Perhaps the key to H4H’s almost instant success is their carefree and fun synth-pop sound. "I guess there’s a lot of different styles going through it, we have loads of different influences," says Alan, as we chat in a cosy café on a cold January evening. "But at the same time, it really just boils down to us being a pop band. Our main objective in writing is to write catchy tunes that people will like to sing along to."
However, given the various musical backgrounds of its members, there’s another side to the band too. "Obviously we’re a pop band first, and then everything else second, but it definitely is our intention to have more going on in the background, some slightly more experimental touches to it," says Alan.
These experimental touches no doubt come from the band members’ interest in listening to and performing music that’s well off the ‘popular music’ radar. I put it to Alan that I think it’s interesting that the emphasis in H4H is on ‘pop’ music, as the past bands the members were in were totally different. Why the transition, I ask. "That’s something that’s said a lot to me interviews, and for me it wasn’t really a transition because I’d always listened to that kind of music, the style we play – bands like Mates of State and Anniversary," explains Alan.
What about playing live though – what is the difference between playing with, say, My Remorse and H4H, I ask, especially now that Alan is a frontman? "The frontman thing, and I hate using that term, but that side of it was the hardest change for me really," admits Alan. "Because in My Remorse really if I wanted to I could stroll off around the back of the stage and keep playing or keep my head down and no-one would really care or notice as long as I kept playing. So I think that’s the biggest difference. And obviously though, singing – singing is a huge difference, and something that took me a very long time to get used to."
