piece will be the crowning glory of the borough’s biggest festival – the Camden Crawl.

                                           (The Drums)

Weary frontman Jonathan Pierce spoke to me from Berlin, at the end of an 11-hour stretch of interviews.

He said: “It’s been a little void of adventures. The only adventure we’ve had is seeing if we can stay awake.”

The band were this week forced to cancel their show at Highbury’s Relentless Garage thanks to volcano-induced flight delays, but Crawl organisers are confident they’ll make it to Camden in time.

Jon said: “I know we’re playing the Crawl but we’re not familiar with it. Us American lads are still brushing up on our UK education. We used to stay in a friend’s house in Camden Place when we were in London. The Flowerpot was our first show in Europe so it was a really special time for us. Camden really does hold some significance for The Drums. We just went and grabbed coffee all day long.”

Jon first met bandmate Jacob Graham at Christian summer camp. He said: “I was raised in a Christian household and so was Jacob. It’s normal in America for kids to be shipped off to summer camp and ours just happened to be Christian.”

But it looks like the boys are struggling with the trappings of fame.

He said: “Our least favourite thing in the world is photo shoots. When you start a band you don’t realise everything it entails. You have ideas that it’s about making songs you really love for the next 40 years and here we are in Berlin and we’ve had three photo shoots today and we just hate having our picture taken.”

Their meteoric rise to fame has meant at times their newfound status has overtaken them.
They once played to a crowd of 10 at Santa Barbara University then minutes later posed for an NME cover shoot.

Jon said: "There were 10 kids there all wearing university sweatshirts and had never heard of us. We really go for it when we're playing live, we don't hold back no matter what the situation, so there was a weird awkward dynamic. We played our last song and found out a band has to play for 50 minutes or we don't get paid. 

"We were really broke at the time and didn't have another song. So we ended up playing Kiss And Make Up that St Etienne covered off our i-Pod. We all just danced on the stage and met our quota and got paid. The next thing we did was jump in a van and drive through the beach and did a photo shoot for the cover of NME. It was weird doing a cover shoot five minutes after we played in front of absolutely no-one."

They may have found success but Jon admits he’s still not quite content. 

He said: "It’s not that I’m complaining – it’s just I’m confused. You have these dreams and then your dreams come true and you realise you still are just as confused and probably even more confused because it didn’t solve all your problems.
"There’s this eternal questioning about what is going to make me happy. If this doesn’t make me happy then what will? But it lends to good songwriting. I learned early in my life that money doesn't make me happy and the lack of money doesn't make me happy either. If we had all the answers life might be more... I don't know, so I'm happy to be miserable at this point."

He’s a harsh self-critic, and keeps strict quality control on his songs.
He added: “Nothing really drives me to write anything. It’s never really a conscious thing. I write all the songs and my rule is they have to come naturally. If it feels laboured over then I throw it out. It goes for the lyrics as well. 

“A song might sound happy at first listen but if you listen to the lyrics they often sound a little bit sad or hopeless. We have our own sensitive brand of rock ‘n’ roll. We’re definitely not a typical sex drugs and rock’n’roll type of band. There’s more delicate blood running through our veins. The most exciting thing to us isn’t cocaine it’s writing a beautiful pop song and that’s the honest truth.”