Before Clean Bandit: When three of the Clean Bandit members graduated from Cambridge, they had outstanding CVs. Grace Chatto, according to The Daily Telegraph, had a degree in Russian literature, language and history. Jack Patterson put his architecture degree on hold to study at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, the oldest film school in the world. Former group member Milan Neil Amin-Smith was approached by both MI6 and the Foreign Office. Luke Patterson was still in school.From Rather Be, the 2014 anthem about long-distance love, to Rockabye (Sony Music), 2016’s tribute to single mothers, the British trio of Clean Bandit (was a quartet until Neil Amin-Smith left last October) has gone from strength to strength on two fronts — awards and YouTube (their current hit has notched up 255m-plus views while their other big hit, Rather Be, has 435m-plus views). The Grammy-winning trio of Grace Chatto (cello, percussion, vocals), and brothers Jack (bass guitar, keyboard, vocals and piano) and Luke Patterson (percussion) met at Jesus College, University of Cambridge. Here’s what Luke Patterson told t2 over phone.
Rockabye has been quite a smash, spending weeks at #1 on the UK charts. How did the track come about?
The track is written by Ina Wroldsen and it kind of reflects on herself. It’s a personal message, which, I think, is the reason why the track is so successful. The song has this... you know, you can dance to it but it has a lyrical meaning. She reflected on her personal experiences and it’s beautiful. The song’s video has attracted so many comments on YouTube.
And when did Sean Paul come in on the track?
He came in a bit later. We were busy writing a song for him and we were in the same studio. This is when we thought we might as well play it to him to see what he thinks. At once he said: ‘Oh ya, I will try write a verse to it.’ He kind of wrote the lyrics on the spot. It’s interesting to see him work through the beat.
Rockabye has been nominated for two Brit Awards (to be held on February 22). Does it feel good?
Yay. I am not that excited about the awards but it feels great to be nominated. I also saw in NME, the music magazine, we have been also nominated as the worst band of the year as well (laughs). It’s nice to have those nominations.
The group spent months between singles. So will there be a story behind your upcoming album?
We have been treating the next album much more like an album. We realised that we have made all these tracks and each of them sounds so different. There is drums, piano, cello... This time it’s much more song-based and hopefully that would reflect when the work is ready.
Bringing together the classical and electronic can be tricky…
It’s quite easy in a way. You can just grab a sample of classical music and if you can write a beat on top of that, add layers... then you have pretty much got a track (laughs).
What about Indian musicians? Have you heard any?
Not really. But I am very interested in listening and working with them. I just don’t know if they would be interested in working with us.
What do fans want from you?
This track (Disconnect) we wrote with Marina and the Diamonds. Everyone wants the track.
Are you working on more collaborations?
Yes, we are working with Zara Larsson, Elton John and others.
What does Clean Bandit mean?
It’s a loose translation of a Russian slang. It means something like “little rascal” in Russian. If you literally translate it, you get Clean Bandit… something like “complete bastards”!
You are all set for a tour of the US…
I think touring is my favourite bit. It can be exhausting... life on the road. But it’s also fun and we have got a great crew. We will be having so many live musicians come and help us with our shows.
What are you listening to?
Listening to a lot of jazz at the moment, more on the hip-hop side, like BadBadNotGood... not much pop.
Mathures Paul
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