CHILDHOOD Interview

Childhood's music is pretty exciting stuff, much like everything is when you are a child.

Secret Admirer was smitten from the first listen, our eyes grew wide and we wanted to put their songs in our mouth.
But we decided to be adult about it, and sent them a formal email with some questions about the ideas behind the band.

When and why did the band start?

Childhood started in the summer of 2010 when I met Ben in my first year of university. We shared similar musical tastes and as we were both guitarists we decided to start messing around with ideas. We got gig offers very early on based on demos we had released on Myspace, so realised we needed to get a band together, which materialised by Christmas.

Why did you choose the name Childhood?

I think we chose the name Childhood before we even wrote any music, it was a heavy night out and Ben said "I want to be in a band called childhood". The rest is history. I think it's fitting as a lot of the lyrics in our songs are about nostalgia. It also looks good on paper.

Is there a specific style you aim to create when you write music?

We never feel restricted to trying to create songs in a certain vein. But we do like making catchy songs and our focus is very much on melody. 

What do you want people to get from your music?

We hope that people will enjoy our music as much as we do, both in the live setting and in listening to our songs. Generally we feel that there is a much more muted crowd response to live music these days, so a positive crowd reaction is greatly appreciated.

What inspires your lyrics? What do they tend to be about?

Ben: I never have an agenda with my lyrics, it's normally based on the feeling I get from the chords or melody Leo or myself have written. A lot of our songs seem to be based on past experiences and retrospective thoughts on them.

Is there anything other than music that inspires you creatively?

National parks. Babes. Depressing urban landscapes. Hypnic jerks. Sleep paralysis and serious tekkers.

Have you found a sound that you are comfortable with, or do you intend to experiment further with your sound?

We are happy with our sound but we don't intend to limit ourselves to just one style. All our songs will always be distinctly Childhood, but we are very much looking to better and progress our sound.

What has been the best gig you have played so far?

In terms of enjoyment it would have to be when we supported The Maccabees because it was amazing playing to such a large and young crowd. But equally we have had a lot of fun around various sweatboxes in London.

Do you feel as though you fit into any particular music scene?

At this stage we don't feel integrated into one scene, but we have found ourselves playing with bands that are on the same live circuit, but who are all doing things in their own unique way. We like to play with bands that we enjoy listening to.

If you could soundtrack a film, which one would you choose?

Ben says that he would like to soundtrack 'Enter The Dragon'. I would like to soundtrack a zombie movie, I really love zombies.

What are your plans in terms of releasing music and playing gigs?

We just released a new demo accompanied by a video for 'Just Floating' and are hoping to get our single out early in the new year. We have been working with XL's in-house producer Rodaidh McDonald and re-recorded 'Blue Velvet' and 'Semester', so we are hyped for that release. We have a gig with Girls this weekend in Nottingham, and then are playing a festival with Howler and some other great bands in Sheffield the week after. We might take a small break from gigging after that, and concentrate on writing some new club bangers.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Childhood/248233878538718

Photo provided by Childhood