Man Like Me are a British two-piece, who’ve recently released a new album in Pillow Talk. With the iconic Mike Skinner from The Streets involved in the creation of the record, we figured there’d definitely be some interesting stories for the band to tell, and so we sent them some questions to answer and flick back! As Peter Duffy goes on to detail, these are some talented and entertaining lads to be keeping an eye on.
Can you tell us a little about the origins of Man Like Me?
We met in secondary school, we were in a lot of the same classes and had a similar interest in music. The band started after Johnny [Langer] had written “Oh My Gosh” in 2005 and had accepted an offer of gig at a bar called The Social in the west end. He’d never played a gig before so I agreed to play with him so I brought along my MPC and two mics and we went from there, really.
When and how did Mike Skinner get involved?
Mike got involved at the beginning of last year. Our manager had been in contact with his manager on some other business and managed to get a demo of squeeze on his desk after hearing Mike was interested in mixing and mastering. Next thing we knew we were meeting him in a pub in Highgate and watching him agree to overseeing our whole album – didn’t feel real at the time!
What’s it been like working with him?
Like a dream come true. He’s a very wise soul, and obviously very talented in the studio. The best part though was being able to talk to him about The Streets and all the stories he has from an illustrious career in the noughties.
I saw you guys had done an IKEA advertisement? What was that like? Have you copped any ‘selling-out’ grief?
Only from our friends! I don’t think we’re well known enough to have sold out really. We did a shambolic, X Factor style, audition and the next thing we knew were in Romania going through the motions in a big old aircraft hangar. We were pretty scared on the flight home, a real ‘What have we done?!’ moment. Luckily it didn’t come out too badly in the end.
You guys have a new album out, Pillow Talk, what’s the response to the release been like?
Good, we had some early album iTunes chart action when it first came out and some really kind reviews. We built up a fair fan base since the beginning and only had one discontinued album up until this point so it was good to put something out for the people we knew would enjoy it.
The album has some pretty manic-sounding tracks – what’s the recording process like to create this type of relentless, ADHD-pop?
I think it’s the ADHD in us that makes us take so long to finish albums! There’s a four year gap between our first and second albums, and believe me that time was not all spent making music! Generally, a song will start off as a beat at either Johnny’s or my house, we’ll then send over to other, get a vocal idea and send back and forth until getting together to properly finish it off. We’ve been trying to change this process up a bit and be quicker and more efficient so we recently went to Morocco for a month to try and get an album done.
My limited Aussie knowledge of Camden is from The Mighty Boosh, and Man Like Me at times has a “Future Sailors” vibe. Has Camden played a role in the development of Pillow Talk?
We have an even more limited knowledge of The Mighty Boosh unfortunately, but yes Camden has definitely played a role somewhere a long the line. We both grew up in Camden which (less so now) is a good place for music. We went to school with some great musicians such as Ms Dynamite, Elmore Judd and Louis Slipperz. Skinnyman and the Mud Family were pretty active around the time were teenagers. Bigger acts such as Madness have also made a mark on our sound, Prince even had a shop in the market in the early nineties!
Why did you call it Pillow talk? Have either of you had an interesting pillow talks?
We’d already decided that we wanted to incorporate pictures of these cushions with our faces printed on after Mike Skinner had alerted us to the fantastic service that snappy snaps provide. Pillow Talk works well with that idea but I think that a lot of the songs are quite personal and largely about doubts and fears that are prime pillow talk material.
How does your music translate into the live scene? Please tell us a bit about your live show!
The live show is perhaps where we’re most comfortable. We’ve played a stupid amount of gigs over the years and had a an ever changing line up. Right now we play with a singer called Ade Omotayo, who used to sing with the late Amy Winehouse, and a two piece brass section. We supported Madness at the end of last year which included two gigs at the O2! We can also smash up your local pub function room.
Any Australian tour plans in the near future?
Nothing set in stone but we’re keeping our fingers crossed, put a word in for us!
