With their fifth studio album Uncertain Joys landing on 13th January 2023 via Alcopop! Records, we were invited to chat to Billy and Charlotte from THE SUBWAYS about the new record, touring, the studio, pre-order goodies, things they simply cannot leave behind when on the road and much more…..
Your fourth (self titled) album was self produced, mixed and mastered (by Billy) but for your fifth album ‘Uncertain Joys’, you enlisted the support of Adrian Bushby and Katie Tavini for mixing and mastering duties, did you learn from the last time not to go it alone again?
Billy: The self-titled record was recorded and mixed by myself, but mastered by the wonderful Robin Schmidt. I definitely overwhelmed myself a little by not just writing and performing on the album but also recording and mixing the final product. There were a number of reasons for this - naivety being one of them - but, because Uncertain Joys was a very particular and decided step in a new direction, I wanted to focus a little more of my creative energy on getting the arrangements and performances just right. Alongside this, during the recording of Uncertain Joys, I connected with Adrian and Katie on personal terms, and just thought it'd be a really wonderful idea to involve them in the project. I'm overjoyed at their contributions!
In an interview I did with you 7 years back (when we were all in short trousers), you admitted that you are a control freak and that you ‘Love the Power’, was it hard giving up some of this power when finishing up album #5?
Billy: I'm so glad you remember this, as being a "control freak" is one of the reasons I felt compelled to do almost everything on the self-titled record. By the time we'd completed tracking for Uncertain Joys, I feel like I'd made enough personal progress to be in a good place to hand the songs over to someone else for the mixing process. My being able to detach myself from the songs at that stage was also down to being more assured in the sessions I'd helped organise for Adrian to mix. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him say they were some of the neatest and most-organised sessions he's had the pleasure of opening in his studio.
Previously, you rewarded pre-order customers with a bunch of tracks upon doing so, are you doing something similar for ‘Uncertain Joys’?
Charlotte: We are planning something special around the release of the album....more details to come on that very soon!
Tell me how the new album came to be called ‘Uncertain Joys’ and were there any other names in the mix
Billy: I wrote a lot of the album whilst I read English for three years at university, so much of the lyrical material was at the very least stimulated by the poetry and prose I was reading on a daily basis. The phrase Uncertain Joys comes from the Sarah Dixon poem 'To Strephon', which is ostensibly about betrayal, but deals mostly with the disparity between the common conception of an afterlife (which is infinite and perfect) and the daily struggles of life in the corporeal world (which is temporary, and fraught with trouble and strife). In that sense, the songs are very much aware that they deal in notions of the material world, which probably has its origin in my Borderline Personality Disorder (with which I was diagnosed in 2021), which for my whole life has had me feeling at a distance from my sense of identity. Owing to this, I'm constantly reaching out in desperation for a sense of my location in the world - and I could see that in so many of these songs.
So much has happened since your self-titled fourth album landed, BREXIT and the COVID 19 pandemic being just two main events, did these have an impact on the music you were creating for ‘Uncertain Joys’?
Charlotte: The pandemic had a huge impact on the album as we were part way through recording when we had to pause. This was very frustrating. When we realised we wouldn't be able to come together for a while, we found a way to record separately. I made a mini recording space in my attic, and recorded bass, vocals and keyboard parts there. I then sent them to Billy and he worked his magic!
Your live shows are always full on and engaging events where the audience play a pivotal role in making the show what it is, over the years have you noticed the fans calming down a little or are they just as wild as ever
Charlotte: Haha I think people are as wild as ever! There's definitely a sense of release at shows. We have all missed it, so it feels amazing to be back at gigs again.
Your UK tour kicks off at the end of January, allowing fans a couple of weeks to acclimatise themselves with the new material ahead of seeing you giving them an airing on stage, which of the new tracks are you most excited about playing live?
Charlotte: We have been playing ‘Influencer Killed The Rockstar’ already over the summer, but I really love rocking out to it!
Billy: I can't wait to play the title track, ‘Uncertain Joys’. I think it's the best song we've ever made.
Name 3 things that you take on tour that you CANNOT live without…..
Charlotte: Running shoes, knitting/crochet and white wine!
Billy: A book, a writing pad, and noise-cancelling headphones!
Are you done and dusted with rehearsals for the tour? Setlist created and ready to go?
Charlotte: We are meeting up very soon for more tour rehearsals. Always followed by dinner at our favourite Thai restaurant! Let us know any setlist requests on social media....
There are 12 tracks on ‘Uncertain Joys’, please break your favourite track down and tell us a little more about it….
Charlotte: I think for me it's ‘Uncertain Joys’. It's the most out there in terms of the synth tracks and I really enjoyed putting my vocals together for this one. I think Billy's melody in the chorus is pure genius!
Billy: Oh my goodness thank you, Charlotte. ‘Uncertain Joys’ is also my favourite track, and it's mostly to do with being okay with giving someone space when they've ask for it, whilst processing the burning need to be with them - or at least be in contact with them. Charlotte's backing vocals, as they have on songs throughout the album, elevate it to quite another level!
Lastly, please share with us some bands and artists that you are grooving at the moment and others should definitely be checking out….
I recently watched High School, based on Tegan and Sara's book and it's got me totally back into them. Their new album, Crybaby, is excellent. I also really love the new The Big Moon album, Here Is Everything. It's largely about being pregnant, birth and having a tiny baby, I can relate to a lot of the lyrics.
Billy: CATBEAR and Gaffa Tape Sandy, both of whom we'll be taking on tour! I'm so glad we managed to book them, and I can't wait for audiences to be blown away by them!
We’d like to thank both Billy and Charlotte for sparing their time to chat to us ahead of the festive break and final tour preparations, details of their forthcoming tour can be found below (tickets available HERE)
