![\"photo](\"http:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/unnamed.jpg\")
<\/a>How did I get here? I\u2019m sitting on a trash bin in the backstage bathroom of Baby\u2019s All Right. Across me, or rather, encircling me, are the three young gentlemen who make up Happyness<\/a>, arguably one of England\u2019s best new bands. They\u2019ve just released their debut LP Weird Little Birthday<\/em><\/a>, played South by Southwest, and are shaking the last leg of their first American tour. What better way to commemorate it than with a powwow in the john?<\/p>\n To my right, vocalist\/keyboardist\/guitarist Benji Compston is perched on the toilet. Bassist\/vocalist Jonny Allan is cross-legged on the floor in front of me, and drummer Ash Cooper is leaning on the sink. It feels more like I\u2019m cutting gym to smoke cigs with my middle school buddies than it does a professional interview, but I\u2019m instantly at ease. It\u2019s nice meeting other people who feel as at home on a bathroom floor as I do.<\/p>\n I could never have guessed that this was where we\u2019d chat. The evening started as many do, neurotically watching the clock until the exact minute<\/em> the interview was actually scheduled. Of course, this is never when they occur. Sat at the bar, I witnessed a man fully costumed as a taco run past me into the green room. No explanations, just some very fast food. I finally saw Benji and abruptly sprung at him from my stool, explaining the meet-up we had scheduled.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, ok, cool-do you mind if I go for a cigarette first? Do you want to come? Do you want one?\u201d<\/p>\n Sold.<\/p>\n Outside I met Jonny, Ash, and their tour manager, Mark. They told me of the deli sandwiches they\u2019d eaten, and that they were due to order more. I urged them to order a chopped cheese. They didn\u2019t. We entertained the idea of doing the interview in their van, but the boys warned me it was far too messy and musty. (If they only knew\u2026)<\/p>\n To the tiny lavatory then.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n …………<\/p>\n Jonny Allan: We could do it [\/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][the interview] in the mirror!<\/p>\n Madison Bloom for Audiofemme: Yeah, take a long look at yourself while you answer these very basic questions. No one\u2019s sitting on the toilet, which is a little disappointing<\/p>\n JA: Sit on the toilet, Benji.<\/p>\n Benji Compston: What?<\/p>\n JA: Sit on the toilet.<\/p>\n (Compston slowly settles sideways on the lidless throne.)<\/p>\n JA: That was so dainty! Look at you!<\/p>\n MB: I like what you did there. You\u2019re doing sidesaddle on the toilet.<\/p>\n BC: This is how I always sit. Is this not how you\u2019re meant to?<\/p>\n JA: No, that\u2019s exactly how you\u2019re meant to.<\/p>\n MB: So, this is you\u2019re first U.S. tour\u2026how\u2019s it been?! Do you have any crazy stories of anything that happened?<\/p>\n BC: We got in a hot tub when it was raining and people outside the hotel window stared at us and laughed at us because traditionally people don\u2019t go in hot tubs in quite cold weather in Dallas in March.<\/p>\n Ash Cooper: There\u2019s more hot tubs in America so we were just excited to get in.<\/p>\n BC: Yeah just the idea of having a hotel with a hot tub was like, \u201cOh my god, we\u2019ve arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n MB: Not a lot of hot tubs in England?<\/p>\n JA: No.<\/p>\n MB: Why?<\/p>\n AC: Less pools.<\/p>\n JA: I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s kind of an item of luxury I guess, and I had not seen a hot tub in a while, so, being in a hotel with a hot tub was the BEST thing ever, and so we all went out there, smoked cigarettes and were pale, and people looked at us, it was kinda fun.<\/p>\n MB: So the craziest thing you guys did was get in a hot tub?<\/p>\n JA: Oh yeah then we met a Neo-Nazi Texan man who forced us to hold his loaded gun at ourselves, but\u2026.<\/p>\n MB: That\u2019s somehow not surprising to me, like yeah, that\u2019s America. And Texas. What\u2019s been the funnest city to play? Or just to be in? You seemed to have a lot of fun in Portland; you went to Voodoo Doughnut!<\/p>\n JA: Oh they came to us. They delivered a box.<\/p>\n BC: Cleveland. We had a very fun time in Cleveland.<\/p>\n MB: What happened in Cleveland?<\/p>\n BC: (expectant pause) We\u2026played a fun show\u2026.<\/p>\n JA: Hung out at America\u2019s Best Value Inn.<\/p>\n MB: Wow, you guys are CRAZY! Hot tubs and\u2026<\/p>\n JA: We fuckin\u2019, we were like running around the hotel and someone set off an alarm\u2026<\/p>\n AC: Yeah we were playing Sardines.<\/p>\n JA: Do you know the game Sardines?<\/p>\n MB: No.<\/p>\n JA: Sardines is basically hide and seek but instead of everyone hiding, one person hides and you go and you try and find them, and if you find them you just hide with them\u2026<\/p>\n AC: Until there\u2019s one guy left wandering around\u2026<\/p>\n JA: \u2026going like: \u201cHas everyone else just left me?\u201d<\/p>\n BC: We hid in a water closet thing.<\/p>\n JA: We hid in a laundry closet thing. A water closet\u2019s a toilet.<\/em><\/p>\n BC: Oh is it? Sorry, I thought that was a waste closet.<\/p>\n MB: That\u2019s also fitting.<\/p>\n BC: We stayed in a Motel 6 in Salt Lake City, and, I watched Ash-I thought Ash was getting violently assaulted and I watched out the hotel window and was just kinda like: \u201cAh, ok, let\u2019s just see what happens next and then deal with it afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n AC: Story of my life really. Leave Ash outside and see what happens.<\/p>\n BC: Well I thought out of all of us you\u2019d probably deal with it best. I thought you\u2019d probably come back from it kind of.<\/p>\n AC: This isn\u2019t the first time this has happened to me.<\/p>\n BC: Because if I was assaulted in a Motel in Salt Lake City I think I\u2019d just, you know, I think I\u2019d just give up.<\/p>\n MB: What was actually happening? You weren\u2019t being assaulted\u2026<\/p>\n JA: The Mormons were taking over.<\/p>\n MB: You guys played in Seattle, I was actually in Seattle when you guys played but I couldn\u2019t make it.<\/p>\n JA: Ooh, that was a fun show.<\/p>\n AC: Actually I think Seattle was my favorite city.<\/p>\n MB: Really?! I\u2019m from Washington so, a bit of pride there. I was emailing with Cheryl Waters from KEXP<\/a> and she wanted me to tell you guys hi because she had a really good time.<\/p>\n All: Awwww!<\/p>\n JA: Yeah, we really liked Cheryl! She was really cool.<\/p>\n AC: We got a lovely photo with her.<\/p>\n BC: Yeah she\u2019s awesome, that session was really fun.<\/p>\n MB: Well I\u2019m glad you guys liked Seattle, just had to kind of rep it and tell you guys hi for Cheryl. You guys did SXSW too, how was that<\/p>\n BC: It was all quite intense.<\/p>\n JA: It was kind of hectic.<\/p>\n All: We didn\u2019t have much time to do anything.<\/p>\n AC: It\u2019s so hectic that you don\u2019t see Austin. It wasn\u2019t until the day after, when we did like a hangover show, that we actually realized that there was a city behind South By.<\/p>\n MB: Yeah I\u2019ve heard a lot of mixed things from musicians, but it\u2019s like a thing that\u2019s really honorable to do.<\/p>\n JA: Yeah it\u2019s nice to be asked to do it.<\/p>\n AC: It\u2019s nice to have the wristband.<\/p>\n MB: Yeah? You gonna frame it? You\u2019ve kept them?<\/p>\n BC: The CMJ one we could wear as like a lanyard, but the South By one was constantly on our wrists and we started to kind of look like fourteen year old festival goers because we just had wrist bands going all up our arms.<\/p>\n JA: Do you know what it does to a person having a shower with the same thing on your wrist every morning? It\u2019s very stressful.<\/p>\n MB: It\u2019s gets very smelly too.<\/p>\n JA: Well, I made a point of shifting\u2026<\/p>\n MB: So it didn\u2019t get the gross watch smell.<\/p>\n JA: Yeah, I didn\u2019t have the kind of, arm decay, because, \u2018aint nobody got time for that.<\/p>\n MB: I read an interview that said that while you guys were writing and recording your first EP and album you were working during the day. What were your day jobs?<\/p>\n BC: Um, I worked at a restaurant in South London, which I quite promptly got fired from.<\/p>\n JA: You painted canvases white!<\/p>\n BC: Oh, I was an artist\u2019s assistant in London, and then after that I worked in a restaurant as a waiter and I was probably the worst waiter they\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n JA: He got fired because he didn\u2019t know what was in the risotto bowls.<\/p>\n BC: I\u2019d just make stuff up, people would be like, \u201coh, what\u2019s this?\u201d and I\u2019d kind of go (glances sideways, mumbling) \u201coh, ch-ch-ri-chorizo, with a bit of\u2026rice and cheese and cream and paprika\u2026..\u201d and then I kind of would say things like: \u201coh, they put paprika in everything here.\u201d Which they did.<\/em><\/p>\n (All laugh)<\/p>\n JA: Make that the tagline!<\/p>\n BC: There were some complaints about me\u2026and I\u2019d forget things and a woman once asked for cheese on the side because she was lactose intolerant-<\/p>\n AC: Why would she still get cheese on the side?<\/p>\n BC: And then I grated loads of Parmesan on top of it-<\/p>\n JA: At the table!<\/p>\n BC: Yeah, I put it down and was like (makes grating motion) and she was like: \u201cWhat the fuck are you doing?\u201d and I was like: \u201cParmesan! On your risotto!\u201d<\/p>\n JA: I just worked at a pub. I basically served these guys. I would just kind of like hang out there all day and nobody else would come in and they\u2019d come in and be like: \u201cCan I have one of the soups?\u201d and I\u2019d be like: \u201cYeah.\u201d I got to wear a nice shirt though.<\/p>\n MB: Oh!<\/p>\n JA: It was short-sleeved, and it was kind of maroon-y<\/p>\n AC: I visited you and you looked very fetching in that shirt.<\/p>\n JA: I did. Yeah, I did, I looked nice. I looked like a nice boy.<\/p>\n MB: Ash, what about you?<\/p>\n AC: Um, I draw baths for children.<\/p>\n (Silence)<\/p>\n MB: I don\u2019t believe you.<\/p>\n JA: No, he does, it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n MB: I\u2019m sorry, you what?<\/p>\n AC: I draw baths for children.<\/p>\n BC: Please explain a little bit.<\/p>\n MB: Yeah, can you, um, that sounds, just, creepy.<\/p>\n AC: I\u2019m a glorified manny.<\/p>\n JA: What\u2019s worse is there like, 14.<\/p>\n AC: These kids can\u2019t fend for themselves.<\/p>\n MB: But that\u2019s all you did? You didn\u2019t like, feed them, or take them to the park? You just bathed-well, you didn\u2019t bathe them\u2026<\/p>\n AC: No, I took them to the park<\/p>\n BC: You took them to the fish restaurant and made a fuss.<\/p>\n AC: I took them to the fish restaurant, well, that wasn\u2019t me that made the fuss – I took them on a run in the park, I took them to the drum shop because we had a free day, I took them to the, eh, oh, what\u2019s that bike race called that goes through Paris?<\/p>\n All: The Tour de France?<\/p>\n AC: I took them to the Tour de France because it came through London and we had a day out, it was great. But yeah, glorified manny. Put glorified manny.<\/p>\n MB: Ok, so, glorified manny, bartender, and shitty waiter. No offense.<\/p>\n BC: Oh, no, it\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n MB: So I\u2019ve read that there\u2019s kind of a movie concept thread running through the new album, but what was the inspiration for the lyrical scalping of Win Butler<\/a>?<\/p>\n BC: I was walking with Jonny like years ago and I just kind of said the lyric to Jonny and was like\u2026that\u2019s a thing.<\/p>\n JA: We used to talk about Win Butler\u2019s hair. We used to be very, uh, we used to dress kind of, wonderfully<\/em> in a just appalling <\/em>way.<\/p>\n MB: Like in suits?<\/p>\n JA: No, we were part of the whole London teenage thing where everyone would wear very tight jeans and really fluorescent shoes.<\/p>\n MB: I don\u2019t know that movement.<\/p>\n JA: Oh, it was a real thing. It was the underage scene in London and we used to really like Win Butler\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n MB: So you don\u2019t actually dislike <\/em>Win Butler, in fact, you loved <\/em>him.<\/p>\n JA: Yeah, we loved him.<\/p>\n BC: I just thought one day it would be quite funny, because Win Butler at that point had a hair cut, and it was the <\/em>haircut and it was part of his thing, and I thought it would be quite funny to cut off part of his head, and wear it.<\/p>\n (Silence)<\/p>\n MB: So in interviews you guys are often pretty self-deprecating of your own music-I\u2019m guessing that\u2019s mostly an act? Or do guys actually kind of feel like: \u201cHow the fuck did we get to this place? How are we successful?\u201d<\/p>\n JA: Are we successful? That\u2019s news to us!<\/p>\n All Laugh<\/p>\n AC: We\u2019re doing an interview in a toilet.<\/p>\n BC: So you\u2019re asking, are we actually surprised? Yeah, I think we probably are.<\/p>\n MB: Ok, because I figured, oh, they\u2019re self-deprecating, they\u2019re just British, whatever.<\/p>\n AC: Yeah, it\u2019s partially the British thing I guess\u2026<\/p>\n BC: But lastly, when you leave, we\u2019ll all stand in this mirror and go: \u201cWe\u2019re very famous. We\u2019re very famous.\u201d<\/p>\n AC: There\u2019s a story in there somewhere.<\/p>\n MB: So, I\u2019m not going to ask you guys about the \u201cY\u201d in the spelling of your name because I know you guys get asked that all the time-<\/p>\n JA: The Beatles<\/strong> is the answer to that question.<\/p>\n MB: No! That\u2019s not the question! It\u2019s an announcement actually, because I know you guys mentioned that there\u2019s a band in Finland (Happiness), the hardcore band that is spelled normally, but-<\/p>\n AC: Are you going to start the lawsuit? Is that what you\u2019re announcing?<\/p>\n MB: I will, but I need to start two <\/em>lawsuits because there\u2019s another band in Rhode Island that\u2019s called Happiness, normal spelling, and it\u2019s three guys from Deer Tick\u2026<\/p>\n JA: Fuck. Them. When did they start that?<\/p>\n MB: I don\u2019t know, but they\u2019re just in Rhode Island, so if you guys wanna just take a car like, a bit north, you can kill them while you\u2019re here.<\/p>\n AC: But wait, now we <\/em>can start the lawsuit!<\/p>\n JA: It would be very <\/em>hypocritical of us to start the lawsuit.<\/p>\n BC: That\u2019s very interesting you told us that.<\/p>\n MB: I just felt like I needed to tell you; I didn\u2019t want to start any drama but-<\/p>\n JA: The drama is RIFE.<\/p>\n BC: I think we may have started before them.<\/p>\n JA: I really hope. Cuz like, if you just google the word \u2018Happyness\u2019 band<\/p>\n MB: Well, which spelling?<\/p>\n JA: Oh, that\u2019s a good point\u2026 Well, they must have found the Finnish heavy metal band\u2026so they\u2019re fucking<\/em> assholes.<\/p>\n BC: I\u2019m going to pretend this conversation never happened.<\/p>\n MB: I\u2019m still going to put it in\u2026<\/p>\n BC: You\u2019re like God.<\/p>\n MB: Are you from London proper, or are you just based there?<\/p>\n All: No, we\u2019re from London.<\/p>\n MB: Well, you never know, you could be from\u2026<\/p>\n BC: Greater\u2026<\/p>\n JA: Croydon\u2026<\/p>\n MB: Devon\u2026<\/p>\n JA: My Mum and Dad live in Devon!<\/p>\n MB: I hear it\u2019s very nice.<\/p>\n JA: It is nice!<\/p>\n MB: Do you find that that\u2019s a big part of your identity? Like I feel like there are bands that really identify as an American <\/em>band or \u201cWe are a British <\/em>band. That is intrinsic to our identity.\u201d Or do you just happen to be from there.<\/p>\n JA: We just kind of happen to be from there. The amount of people who when we started were like: \u201cOh! The scene in London is so great right now!\u201d We were kinda like \u201cuhhhhhhhhh\u2026..\u201d<\/p>\n BC: There were a few people who were really trying to make the South London thing happen, and were like \u201cSouth London band Happyness, from South London!\u201d It was like\u2026ok.<\/p>\n MB: I\u2019ll just put \u201cgeneral English band.\u201d<\/p>\n JA: (chuckles) Yeah, \u201cNon-descript English\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n BC: \u201cNon-descript, trans-Atlantic band.\u201d<\/p>\n MB: I had a question about your song-I listen to BBC6 like, everyday when I\u2019m at work, and Marc Riley<\/a>\u2019s my favorite, but I never <\/em>hear him play \u201cMarc Riley in a Karesansui\u201d<\/a> and I\u2019m always really pissed off! Like, \u201cwhy won\u2019t you play this?!\u201d<\/p>\n BC: He never has! Can we speak to him about this because-<\/p>\n MB: I want it to be his new intro song!!!<\/p>\n BC: I think he might have not found it very funny\u2026.<\/p>\n MB: But he takes the piss out of himself all the time!<\/p>\n BC: The session we did with him was actually really fun, and we actually did really well.<\/p>\n MB: He just seems like such a sweet dude\u2026<\/p>\n BC: No he was really sweet, he bought us some beers and chocolate, which was really nice.<\/p>\n JA: I think it was too long for the radio, but they asked us to make a jingle, and we did it, and that\u2019s why we did it, and then they never put it on the show, so we were just like\u2026<\/p>\n MB: Wait, so you actually made it for <\/em>them?!<\/p>\n JA: Yeah! And then they never put it on the show.<\/p>\n MB: I\u2019m gonna have a word; I mean, not like we know<\/em> each other, but maybe….<\/em><\/p>\n JA: Email him! Say: \u201cMarc, big fan. Where\u2019s that song?\u201d<\/p>\n MB: Ok. I\u2019ll do it. I\u2019m glad you guys were worried about that, because I was.\u00a0If you guys had some kind of freak accident and could not play music, what would be your fallback plan, aside from waiting tables?<\/p>\n BC: I\u2019d probably quite like to run a small delicatessen somewhere?<\/p>\n AC: City farm.<\/p>\n JA: Like a petting zoo.<\/p>\n MB: We need those.<\/p>\n BC: Actually, my deli could be part of the city farm.<\/p>\n MB: You could slaughter the animals and use them as the deli meat!<\/p>\n JA: That\u2019s the only reason we\u2019d be growing them in the first place.<\/p>\n BC: Ooh yeah, and we could name it, we could say (puts out hand as if to serve a sandwich) \u201cthis is Persephone the pig\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n JA: Angelo, the camel.<\/p>\n BC: Peter, the boa constrictor.<\/p>\n JA: Hey, I\u2019ve got a penny from the floor of the toilet!<\/p>\n MB: Oh! That\u2019s good luck.<\/p>\n JA: Yeah that\u2019s good, urine-y luck.<\/p>\n MB: Do find there\u2019s a big difference between the audiences you play to at home and here?<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>