“Raw. Aggressive. Heartfelt. Uninhibited.”
When asked to describe “Four” in four words, Matt Tong, drummer of Bloc Party, blurted out, with a bit of snigger and momentary hesitation. “Four”, the band’s latest album, is a surprise to the world of music. When the band decided to go on a hiatus in 2009, the fans weren’t sure they were getting back together. The truth was the four members of the band weren’t even sure either. Two years after, Bloc Party came back to the studio with grittier riffs and hard-hitting beats. Indeed, it is just as Matt said: “Four” is raw, aggressive, heartfelt and uninhibited.
Matt Tong, who was in Dublin, Ireland with the band for their show in Olympia Theatre, graced the Filipino media with a phone interview on February 13. It was about 12 noon there (8pm in Manila) when we got to talk to him. Apparently, he was having his breakfast. In good spirits, he took us, bit by bit, through “Four”, the band’s future and some of his personal quirks. Read on for the interesting conversation that transpired that evening.
Hiatus after “Intimacy” – how has this break contributed into building “Four”?
“…The break was instrumental in its ensuring we can get back and be decent human beings to one another. I think we grew up during that time. Having a couple of years away from the band made us realize that we valued being in the band and we valued playing music for each other as well.”
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