Blaenavon: "We’ve waited a long time to release this album"

In Dork’s December/January issue (feat. The 1975, out now), we tackled a bunch of our favourite new bands - the ones whose gigs buzz with excitement, who inspire more devotion in their fans than Emmerdale does from our grans, and who will undoubtedly make 2017 special. This here’s Blaenavon’s mustachioed percussionist, Harris Macca.

How have you found 2016 so far? What was the most exciting thing that happened for Blaenavon?

You’ve asked this at a convenient time because we just got back from New York and I can remember it all like it was yesterday. On the whole 2016 has been pretty amazing but all the stars aligned in the Big Apple. We smashed our first US headlines and met all of our extended family at Atlantic in various bars and karaoke arenas around the city. Love those guys.

What do you think has been the biggest music-related news story of 2016?

I’ve missed a lot of it because news doesn’t happen on ‘the road’ but I hear Thom Yorke and the Radioheads are playing Glastonbury. That’s fab.

What song would you crown banger of the year?

Got to be 33 ‘God’ by Bon Iver. That album soundtracked our tour of the UK for 40 days non-stop and I still love listening to it.

What can you tell us about your debut album? When’s it due, and what’s your favourite thing about it?

There’s a lot of nostalgia attached to it because it has songs from such a wide time period on it - from Frank’s bedroom when we were 14 all the way up to a few days before going into the studio. That’s my favourite thing; that it perfectly sums up and documents our ridiculous lives over the last five years.

Have you started thinking about its follow up yet?

Yeah, we’ve waited a long time to release this one and naturally over that time we’ve been churning out some more secret bangers. We selected the songs for our debut from a collection of about 100 and there were some more experimental ones that didn’t make the cut that we’d love to revisit.

What’s the best thing about being in Blaenavon right now?

Feeling that all the love and time we’ve put into our silly band is starting to pay off.

Do you have any resolutions for 2017?

Yeah, I want to visit the Isle of Harris and check out my namesake. Our collective resolution is to learn to love Negroni cocktails.

Who do you think will be the biggest new band of 2017?

Pretty Sick supported us in NYC recently. It was great so I hope it’s them. [sc name="stopper" ]