Running the distance
Despite including Bono as one of their growing legion of fans, music journalists have dubbed south London quartet Athlete one of the least fame hungry bands in history.
True to form, Athlete keyboard player Tim Wanstall and drummer Stephen Roberts are unsurprisingly unassuming backstage before their live gig to hundreds of fans in the capacity-packed Virgin Megastores on Oxford Street.
"You meet a lot of musicians and artists doing this – some are just in it for the money, some to become known as personalities, but we are just genuinely enthusiastic about our music – it's our only motivation," Tim says. "We obviously want to sell loads of records – but only because this proves lots of people have bought our music, they like it and are listening to it," he adds.
And with the second album being such a dangerous area – with the potential for even best-selling bands to flop if they venture into new territory – Tim explains why Athlete's follow-up, Tourist, released this week, is so deliberately different to their Mercury Prize-nominated debut Vehicles and Animals.
"It was a very conscious choice not to replicate what we had done before," Tim says. "Tourist is a completely different sound for us - we were interested in having a fresh creative challenge."
They describe their debut as 'quirky pop' yet their latest effort not only rings of mellow maturity, but it is also full of honest heartfelt lyrics and subtle experimental rhythms.
"Doing something similar, even if you know it works, wouldn't be very exciting for us as artists and I think you’d hear it in the music – it'd probably come across as quite dry – this is why this album is so intentionally different," Tim adds.
They are also keen to distance themselves to the obvious comparisons with bands such as Coldplay and Keane.
"We understand why we are compared to other bands, but it's a lazy reference point," Tim says. "If people are picking up on the fact we're a band coming out with some classic tunes which will appeal to a large audience that's fine, but just because there's piano on it people liken us to Coldplay and Keane."
"If you really listen to the production of the songs in depth, each and every one has a distinctive touch - some little loop or electric beat or a certain type of guitar sound - that you wouldn’t find on any of those bands' albums. We've got our own sound."
"But that's no disrespect to others bands," Tim quickly adds – perhaps in light of the recent headlines Athlete grabbed for apparently trashing the boy band Busted. "We'd definitely be happy if we sold as many albums as them though," drummer Stephen adds with a chuckle!
Stephen then goes on to say that he sees the increasing popularity of British bands as being only beneficial to Athlete's success rather than added competition. "If you look at the charts there's a lot more British bands around now than when we started out a few years ago."
"With bands like Snow Patrol and Franz Ferdinand making the top ten it puts people in a good frame of mind – they're more happy to listen to bands and spend money on their albums," he says.
"At least I hope it won't make it more difficult to shift our new albums," Stephen says with a mock nervous laugh.
Athlete's sound has matured in line with the lads shift from their mid-to-late twenties age bracket. Tim says he is aiming to buy a house big enough to fit his entire family in before his big 3-0 in four years time, whereas Stephen has 'get a tattoo' on his list of plans.
But their undeniable motivation in life is music and they are enthusiastically looking forward to the launch of Tourist and to their UK tour in March, which has already sold-out in London.
They both laugh when I mentioned the term workaholic, but Tim says: "The reason we've only had a two-week break in the last few years since Vehicles and Animals is because we are so dedicated to music. After our last tour we went straight from writing – to recording – and then flew straight to New York to mix this album," he says. "We just haven't stopped.
"The Vehicles and Animals tour finished almost exactly a year ago, so it's been a long time since we’ve played live – being out on the road this last week has been great. We feel fresh again," Tim says.
"And we are all really proud and 100% happy with everything on Tourist," Tim says with the other members nodding in quiet agreement. Coming from another band on the promotion circuit this comment runs the risk of sounding arrogant, but Athlete really are too quintessentially British when it comes to such territory.
You can't help but wish this band the best of luck, but having listened to their new album, luck is something they are not going to need.