Twitter Interview: Andy McCluskey

@hotpress: I see you’ve been enjoying the warm Californian weather of late.
@OfficialOMD: Not quite. We played Coachella on Sunday night in the middle of a bloody sandstorm. It was freezing on stage.

@hotpress: Congratulations on the new album. It’s getting a great response so far...
@OfficialOMD: We’d like to think that despite our age we’re not completely deluded. We worked hard and we kind of know what we’re up to.

@hotpress: The first single ‘Metroland’ is quite a simple, minimal pop song. Were you trying to make a more minimal record?
@OfficialOMD: Yeah, we consciously tried to strip the sound down to the barest ingredients: drums, bass, organ, piano and vocal.

@hotpress: How is the live show? You’ve got such a huge catalogue of songs to choose from…
@OfficialOMD: It’s a balancing act between the new and old. The set we’re playing at the moment appears to be striking the right notes.

@hotpress: Was this album easier to make than 2010s comeback album History Of Modern?
@OfficialOMD: Yeah. We’ve gone back to our old way of songwriting which was quite dysfunctional. I think people recognise that.

@hotpress: What was it like to hear ‘Enola Gay’ playing at the Olympics?
@OfficialOMD: It was a huge honour. To be sitting watching it and thinking that 1.5 billion people are watching too was amazing.

@hotpress: What drives Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark to continue making records?
@OfficialOMD: We’re not topping up our pensions. This is us trying to be the best, and most interesting and musical we can possibly be.

English Electric gets a live airing in Vicar St., Dublin on May 30.