Interview: Hoodlums

A fellow interviewer Coco Wong is back with an interview with Lou Vainglorious from Hoodlums, (Vocals/Guitar). Here they talk about the début album and what they have been getting up to.

First of all, congratulations on the release! As a quick introduction, can you tell us the story behind the name ‘Hoodlums’?

Thank you very much; it’s been a long time coming for this band and we are all very excited about LANDMARKS.In regards to the name obviously we are very much gentlemen and not ‘HOODLUMS’, unfortunately our collective past was peppered with some unsavoury types. In homage to their failed attempts to break our spirit we named our band ‘HOODLUMS’ after them.

Regarding your new single which is out on Monday, ‘Landmarks’, what exactly are the landmarks that the song’s about?

I’m a terminal reflector it seems, and sometimes I feel like I can only move forward through looking backwards in songs.Landmarks is just a little day dream I had not to long ago about the crooked path that led me to this point in my life. Not so much a yellow brick road kind of thing, more like a series of dead ends, trapdoors and tightropes followed by one singular red fire exit being held open by a certain ginger double bassist.

‘Landmarks’ sounds very different from ‘Forget A Friend’. I wonder what inflicted that change in style?

I can see why you might think that as we have only allowed a select few recordings out into the world thus far. The truth is ‘Landmarks’ and ‘Forget a Friend’ both belong to a vast family of songs which when presented at the same time should make perfect sense. You could say different rooms in the same house...........if so ‘Forget A Friend’ would be the bedroom and ‘Landmarks’ would be the cellar.

Aha...have you been doing any recording lately? When can we expect a new single / a début album maybe?

The second single will be out in October and its called 'Dark Horses', then another one just after Xmas. The album is going to cost a bit more money, for it to be everything we want it to be creatively there’s got to be a half decent recording budget. Our manager will be working on finding us the right long term home as this filthy tale unfolds. For now we have three cracking singles lined up.

Wow! I can't wait to listen to Dark Horses! Are there any anecdotes that took place in the studio?

'Landmarks' and forthcoming single 'Dark Horses' were both recorded at Leeder’s Farm studios out in Norfolk a few months back. We were locked up there for a week like 5 Randal McMurphy’s in a follow up to One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. During one particular bout of cabin fever myself and Hoodlums drummer Henry Tyler recorded a version of the Bee Gee’s 70’s hit Saturday Night Fever and its exquisite. Everyone has their own way of going round the bend.

Since summer’s coming, are there any festivals that you’re looking forward to playing at?

We are very much looking forward to another monumental year playing at Secret Garden Party, last year we did three shows and it was combined with some of the most shameful drinking and decadence this band has seen.At one point our keyboard player Ollie was scaring the life out of a young boy in a backstage Jacuzzi while Henry was wandering around in his pants with an inflatable pink flamingo around his neck.On the way out the bouncer had “NO MORE HOODLUMS” written on his clipboard, the shows rocked too.

Thanks Lou and Chris for making this interview possible. - Coco Wong

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