The Boy Least Likely To are Jof Owen (vocals) and Pete Hobbs (instruments), two childhood friends who grew up in the country village of Wendover, England, and who now make eclectic pop music.
Released last year in the United Kingdom, the band’s debut album, The Best Party Ever, will finally see an official release in the United States on April 4, on the band’s own “Too Young To Die” record label. American fans will be rewarded for their patience by a bonus disc featuring two new songs not on the U.K. version.
Owen was kind enough to answer some questions on songwriting, pop music, the Internet and ice skating.
What kind of effect do you think growing up in the English countryside had on your music?
I lived in London for awhile, and I couldn’t write anything. I never really understood the whole romanticizing of the city. I’ve always lived in the countryside other than that short time in London, and I think that’s where a lot of the imagery and the whole feel of the songs comes from. It never felt natural for us to sound any other way. If we came from the city, we’d sound completely different, and I’d have a completely different disposition. It would probably be rubbish.
Describe your songwriting process.
I write all the lyrics, and Pete writes the music and plays all the instruments. When it comes to writing a song, we kind of do it two ways. Either I give him the lyrics first and then he writes the tune to that, or he gives me a song and I write the lyrics second. We both prefer it if we do the second part, so we’re always trying to get the other person to write their bit first.
How important are the lyrics?
The juxtaposition of the two is probably one of the secrets to the songs. The lyrics and the music work against each other. I think the lyrics stop the music sounding overly sweet and saccharine, and the music stops the lyrics sounding depressing and tortured. So, both are as important as each other. I’ve always only written lyrics. I hear songs lyrically, if that makes sense. If I hear a song on the radio, I’ll be seeing it written down as I hear it. That’s just the way I’ve always been. I don’t know any different. So I always wanted to be in a band that placed as much emphasis on lyrics as the music.
Do you see yourself and other bands like The Go! Team pushing the boundaries of pop music?
It’s funny to think that people like us and The Go! Team are “pushing the boundaries” in some way. I never really think of it like that. We just wanted to make a pop record because we always loved pop music, and because we were bored of rock music, and most of the pop music in the charts was quite unimaginative and dull.
You have an official blog; what do you think of the increasing role of the Internet in the music business?
It definitely helped us, and in America it seems to be more of an important role in the industry. I don’t think it’s the same in the UK yet; people still pay a lot of attention to the printed press. There isn’t a Web site as important in the UK as, for example, Pitchfork is over here, but I think it’s getting there.
My blog was just something I wanted to write to get across my ideas and thoughts to complement the records. It’s not always particularly interesting, but people seem to read it anyways-funny.
If you were ice skating in the Olympics, what song would you skate to, and why?
I’d probably have two routines (I think they’re called “programs” in ice skating), an upbeat one and a more romantic, slow one. For the upbeat one I’d probably choose “Don’t Talk To Me About Love” by Altered Images, because it’s just a great indie disco song. For the more romantic one I’d probably go with “Traveling Light” by Tindersticks, because it’s very moving, but it’s still got a bit of rhythm to it so the routine wouldn’t drag too much.
What other bands should people be listening to this year?
The Research. I like their album, and a band called We Show Up On Radar from England, a country grunge band I like called Treecreeper, who have just finished recording their album, Love is All. The Beach Boys are good. I’m sure there’ll be lots of other records coming out that I’ll like. There’s always something exciting happening, even if you have to scratch a bit around to find it.
