Music
21 Feb 11

Gloom With A View

They are the latest in a line of downtempo British guitar bands stetching all the way back to Joy Division. But can Chapel Club prosper in a world where old fashioned indie rock has never been less fashionable?

At a time when dubstep dictates the sound of London, indie band Chapel Club have risen through the ranks of its music scene at a remarkable rate. As guitarist and founder member Michael Hibbert explains, “We’d only played about four or five gigs before we got a deal. It was very quick. We’re quite aware of that.”

Purveyors of Joy Divison/Echo And The Bunnymen style gloom pop, their evolution was televised when they performed on Later... With Jools Holland months before their debut album was complete.
The last must-watch music show of its kind, it’s a big deal.
“It was great actually,” says Hibbert. “It was all quite a surprise. Quite nerve-wracking, but we were on set for something like 12 hours so we got quite used to it!”
There, they found themselves surrounded by pop culture luminaries who, the band sadly noted, were less larger-than-life, more, well… plain barmy.
“Ray Davies was on. It wasn’t a great performance. He looked like he’s lost the plot a little bit. He was kinda wandering around set with a minder telling him, ‘you can’t go there’. Wandering in front of cameras. I couldn’t work out if he was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m Ray Davies’ or whether he was going a bit senile. I hope he was just playing the big dog. That would be far better than losing your mind.”
A guitar band from London, Chapel Club find themselves in a distinct minority in 2011.
“There isn’t really a huge scene for guitar bands in London. There isn’t much companionship , which is fine by me. I fucking hate that! There isn’t much benefit to being in a scene. It can help you rise really quickly but you’ll often find when it subsides, you go down with it.”
So they’ve done the sensible thing and simply gigged around town relentlessly.
“We’ve spent the last year solidly playing, taking that old-fashioned approach to building a fanbase. The signing part was very quick but it’s not like we’ve rushed in and recorded an album.”
Not that they’ve spent all their time on the road honing their craft. No, theirs is the ramshackle approach to playing live.
“We take a while to get warmed up. We tend not to rehearse, because we hate it. We’re temperamental, we don’t always have amazing tours. It’s up and down.”
Given that their name is a reference to their old drinking spot near St. Luke’s, London and that they have been caught on camera telling off a ‘sober’ Glastonbury crowd, can we take it they enjoy the occasional sup.
“I wouldn’t say we’re massive drinkers, but we put in stints! I think we do quite well, because we’re all pretty small guys. Our manager also manages Ash and apparently those boys fucking drink, man!” Really? Can’t imagine where Tim Wheeler puts it all.
“I know, they’re tiny!”