Starting out as a casual hobby between university friends Andy Clutterbuck and James Hatcher, English duo HONNE have quickly grown to become one of the most interesting and moving production teams of late. Taking the world by storm with their unique blend of electronic and soul grooves, the pair have now released their debut full length album Warm On A Cold Night. To celebrate, we managed to catch up with the lads to chat about their album, their creative process, and what they have in store for the future.
Just to start off, I wanted to say that I’ve been really loving your new album Warm On A Cold Night. Can you tell me a little about how the project came about?
Andy:
I met James on the first day of University; we were the first people we met. Standing next to each other, queuing up for dinner, it was a really quick turn around. We kicked it off straight away and within a couple of days we were writing songs together.
Fast forward a couple of years, HONNE started and we just spent a whole lot of time writing a bunch of songs, trying to see what we could come up with. It was when we wrote Warm On A Cold Night that we thought this could actually work. Then we wrote a whole load more songs in that style and here we are, two years on from there.
The album takes a lot from your earlier EPs, adding new songs along the way. How’s the response been to the album so far?
James:
Yeah it’s been amazing, completely mental. We just wished we could release an album every day because it’s so exciting, with everyone saying what their favourite tracks are, saying that it’s the soundtrack to their relationship, it’s really nice to hear. It’s great to hear that it’s making people really happy.
Were you feeling much pressure in the lead up to the album, seeing as this is in fact your debut album?
Andy:
It’s a weird one; I don’t think I was feeling too much pressure. Me and James are both extremely happy with how the album turned out and the songs that are on it. It’s a few years work and we’re extremely proud of it, so we just wanted to get it out there as soon as we could. I don’t think we wanted to put it out any sooner or later, it was just the right time. Also it’s definitely in a Summer album, even though it’s Winter in Australia (laughs).
It’s so hot over here that you wouldn’t even be able to tell it was Winter I swear!
Andy:
Really! That’s brilliant, well I guess it worked out for the best then (laughs)
Venturing into the creation of the album a little bit, in HONNE’s early days when you both had day jobs, you said that you were making music solely during the night. Now that you are pursuing music full time, is this still the case, and if not how do you get into that mindset?
Andy:
You’re absolutely right, when we were writing at the start it was all night-time. When we finished those day jobs, songs like Gone Are The Days and Coastal Love cropped up, they were probably written in the day and I think you can tell seeing as they have much more of a warm, summery feel. At the moment our writing is all over the place in that it’s in and around everything else that’s going on, the live shows, the promo. So I’m really interested to see what the new material is going to be like.
James:
In just a couple of days we’re going to America for three weeks and we’re going to do our first tour on a tour bus, and we’ve never had a tour bus experience before. Most of the time I don’t even think we’ll know what time it is, so hopefully, if we’re writing on that bus then we can get some really creative stuff.
Definitely! Do you feel like you’ve grown with all these new experiences?
Andy:
I think you have to keep changing all the time because you can’t keep writing the same song over and over again. It’s always about listening to new music, getting inspired by stuff, or getting inspired by things that happen to you, the people around you, all of that combined. I think it’s a natural evolution that all musicians and artists go through.
James:
We were conscious that we wanted an album that had differences, that every song wasn’t the same, but also we wanted it to be distinct. We wanted the songs to be different enough but still have the recurring theme, and I think we did that really.
Do you feel like for your next project you could see yourselves trying something completely new and outside of the box?
Andy:
Personally, I’d like to explore a little bit. Obviously I wouldn’t want to turn into a heavy metal band, but we definitely want to push the boundaries.
James:
Yeah, the next album will definitely sound different to the last one.
Andy:
Me and James initially bonded over Radiohead, if you just look at the transformation they’ve had album to album, so if we could do something along those lines that would be really, really cool.
In a past interview, James, you said that you had never actually been in the same room as Andy whilst he was recording vocals, is that still the case?
James:
I don’t think I have actually. I’ve been in the room when Izzy Bizu was recording the vocals in one of our songs but never actually Andy. It’s so weird! (laughs) Andy just likes to be alone and do his own thing with that, and I’m completely fine with that. I love to hear the finished vocals, with the really nice harmonies on it, I love it.
Andy:
The truth is, I’ve got someone locked in the cupboard who comes out and sings my parts for me, and I just don’t want anyone to know (laughs)
Yeah that’s really interesting. Just to touch a bit on the imagery of HONNE. The word itself means real intention, or true feelings, is this a fitting reflection of your music?
Andy:
Yeah absolutely, most of the tracks if not all of them are based around our personal experiences. In terms of the name though, we’d written a few songs before HONNE even came around, but once we found it, it just kind of stuck.
A lot of the image that the group is based on builds upon Japanese culture. Your album covers look like imported records, Japanese characters are scattered around your artworks, not to mention the name HONNE itself, I know that Andy, you’ve been over there a few times, but what is it about Japan that you are both gravitated and inspired to, and why?
Andy:
Originally for me, before I’d ever been to Japan, a load of mates and my girlfriend had been a couple of times before and were just besotted by it, so that got me intrigued and I wondered what was so good about it. Having gone there for the first time, that was when I understood why they were so in love with the place. It’s crazy but wonderful, so different to what we’re used to in the UK, so it inspires you immensely. For HONNE, we just love the way all the Japanese characters look, and of course the name itself is Japanese too. I guess it’s a weird one for a band from the UK to latch on to it, but it seems to all makes sense.
James:
We’re actually going over there for a couple of gigs at the end of the year, two in Tokyo, two in Osaka and then even a few in South Korea.
Andy:
Yeah I guess the imagery actually really paid off for us, because in South Korea the word actually means the same thing.
Yeah that’s really interesting. Do you feel like you might do some interesting collaborations when you head over there?
Andy:
Yeah we’re starting to get a bit more involved with the Asian scenes, and there were actually a few people who have reached out and asked if we’re up for doing stuff, so who knows. We love collaborating with people in the same room together. It’s easy to just send an instrument across, get a vocal back and that’s that, but we much prefer being there with the actual person.
When we go over we’ll definitely try and organise some stuff. Like, I don’t know quite why but it seems like one of the biggest girl bands and one of the biggest boy bands have got in touch.
James:
One of the guys in one of the boy bands is a big rapper isn’t he?
Andy:
Yeah he’s called Rap Monster (laughs)
Well I mean we could be on the brink of some amazing collaborations by the sounds of it then! Just to wrap things up, what are your plans for the rest of the year? Can we expect to see you in Australia anytime soon?
Andy:
Yeah we’re working on it at the moment. We’re hoping January will be the time that we’re out there, either for a couple of festivals of maybe some headline shows. We’re not entirely sure of anything yet, but we’re hoping and aiming for early January, so fingers crossed.
Aside from that we’re going to try to write as much as whilst touring, looking to get inspiration from all the places we go and the things that we do.
While we wishfully wait for their tour dates to drop, have a listen to HONNE’s debut album, Warm on a Cold Night below!
Image: Electronic Beats