The 1975 are undeniably a global sensation.
The English quartet has received a stream of critical acclaim for its instantly infectious sound, straddling everything from synthpop to alternative rock. Matthew Healy, Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald and George Daniel met as schoolmates on the outskirts of Manchester and have since become one of the world’s most celebrated music collaborations.
Earlier this year, their second album – I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It – saw The 1975 skyrocket to the top of the album charts in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US. Since then, they have been playing sold-out tours around the world. Irrespective of their commercial success, frontman Healy assures fans that the band’s goal has always been a simple one: “We just wanted to make music, man.”
“We had no kind of careerist motives [when we started] because we were like 13,” he says. “We were just playing music because of the purity of playing, for the same reason we played football or video games, which we still do. We were doing it just for fun. It wasn’t until we were like 17, 18 when we realised that maybe we could actually do something. It was about the act of making music, making those kinds of sounds with your friends. It wasn’t about getting girls or being cool – it was just a fun thing to do and it turned into what it is today.
“I’m constantly in awe of things that happen, whether it be how high we get billed at festivals or how many people come to our shows, or you know, just the opportunity to do what we do live. I’m constantly having to remind myself of how amazing it is. The album going to number one in America was something we’d never dreamed of, it’s not something that ever seemed realistic. And it happened.”
As evidenced by their chart success in Australia, The 1975 have attained strong support from fans here as well. The Brit boys are returning the favour this month, heading Down Under for Splendour In The Grass and a pair of massive sideshows.
“I always say that everybody’s similar – it seems like we play to a similar group of kids every night – but Australia is actually particularly different,” Healy says. “Australia is louder. Australia is a bit more intense. I don’t know whether it’s because we’re so far away and you’re kind of starved of shows –I don’t know what it is,” he laughs. “It’s not like your favourite band if they’re not from Australia is going to be knocking around, whereas that could be the case with New York or LA or London or Paris. The people are excitable and I love playing shows in Australia.”
The 1975 capture the essence of the album in the live environment through the use of copious visual elements, and their Australian shows will offer a unique experience for those fans who’ve been awaiting the band’s return for 18 months.
“When we toured the last time we realised how much of an emotional investment people had with our music and how involved they were with it,” Healy says. “I wanted to visualise that, to try and stimulate people visually, like the way they are stimulated musically. I think it’s beautiful.
“There’s everything on that record. I talked about the fundamentals of what I was scared of, or what made me think. There are songs on there about my mother’s postnatal depression or the death of my grandmother. When you talk about those things in the context of music or whatever it may be, you kind of allow people to feel the same way. You kind of give people permission to… not necessarily grieve with you, you just give people permission to feel the same way as you. I like that. It makes you feel more accepted as a person when people relate to it. I try not to get lost in self-pity and just talk about how it feels.”
It’s not only the themes of The 1975’s second album that have caused a stir. The lead singer admits the record’s title has evoked quite a reaction, but that was exactly what they had in mind.
“It was just a lyric,” Healy says. “We named the record a long time ago and it was during a time when we wanted to make bold decisions. We wanted to make a record that was about conviction. It wasn’t necessarily the best lyric or the most appropriate lyric, but at one point we said, ‘Let’s call the album that. If it’s called that, it’s already ridiculous and we don’t have to worry about it being overly ambitious,’” he laughs. “We got a lot of stick, a lot of shit for it – but as they say, there’s no such thing as bad press. I just think if we are going to make big albums and be in the charts, we are going to do it on our own terms, as weird as they may be.”
Having posted a cryptic letter to their social media pages last June, sparking rumours of a break-up, The 1975 now look back on the creation of their second record as the most inspiring and challenging time they’ve ever shared.
“Obviously we’d been writing on the road, but because we were still touring the first album, we were still in that time frame, we were still in that world,” says Healy. “We came off tour and went straight into the process of making our next record, and I think that time materialising, it was quite overwhelming.
“The silence of coming off tour was something to get used to in itself – going back home and getting used to not being onstage every night is a weird thing to try and figure out. Trying to be creative in a time frame is very difficult, and I think we got stuck in our heads a little bit – we started to kind of freak out. But it was eventually reconciled and we managed to make the best record we’ve ever made.
“We were on tour for a good few years. Missing your bed and missing all of that kind of shit that you think about goes quite quickly – you find comfort and consistency in different things. We used to make records on a laptop in a bedroom and then it changed to a tour bus or a hotel, so it wasn’t too different as long as we had each other – we don’t have to go into a Zen environment to make a record.”
Recently, The 1975 unveiled a new music video for their single, ‘A Change Of Heart’, which Healy both starred in and wrote. “I realised there was a sexuality to almost all of the videos we’d ever done,” he explains. “I wanted to take a song that was in that realm and make a video that was platonic and pretty and beautiful. I wanted to have innocence to my character.”
The multitalented Healy remains unwaveringly faithful in the future progression of The 1975, and he leaves us with his thoughts on the pressure of preparing for their next album.
“It’s all about belief – whether you believe in it or not, or believe that person or not. There’s a great quote by David Foster Wallace where he says, ‘You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realise how seldom they do.’ I think that’s what you’ve got to think about when making a record.”
I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It is out now through Dirty Hit/Sony. The 1975 play atSydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park, on Saturday July 23; and also at Splendour In The Grass 2016, North Byron Parklands, Friday July 22 – Sunday July 24.
