London garage rock trio The Noisettes have been attracting a considerable amount of attention recently following the release of their debut album What’s The Time Mr. Wolf?
A firm favourite among fellow musicians (drummer Jamie Morrison describes his group as “a band’s band”), The Noisettes have secured a series of high-profile support slots with A-list outfits such as Bloc Party and Muse. Indeed, when hotpress catches up with the group, it’s on the day of their recent support slot with Maximo Park at the Temple Bar Music Centre.
The Noisettes actually have some Irish connections, with Morrison also regularly drumming with singer-songwriter Fionn Regan, the Bray native now based in Brighton.
“I’ve been playing with Fionn for five years,” nods Jamie. “We’re very close. I go over to his house every New Year’s Eve, and we always get the guitars out and write some music together. He actually recorded a lot of his album in my bedroom! We've gone on our separate paths recently, but we’ll still play together whenever we can. We’ll both be playing the same festivals this year, so that’ll be an opportunity for us to perform together.”
As well as gigging with the likes of Bloc Party and Muse, The Noisettes also toured last year with New York band TV On The Radio, whose extraordinary Return To Cookie Mountain was a strong contender for best album of 2006.
“We weren’t quite sure about that album when we toured with them,” reflects Jamie. “But when we listened to it after the tour, it just made complete sense. TV On The Radio as a live experience is insane; they are an amazing band. They’re experimental, but still direct enough to connect with people in a very powerful way. They’re also sick motherfuckers! (laughs). They know how to party. I went out with them twice, and the second time, the next day was the worst day of my life. I was in so much pain, it was unbelievable.”
Speaking of hard-living rock bands, another group with whom The Noisettes have toured are Babyshambles.
“Peter and Drew are friends of ours,” explains Jamie. “Drew is one of my best mates, he actually plays with Fionn as well. And Peter and Shingai (Shoniwa, The Noisettes singer) go way back. They’re great folk and they always help us out, although touring with them can be upsetting. The most fucked up things that happen in the show are the things that the crowd like. Also, everyone’s got a camera phone and they want to take pictures of Peter.
“It’s hard to talk about this subject as well, because I don’t want to offend them. It’s so easy for journalists to take a certain section out of an interview and mess it up, which has happened to us before when we’ve talked about Babyshambles. But obviously because Peter has become quite famous, and gets arrested a lot, he’s a media guy. So he attracts lots of media people, not just musicians and music fans. So I think at their shows, a lot of people are there to hear them play, and there are other people who are just there for the experience. But who are we to say whether that’s good or bad?”
For their own part, although they’ll be on the road until October, The Noisettes are already thinking about their second album.
“The next record will have hip-hop and lots of other cool sounds on it,” asserts Jamie. “This album was made over a long period of time, in very weird circumstances. It was recorded here, there and everywhere, from massive studios in LA to tiny studios in south London, with people who didn’t really know about producing, or else people who knew too much about it. On the next record, we’ll be able to sit down and think a lot more clearly about what we’re doing. That will be our real first album.”

What’s The Time Mr. Wolf? is out now on Mercury.