My Latest Novel: "Bella union is definitely a place for a band like us"

Currently developing songs for their sophomore record, My Latest Novel took time out to join the Bella Union celebrations at the Royal Festival Hall recently. TLOBF caught up with Ryan King to ask him about those celebrations, the recording process and the band as a whole.

You’re from a small town just outside Glasgow. Did you all know each other before starting the band. And did the area you grew up in have any affect on the overall sound of the band?
Yeah we all knew each other before starting the band. Gary and I had been in another band together, and Chris was Gary’s Brother, and Paul and Laura live just round the corner really. After other things we were doing musically came to an end, we just kind of pooled resources, initially for a bit of fun, and then we realized it actually sounded pretty good.

You are currently recording demos for the new album. How is that going? After the success of Wolves are you having any second album jitters?
It is going pretty well, as far as we have gone. We are enjoying messing about with ideas we’ve had for a while. We just got ourselves set up independently for the first time in our own rehearsal studio, and it’s good to have the freedom to try things you wouldn’t normally get the chance to elsewhere. We are slightly nervous about how the new songs might come across, but I think that’s definitely normal. We aren’t trying to do anything weird, but we are trying to keep things interesting for ourselves, and so our sound might have changed just a bit, but in a good way I hope.

Where does the inspiration for your songs come from? They all seem to be different and, at times, sprawling in nature? Can you tell us a little about the writing process of a typical My Latest Novel song?
I suppose they are all different, because nearly all of them came about in different ways. No one song was written the same as another. The song could start from an idea for a story that someone had, or it could be a melody that inspires a story, or something personal from one of us that is taken in different directions by others in the band. We generally view a song as a complete work of all the ideas that go into it, and call them bits. If we’ve got a guitar part , that’s a bit, and a melody, that’s a bit, but I suppose when the idea or story we are trying to tell comes together through those parts, then the song is written. That, and many, many, different trials of arrangements, and scrapping and re-writing bits. But now we’ve got a whiteboard and markers so we can describe “bits” and where they might fit a bit better.

You’re been touring with the hotly tipped Twilight Sad. How did you meet and would you consider working with them in the future?
We first met “The Twilight Sad” out in Texas at one of their shows, after hearing about them through our Australian Label “Etch N’ Sketch” . We couldn’t believe they were letting us hear this excellent band from Glasgow, that we hadn’t heard before, whilst we were in Australia. So when we noticed they were playing at SXSW whilst we were in Texas we went along to check them out. We ended up kicking about with them at various other shows out there, and ended up organizing a double bill at The Classic Grand in Glasgow when we got home. Consider working with them? Well, hadn’t really thought about that, but in theory it definitely doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

How were you approached by Bella Union? Had you heard of the label before?
We had heard of the label before and were already fans of Explosions In The Sky and Dirty Three. We were considering different labels that had taken interest, and there were offers, and suggestions being thrown about for a few months. And then out of it all, Simon had come to see us at a London show, and sent us a straightforward email, saying that he loved the gig, and how would we feel about putting out an album. Then we said yes.

Has Simon given you any words of advice or encouragement?
There have been lots of phone calls and emails of advice and encouragement from Simon since day 1. Simon is really hands on, and really seems to try and nurture bands and let them find where they want to be. Not long ago he sent us up a recording desk to help get us back on track with our songwriting, after a phone call he and Gary had. It wasn’t so much the recording desk, but more Simons approach, and sharing his own experiences as an artist, that helped us think about things a bit more clearly.It was quite a grey patch for us as a band, and I’m happy to say we’ve managed to get out of that rut.

How does it feel to be on a label that advertises itself as giving its acts full artistic freedom whilst recording? A rarity nowadays don’t you think?
It’s a definite rarity, and I’m not sure how we’d manage if we didn’t have the freedom to do what we thought was right with our music. Bella union is definitely a place for a band like us.

Which Bella Union act would you most like to collaborate with?
That’s a tough question, and probably one with no definitive answer.

How does it feel to be part of Bella’s 10th Anniversary celebrations? Have you bought them a card?
It feels great to be included in the 10th Anniversary show. You only have to look at the bands released over the last 10 years to see the quality of music they put out, and we feel privileged to be part of that, and to share the bill with the likes of Beach House, Fionn Regan, and Howling Bells.

Exclusive Bella Union material
Stream a version of My Latest Novels Sister Sneaker Sister Soul

Look out for more exclusive interviews as The Line of Best Fit’s week long celebration of Bella Union’s 10th Anniversary continues…