The Coral - Back To Their Roots

The band’s return and our chat with Southall comes at a time when the music industry is going through a rocky patch, mainly due to illegal downloads. More so in the light of the closure of Fopp (only partly rescued from complete death by HMV this week) - unable to compete with the internet, recently announced the closure of its 105 stores. While, Ash recently announced that they won’t be making any more albums.

Seemingly in keeping with their traditional sound, Southall says that he’s not really computer savvy: “I don’t use it seriously but the other lads in the bands do and they can get some good things off it and get your downloaded. It’s good if you want to use it in that way.  It’s a magical thing when you go and buy and album, you get the album and you get the artwork and that. If people are just downloading it, then the magic’s lost.â€� He adds: “I hope it doesn’t turn into like, you go into a record shop and there’s no CDs, you’ve got to download it onto your iPod. That would piss me offâ€�.

Thankfully though, the live scene is better than ever with festival season upon us despite the rain-drenched summer. The Coral will be playing V Festival later this month and have already played to major UK festivals - from Glastonbury to T In The Park. “It was good, it went down well.  It was the first one they put on a Friday, ‘cause normally they only play on a Saturday and Sunday don’t they T In The Park? But they put Friday on and we played on Friday. There were only like five bands playing,â€� recalls Lee. “We don’t mind festivals. We like T in the Park loads, Glastonbury’s pretty good. We’ve done nearly all of them I think. You get to play to people have heard the music and people who haven’t, so you win both waysâ€�.

So how have the six-piece changed since the inception of the band as teens? “Not much apart from facial hair,â€� says Lee.  “No one’s really grown any taller either!  We’re all the same though. We’re just a bit weird.  Not really, we’re still about ten in the head I think!â€� Long may they continue.