With all this talk of success and the future, I ask them how they would feel about signing to a major label. "There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that," says Hugh. "[But] that’s like asking us, if someone came in here and asked you to climb Everest, would you do it. It’s not something we think about, because it’s not going to happen. But if somebody did, it depends on how much money was involved – it would have to be a lot!" he laughs
But being an independent band means a lot to Large Mound, as Hugh explains. "We record and release largely ourselves, and you do have absolute freedom to do whatever you want, which is cool. Whereas I suppose if you were a band relying on this to pay your mortgage or your rent or whatever, then it’s a whole different ballgame. You’re thinking about: "Jesus, if we do this, is it going to increase our profile, or decrease it?". Whereas when you’re not in that situation you don’t have to worry about it. So from a creative point of view, it’s great."
So what’s happening in the future for Large Mound? Well, they’ve just released I Hate All My Friends as a single, and are very excited to have announced that they will be supporting Ted Leo and the Pharmacists during their UK tour in April. There’s also talk of remastering Raised in Rock, and perhaps putting on an ironic ATP-style ‘Don’t Look Back’ gig where they’ll play the album in its entirety; and they may even get around to releasing a DVD that was recorded by their friend Ian during the Go Forth and Amplify tour…
"People will probably say "Who do they think we are" – and we don’t give a shit!" laughs Hugh. "We’ve always done this thing of a small band going around thinking it’s a big band. That’s always been a thing with Large Mound."
Adds Anthony: "It’s displaying confidence as well. We’re comfortable with the music and we’re confident of it – we’re not embarrassed with anything that’s been put out under the name Large Mound."
Aoife Barry © 2008
