Just The Two Of Us: We Are Scientists

This introduction was also born in part, Murray says, because on the “last record I think a lot of the arrangements came from us feeling the limitations of three instruments and doing everything we could to make up for that.” Indeed, when We Are Scientists began to make their waves in 2005, they found themselves crashing amongst a renaissance of men with guitars and a drum kit – particularly in the United Kingdom, where bands like the Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks and Bloc Party were catching a wave that began across the Atlantic four years earlier. “Even at the time that that last record came out that specific movement was fairly crowded and now it’s absolutely oversaturated,” sighs Murray. “So I think we were already past our interest in that anyway but to continue to labour in that genre, there didn’t really seem like any point to contribute some more stuff to spiky, post-punk, dance.”

As Cain reaches to grab Murray another bottle of water, talk turns to the current music scene in New York, which also seems to be heading in a new direction. When We Are Scientists decamped to Brooklyn in 2000 following University in California, the city was preparing to unveil the very acts that became the inspiration for the likes of Alex Turner and Luke Pritchard a few years later. Although they acknowledge New York’s new era, which has seen the rapid rise of band’s like Vampire Weekend, MGMT and Yeasayer, both men, who are currently living in London, agree that “it’s no 2001.” 

“It just doesn’t feel like there’s as much of a cohesive sound,” explains Cain. “I think what was interesting about 2001 was you had all these bands that seemed to inform each other - TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars were all very much part of a big picture. I don’t think these bands feel like they’re part of a big picture. They may be individually good and interesting but there doesn’t feel like there’s a particular New York thing happening right now.”

That could change, however, according to Murray. “I would say that New York is about to shape up in a major way because a lot of our friends that live in London are talking a big game about moving to New York,” he says. “Yeah, all of a sudden a lot of our friends over here are talking about how they’re gonna move to Brooklyn.”

“That’s cause we moved here,” Cain jokes. Murray explodes with laughter before speaking on behalf of ‘their friends’: “’London’s kind of sucked recently’.”

Murray and Cain’s journey hasn’t always been a musical one. “It was an after thought” following four years of experimenting with just about everything else according to Cain. His partner picks up the story: “It was like the fifth attempt at actually getting something done and it was the first time we actually got something done,” Murray says. “We had a lot of big ideas. Initially, we were gonna write some books, there was gonna be a major motion picture.” And then of course, the band happened. “Yes, finally somebody else was vaguely interested in throwing their capitalistic hand into the mix,” he jokes.

Although We Are Scientists are now firmly established as a band, their reluctance to focus on simply making and performing music means crowds are often left “really confused” as to what they’ve witnessed. “I think for a long time before we had any project we were just always…at least talking about doing about ten different things at once,” Murray says. “So now that we actually have the means to get some those things done, the fact that we do them seems to confuse a lot of people who think that we should just be doing music, which seems,” he ponders, “pretty ludicrous to us I think - I’m gonna include Chris in here.”

 “Why would anyone just do music?” asks Cain. “I’ve always been confused by that.”

Would they describe themselves as natural performers? “No I don’t think we’re natural performers,” Murray says. “I think we’re very comfortable performers.” Cain interrupts: “That comes from arrogance though.” Murray smiles. “Yeah I think we’re very arrogant dudes. I wouldn’t say that people coming to our University seminars would say, ‘Wow those dudes are natural gifted comedians,’ but I think what we do have is, I think we’re natural performers in that we pretty much act like ourselves at all times so I think people are, maybe not disarmed by that, but are more forgiving because it just seems like we show up and say, ‘So anyway, what’s up, it’s us again, here’s something we’re gonna do.’”

He continues: “It’s just us, I think you’re gonna find it really good, and people are like, ‘Oh yeah, Keith and Chris showed up and that was actually pretty good,’ where as, if for example skilled comedian Robin Williams came up and did that the crowd would tear him apart, the crowd would take the stage and rip his body to shreds.”

Later this month, armed with their new material, We Are Scientists will leave their short-term rented apartments in London and head out to join the musical circus once again - where ultimately it’s the music, and not advice on smelly knees, that prevails. That’s something they're both aware of. “I don’t think that we think that everything we do is the raddist shit that ever happened,” says Murray, “but I think we’re really confident in our ability to make it work out.”

‘Brain Thrust Mastery’ is out now.