iLiKETRAiNS - Dissecting yesterday

Unlike some of the protagonists in their decidedly gloomy missives from the footnotes of history, things are looking good for iLiKETRAiNS. Through unanimously positive reviews of last year's Progress Reform EP, and word of mouth from an extensive network of RAiLCARD Holders - the title bestowed upon eager listeners who have joined the band's online fan club - the Leeds five-piece have suitably become a cult concern.

Their penchant for using historical allegories to dissect the psyche of modern man and, well, that baffling moniker, have only added to their mystique. With debut album Elegies To Lessons Learnt in the can and a tour of the UK, States and Europe well under way, The Skinny took this opportunity to interrupt singer David Martin on his lunch break.

"We haven't destroyed ourselves on the booze yet," is Martin's summation of the tour so far. "The crowds have been really appreciative," he continues, "lots of people singing along to our new record, even though it's not out yet."

Bloody internet! Those who actually fork out for the album may also be privy to a booklet of essays that detail the historical characters and events depicted in each song. So would the band like listeners to do their own further reading?

"Yeah, I'd like that to be the case. I think our fans enjoy that element of it. They'll hear a new song and they'll speculate as to what it's about, and then when they find out, they like to take them apart again. I hope the songs stand up in their own right, but also that there are layers that you can sort of peel back with time."

Having self-produced their EP, the band were lucky enough to get Sigur Ros alumni Ken Thomas behind the mixing desk for Elegies. "That was amazing," gushes David, "I mean, I guess you can almost call him an idol for us. I remember we finished mixing one song and he said, 'Well, that's another epic track'. For him to say that, I mean, he invented epic!"

With two thumbs up on the musical side, were the band wary of upsetting any of the families of the sometimes less-than-perfect characters they've drawn upon?

"We were really worried about The Deception, the single about Donald Crowhurst, because his widow is still alive," David confesses. Crowhurst became infamous in 1968 for duping the world with his round-the-world yachting yarns, before taking his own life as a result. "I think that history kind of remembers him as a cheat and I don't think that's really fair," he explains. "He was a rational human being, but due to the circumstances he was under, the extreme solitude and pressures of money, it led him to bend the rules. I hope that the song will remember him in a better light."

Heavy stuff. So, ever feel like lightening things up and writing about girls looking good on dance-floors? "I don't think we'll ever do that," he laughs. "I find it really fascinating, the research process that we go through. However, it needs to be to illustrate a point, to have a content that's deeper than just 'these things happened in history'. The idea (on Elegies) is to illustrate how history repeats itself and we don't really learn from our mistakes." Thankfully, things don't end on a downer. There's enough time to reveal an idea for a unique gig befitting their name.

"We planned to do some shows where people travel along on a train to a nice old station where we'd play. It's something I'd still like to do. We actually nearly rented a disused station to record the new album. It would've been quite fun I guess."