The LaFontaines: Under the Influence

With The LaFontaines' sophomore record – Common Problem – about to drop, the band let us in on some of the artists, albums and songs that helped inform the record

Feature by Tallah Brash | 20 Oct 2017

Bedřich Smetana
I usually write most of my ideas in the car; it's one of the few places – outside a studio environment – where one can scream and shout without being judged too much. When I'm not writing songs in the car, I'm avoiding road-rage in the car, [which] is where Smetana comes into the picture. He will always be one of my favourite composers to pop up on Classic FM in-between all the adverts about life insurance, cruise holidays and over-50s dating sites. His Moldau movement is one of those numbers that gives your brain total peace and leaves your soul feeling all massaged and new. Ironically, the man himself went completely deaf, suffered a mental collapse and died in an asylum – not ideal. [John Gerard]

Tennessee Ernie Ford
This guy's voice always puts a smile on me. He serves as a good reminder that you don't need a rack full of multi-band compressors, CPU-melting reverb plug-ins and a dozen synth sequencers. His biggest tune, Sixteen Tons, is a rough-and-ready ode to fatalism, which was probably recorded live with no more than four microphones. No artist tickles as me as much as Ernie. The bass-baritone voice, mousy wee moustache, sharp suits and overall overload of old-school manliness makes for one enviable combo. Thanks to him I don't let the little technicalities of songwriting bog me down, I just remember to have fun with it. [JG]

Blur – Song 2
[Blur, 1997]
Due to the nature of our sound it can sometimes be quite worrying how each song is going to sit next to each other on an album. Obviously once the vocals are on its a lot easier to picture this but these are usually the last part of the puzzle and the music lives as instrumentals for many months and sometimes years. One thing I began doing when writing for this album is putting distortion on all of the drums in order to try and make it sound like this song. I kept doing it on every demo and eventually it became a subtle musical way of linking all of the tracks together. When we began tracking the album the first thing Joe Cross – who produced the album with us – picked up on was this effect and how it tied everything together, which you can hear in the final product if you listen out for it. [Darren Caughey]

Benji B
Benji B broadcasts on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra from 1am to 4am every Wednesday night/Thursday morning and I have been listening to his show every week for around the last two years. The show has no set genre or playlist constraints and through this I have discovered numerous MCs, artists & producers who have inspired my production style and lead me to think about music differently. He also co-produced the song Fade by Kanye West, which inspired the closing track on the album, Asleep. [DC]

Royal Blood
I’m not even that big a fan of this band but when they came out it was refreshing to see two people making heavy, aggressive riff-based guitar music in a modern pop format, and for it to be so well received and sound so huge. This inspired me to think we could do something similar and not to hold back on throwing some heavier elements and riffs into this album, especially on the album opener Explosion, and Armour. [DC]

Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels 3
[Run The Jewels, Inc., 2017]
Since releasing our debut album Class, I hadn’t written in over a year-and-a-half. Not one single verse. Caught between touring, life, and just not having any desire to actually sit with some music, I needed something to kick me up the arse. I feel like RTJ3 put me through some sort of lyrical boot camp, and it provided the perfect soundtrack to inspire the troops. I think with everything that was going on in the world at the time (and even more so now) it showed me that it was sound to get politically charged on a record, as long as it was coming from a genuine place. As a side note, that’s why I didn’t like the recent Eminem BET cypher everyone was losing their shit over. It just felt like forced aggression to me. [Kerr Okan]

TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me
[Return to Cookie Mountain, 2006]
I was driving home from Edinburgh about 2am last December, listening to DLZ by TV On The Radio. Apparently I was swerving all over the road (if you listen to the tune, you’ll maybe know why. It just feels like you should be doing big swooping turns in your car to that song…) – I was pulled over by the traffic polis. Anyway, after getting a slap on the wrists I jumped back in my car to find I had an email from Daz (Darren) with a new demo, ROW it was titled. I fired it on, and it instantly gave me the same sort of feeling that Wolf Like Me did. It’s the overall energy of the song. The drum beat on the toms and the driving bass line throughout. I came up with the rhythm and parts of the lyric before I got home. That song is now called Hang Fire and you can hear it on our new album. [KO]

Stormzy – Big For Your Boots
[Gang Signs & Prayer, 2017]
We recorded the album down in Manchester and I can [remember] drivin’ from our digs to the studio [and] this came on the radio. I was horrified. I had never heard anything worse. Absolutely fuckin’ hated every second. I thought the lyrics were total drivel, shite beat and felt it was all style over substance. The more it came on the radio, the more nauseous I felt. Anyway, after the bazillionth time, I listened from a different perspective and understood it. I really like Stormzy now and listened a lot down in Manchester. There’s still an element of it to me that’s absolute guff, but if you just take it for what it is then it’s actually great entertainment. [Jamie Keenan]

Anderson .Paak – Malibu
[Steel Wool Records, 2016]
We toured with Anderson .Paak round Europe the year before [he recorded] this album. He’s probably the most talented guy that me, or the band have met personally. Unbelievable singer/rapper and performer. He’s also one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen. Frighteningly good. At night time down in Manchester when the rest of the boys went to bed, I sat up drinking beer and watching his videos on YouTube. Him and Chance the Rapper. A particular highlight for me is his Tiny Desk concert. [JK]

Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
[Creation Records, 1995]
I used to put my headphones in and swagger along to this. It still excites me listening to this album, straight from the first bars of Hello. Liam Gallagher's voice is great on it. Arrogant, optimistic and full of youthful energy. The lyrics are brilliant too. I love every song on that album. [JK]


Common Problem is released via A Wolf at the Door Records on 27 Oct; The LaFontaines play King Tut's, Glasgow, 27 Oct; Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 31 Oct; The Lending Room, Leeds, 13 Nov; Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, 14 Nov; Sound Control, Manchester, 15 Nov; MK11 at The Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes, 16 Nov; Barrowlands, Glasgow, 18 Nov; Nprthumbria Institute, Newcastle, 19 Nov; O2 Academy 3, Birmingham, 20 Nov; Boston Music Room, London, 21 Nov; The Leadmill, Sheffield, 22 Nov; Rock City, Nottingham, 23 Nov 

http://www.thelafontaines.co.uk/