We Are Augustines: "You are only as good as your next song"

Brooklyn based trio We Are Augustines have spent the last year relentlessly touring, gaining themselves a reputation as a formidable live act. Having taken in the likes of Coachella, Bonnaroo, Latitude and Bilbao BBK Live they’re now back in the UK for a string of gigs much to the delight of their ever growing fan base.

Debut album Rise Ye Sunken Ships formed the musical diary of front man Billy McCarthy, charting poignant losses and struggles with depression. With the band now working on their sophomore, we caught up with We Are Augustines' Rob Allen and Eric Sanderson to talk mud, touring and the curse of the second album.

Welcome back to the UK! You’re about to embark on a series of gigs across Europe - are you looking forward to getting back out there and playing bigger venues this time around?

RA: We have just come off a festival run, so it will be nice to be back in an intimate setting. Shepherds Bush Empire is the biggest show we’ve had as a headliner so naturally we are excited.

Which cities are you most looking forward to visiting again?

RA: I’d have to say Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Hamburg. We will be in Munich during Oktoberfest so that should be fun.

We saw you take to the stage at pull in a huge crowd at Leeds Festival a few weeks ago; did you enjoy the whole British festival experience this year?

RA: Very much so! Everybody gets in to the festival spirit in the UK. It was great walking around and seeing all sorts of different characters enjoying themselves. It was so much fun. T in the Park was great too; I’ve never seen so much mud!

You remarked during the set that it marked the end of a long period of touring for you, and now you’re back out there embarking on it all again! Is being on the road for long periods of time just the norm for you now?

RA: It feels that way for sure. We’ve been at it for 15 months!

Have you been surprised at how well received the debut album has been in the UK? You’ve received a lot of radio play over here on the likes of BBC 6 Music and XFM, do you think that’s helped build your fan base?

RA: It’s been incredible! It’s definitely had an effect, us being on the radio. The radio has broadened our reach so to speak.

So much of today’s music is seemingly fake, without real passion or meaning, making it hard for people to connect with it. Do you think the fact your debut was so raw and intimate is why people have really taken to it as they have?

ES: I can’t really speak for other people’s intentions in their music, but I can say that we put everything we have in Rise Ye Sunken Ships. A lot of people have shared stories with us about how important the record is to their lives. Hearing that reinforces all of our efforts and gives us fuel to continue.

You’ve previously had some tough times with record labels and the music industry as a whole, do you feel you’re now at a point where you’re happy with everything, in the sense that you can make the type of music you want to make and get the backing you need?

ES: We are in an incredible position right now with our label structure, but like anything in life, growth brings a whole new set of challenges. Our only responsibility musically is the same it has ever been; to make the best possible music we can make. Honestly, every artist faces the same challenge regardless of his or her business structure. You are only as good as your next song.

I believe you’re now busy writing new material and demoing for the second album. Have you got an idea of where you’d like to go with it or is it still very much in the preliminary stages?

ES: We do have a sense of where the next record is going, but records are funny that way, they can change on a dime. One song can entirely morph a record. In some ways that happened with ‘Book Of James’ for us on “Rise.” We promise to put everything we have into the new record and won’t release it till we are proud of it. That’s our simple quality test.

Second albums are notoriously difficult, and there always seems to be a great pressure to deliver. How conscious of this do you have to be when writing and working out what you’d like to do with a record?

ES: We are conscious of the time pressure. We feel it, but we are also determined to step up to that challenge. The curse of the second record is something every artist faces but it’s something we are determined to prevail over.

Interview: Michelle Lloyd

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