Sometimes capturing all the buzz at South by Southwest (SXSW) isn’t enough to secure safe passage through Austin. That’s what British indie-rock quartet the 1975 learned this March when it played 11 shows in five days and returned to the mansion it was renting from a professional baseball player just outside of the city.
“He came home and saw that two of the guys were sharing a bed, presumed it was a homosexual relationship, and smelled marijuana in the house, and he started chasing us out, like, ‘What? You can’t do this in a Texan house!’ and calling us ‘godless animals,'” lead singer Matthew Healy recalls. “We all just got in a taxi right away.”
Although that particular American didn’t become a fan, the 1975 made plenty of others in the industry during SXSW with its attention-grabbing blend of new wave, alt rock and Britpop, with Healy’s Shia-LaBoeuf-in-a-band looks only adding to the group’s appeal. By the end of the week, the 1975 had signed with Interscope for a joint U.S. release, with pre-existing label partner Vagrant Records, of an EP compilation of U.K. singles like “Chocolate,” “The City” and “Sex.” A worldwide release of the band’s self-titled debut full-length was quickly slated as well, and is due Sept. 3 on Vagrant/Interscope/Dirty Hit.
“I’ve done this stuff for 10 years, doing everything from producing the records to doing the artwork,” says Healy, who’s been making music with the band’s Ross McDonald, Adam Hanna and George Daniel since he was 13. “It’s nice now to have a team of people who are supportive of our vision, my vision. That’s why it’s so strange to finally have our album come out and all this attention, because that process of sophistication, the validation from others, is something we’ve been missing out on for the better part of the last 10 years.”
Lead single “Chocolate” has been holding steady at alternative radio, this week retaining its position of No. 39 on Billboard’s Alternative chart, and a recent iTunes Single of the Week promotion spiked sales of the band’s “IV” EP, sending it to No. 42 on the Rock Albums chart and No. 164 on the Billboard 200 the week ending July 20. The group made its U.S. TV debut on “Conan” on July 23, and is expected to book other appearances when it returns to the East Coast for a fall tour that will include a pair of headlining dates at Bowery Ballroom that sold out in 36 hours. Back home, the 1975 is believed to be the first band to sell out the United Kingdom’s 5,000-capacity Brixton Academy before releasing a full-length album, according to the band’s manager, Jamie Oborne.
Stylish black-and-white videos for “Sex” and “Chocolate” have racked up more than 928,000 and 3.8 million views, respectively, on YouTube, and were the first elements of the 1975 to pique the interest of Interscope Geffen A&M president/COO John Janick. “Within the first 30 seconds, I got the feeling right away that there was something special,” he says.
IGA’s promotions team, led by Brenda Romano, is running point on radio, while Vagrant is handling A&R and marketing for a unique pairing of the two labels. “There’s so many great executives at the major-label level now that understand you could use a well-rounded indie to help you develop stuff and not take up a lot of bandwidth,” Vagrant co-founder Jon Cohen says.
Janick adds, “We talk daily, and I think we just help each other and find out who has the right relationships on radio, publicity or marketing to enhance everything.”
A&R was led by Vagrant’s Jeremy Maciak, who brought in producer Mike Coffey (Foals, Arctic Monkeys). “They really bought into my mode of A&R, which was very much about the artist being right 95% of the time and the A&R role being more about facilitating what their vision is rather than obscuring it,” says Oborne, owner of boutique label Dirty Hit, which will co-distribute “The 1975” with Universal and Vagrant in the United Kingdom. “We’re pretty happy with everyone working on the project. It feels like an extended family rather than serious business relationships.”
And though it’s only been four months since the first wave of hype at SXSW, the 1975 can already count Mick Jagger among its fans. The singer booked the band to open for the Rolling Stones at a recent concert in London’s Hyde Park, and was seen singing along to “Chocolate” from the side of the stage, prompting Healy to mouth “Oh my fucking God” to Daniel during their set.
“Just to see a band like the Rolling Stones live is quite a bucket-list item,” Healy says. “But for Mick and all those people at our show, it’s just a good day, man.”