0171 [ Interview # 2 2 2 ]

1. What does the name 0171 mean?

It was an old telephone code for the area of London where we live and Joe grew up. But we liked the name specifically because it wouldn’t mean anything to most people who saw it. As we grow 0171 will just mean us. 

2) How would you describe your particular sound to someone who had never heard your music before?

Somewhere between intense-electronic-moody-hypnotic-songs-that-don’t-sound-much-like-other-songs-you-hear, and post-Intense-electronic-moody-hypnotic-songs-that-don’t-sound-much-like-other-songs-you-hear. 

3) Your second EP, "Change Nothing", will be released on 8/14.  What was the process of creating that like?  I know that sometimes it can feel like- as with relationships, as is the theme of the EP- that you get stuck.  But I also know the feeling of looking back at photographs and thinking "Who was I then?"  It just seems like such a complex issue and one I feel like no one has tackled before.

Making music can feel so dynamic and exhilarating. But, as with all jobs, you’re still going in every day, doing the same process. With music that process feels like it’s who you are, not just what you do, and that can become quite stressful. If you don’t achieve anything in a day, it’s easy to feel worthless. So every day for us has multiple ups and downs, yet we feel the same frustrations as everyone else - that our lives don’t progress fast enough, that we don’t get to where we want to be. That was the feeling that seeped into our music on this EP. But in general we are very interested in this aspect of modern life - that everything moves too fast, and yet sometimes you feel like you’re not moving at all - like the act of scrolling quickly on your phone.  

When you feel listless and frustrated, it’s easy to yearn for different times. All of us have moments wishing we could go back 5, 10, 15 years. That’s where the photograph thing comes in - these snapshots that are supposed to preserve a memory or a feeling, but sometimes when you look at them and it only makes you realise how far away you are from that time. 

And yes, thank you, we’ve always tried to write lyrics in ways you don’t often come across in songs. 

4) With the title "Change Nothing" it seems appropriate now, with the state of the world, as it seems like for a lot of people who have been stuck at home and done nothing else, they haven't really seen any change since March or so.  Were there any thoughts about how the title and overall idea might overlap with the pandemic across the world?

It is often true that the world seems to reflect music and art, rather than the other way round. It happened as well with our video for Automatic, which was filmed months before the pandemic started but was about someone trapped in a small room, including a scene with plastic covering our mouths… I think broad feelings spread across society quite quickly, and these feelings can then translate into events after music has already been written about those feelings. The pandemic has made this idea of people being stuck very relevant, but I think people have been feeling like that for much longer. The easier it is to do anything you want, technically, the harder it can be to know what to do. 

5) As you have created music videos, do you feel like there is a need for music to be explored visually as well as through listening?

We love the process of making these videos with Jake Alden-Falconer, who is one of our oldest friends (and played music with us too before the band properly got going). It’s amazing the way a video can transform or emphasise the emotion in a song, just like music can drastically change a film. For us personally, we feel like our music is quite cinematic, so having a strong visual side has always been really important to us. 

6) How important do you feel record labels are in 2020?

I guess they don’t have to be. You can definitely make it without one. At the same time the big labels are always going to be at the forefront of what the music industry is doing. It’s great to have complete freedom over what you do though. 

7) What role do you feel like physical media- such as cassettes and records- plays in music in 2020?

For most artists I guess they’re more an interesting opportunity to release something a bit different, rather than a necessary product. We would definitely love to release a vinyl, even just seeing the big record sleeve with the artwork on it would feel incredibly satisfying. 

7a) Having released an EP previously, "Red Light", would you ever consider putting that on one side of a cassette and then "Change Nothing" onto the other side?

Yes. We write so many songs over quite a long time that the EPs are more mixed than you think. A couple songs from Change Nothing were written before Red Light came out, so I think they fit together quite well. 

8) Final thoughts, shout outs, etc... ???

Sorry our answers were so long, but the questions were interesting and made us think…

Shout out to our manager Oliver Wright, who has been with us through every up and down so far, mixed all our songs, and continued to tell us that we’re good. 

https://0171.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/0171music