In the new issue of Music Week, we catch up with rising rock band Marmozets as the band’s latest album, Knowing What You Know Now – released via Roadrunner – fights for a Top 20 finish in the charts. In the interview the band - comprised of three siblings (singer Becca Macintyre, drummer Josh Macintyre and guitarist Sam Macintyre), plus two brothers (guitarist Jack Bottomley and bassist Will Bottomley) – outline the incredible journey they’ve been on since the release of their acclaimed debut, 2014’s The Weird And Wonderful Marmozets. It has sold 22,649 copies to date according to Official Charts Company data.
In the interview, Becca and Jack reveal the difficult time they had negotiating challenging personal circumstances (including grief and surgery) plus trouble in finding their creative direction amid an outpouring of material in the writing sessions. Salvation from their own prolific nature came in the form of a super-fan named Gil Norton – aka one of the biggest rock producers of all time, having shepherded seminal albums like The Pixies’ Doolittle and Foo Fighters’ The Colour And The Shape. He emailed them saying how much he admired them. Soon enough he was onboard to produce their second record.
“He’s recorded some of my favourite albums ever,” Jack told Music Week. “Before we met him I was slightly sceptical wondering how it was going [to go], but he made us so comfortable, he’s such a lovely man.”
“We’re both in the industry because of a love for it, that’s why it worked,” added Becca. “With us and Gil, we have the same spirit and mentality towards the music industry – which is bringing it into a family environment where you want everyone to be safe.”
While Marmozets hailed Norton for helping them nail down the huge sound they were chasing, they also praised their label, too.
“There were songs for a time where we thought they were good enough, but they were nowhere near,” recalls Jack of their early false starts in writing. “Roadrunner were good to us, saying, ‘Take as long as it takes, we don’t want to release something you’re not going to be happy with in a few weeks’ time.’ That was a nice thing. Not all labels are like that.”
Roadrunner is like a family, that's why we signed to them. We want to do it together, help each other, and give each other time
Becca Macintyre, Marmozets
“That’s why we signed to them,” added Becca, who battled hypermobility syndrome in her knees which required corrective surgery, and the loss of her grandmother during writing and recording. “It’s like a family. We want to do it together, help each other, and give each other time. I was on the verge of breaking completely. I had gone through so much that year, I started believing I wasn’t able to do it, like, ‘These songs aren’t good enough.’ I got so shit, so shit about it all. Each day I was like, ‘Keep fighting back, keep fighting back’. When I did that songs started coming. It’s crazy.”
The band’s feeling of love and respect is more than mutual. While Roadrunner is most famous for giving us some of the most acclaimed heavy acts of the ‘90s, from Korn, Life Of Agony and Type O Negative to Slipknot, of late they have been expanding, Marmozets being the first in a run that has seen them draft pick some of the UK’s most exciting new and young rock bands, be it Creeper or Milk Teeth. This, senior marketing manager at Roadrunner Danny Corr points out, is part of the label's commitment to the rich variety of British music.
“There’s a huge pool of insanely talented people in this country and we are getting behind that,” says Corr. “We definitely haven’t narrowed ourselves to a ‘sound’ on what we’ll sign, the next thing could be super, super heavy. It is basically down to whether we love what they do or not. That’s always the most important thing.”
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You can watch the video for Marmozets' latest single Run With The Rhythm below
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