While we were in Hong Kong covering a festival called Clockenflap, we sat down with the Scottish trio Chvrches. You may have already watched some of our chat – now read on as we talk to the band about Hong Kong, plans for their Winter and their work on the Hunger Games and Drive soundtracks.
How has your experience in Hong Kong been?
Martin Doherty: Really good actually. It’s kind of a bizarre place, because given the history with the UK, there are a bunch of things that feel weirdly familiar. One road will feel like being at home and then the next will be like it’s out of Blade Runner. It’s so awesome, this place it incredible.
Well this is bringing to an end a very long cycle for you three…
Lauren: Yeah I guess we’ve been busy for the last couple of years, touring both before and after the album came out (in September last year). And now this is our second last show – we finish up in Seoul. So it’s cool to get to go to places we haven’t been before before we wind up. First time in Hong Kong, we’ve never played here before… we’re going to try and see a couple of things after the gig tonight.
What are plans over the Winter break?
Martin Doherty:We’re going to take six weeks off, and then we’re slide back into making a record. We’re all feeling really creatively energised and we’re ready to make a record…a fter some rest. It’s very important, especially this time of year… the whole music industry shuts down as well, so it all feels right to go back to our families and get our of each others hair, bring in the New Year and then smash out the next record.
You are rounding out the year though with a bit of new material – a track from the reworking of the Drive soundtrack, as well as “Dead Air” off the new Hunger Games. Were both songs that were created specifically for each project or were they resulting from some earlier compositions?
Iain Cook: Both were songs written specifically for those projects. The Drive one was written actually to picture, but both were to a brief and written in about two days each, we just fit in the recording when we had a couple of days spare. But luckily they both turned out well and we’re really proud of them.
Martin Doherty: I’m actually really happy with both of them. When you have that kind of time restraint, you don’t overthink things. You don’t have the option to. That can be a really awesome way of working, losing the ability to mess around with it for six months. Just get it done.
And how long was that process, how long ago were you actually contacted to be a part of the soundtracks?
Martin Doherty We knew about the Drive one for a while, but were flat out on tour… and the Hunger Games one came out of the blue. Ella, Lorde, got in touch and asked if we’d be interested in it. It all kind of happened overnight, on a really tight time frame. But no one’s going to turn that down, it’s such a great opportunity.
What was the writing process like?
Martin Doherty: We sat down on day one in the studio, and messed around with ideas on the keyboards. And we came up with the basis for the song on day one and then on day two we pulled a ten hour shift on the production and worked the whole thing out. So it’s literally the product of two full days in the studio. But we were really satisfied with it… we’re not a band who would release a track unless we were totally satisfied with it. So as hard as it might have been if we hadn’t have worked and we would have had to pass the opportunity, but we were delighted.
What is the general process behind writing a song?
Lauren: Every song is different but for this one we knew we had to get it done – luckily the way we work together, normally things do happen really quickly, a burst of ideas generally do come out really quickly. But we were lucky it came out that it came out quite naturally, especially because we hadn’t written in a while.
And what about the lyrics?
Lauren: Normally the way we do it now, we have a book of random phrases and words and I’ll choose one that fits with a line and then write the rest of the back of that one, so you can set the tone.
Were you fans of the franchise already?
Lauren: Yeah I think so, I’d seen the films, but not read the books. I think the vibe of it is really good, because while it is a kids movie, it has some really strong messages and I’m a sucker for a strong female lead.
And same for Drive?
Lauren: Yeah, were fans of Drive the film, and the director’s work in general. It had such a great soundtrack the first time around, so it was fun for us to reinterpret the scene ourselves rather than try and write a version of that song.
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Listen to “Dead Air” from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One soundtrack below.
Watch more of our interview with the band HERE, as we talk social media, the business of the band and the end of their long running tour.
