Music Q&A: The Howl & The Hum

What informs your music and songwriting?
A lot of our songs come from short stories we’ve written. They’ve usually got a bit of a narrative or are pieced together from weird poetry written in stages. We usually start with the melody, chords and lyrics and then try to create an atmosphere that soundtracks the song, like a film, if that makes sense.

How have you evolved as a band over the years?
We used to be a two-piece, double bass and acoustic guitar, with only four legs, until we realised we needed some more mates. Then we realised those mates were also pretty decent musicians, and they could help us move faster, and now we have eight legs we’re a force to be reckoned with in most athletic events.

What are you up to at the moment artistically?
We’re trying to find the biggest piece of paper to write the biggest song ever on. So far we’ve stitched together eight pieces of A4 but are finding it difficult to write over the Sellotape.

What’s on your rider?
Signed photos of Ryan Gosling and Catherine Zeta-Jones and 3 ½ massages

Tell us your most embarrassing or surreal experience.
Once when I was about 4 years old I got off a plane to Majorca and held a woman’s hand and it wasn’t my mum’s. Also I was in Alaska. And I was 23.

What song do you wish you’d written?
Angels – Robbie Williams.

What’s your worst lyric?
I think I stole a lyric from Flight of the Conchords and put it in a song because I thought it was sexy and weird. It goes “Level with me baby, is this something you’d be in to?” It probably comes across as creepy and, in the context of the song, a bit culty.