THE LODGER
The SiS Interview by Dany Sloan

Melancholy pop will always grab the ears of listeners across the world, especially when it is as striking as Leeds outfit The Lodger. Earlier this year, the band released their latest record, called Life is Sweet, domestically on Slumberland. Band founder Ben Siddall fielded some of our questions over e-mail recently to get at the root of the band's sound, how they started and his pop obsessed family.

SIS: How did the band get together? What were your initial goals? How has that changed?

Ben Siddall : The band started out not as a band, but as a solo project, but back in 2004 I wrote a handful of songs and recorded them on my home computer and christened it "The Lodger." Then my friend used to run a night in Leeds and asked me if I fancied supporting Kaiser Chiefs and The Cribs in this small bar, so I hastily put together a rhythm section and did the gig. Over the last few years the line-up has changed around me a little bit but we've settled into the current line-up. So the original goal was just to do one gig in Leeds and now I'm thinking on a bigger scale than that.

SIS: What are you guys up to in 2008?

BS: Well we've had a pretty busy year so far and it's showing no sign of getting any less hectic, which is a good situation. We've toured Europe with The Long Blondes and then released our second album Life is Sweet and a single "The Good Old Days," then we've just been on our first tour of Japan which was ace.

Now I find myself in the same place as I was this time last year, locked in my bedroom writing songs for a new album. I've written a batch of songs for it and have a title as well which I don't want to give away just yet in case it changes. I'm working on new material and being currently obsessed with Motown, Stax, Northern Soul and Dexy's first album, so it's soul-influenced to say the least, and I'm having to write loads of brass parts which is time-consuming but enormous fun. Going to spend the rest of the year writing and recording and not playing live very often so we can get the new LP out in spring next year.

SIS:Who do you often find yourselves compared to, and do you like or dislike that comparison?

BS:We tend to get compared to The Smiths, The Housemartins and The Wedding Present a lot. These are bands I grew up listening to, so I can see why their music might have rubbed off on me at an impressionable age. I don't really listen to that kind of music anymore though and I don't really mind the comparison but it can be detrimental as I think there's much more to the band than c86 jangly indie.

SIS:Who are some of your favorite bands to play with? Do you think any of them will take over the world?

BS: We tend to support or be supported by bands that we are either good friends with, such as The Long Blondes and The Research for example, or bands that we appreciate from afar. My favourite UK band at the moment is probably Wild Beasts, whose first album is incredible.

SIS:What is your favorite and least favorite thing about being on the road?

BS:I think the long car journeys are the worst thing really, especially if you're doing a very tight schedule, a gig every day in a different city can sometimes means a seven hour car journey a day -- it takes it out of you. It's hardly as bad as stacking boxes in a factory or something though so you can't grumble. Also "waiting around." There's a ridiculous amount of waiting round which means that you fill up the gaps with drinking so you return home an incurable alcoholic.

SIS:When family ask you what your band sounds like, what do you tell them?

BS:Well, my mum, dad and sister are fairly "up" on new music so I can talk pretty staightforwardly about what we sound like. My mum collects every press cutting we ever get and puts it in a scrapbook. She's an unpaid press officer basically.

SIS:What's something about your hometown that most people don't know?

BS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontefract !!

SIS:In 15 words or less, why should people buy your records?

BS: "Because if you buy our latest album we will be able to make another one." That's 15 for you there.