Interview with Electric Enemy: ‘There’s a bit of Morricone in there, it’s cinematic’

London-based rock band Electric Enemy will release their next single ‘Burn’ in the autumn, giving us their take on disappointing leaders around the world.

The band comprises Jim Lawton (vocals), Tom Romer Smith (drums), Orlando Formaro (lead guitar and backing vocals), and Ewan Boissinot (bass): ‘I was in a band before and put out an ad for a guitarist and found Orlando and he put out some feelers for the others,’ Lawton said. ‘We’ve been together around 4 years, or two with the current configuration. Our name is like an abstract thinking poem, it’s partly about social media which is ironic because that’s how we reach our listeners. It’s all about the balance. I turned off my notifications and it’s been really liberating. It’s so tempting to check your phone all the time, isn’t it?’

‘Burn’ is very much a song for the times about leaders around the world ‘who put personal gain over life and the planet’, according to Lawton. It also shines a light on biased news coverage, aided by people who have a vested interest in keeping it that way: ‘It’s about when you watch the news and it’s made by people who have an agenda, when there’s no democracy,’ Lawton said. ‘In the UK, it’s terrible, you see these pre-Victorian bigoted laws they come up with. It’s about the futility of it, our incredulity and all of that. Sonically, you can expect heavy guitars, screaming vocals and operatic width!’

‘It’s written from the perspective of someone having trouble expressing themselves’

Earlier this month, they released their incredibly catchy track ‘Give Me The Words’, which marks a sonic departure for them. It’s rousingly anthemic, with an outro featuring a blistering wall of guitars that you can imagine the crowd going wild to at a gig. It kicks off with Lawton on vocals and a chuggy bass line before the song erupts around 15 seconds in, with energetic “ba ba’s” weaving in and out that are impossible not to sing along to. I tell him it has become my earworm and he looks pleased: ‘It’s written from the perspective of someone having trouble expressing themselves, be that romantically or otherwise. It’s saying “I don’t know how to express what I feel but please don’t take that as a sign that I don’t like you”. It’s more about emotional numbness.’

As the track kicks off: “So, give me the words where I have none, I am emotionally done. Tell me what I don’t know how to tell you (repeat).”

I say that it is it profoundly different to their Therapy Sessions EP that came out earlier this year, which is darker and heavier, both lyrically and sonically: ‘It wasn’t an intentional departure,’ he said, clearly mulling it. ‘We were feeling pretty 90’s, so like Blink-182 and Pulp. We tend to depress people (laughs) but we wanted to give them something more upbeat. We’re really excited at the thought of playing it live and hearing people sing along to it.’ I say the crowd will be singing the “ba ba’s” back to them enthusiastically and he grins: ‘There was quite a fight for the ba ba’s! I won’t say who but a couple of people in the team didn’t want them but I fought quite hard for them! You know how the music you listen to in your parents’ car influences you, well, for me it was The Beatles and The Beach Boys, they used “ba ba’s”, too. I sold them to the team by saying they were ironic, that you’re supposed to roll your eyes to them but I’m not rolling mine at all, don’t tell them!’

‘Take The Wheel’, which they released as a single in June, is equally infectious, with a huge singalong chorus about letting the devil taking the wheel. It’s heavier – think grungier, gnarlier riffs – which seems fitting, given the introspective lyrics: ‘It’s meant to be a song that’s descriptive of time,’ Lawton said. ‘You’re caught in a funk. It doesn’t have to be a full-on existential crisis but it’s about playing devil’s advocate, about letting your risky side take control. It’s about mental health. It means a lot to us when we get a message from someone who say this song means a lot to them. You see it when we play it live, when people close their eyes, it’s the vulnerability of the song. If you can put forward that honest, quite revealing thing and it helps people, if they can connect with it, that’s what it’s all about.’

‘It’s nihilistic humour but hopefully it provides a slight inside into it’

Lawton knows what he’s talking about, having drawn on his own experiences with his mental health: ‘When I was about 16, I had a pretty serious mental breakdown,’ he said. ‘Manic depression never really goes away. In recent years, I’ve harked back to those times, thanks to therapy. Now I recognise the signs, I can say to the band that I need a day or two to myself, I can manage it better.’

However, for their ‘Therapy Sessions’ EP, he wanted to turn his experiences slightly on their head and inject some humour: ‘On the album, I thought it would fun to have a really bad therapist. In the track ‘Therapy’ it says “Hey there, little Jimmy, welcome back”, it’s sort of mocking, not want you want from a therapist! It’s nihilistic humour but hopefully it provides a slight inside into it for people.’ The EP opens with the track ‘Therapy 2’ and the words “Welcome back”, before erupting into a slew of defiantly heavy riffs in response. As the song goes: “Today I shot my own reflection, I didn’t like the way it looked at me. This isn’t a call for attention. In fact, it is a lot more simple than that.”

When we chat, Lawton has not long come back from a European tour supporting Alice in Chains frontman Jerry Cantrell: ‘He is so, so cool!,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘They wanted an acoustic act but he said for the London gig, we should have the whole of our band, it was amazing! I turned up in Zurich with my guitar case like Paddington Bear (laughs) and he gave me a fist bump and said “Hi, I’m Jerry” – like he needed to introduce himself! I got an Interrail pass and just went around Europe that way. Jerry was so nice, so humble, he really looked after everyone, said if there was anything we needed just to let him know. I think the most important thing in this business is to be nice.’ I say that is a big part of why performers such as Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney are still going strong and he agrees. ‘Definitely, no one wants to work with you if you’re not nice, do they?,’ he said.

‘We wanted to give it everything, to paint a real picture’

He has found rock ‘n’ roll moments in unexpected places: ‘Hornsea (in East Yorkshire) might be the most rock ‘n’ roll place we have ever been to,’ he said laughing. ‘Really! They were so into it, they appreciate a good night out!’

Lawton is the songwriter in the band, although the others contribute. I say that I love the Spanish-like Wild West riff in the intro to ‘Save Me (I’m Not Crazy)’: ‘That’s something of Orlando’s creation,’ he said. ‘I’ll probably get this wrong and he’ll kill me when he reads it (laughs) but he’s got a delay pedal and presses several things at once when he plays it. There are a few sonic surprises. Sam Miller, our producer, is extremely honest in the studio. I’ll do a take pouring out my heart and soul and he’ll say it’s a bit breathy and I’m standing there with my jazz hands (laughs). There’s a bit of Morricone in there, it’s cinematic. We wanted to give it everything, to paint a real picture.’

Ultimately, every song is a very collective experience: ‘I’ll come to the band with the song – the lyrics and melody – and we look at the arrangements together,’ he said. ‘They think of other avenues and everybody knows which bits might need some help. I am guilty of trying to fit seven songs into one song!’

‘Music is like a bar, why only stick to one drink?’

He has amassed an eclectic collection of inspirations along the way, including Bach and Chopin. ‘Orlando and Ewan are massive Black Sabbathheads. Ewan is 23 but he could totally be from that era! As a teenager, I was obsessed with Oasis and I love Motown and pop. I listen to a lot of disco and punk. I love ABBA, The Bee Gees, Daft Punk and Justice (a French electronic duo). Music is like a bar, why only stick to one drink?’

If he could go for a pint with anyone, he has a great shortlist: ‘Paul McCartney, Corey Taylor from Slipknot and Matt Bellamy, he’s unbelievably talented. I wouldn’t mind a chat with Mozart but I imagine it would degrade quite quickly (laughs). Ooooh and Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, he’d definitely have stories! Quincy Jones would be great, or Otis Redding. And Edith Piaf! I think she’s get on really well with Josh Homme (laughs). Diana Ross would be cool and I’d love to have a drink with Kurt Cobain.’

One of Lawton’s funniest moments took place when he was touring with Jerry Cantrell: ‘I was in Paris, on the train one day, and this guy walked on with two bushels of lavender. He heard this young girl speaking Danish and said to her “You’re Danish?” and went into perfect English talking about the origins of Vikings and that being kidnapped by Vikings was great because it made everywhere more diverse. It was very random!’

(Photo from left to right: Orlando, Jim, Tom and Ewan.)