Though they’re three albums deep in their young careers – and with number four in the works – Bombay Bicycle Club have clocked up a crazy amount of frequent flyer points this year alone.

Suren de Saram, the drummer for the young London indie pop outfit, explains just how everything for the four-piece remains fresh in the progress towards their next record.

“This is the first time we’ve really toured an album in excess,” explains de Saram, from their current location – the very inspiring New Orleans. “Which is why it took us so long to get to Australia!” he adds with a sleepy chuckle.

He’s tired simply from the nature of their current schedule, although the drummer explains his sleeping habits as, “like a grizzly bear – I’m chilled out during the day, conserve my energy and then I let it out during the gig.”

Bombay Bicycle Club made their long awaited, highly anticipated first visit to Australian shores in March this year in support of fellow Brit musicians, Elbow.

The quartet, who have been friends since high school, even threw in a few of their own shows to test the waters, and it came as no surprise the enthusiastic reception they received.“It’s amazing to be going to all these different places around the world and… you know, be getting paid for it so we’re pretty lucky, really.”

A second Sydney show was added to accommodate disappointed fans and they moved their sold out Melbourne gig from the Corner Hotel, to the more sizeable Forum Theatre.

De Saram admits with another bashful laugh, “we weren’t expecting the number of people to be aware of our music as there are (in Australia). It was honestly bizarre. We are more recognised in Australia than anywhere else in the world, which is quite funny.”

The young men have no idea what to expect for their second visit to the land down under over New Year’s for Southbound and Falls.

It will be their first appearance at a festival here and they’ve again added their own headline tour.

“We are definitely getting to that point of feeling like we want to wind things down a bit,” the drummer mumbles.

In terms of the promotion of their third album, last year’s A Different Kind of Fix, what remains of their current US tour and the following Australian one will be the end of a long string of shows. It’s their fourth tour of America this year alone, on top of a couple of trips around the UK and a quick visit to Europe.

“It’s kind of funny going from gigging in the UK,” de Saram wonders, “where there are heaps of people to do everything and we just sit on our bums and chill out, to Europe, where we aren’t as well known… It’s just a lot more hard work, basically.”

It’s not the first time during the phone call where the youthful, apparently introverted, drummer struggles to explain his thoughts. “This very rarely feels like work…I don’t mean to sound unprofessional or anything,” he backtracks self-consciously; “But it does feel wrong to describe it as a job.”

He continues, “it’s amazing to be going to all these different places around the world and… you know, be getting paid for it so we’re pretty lucky, really. Despite it being the third album, we still feel really new to the intense touring side of things.”

Though the band remains content with what they’ve released so far, the same can’t be said for their film clips. “God, they’re pretty terrible, so we kind of figure the less involvement we have in the videos, the better they turn out!” de Saram laughs. “So now we leave it to other people. We make sure we’re happy with it but they usually turn out well.”

That’s the story for the latest single from the band, “Beg”. A track available digitally only and not featured on their latest album, its accompanying video features two dancers rollicking about Melbourne, for which the quartet had no personal input whatsoever.

“It’s been a long journey,” de Saram relents. “But we are thinking about the next album. We’re exploring the electronic side that we touched on a bit more and it looks like with the four or five tracks we’ve put down, it might be a bit of a dance album.”

“Not like dub step!” bleats the drummer, quick to assure that it will simply be “a bit more dance-y. It’ll be similar to the last album in that it won’t have a set vibe. It’ll be a mish-mash. It goes with growing up and changing. We could never see ourselves making an album like our first one now; that would seem very weird.”“We’d much rather make one album that we’re as happy as possible with rather than two possibly mediocre ones.”

Considering the lads were barely out of high school when their first album was released, frontman Jack Steadman often admits he feels like their debut, I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, sounds like his personal diary put to music, de Saram makes a fair statement.

As well as album number four not containing any dub step, the double album rumour is also laid to rest.

Speaking to Tone Deaf earlier this year, guitarist Jamie MacColl wondered about creating a 2-CD album, while Steadman has also talked about releasing a double long-player.

“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” de Saram guffaws with some doubt, admitting “I don’t think we’ll have enough songs! We’d much rather make one album that we’re as happy as possible with rather than two possibly mediocre ones.”

One thing is for certain, however: all members of the band are genuinely excited to return to Australia.

“We’ll be hanging out, that’s for sure. I mean, we might as well make the most of the warmer weather because by that time it’ll be pretty miserable back over in the UK,” he reasons before deciding with a laugh: “We’re pretty much just trying to stay away from the UK for as long as possible!”

A Different Kind Of Fix is out now through Universal. Bombay Bicycle Club play Southbound (details here) and the Falls Festival at New Year’s, details here; as well as a number of headline dates around Australia in 2013. Full dates and details below.

Bombay Bicycle Club 2013 Australian Tour Date Changes

MELBOURNE – REGAL BALLROOM TUESDAY JANUARY 1 All Ages
Previously performing at Festival Hall on Wednesday January 2

SYDNEY FACTORY THEATRE WEDNESDAY JANUARY 2 All Ages
Previously performing at the Enmore Theatre on Monday January 7

BRISBANE THE TIVOLI THURSDAY JANUARY 3 All Ages
Previously scheduled for Wednesday January 9; no change of venue


Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine