CHAPEL CLUB

Chapel Club release their new single, Surfacing, today ahead of their highly anticipated debut album next week. Front man Lewis Bowman is given the Wonderland Q&A treatment to talk covers, comparisons, and C.S Lewis.

Describe your sound in five words
weeyow eeyow swoooosh splash ahhhh

What is the meaning behind the name Chapel Club?
Well, more or less, it’s that when I grow up I want to be a prophet.

How exactly did the band come together?
We sat in a small circle and each man took a firm grip upon the man to his right (none of us are lefthanded, thankfully), then we all yanked on the count of three. Actually, yank is the wrong word, mine was more of a motivational caress

You’ve been compared to the likes of White Lies, Editors and My Bloody Valentine, but who (if anyone) would you most like to be compared to?
MBV is nice. Right now I’d like someone to describe us as Fleetwood Mac meets Yo La Tengo with C.S. Lewis on lyrics. But that’s such stuff as dreams are made on.

What are the band’s inspirations and influences?
All of the above, plus almost everything else. You never know who or what is around the corner preparing to blow your mind. Yesterday in the studio the touchstone was Kazuo Ishiguro; today it’s The Flaming Lips

Your single, Surfacing, hit an obstacle when it was originally planned for release due to copyright issues in relation with a sample on the track - would Chapel Club ever flat out cover a track? If yes - what would that cover track be?
We would flat out cover a track, yes, damn right we would and make no mistake. We covered Wham’s Last Christmas at a show in Manchester in December, but it’s a bit fuzzy on YouTube. Plus everyone covers that song; I just wanted to sing a George Michael vocal to be honest. We have a few others lined up for when we have time though: Arthur Russell’s That’s Us/Wild Combination and maybe Wichita Lineman

You’ve become renowned for putting on a good live show - what has been the highlight of your live performances so far?
I enjoy any show where I can hear myself 100% properly, which at this early stage in our ‘career’ happens on a surprisingly occasional basis. I think I may have bad ears. As for great shows: Reading Festival was cool, as were all the European gigs we did supporting Two Door Cinema Club in November. The Manchester show I mentioned was very special too, it was in a beautiful church and we did some acoustic stuff alongside all the rock and the Wham and it felt very festive

Have there been any bad live show experiences?
I couldn’t hear more than a few notes of my vocal in any live set up until about May last year, so I’m sure there were a few shows that seemed pretty hairy at the time. And more are ahead, I’ll wager. Gigs - especially those involving loads of pedals and effects and stuff - aren’t a perfect art. You’re just stepping out into nothing and hoping you’ll fly half the time

You were on Jools Holland at the same time as other guests The Ting Tings, Mumford & Sons, Cyndi Lauper and John Legend - would you ever want to collaborate with any of them?
Marcus Mumford was utterly lovely on the night, so I’ll say yes to him, though I haven’t heard any of his music yet (somehow). Actually that’s not right, I have heard one thing: a cover of a song from Disney’s Robin Hood. And as that’s by far the best of the Disney musicals, I give him much credit for that. As for the other people on Jools - I don’t think it’d really work, our differences would be too profound and disturbing. Who would I like us to collaborate with? There’re a lot of people… Karen O, Cibelle, Harry Belafonte, Jim O’Rourke, Wayne Coyne, Caribou, Janelle Monae, any ballet or dance companies or makers of beautiful paintings or films. Again though, I don’t think any of them would feel it very necessary. Maybe one day.


[Originally published on wonderlandmagazine.com/blog, January 2011.]