CHEATAHS

An Englishman, a German, an American and a Canadian walk into a bar

Cheatahs are a restless bunch. Since the release of their debut EP Coared, these multinational lo-fi indie rock upstarts have found themselves on a US tour with slacker punk heavyweights Wavves and Fidlar, sharing stages with the likes of Dinosaur Jr., and still somehow factored in the time to write and record their hugely impressive album.

In our minds, that high-profile tour must’ve been six months of beer bongs and skateparks. “It was exactly like that” says vocalist/guitarist James Wignall with more than a hint of sarcasm. “Yeah, imagine that and then times it by ten and you’re kind of there” adds their other guitarist/vocalist – and token Canadian – Nathan Hewitt. They then returned home to chill and write, spending a week in isolation in an old Cornish cottage before heading back to their natural climes in Dalston to record the songs that would eventually become that first record. 2013 was a hell of a year for Cheatahs, and when we caught up with the lads in their East London flat they were more than happy to explain the secrets of their success.

“We did a bunch of the album before the US tour last year” Nathan tells us, “then went and used the tour to test the songs and see what was working and what wasn’t.” He and James are enthused about Cheatahs’ trajectory, but content to be finally kicking it at home after a year of near-constant touring and the fixings that accompany it. “It was six weeks around America” says James, “right in the middle of recording the album really, so it was kind of a blessing and a curse.” He pauses. “More of a blessing in the end.” We’re still sniffing around for tales of pool parties and giant bags of the devil’s lettuce, but they aren’t forthcoming. “I don’t think we do actually [fit in with that scene] so that was an interesting test. Playing shows where not many people had heard of us in America. There were a lot of all-ages shows as well, and what we’re doing isn’t really pop punk like the other two bands. People seemed to be into it though, which is good. Personality-wise they’re all great guys, but music-wise we’re mining different paths.” Nathan mentions the age difference. “They’re a lot younger than us too, eh? They’re kinda singing about stuff we used to do and we’re talking about things we do now. The way we see the world now.”

Cheatahs’ sound is a dense, layered affair that appears to be as much influenced by 90s Camden shoegaze as it is by Canadian contemporaries like Fucked Up – perhaps a result of their multinational membership. Their mostly indecipherable vocals are low in the mix, a result of the heavily textured and purposefully emphatic placement of the rest of the instrumentation. When we suggest what sets them apart from a lot of their peers is their ability to craft great pop music amongst the noise Nathan explains, “the easiest way to think about it is; I wrote a lot of these songs acoustic, at home. For me if it works acoustic and you can make

it sound really interesting dry, then when you put distortion or effects on it it’s gonna sound way better, right?”. James adds “We definitely find out what we want to write about through the music rather than vice versa, and then when we do get the ideas for lyrics we take them very seriously. We work on them, aware that people are gonna read them cold on the page. I’m personally very proud of our lyrics.”

It’s clear Cheatahs approach their music with an admirable sincerity and integrity. That career-launching appearance soundtracking upper-class heartbreak on Made in Chelsea isn’t in the pipeline. “There’s no danger of us doing T4 On The Beach” jokes Nathan. “We won’t pander to that stuff” James stresses. “With this record we’ve tried to make the record we’d like to listen to at home. It’s an incredibly simple idea but a lot of bands often forget that, and we’ve made a record we’re really proud of.” He pauses one last time. “Now if we could just pay our rent…”

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Cheatahs is released on 10 February via Wichita. Catch them at Beacons Festival in Skipton, North Yorkshire, 7-10 Yorkshire

Words: Billy Black

Photo: Jon Bergman