Tom Dartnall

aka House of Lords

One Young Knife

Looking slightly befuddled, Tom Dartnall sits on the porch of Jack Daniels' hospitality hut, nursing a coffee and trying to wake up. The Young Knife who decided to adopt the silly name because 'every band should have one' still can't understand why he's here.

"Someone phoned me up and asked me to do it," says Tom, "on the back of nothing. And I said, 'are you sure you want me and not the singer of the band?' and they said 'no, we want you to do it'." He shrugs and sips. I ask how Henry, his 'snubbed' brother front man felt about it. "He was a bit miffed. But he said, 'well, you should do it if they don't want me.' As it turns out, I am amazing at singing." He smiles. "It's quite nice because we do spend all our time together, so it's nice to do something without him. I think he appreciates that."

Part of the deal of tonight's gig is playing with the New Silver Cornet band, which includes some impressive artists, including Jon Tiven (Frank Black's producer) and David Hood (Muscle Shoals), plus a duet with Hugh Cornwell. "It's really daunting, obviously they're all completely awesome musicians," he looks even more puzzled for a moment. "It's really strange, because I didn't know how a lot of the music would translate to being played by more than three people… but it's done quite tastefully."

What about the duet, 'No More Heroes? He laughs. "I just did that with Hugh and completely messed it up," he says, "I forgot the first line. He was alright with that. I think he doesn't mind because if I make a mistake and look like an idiot, he'd look better."

Idiocy aside, Young Knives have been consistently labelled 'geek rock,' a hardly flattering term, but Tom doesn't really mind. "[geek rock] doesn't matter, because it's just about the way you look. If it was about the music," he says, "it would be more annoying." Was it anything to do with growing up in Ashby De La Zouch? He pauses, framing his words. "In London or Manchester in a band, you see people who're in bands or on TV. You don't really in Ashby, so I don't think it seems very realistic to say you're in a band. When we got a gig, we were like 'brilliant, we've got a gig' on the level of what it is… it's something that we try to keep hold of."

True to the DIY ethos, they recently released a single that was recorded in one take, straight to vinyl, 'Turn Tail'. "It was a happy coincidence," he says, "someone from our label had been talking to a guy called Guy and they were talking about early recordings, and he said he really wanted to do it. They just mentioned it to us 'cos we had the single coming out, and it's something different. People get sick of singles, you've gotta keep it exciting otherwise it's just such a waste of time. And it's crap for the fans."

Keeping things different, Young Knives will shortly be featured on a film for Christian Aid and are already working on a new album. "We're trying to write something different," he says, "every time we play something that sounds [pop-punk] we have to change it or scrap it, that's the rule. We're just trying to get something that people haven't heard before. Just to keep ourselves vital. I know a lot of people who'll probably hate it, but we're used to that. It's nice to divide people's expectations a little bit." What are knives for but dividing?

Rob Wright

www.theyoungknives.com