One minute they’re playing in squats to a bunch of drunken Polish punks – the next minute they’re rocking out with Muse on a spaceship-themed stadium to an audience of 40,000…
One minute they’re playing in squats to a bunch of drunken Polish punks – the next minute they’re rocking out with Muse on a spaceship-themed stadium to an audience of 40,000… It’s a bit of a schizophrenic existence, yes, but then again, Pulled Apart By Horses vocalist Tom Hudson reckons it’s to be expected from a band often described as interestingly as "black metal pop."
"The Muse experience was definitely a scary one, we were kind of nervous about it at first," confides Hudson. "Muse used to be this riff-based band but now they’ve turned into a space-pop band and it’s pretty cool. In the end we just said, ‘okay, fuck it, we can only do what we do anyway, so let’s at least take the piss and try to scare some people!’ And I think we did that. It was insane! The stage didn’t even look like a stage – it looked like a giant spaceship at an outdoor cricket ground. I’ll be honest, I felt a bit ‘Bono’… There was a massive runway down the middle of the stage so I have a very U2 moment where I just ran straight down it! You just feel like this euphoria, it’s quite a rush to be able to do that whether the audience cares about you or not!"
Except the audience does care – especially since Pulled Apart By Horses released their self-titled debut album last year and won the U.K. crowds over with lead single Back To The Fuck Yeah. Although produced by James Kenosha [Duels, Dinosaur Pile-Up], Hudson says the record was about as DIY as it gets.
"He didn’t really even do anything, he just sat around looking like a punk and looking very handsome," jokes Hudson. "He’s a very pretty man and a good guy. No, seriously, we’ve been friends with him before we even got the band started and he’s recorded some of our mates, like the Grammatics, so he’s pretty amazing as a producer. He claimed that he could get the best guitar and drum sound in the world, so we put him to the test and he definitely passed! But with our band, a lot of it is DIY. We started as a DIY band. Lee [Vincent] our drummer has always been the hardcore DIY kid. We may have the usual bullshit management and agent and record label and whatever, but we don’t let anything pass unless we’re cool with it and we’ve had a say on absolutely everything that happens with this band. Me and Rob [Lee, bass] to the artwork, and James [Brown, guitar ] does all the online stuff. Actually, Lee also has the important job of sitting around looking mean."
Yes, everyone has settled into their ‘role’ quite well even after only three years since the band’s formation. On the eve of their Australian debut, Hudson says it’s a weird mixed feeling of brotherhood and marriage when it comes to the kind of relationship all four members share.
"You’re like a pack of brothers but you’re kind of like being married to three other dudes," he laughs. "Especially the last couple of tours that we’ve done – we’ve gone so much more beyond being just friends or just being a band. And the old cliché of being like a family, that’s actually pretty accurate, we’ve found… One day we’re arguing and want to kill each other, then the next day we’re partying and hugging and whatever. It’s like the weirdest relationship in the world. Or maybe it’s not – isn’t that how most relationships work anyway? The whole thing looks way more glamorous than it actually is. You get into tedious situations just like you would in any other job. The whole thing has turned into a bit of a circus now too because we have more and more people being added to the team. We’ve got Matty helping us with merch and we’ve got our tour manager who drives us around and shouts at people. Okay, it’s an open relationship."
