James caught up with Matt Shultz from Cage The Elephant to talk about being back in the UK supporting the Foals and plans for the future.

You released your third studio album ‘Melophobia’ back in October how has the album gone down with your fans and the press?
They hate it. I’m joking, it’s going really good, were currently on tour with the foals and the reactions have been great, so let’s see how it goes from here.

What themes and stories feature within the songs on ‘Melophobia’?
Allot of it has to do with personal experiences and our interpretation of the times; it’s definitely from my perspective, lyrically speaking. Different things I’ve seen or noticed, allot of its internal, adversity’s and a wide array of topics, and there all different within it.

How did you come up with the album title ‘Melophobia’?
Melophobia means a fear of music, and for us it’s not actually a fear of music, but a fear of creating music to project premeditated images of self rather than just communicating. I mean writing a song to be preserved as intellectual or artistic or anything for that matter, god forbid genius. Rather than it just being a transparent peer of communication.

How did you find the whole writing and recording process for ‘Melophobia’ compared to your previous album releases as each album is different in sound?
There were some challenges that we faced that we hadn’t in the past, similarly because leading up to the band getting together to collaborate together we’d had a few months to write as individuals. Previously we’d been on tour for 5 years solid, so there was always this general awareness of where the band is going as you’re always sharing ideas and what you’re listening too and you formulate this thing. Whereas this record we came together and we all had ideas that where polar to each other, and so the challenge was to marry those opposites and make it work and maybe let go of some ideas that maybe you might have been in love with but not everyone else was. It was a really interesting record to make, it was almost like the first fruits or child labour, it was very painful but now that we’ve started working that way it’s the best way, for us, to create works that have allot of depth and I hope to continue doing it that way in future, and hopefully it will get easier.

Back in December Lincoln Parish left the band, how has it been without him? and how is Nick Bockrath settling in?
Well so far, we’re not making any permanent replacements, and no like permanent statement we’ve made or what we’re trying to do. Lincoln started playing with us when he was 15, so when we moved to England we had to become his legal guardians, his parents had to sign over guardianship to the band. So he missed out on allot of stuff, and when we went home this last time, he must have really enjoyed that, so when we went back on tour he just wasn’t feeling it, so we don’t hold any animosity or anything like that and where just feeling it and seeing how everything will take hold, but Nick isn’t a permanent replacement or anything like that. I mean Nick is a great guitarist and came highly recommended from our buddy’s, he came and sat in a couple of times and he’s very very good.

You are currently back in the UK supporting Foals how did this chance come about? And how have you found the shows on the tour so far?
The Foals have been good friends of ours for years, and when we first moved to England they were one of the first bands we befriended and they took us out on tour. When we first came over we had these sugar plum fairy tales of rock and roll across the pond and when we came it was totally different, and at that time it was that new wave angular guitar dance music. The funny thing was, if you weren’t in one of those bands then you weren’t perceived to be artistic, so if you don’t get this then you can’t be an artist. So we didn’t make allot of friends at first, but the Foals where really great and they took us on tour, and we became buddy’s and have kept up with each other over the years and it’s great to have a reunion tour and have some incredible fun.

The UK tour comes to an end with a headline show at the Electric Ballroom in London, how much are you looking forward to playing your own headline show here, and what can people expect from that show compared to your support slots?
We’re very much looking forward to it, it’s our first headline show in 2 years. As I said before, when we first came to England we moved to London several years ago and where there for 2 years and we really got our start here in England, so London’s like our second home for us. The fact it sold out so fast surprised us, as we weren’t sure if the roots had stuck. As for what you can expect I don’t know, a longer set and hopefully with people being familiar with the material it’ll be a little crazier although this tour has been pretty freaking crazy, so as in terms of what to expect, a longer set and a good honest performance.

You seem to be pretty busy touring right up to the summer with shows across mainland Europe, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Canada and America are you looking forward to playing any particular shows the most?
Absolutely, none of which I can talk about right now, but I am so very excited, ‘laughs’ it’s the truth. There are contracts and things which you sign, you know.

You spent a lot of time on tour in the UK, what is it about the UK you like the most?
The crowds, honestly. Yeah, the crowds. It depends on where you play but they’re very over the top in a great way. I also love the architecture of the UK, as we don’t have buildings like that in the US, the history and the use of the English language, it’s great, I mean it should be as you invented it but it’s very admirable. It’s kind of like, the English look at Americans the same way the French look at French Canadians.

Can we expect to see you back in the UK later in the year for some festivals or headline shows?
Defiantly, those are the shows I can’t talk about.

If you met someone who had never heard of Cage The Elephant, what one song would you suggest they listen to get what the band is all about?
One song, man that’s tough. I would ask them to listen to our next single Take It Or Leave it.

What would you say the best thing about being in a band is?
Just to be able to do creative things, and yeah continue to be creative.

Where do you hope to see Cage The Elephant in a year’s time?
Playing stadiums across the world, playing stadiums in Russia. No, just to continuing progressing, writing new material and to be able to tour, and just to be able to continue existing I think.

One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a zebra or Giraffe which one would you be and why?
I would rather be a giraffe because at least…. no nah, I don’t know zebra, yeah zebra because they have stripes.

Thanks for your time is there a message for your fans reading this?
There are allot of incredible bands that are up and coming right now in Nashville like Fly Golden Eagle, Clear Plastic Masks, Plastic Visions, Bad Cop, Ranch Ghost, Pool Jole and allot of really good stuff that people should check out.

Interview by James Daly