Savage Banter

Since releasing one of the year’s best albums, Adore Life, back in January, English art-rock crew Savages have been extremely busy touring, during which they have experienced many notable moments. One such episode occurred when the group hit Santa Cruz in California, when they were visited by none other than Savages uber-fan Lars Ulrich.

“He’d actually come to see us in Glastonbury a few months ago,” explains Savages drummer, Fay Milton. “Then we got to Santa Cruz, he came to the show with his whole family. It was really nice, he’s a cool guy and very interesting to talk to. For example, he was telling us that when Metallica play Dubai, they draw fans from all over the Middle East – you get people from all these different cultures coming together under the Metallica banner for one night. Metallica are just a fucking incredible band with an incredible drummer. They’ve created this whole world for themselves and it’s amazing.”

Savages may count legendary sticksmen amongst their fanbase, although Fay says she isn’t chiefly influenced by rock drumming, taking greater inspiration instead from the realm of world music.

“World music must be the worst named genre ever,” she sighs. “But yeah, when I was at uni I studied a lot of African music, like gamelan and so on. In a way, my teachers were a big influence on me – one of them was like the main samba guy in London. I’ve been more inspired by learning about other cultures’ music than I have been by specific drummers. I’ve always been a bit ignorant about drummers! People come up to me and say, ‘Do you know this guy?’ and I have to say, ‘I don’t.’

“I’ve got so much respect for someone like Damon Albarn, who has gone and really immersed himself in that kind of music – he obviously has so much passion for it. If you want to learn about another culture’s music, you have to go to the place and live and breathe it.”

Savages have already gigged with one of the EP headliners this year, when they supported LCD Soundsystem on a mouth-watering bill at the legendary Red Rocks in Colorado.

“It’s a brilliant place to perform,” says Fay. “We spent three months in the US this year, and that gig closed our tour. The venue is amazing, you can’t even imagine. It’s literally in the middle of these huge red rocks. We played two nights and it was really great, and then to watch LCD perform in that space, it was phenomenal. To see 10,000 people each night so full of joy, it was a real antidote to all of the negativity that’s been around.”

Do you mean the negativity in America?

“Name a place,” says Fay. “Brexit, Orlando, the attacks in France and Turkey… All of this stuff has felt really apocalyptic. Sometimes, you need that refreshing energy of going to a show like LCD Soundsystem, where it’s just two hours of joy and dancing. It reminds you that humans are okay – it gave me a bit of hope again.”

As well as touring high points, there was more good news recently for Savages with their Mercury nomination for Adore Life, which is currently fourth favourite in the betting behind David Bowie, Radiohead and Anohni.

“Really? That’s brilliant!” says Fay when I inform her of the latest market odds. “It’s great to be in that kind of company – I love the David Bowie and Radiohead records, and the Anohni album is just unbelievable. Actually, if I wasn’t in Savages, that would probably get my vote; the production and the singing are brilliant, and it has this unique feel. It’s really inspiring to listen to.

“I suppose people go on about the curse of the Mercury or whatever but I think it’s a positive thing. You see the likes of The xx and Alt-J winning and it certainly hasn’t done them any harm. Really, the nomination just brings you to a different audience and creates more awareness of the band, and that’s good.”

Lars Ulrich isn’t the only rock legend to give them the thumbs up of late, with Trent Reznor tweeting sweet nothings about them.

“We’re all massive Nine Inch Nails fans,” says Fay. “We played alongside them at Lollapalooza a few years ago, and they were fucking great. Their live sound and their whole show is absolutely incredible. So to get that nod from Trent Reznor, that was really cool for us.”