William Rees from the British indie act Mystery Jets talks DJing, dads and dames with City Times

WHEN PEOPLE FIRST encountered Mystery Jets in 2005, the same question kept popping up: who’s the old bloke?

The oldie in question is Henry Harrison – who, as well as co-writing tunes and helping out with guitars, keyboards and percussion, is also the father of lead singer Blaine.

The five-man band formed on the intriguingly named Eel Pie Island, situated on London’s River Thames, as part of a small but wildly popular scene which also threw up the likes of Jamie T, The Noisettes and Jeremy Warmsley.

The indie favourites have released two albums to date, though they’re perhaps best known for their atypically 1980s-tinged pop ode Two Doors Down.

City Times spoke with 24-year-old guitarist William Rees, as he and bassist Kai Fish prepare for their Dubai DJing return in Alpha tomorrow night.

Who taught you how to DJ?

We taught ourselves, we’ve been doing it for a couple of years. It’s good fun – playing music you like at cool clubs. We came to Dubai for the first time a year ago, and we were out in Milan last weekend.

What are Mystery Jets up to at the moment?

We’ve nearly finished our third album, which will hopefully come out next March. We’ve been spending the last six months writing and recording songs, and DJing a lot as well.

How is the music on your new album different from the previous two?

I’d say the songs are better. The record is a lot more spacious sounding, and a lot more polished. We’ve worked with a producer called Chris Thomas, who’s done a lot of records with bands like The Pretenders, Pulp, Pink Floyd and The Sex Pistols. His skill and natural feel for music really lent itself to our songs. Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac have been a huge influence, as have Electric Light Orchestra and Supertramp.

Have you ever faced a backlash?

Not really. If you walk the tightrope by saying outrageous thing in the press and blowing your own trumpet, the chances are you’re going to fall. As a band, we’re not particularly interested in gaining press or what people think of us. We’re more interested in writing good songs and having fun on tour.

So far, you’ve trod a fine line between a cult indie band and a mainstream act. Was that deliberate?

It’s been completely unintentional. There isn’t really any choice in terms of how much success you have, or whether you manage to bridge that gap. I guess in a way we are that. With the last record, particularly with Two Doors Down, we had a lot of radio play and the album started doing really well. People who weren’t necessarily into indie music or the band started to get into it, but at the same time we maintained a loyal connection with the fans.

Do you have any aspirations to be as big as a group like Razorlight?

I don’t aspire to have anything in common with a band like Razorlight! But I’d say we’d like to be a big band. I think we’re doing well, but our third record is definitely a pop record. We want to take it the full way and conquer the world. At the end of the day, you either go up or you go down.

Do you still keep in touch with any of your Eel Pie Island contemporaries?

Not really. I think we’ve all grown apart. I still bump into Jamie T sometimes, but he’s obviously very busy touring and making music. Larrikin Love split up – the guitarist is actually making music with Courtney Love now in LA – and I still see Jeremy Warmsley sometimes. What happened then was never going to last, like any of these things. It’s great for a period of a few months, then people start going their own ways. It would be great to see everyone again, because they’re all lovely people.

What was it about that tiny scene which saw so many acts break through?

A lot of them didn’t make it, to be honest. I mean, The Noisettes and Jamie T went on to do brilliantly, but a lot of those bands have disappeared. It’s just down to those individuals being good at what they do. We knew them from doing gigs around London, but we felt frustrated playing there because the venues were boring and the promoters would rip you off. We thought ‘let’s just do gigs in our own space’, which is how it started.

Why isn’t Henry touring with the band anymore?

He’s still in the band – he still writes and records with us every day. He’s a Mystery Jet, but after our first album we felt like we needed to change. We wanted to be a young band on the road having fun, without that older guiding presence. When Henry was with us it was great, and it was crucial in a sense to ensure you didn’t do stupid things. 

Have you become wilder on the road since Henry stopped touring?

We’re all very different. Kai and I like escaping and going pretty wild, Blaine is somewhere in between, and Kapil in a way is the worst of all of us. But when he spends time with his girlfriend he’s very well behaved. Everyone takes it in turns to be the Keith Moon!

What’s been you favourite Mystery Jet moment so far?

Playing Glastonbury last year. It was the first time most of us had been. We were on at four in the afternoon, and none of us really knew what to expect because the album had been out for about six months and it slowly grew. Glastonbury was an affirmation of that – a lot of people came to the gig.

If you were going to listen to one of your tracks on an iPod, which would it be?

It would be the one I’m working on now, which isn’t quite finished. There are a couple of titles, I’m thinking of calling it Show Me the Light but we’ll see.

How does the group approach its songwriting?

We like to pair off. Kai and I write together, and Blaine and Henry write together. So there are two partnerships – we make demos then get together as a band and change and chop it about.

So you write like Lennon and McCartney did, only in pairs?

I like the way you pick Lennon and McCartney – that’s how I like to think of it! We write songs independently as well. But the songs come about in all sorts of ways.

What do you think about the father-son songwriting partnership?

I don’t think anything of it. I’m an insider, so to me it’s very normal. But I can imagine to an outsider how it might be weird for a father and son to write songs together – especially when they’re about things you wouldn’t necessarily want to talk about with your dad. But that’s the nature of their relationship – they’re very close and they can be comfortable with each other around difficult subjects. 

Who is your top 40 single Alas Agnes about?

I can’t tell you – that would involve a court case and a few angry people.

Can you tell us about who Two Doors Down was written about then?

That was written by Blaine and Henry. It was actually based on a girl called Tennessee, who’s the drummer in an American band called The Like. She’s originally from England, and her dad used to be the drummer for Elvis Costello and the Attractions. We were hanging out with them in America at the end of 2007, we’re all pretty good mates with them. It’s not explicit, and there wasn’t any kind of romance there. She just a great friend and she’s got a really lively spirit to her. In some subliminal way, she embodies the song. But I don’t actually know because I didn’t write it.

EVENT DETAILS

What: See You Next Friday presents Northern Monkeys, featuring a Mystery Jets DJ set and The Brownies live

Where: Alpha, Garhoud

When: Friday, November 27, from 9pm

Cost: Dhs199 for entry and open bar

Tickets: Table bookings call 04 702 2640

For more info: Visit See You Next Friday’s Facebook page or www.alphaclub.ae.

adam@khaleejtimes.com