Interview: Enemies (April 4, 2014)

Who is Enemies and what's your story so far?

Enemies is Eoin Whitfield, Lewis Jackson and myself (Mark O'Brien). Almost seven years ago Eoin brought us together to make a live band from one of his bedroom projects. Fast forward to 2014 and we've released two albums, three EPs and have toured parts of Europe, America and Asia that we never imagined we'd even visit, never mind perform in. Safe to say it's all worked out very nicely.

How was 2013  for the band?

It was definitely a roller coaster year compared to any before it. With the help of some fantastic friends we recorded and released our second album Embark, Embrace. We toured pretty extensively and at the end of it all had a very amicable parting with Oisín Trench, who'd been drumming with us since the band's formation. There were a lot of euphoric highs and some pretty tough periods too. I don't think we'd change a thing about 2013 though, it was a really valuable learning curve for us as a band and, most importantly, it gave us an abundance of what we like to call "rocking-chair memories" for when we're old and in some sort of home.

What were your highlights of the year?

Definitely seeing such a positive reaction to the new direction we paved out with Embark, Embrace. Playing in new territories like Taiwan, Hong Kong, The Philippines and the US was phenomenal. Seeing your music connect with people so far away from your small Irish town is just surreal.

You recently played a sold out showcase with Braid, The Jazz June, Caravels & Have Mercy. How was that gig?

It was a bit delicate actually; ourselves and most of the bands performing had played a massive house party in Brooklyn the night before so all heads were pretty fuzzy that day. We had a great gig though, and watching Braid play afterwards brought everyone back to top form. They turned the gig into an all-out party, the likes of which I rarely see at home these days. "That made me feel young again!" exclaimed a sweaty, 25-year old Lewis after their set.

How was your stint in Japan?

It's always like Christmas coming early when we go to Japan… a very humid Christmas, but a joyous affair nonetheless. Our Japanese label (Stiffslack) does a great job of promoting us out there and as a result we never seem to have a bad show. There seems to be a massive appreciation for intricate, guitar-focused rock in Japan; you're constantly hearing bands like American Football and Pele playing through the PA before shows, which is usually a good indication that the audience are on our side. The crowds in Japan are actually are some of the most enthusiastic and appreciative that you'll ever meet, it's pretty special.

Is the reaction to your music different in Ireland to elsewhere? Whilst you have a lot of peers who are musically related to you in the US and elsewhere, your sound is quite unique for an Irish band - does that show when playing gigs here?

I wouldn't say our sound is that unique for an Irish band, in that I would see bands like And So I Watch You From Afar and Adebisi Shank belonging to the same sort of 'genre'. I think gigs are only different in Ireland in that there aren't as many places to play. It's hard for us to play a string of successful shows here, usually you can take a pretty good guess at the 2/3 towns where decent numbers will come to the show, while halfway across the world we could have 6 or 7 great shows in a row. I'm not too sure why that is to be honest, maybe it's just down to having a smaller population here. There's definitely an abundance of great, unique music here though, which keeps us striving to be better and more original.

Did you expect the positive reaction that Embark, Embrace received? It's faring quite well in End Of Year Lists (Modern Vinyl, AbsolutePunk) and received coverage from MTV Iggy etc. Did you have any idea that it would do that well?

It's fair to say we've always been really surprised with the reactions our releases have gotten. With Embark, Embrace we made a conscious decision to push the boat out a bit, experimenting with vocals and moods that we hadn't delved into before. We wanted to make something with more colour and diversity than our first album. By the recording stages we knew that it was going to be an album we'd be far happier with, but we also had some anxieties about alienating people who had loved the first album. Luckily it's gone down really well across the board and has brought us to a platform where we're more confident about playing whatever feels right to us.

Is there anything you'd change about the record in hindsight?

I can't say I would, to be honest. I think Embark, Embrace does a great job of filling in all the gaps of things that were missing on the first album. A few weeks before going into the studio we sat down and talked about all of the different collaborators who we'd love to have on the record. When it came time to ask around not a single artist on that list said no, that was a bit of a home-run. For me, the album is pretty much what I hoped it would be. I'm not saying it's a perfect album; we certainly have ideas for different styles and sounds in the future, but Embark, Embrace perfectly captures a pretty significant time in our history.

What plans have you for 2014? 

One of the things we're most excited about is writing new material. The plan is to throw ourselves into that for the next few months and see what comes out. We're hoping to get back to some of the places that were particularly great to us last year, ideally with some new territories in the mix too.

If you could do any three things in your musical career, what would they be?

To play on Jools Holland and at Fuji Rock Festival. Also to hang out in Justin Vernon's studio for a few weeks.