The Enemy, The Incredible Magpie Band, Clay

Ticket: £14.00 Buy Now
Doors: 19:30pm
Age: 14

Since 2007, socially-anchored, Coventry power rock trio THE ENEMY led by Tom Clarke haven’t been afraid to shed a tonne of bravado as a shield for some deep-seeded insecurities – but the news is all good from now on…

Considering he called his band The Enemy, the frontman made a few back in the late ’00s, and gave as good as he got; but with band mates Andy Hopkins and Liam Watts he can boast a No.1 album ‘We Live And Die In These Towns’, a No.2 follow-up ‘Music For The People’ and a Top 10 ‘Streets In The Sky’.

These days he is more mature, with humility and open-mindedness. Hear him talk freely and honestly about how much he loves “genius” James Blunt’s Twitter, or his excitement at pop artist BORNS being played by Huw Stephens and lose your misconceptions about him being a tricky fella.

This new found clarity is perfect for the next thrilling musical chapter for a band still only in their 20s; and their most ambitious record, ‘It’s Automatic’ is released in October.

“We’ve been working on it for a long time,” says Tom. “It’s a great record, difficult to make but not in a bad way. I sat Andy down and said, ‘Mate, I don’t wanna make another Enemy record. I’m bored. We’ve nailed what we do, I wanna make music like the music I listen to.’ And he said, ‘So do I.’”

The band’s desire to challenge and reinvigorate has made them far more ambitious. One listen to future singles ‘It’s Automatic’, ‘Waterfall’ and ‘Everybody Needs Someone’ lets you know The Enemy still aspire to pack out stadiums. Tom, however, insists that wasn’t the intention – some of the tracks here date as far back as the beginning. “Back when we were doing the first album we were making music within set lines. Now that’s all disappeared and the record is dictating its own direction. We’re just going for it,” he says. “We’ve had a geeky obsession with what other people are doing and where they’re pushing boundaries.”


Tom has been lapping up Kavinsky, The Horrors and Death Cab For Cutie, borrowing production techniques from everyone exciting at the moment.

And a refreshing honesty has opened him up in the most endearing way, laying bare his struggle with depression. “I think I’ve been a nightmare to be with at times,” he says, jovially. “I don’t think I’m the easiest person to work with. Andy in particular is involved in the writing and has been extremely patient with me. They both have. I owe them a lot. Sometimes you’re in a dark place and you can’t write a chorus. When you deal with depression on a daily basis, it’s not that you struggle to get up to do one thing, it’s that you struggle to get up. It wouldn’t matter if I wrote music or I was a lawyer, depression just screws you. You forget what you’re good at, you feel like you can’t do anything.”

So what is it about music that still holds Tom? “I don’t get the same buzz out of anything else. There’s a video on my phone that’s kept me going during times when I would have otherwise given up. We played T In The Park and the crowd were singing our song back to us. That feeling when you’ve just had sex and the world feels amazing and you couldn’t give a shit and all the problems that were massive a minute ago no longer are. It’s that feeling, times an absolute billion.”

But does the media’s reassessment of The Enemy matter to when some of Tom’s contemporaries – Kasabian, The Vaccines etc – grace the music press regardless of output? “Not any more,” he says, “I used to really, really give a shit what the music press wrote about us. I’d like people to say ‘It’s Automatic’ is good and for radio to play it but just ‘cos I like it doesn’t mean everyone else will. This album isn’t about proving anything.”

On this tour whilst they’ll still be that raw trio, an extra pair of hands will be added to play their more technically challenging new material. “We’re all very aware of the visual aspect too,” says Tom, fresh from watching Kanye West at Glastonbury. We can’t just let the music do the talking, it’s good to have some other tools in your box. Kanye’s lights were genius. We’ll always just play and have people go fucking mad at the shows, but we can do more than just that.”


On a personal front, The Enemy appear to have achieved what they set out to do. “We’ve made an album we’re ridiculously proud of,” says Tom. “We’ve pushed ourselves, we’ve not played it safe, we’ve progressed as musicians. It’s awesome and if nobody else ever plays it then at least we’re happy.”

That said, there are milestones in his sights. “We have the songs and production to headline festivals,” he says. “I’m not gonna play it cool and say we’re not that fussed about doing that. We really are. We give a shit about that. We just give a shit, full stop.”

Amen.

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