Best of What's Next: Bombay Bicycle Club

Photos by Olly Hearsey

Hometown: North London
Album: I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose
Band Members: Jack Steadman (guitar/bass/vocals), Jamie MacColl (guitar/bass/vocals), Suren De Saram (drums/chanting), Ed Nash (bass/keys)
For Fans Of: My Bloody Valentine, The Maccabees, Interpol

These days, Bombay Bicycle Club play a certain brand of low-key alt-shoegaze, but their first gig was as a funk cover band—at a school assembly, no less. “It was ‘Cissy Strut’ by the Meters,” says lead vocalist/guitarist Jack Steadman, taking a break from recording at home in London. “We were all in the same class, and the class was asked to do something fun in front of the school. We were the only ones who played instruments, really, so it kind of just made sense for us to get together. I have no idea why we played a funk song without any words, because no one really liked it. They were all just listening to pop music with really catchy choruses, and we played something that didn’t have any lyrics. It wasn’t a success.”

The praise of their peers comes easier now. Bombay Bicycle Club’s gritty, cinematic sound owes no small debt to My Bloody Valentine and their ilk, but the band has created a sonic identity all their own over the past few years. They’ve found fans among the tastemakers at the BBC and NME, the latter crowning them Best New Band at the magazine’s annual awards show this year. Now, Steadman and his bandmates Jamie MacColl, Suren De Saram and Ed Nash are poised for a Stateside re-release their 2009 debut LP
I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose sometime this summer.

Soon enough, the guys may realize their goal of touring North America, but until then, you won’t find them resting on their laurels: They’re toying with the idea of an acoustic folk album, Steadman and Nash have an Afro-beat side project and Saram is a jazz drummer in addition to his work with the band. When asked about the progress of Bombay Bicycle Club and how he and the rest of the group handle all the musical multitasking, Steadman demurs. “It’s just something to distract you,” he says. “Hopefully, we can just keep our options open and never get bored of what we’re doing.”