Shortly after the release of their breakthrough 2012 LPColourmeinkindness, the members of Basement went into hibernation, taking time off to focus on personal and career goals.
During the band’s hiatus, the album achieved cult success, selling 25,000 copies worldwide despite the lack of touring and press coverage. In 2014, Basement reconvened, releasing the EP Further Sky to an ecstatic fan base. In the wake of the success of both Colourmeinkindness and Further Sky, the UK punk rock outfit has returned with Promise Everything, a mature studio album that sees Basement back at their best.
“It is definitely strange,” says Alex Henery, the band’s guitarist and backing vocalist. “I mean, to come back from that hiatus to find that people still care is a lot of information to take in. It has taken us some time, but we have decided that we will be a full-time touring band. When we started this band, I never thought something like that was even possible. It took a while for me to accept it – I was like, ‘Oh, people actually like this, so does this mean we should do it?’ It’s hard to imagine yourself doing these things.
“We definitely didn’t want to return from the hiatus just to play shows. I mean, playing shows is great, but that’s why we wrote the seven-inch, Further Sky –we wanted to show people our return was genuine. We love writing music and we love being creative together. One of my favourite things about being in a band is being able to create something with my friends, so when it came to writing Promise Everything, it was just a natural progression. It just made sense.”
Following Basement’s hiatus, Henery relocated to the US to join the ranks of Boston record label Run For Cover. Exchanging ideas online, the band members wrote what would soon become their new album. But the long-distance correspondence wasn’t without its drawbacks.
“Not to say that it was a bad experience, but there were times when I would send over an idea and the guys would listen to it and have a practice without me,” Henery says. “The idea would completely change, I would have no say and then when I would eventually come over to practise, the songs had morphed into something I wasn’t really sure of.
“It’s hard to say how it affected the songwriting process. In a way, I wish I could compare it to if we had written the songs with all of us together. Obviously, that wasn’t possible. The only thing I do know is I never want to do it again. Next time we will hopefully all get to spend decent chunks of time writing a record together – that is what I am looking forward to with the next record.”
Even during the writing process, Henery says the band hadn’t decided on its next step.
“At the time, each of us were still working our jobs, so I thought it was always going to be a part-time thing. I saw a window of opportunity during the Easter holidays and I said, ‘If we don’t do it now then we’re never going to do it.’ So we did the record and that’s when we had the conversation: ‘Hey, maybe this summer we can be a full-time touring band?’ I didn’t even know we were going to be full-time while we were writing the record. I just thought we’d release it and just play shows here and there.”
[Basement photo by Mitch Pinney]
Basement’sPromise Everything is out Friday January 29 through Run For Cover/Cooking Vinyl. Catch themFriday May 27, with Turnover and Break Even, at the Factory Theatre.
