Earlier today, I chatted with We Have Band. Here’s our full exchange:

1. How would you describe your music in twenty words or less?

Pop with difficulty.

2. What’s the inspiration behind the video for ‘Divisive’?

We actually didn’t fully know how the video was going to look until we saw it finished. But the general idea was to do something connected with making body letters which was a thing we had done about a year and a half ago just for fun in some photographs. We also wanted the feel for the video to be a little more playful after the previous ‘You Came Out’ video that was pretty dark. We like videos that need lots of watching to really know what’s going on so that was a consideration too. With all of our videos we enjoy the process of letting go and collaborating with people that we really like and trust. So we met the directors Jul et Mat and we chatted more about these general ideas and left the details down to them. Then we arrived in Paris to shoot it and just went under their direction. The only bit we did ourselves was the little dance routine that we do in the middle of the track, they asked us to choreograph something for a particular time period so we did that at T & D’s London flat.

Read the remainder of this interview AFTER THE JUMP…

3. Can you list a few dream collaborators?

Quincy Jones, James Murphy, Brian Eno, Kate Bush.

4. There’s a futuristic yet vintage edge to WHB. Purposeful?

That’s nice to hear but really not much at all was purposeful with this album. We started writing it over 2 years ago in a period of about 7 months before we played any live shows at all or had a MySpace page or thought about anything like that, and we didn’t tell anyone we were doing it. It was a very private thing between the three of us that was just for fun and to test ourselves and experiment so we were writing kind of blind. As we started to produce the album we thought about it more though for sure. The thing about a debut album is that, consciously or not, you’re really drawing on all the things that you’ve ever liked since you were a child and that includes all the music your parents or older siblings played or whatever so maybe that’s where that vintage sound comes from. But then we love lots of newer bands so we were probably looking towards the future in that sense too.

5. Which city has been the most receptive to WHB’s live show?

We played in Moscow twice last year and it was crazy both times. Paris crowds are great too and Berlin is always like a totally out of control house party. Playing in New York feels so incredibly cool and it’s one of our favourite cities in the world. We’ve had so many special times all over the world so it’s really hard to say.

6. Who are you currently listening to?

Caribou, Joanna Newson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, These New Puritans, Wild Beasts, Beach House, Hudson Mohawke, Gil Scott-Heron.

7. What are your plans & goals for 2010?

It’s all about touring the album this year. We have a run of our own shows first, then we’ll be onto the festivals in summer and then back to more solo shows. There will be more videos and singles too. We have a few little plans for some more art based projects that we’re hoping to fit in too. We’ve had the chance to meet some really great creative people recently that have been talking about collaborating with us so fingers crossed they will work out.

8. Are there any misconceptions that you’d like to clear up?

We sometimes get called a Manchester three piece which isn’t true. Dede is from Manchester. Thomas and Darren are from London.

MP3: We Have Band – Divisive (Carl Craig Mix)