Many bands are started by friends coming together and simply wanting to play some music, but few groups have roots as deep as those in We Were Promised Jetpacks. The Edinburgh, Scotland-based band’s members are in their early 20s, but their relationship goes back much further than that.
“Myself and Sean [Smith], the bassist, have been friends since we were 5,” drummer Darren Lackie said. “Same with [vocalist] Adam [Thompson] and [guitarist] Michael [Palmer] — we all went to the same primary schools.”
This bond, forged through years of familiarity, allows the band members to be so open with one another while writing material.
“I think it helps [knowing one another for so long],” Lackie said. “We all know what we’re all trying to do, how we want our music to sound. It’s easier to say to someone, if they come up with an idea that isn’t that good, I think it’s easier to say, ‘No, we don’t like that idea.'”
The process seems to be working for WWPJ. After seven years of playing together, its debut album, These Four Walls, was released in 2009. The band is now in the middle of its first American headlining tour — something Lackie said was far from expected.
“When we started writing the music, … we never expected to play in a band as a career,” he said. “We never ever thought we’d get to come and play in America. Any attention anywhere further than Edinburgh is great.”
So as WWPJ ventures across the country and Americans get their first look at a full set from the much buzzed-about band, it too will get a true feel from crowds in the United States for the first time.
“This will be our first time going out and playing to our own audience, our own fans in America,” Lackie said. “I wouldn’t say we’re accustomed to it yet. We still don’t know what to expect from anywhere.
“There’s a few places that we’re playing that I’ve not even heard of. Like Hot Springs [Arkansas] — I’ve never even heard of that,” he added, laughing.
But just because the group is touring doesn’t mean it isn’t looking ahead as well. Before coming to the United States, WWPJ briefly hit the studio and recorded a four-song EP to sell at the North American shows. But it’s also in the process of writing new material that Lackie said he hopes will encapsulate the group’s growth.
“When we recorded These Four Walls, we were really inexperienced,” he recalled. “Going into the studio, we had no idea what to do. All those songs had been written, some of them for as long as three, almost four years. Our oldest song, ‘Quiet Little Voices,’ we’ve had that song for about four years now.
“I think that we learned from our mistakes on the first album. We’re not writing songs and finishing them and going into the studio with them. I think we’re keeping it a bit more rough, so there’s space for stuff that needs to be added or parts that need to be taken away, more instruments to be put in — things like that. Hopefully, it will sound more professional.”
As hardworking as they are and as creative as their name is, it’s important to remember the band members are still young and just having a lot of fun.
“We don’t know what to expect [in America],” Lackie said. “But we don’t mind if it’s a massive crowd or a small crowd. As long as people enjoy it, that’s all that really matters for us.”
klucas@umdbk.com
