Q&A: 22-20s

It’s been an interesting journey for the English band 22-20s. Once involved in a huge label bidding war, the band broke up in 2006 but then got back together two and a half years later, and now, 22-20s’ new album, Shake/Shiver/Moan, is slated to be released on June 22 through TBD Records. Founding members Martin Trimble and Glen Bartup took some time to answer our questions about the origins of the band, their 2008 "secret" tour and what former tourmate Liam Gallagher can pull off that they themselves cannot. 

The name of the band comes from the Skip James song "22-20 Blues"... but were there any other names in consideration?

No other names as far as I can remember – we were 19 when we named the band. I remember we liked the staccato nature of the phrase and the conscious nod to our reference points at that time. We had some gigs coming up and needed a name so it was a pretty quick conversation.

What was the coolest thing you saw Liam Gallagher and The Black Crowes' Chris Robinson do onstage during the time you spent touring with their bands? Have you incorporated any of the lessons learned from these rockers into your touring mindset?

I remember Liam Gallagher in shorts at Milton Keynes, which I don’t think I could carry off. I don’t remember much of Chris Robinson in all honesty.

In 2003, you were part of a huge A&R bidding war between the American record labels. What were some your favorite moments of being 'wined and dined' by the labels? What sorts of differences exist in today's label structure?

Enormous differences apparently. We were too insular the first time around to pay attention to what was happening around us. Things seem more insecure now for bands. I think you probably have to be less precious and do what is necessary just to get through to the next tour and the next album. You always want your next album to be better than the last. These days, there’s less guarantee you’ll make the next one. As for the wining and dining, lots of wining on our part and a phone call from Dylan was promised at one point. It never happened… 

Though the band split while recording the second album in early 2006, are there any outtakes or songs that are on Shake/Shiver/Moan or could be retooled for future albums?

To be honest we never even got around to thinking of the second record then. I think we toured the first record far too long and ended up getting through it rather than getting material together. We hadn’t written a new song in three years and I don’t think we’d have written another one if we’d had another three years of trying.

How did Heavenly Records convince you to do the one-off at the Royal Festival Hall in London? Was there any lingering resentment between the members?

We’d have always done that gig. Jeff [Barrett] at Heavenly put us on the fast track to some great records that would have taken us years to discover otherwise. We’ll always be grateful for that and proud to have been part of Heavenly. I don’t think there was ever any resentment towards each other. The band broke up because of our collective disappointment at the band we’d become and our inability to see any way out of it. Personally there were no issues at all. It’s been a pleasure this time around from the moment we met up again.

Why did you tour under the "Bitter Pills" moniker in 2008? Was it to test new material or tour anonymously without the pressures of a reunion-tour?

Both really. In the U.K I think it’s a lot harder to do stuff off the radar and we wanted to get really tight before we started gigging under 22-20s. We’d only done the Heavenly gig in the past four years or so, had a set of pretty much entirely new songs and a new member with Dan on guitar. We were still finishing the album also so it was a chance to flesh out things we were still writing.

It's been six years since you released an album. How was the recording and writing of Shake/Shiver/Moan different from 22-20s?

It was the exact opposite to the first record in that we hardly had the money to make it and had no record deal and no expectations. Practically and financially it was a more difficult record to make but psychologically I think we felt liberated to make the record we wanted to without worrying about the consequences

How did you get involved with TBD Records? How is it working with an indie label as compared to a major like EMI?

Our management had known [TBD's] Phil Costello for years and played him some of the earlier demos. We never really pitched it around from there as we knew pretty quickly we wanted to do it through him and TBD. With Jeff on the first album it wasn’t so much like working with a major in many senses. Things have changed anyway, or everyone tells us they have. With Phil, it’s easy. He doesn’t meddle with anything you wouldn’t want him too, but Jeff never did either. We were pretty shielded from the crap people probably have to put up with on majors. F