British pop trio London Grammar burst onto the music scene last year with a debut album, If You Wait, that peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart. The band originally came together in London ( where else? ) in college with Hannah Reid and Dan Rothman. Dominic "Dot" Major joined the group a year later.
Since then, Grammar has not only released solo work but was featured on Disclosure's album Settle; in addition, a cover of INXS' "Devil Inside" was highlighted on trailers for the hit show Game of Thrones.
Windy City Times went backstage at Lollapalooza to talk with Rothman and Major before a very rainy set.
Windy City Times: Hi, guys. Sorry Hannah is on vocal rest until she performs in a few minutes. I saw you last at Lincoln Hall.
Dan Rothman: That was a while ago.
Dominic Major: I remember playing there.
Dan Rothman: That was our favorite show of that tour.
WCT: You met fans after the show, which I find admirable.
Dan Rothman: That is very sweet.
Dominic Major: American fans enjoy that interaction, which we find is really cool. In some places it is less common. Maybe it is a cultural thing.
WCT: Now you are playing this huge performance space. It is like a monster!
Dan Rothman: I am really scared now.
Dominic Major: We haven't really seen the monster yet.
Dan Rothman: Now that you say it, I have some fear.
WCT: Get ready. You came together as a band as school friends?
Dan Rothman: Yes, we met at college. We were in the same classes, then started jamming. That was it.
WCT: Let's talk about Hannah behind her back since she is not here. Did you think she was an incredible find with that voice?
Dominic Major: Dan found her.
Dan Rothman: Yeah, I found her. It's like I'm Simon Cowell or something! You know what? She's amazing. I have been able to watch her grow as an artist. She was inexperienced. Me and Dot had both been in bands as kids, I know they were just school bands, but we played gigs. Hannah had never done anything except sung at school and done musicals before that. This was something that was a really new thing for her to be involved in. With both Dot and her I am very lucky to be in a band with two incredibly gifted people. Obviously I am very gifted myself [all laugh]—no I'm not, but I can wax satirical about Hannah a lot when she is not around.
WCT: After this, where do you see the group going? Possibly even more electronic sounds?
Dominic Major: We already have electronic aspects to our music. I think we will explore even more avenues. I know that may sound stupid. We definitely touched on certain things on the first album that we want to go down even further down the road on the second album.
Dan Rothman: There are things we do live from the first album that we want to make bigger. It feels more dynamic even when Hannah sits down at the piano to play intimate venues it feels more of a down moment but in a good way I mean.
Dominic Major: It is quite consistent, which is what we wanted at the time. I think on the next record we will make the highs even higher and the lows even lower than the last one we did.
WCT: Your song "Strong" is very dramatic. Working with an orchestra must have been a dream.
Dan Rothman: Yeah, Hannah and I in particular have been into cinematic music and orchestral things. We will keep doing it and we love that.
WCT: How about a movie soundtrack?
Dominic Major: We would love to but first we need to make another album.
WCT: Have you noticed a gay following at your shows?
Dan Rothman: Particularly in the States and at home as well. To be honest, I think we have been very lucky to have a really wide spectrum of people, with sexuality, gender and age as well, which is lovely. We have parents dragging their kids to our shows. You can tell after a few songs if it is the parent listening to us.
Dominic Major: We are thankful to have that.
WCT: HBO's Game of Thrones used some of your music?
Dominic Major: We covered a song for them.
WCT: That's great exposure. Were you fans of the show?
Dominic Major: Dan is a huge fan.
Dan Rothman: Hannah is trying now and she is getting into it. I've forced that issue that we should do that song.
Dominic Major: It was huge for us.
WCT: Speaking of big exposure, how was opening for Coldplay?
Dominic Major: Amazing. They were absolutely wonderful to us. They are massive and one of the biggest bands in the world. Everything they say is a fucking life lesson. It was fascinating and really interesting. They were very kind to us.
WCT: When are you coming back to Chicago?
Dan Rothman: We are not here for a while, which is crazy.
Dominic Major: Maybe we will stop by. We love it here. We can hopefully swap a day in, you never know.
Dan Rothman: We will be on the East Coast, so maybe around then.
Follow the trio on www.londongrammar.com for future updates on concerts and recordings.
