成人快手

Rose-coloured views

You鈥檝e been rehearsing for your forthcoming live shows recently. How is it going?

Fear Of Music's Jo Rose

"It鈥檚 going really, really well. We鈥檙e taking a bit of a break over the next couple of days because we鈥檝e been doing so much that we鈥檝e started to pull the motions a bit. I鈥檓 also taking some time to get some writing done and to find my muse."

How is the album coming on?

"It鈥檚 interesting as I鈥檝e not made an active decision to push things in a new direction, but it has done that organically. I鈥檝e made a lot of changes to our sound, in the way I write songs and lyrics, that I wouldn鈥檛 have expected, and that鈥檚 partly to do with wanting to do something more interesting with the record and partly to do with the music, films and books I鈥檝e been surrounding myself with."

You鈥檝e been working with Placebo and Horrors producer Dimitri Tikovoi. Has that experience changed your writing?

Fear Of Music

"Yes, I think once you realise the process of recording, which is very different from playing live, you can understand how to come to a better end product. There鈥檚 something about the way that Dimitri works that is very attuned to the way that we think about music, and that has improved my songwriting, because it鈥檚 given me a better idea of what I鈥檓 aiming for."

How good is your songwriting?

"At the minute, I am happy with the songs I鈥檓 doing, especially when you consider my age and experience, but I鈥檓 really just starting out. Once I think I can really express myself in a way that鈥檚 really apt and perfect and true, that鈥檚 when I鈥檒l be a successful songwriter.

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"To me, songwriting is a thing that鈥檚 really personal, so it鈥檚 not something I鈥檓 going to judge on the number of records we sell or the reviews that we get, it鈥檒l be on a personal level, where I think that this lyric or this melody is truly representative of who I am and what I鈥檓 saying. But I think I鈥檓 on the right road.

"On our first EP, there was something very simplistic, and even on this one, you could say the same, but I鈥檓 young and I want to write some na茂ve songs. I have a lot to learn but I鈥檓 proud of my work and I think I can write songs as well as people who鈥檝e been in the trade a lot longer."

You are only 18 but Fear of Music have been making waves for a while now. Has it been frustrating waiting to get to the point of recording an album?

"There have been moments of impatience but I鈥檓 really glad it鈥檚 taken me so long to get to this point. I started being in bands when I was 10 and Fear Of Music formed when I was 13, and then it was still four years after that when we could actually go and play proper gigs in some places!

Jo in a younger Fear of Music (Shirlaine Forrest)

"But it was never really the intention to get a record deal. I did it because I enjoyed it, so I wasn鈥檛 waiting for anything. It鈥檚 been complicated with us leaving school and doing the band full time, but that means we鈥檒l make a much better album than we would have done if we鈥檇 tried to plunge into it two years ago."

Given the time you鈥檝e already spent in the musical consciousness of Manchester, do you feel a pressure to succeed?

"I suppose I do, but success is a difficult thing to quantify. Aside from wanting to be financially comfortable, our aim isn鈥檛 to be a huge band, but one that means something to people.

"I鈥檝e been in a couple of situations where someone has said to me that our music has touched them and, without wanting to be corny, that鈥檚 what I鈥檓 in this for. If I can have that effect on as many people as possible, that鈥檚 what I term success.

"As much as sales are important, because there鈥檚 no escaping that the industry sees success as being, to me, it鈥檚 really about having an effect on someone, be that through empathy or excitement or whatever. That鈥檚 what music should be about."

Fear Of Music's We Are Not The Enemy EP is out on Faster Music on Monday 12 February. The band support Mute Math at the Roadhouse on Sunday 18 February. Tickets are 拢7.