The 1975: We We're Such An Odd Band

Every now and then a band gets really big, really quickly. Manchester-raised lads The 1975 are one of these bands. But, as Matthew Healy points out, the band’s journey to the top didn’t happen overnight and even after two years on the road, they’re still adjusting to their newfound lifestyle and fame. “Yesterday I was in Finland, I go to Portugal on Thursday and I’m in Glasgow today,” Healy begins. “It’s just been kind of relentless for 18 months. We went out on our first tour as The 1975 and we played to about 75, 100 people and that was in December 2012 and we’ve not really stopped since then.

“It’s just been this kind of gradual progression and we’re trying to take everything in. We’ve realised that that has to be done a lot more retrospectively because at the time, I really don’t know what’s happening a lot of the time and it’s only months later that you realise that some of the things that you’ve been doing have been quite remarkable.”

"A lot of the time I’m caught up in what I’m doing and then maybe an hour later or a day later I’m like 'Fucking hell, that was mental.'"

Indeed, the likes of Liam Gallagher and The Killers have attended their shows and this year alone they’ve played SXSW, Coachella, Glastonbury and Big Day Out and have their first Splendour In The Grass experience around the corner. “I think a lot of people when they get in our position, they try and play it cool to a certain extent but I hold no reservations about how excited I get,” Healy admits, speaking of playing alongside and mingling with bands such as The Rolling Stones.

“It’s actually been quite nice. I’ve realised that I need to be slightly less conditioned to the people I see around me because, like, one of my best mates John is now in our band - he always played saxophone on the records but we never had him out live. We’ve been on tour for two years and he’s never been on a world tour. So he’s surrounded by all these people and it’s really new for him. It’s great for me to remind myself. He still gets very excited and he still runs around getting selfies with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica and stuff like that.”

But, even though Healy says he’s less conditioned around the bands and people he’s now meeting, at the end of the day he’s got a “job to do”. “When you walk out and you’re supporting The Rolling Stones, that is a fantastic idea which we were very, very proud of and excited about it but the reality of it was that we were walking out to 50,000 people with a job to do. People always talk about trying to take in the moment but at that time that’s not your right. Your responsibility is to create the moment and then you can experience it retrospectively. A lot of the time I’m caught up in what I’m doing and then maybe an hour later or a day later I’m like ‘Fucking hell, that was mental.’”

And it is mental, especially considering The 1975 have been together since they were young teenagers. “We were such an odd band. We cared a lot about our music but we seemed to not really care about the progression of our band whatsoever… One time we went on tour and we changed the name of our band every night. We would be a band that every band in Manchester knew and had played with and had been supported by but had absolutely no fan base. We kind of existed outside the Manchester scene.”

Now of course they have a huge fan base, The 1975 are heading Down Under. “It’s going to be amazing,” he reckons. “We love festivals. Our shows in Australia sold out in ten seconds or something insane so I’m just looking forward to them – I wouldn’t say more – but obviously there’s a lot of personal involvement in our shows. We’ve become really popular really quickly and a lot of these shows are the first time that people are seeing us live so it’s really important for us for it [solo shows] to be an actualisation of everything that they’re kind of wanted from the band. We just want people to be in the room with us and that’s what it’s about.”

That, and the wonderment of Healy’s hairdos. “I don’t really think about my hair, George [Daniel, drummer] cut my hair. Everyone talks about it so much. At the moment it’s tied up in a ponytail thing if you’re that interested.”