The band’s name is an oxymoron: Idlewild. As hackneyed and
inexpressive as most band names are, this one seems to mean
something.
Idlewild has punk roots and a lead singer who is heavily into
literature. It’s a Scottish band with American influences
that is much more popular in Scotland. So, maybe the band
isn’t really a walking paradox, but it is an indie rock
critical darling. Acclaimed for the lyrical rock of its last two
albums, including the recently released “The Remote
Part,” Idlewild is set to play this weekend’s
Coachella. The band will share the bill with some of the American
groups who influenced its members.
“I had a sort of musical epiphany when I was 13 or 14 (and
living in South Carolina), discovering all these bands, Sonic
Youth, Black Flag, the Minutemen, I just didn’t understand it
so I liked it,” said Roddy Woomble, Idlewild’s lead
singer. “I moved back to Scotland with all these records that
no one had heard of, because there were no record shops in the town
I grew up in. So I had all these bands and I discovered a lot of
other stuff, because when you get into bands one thing leads to
another, and eventually you’re obsessed with it.”
The thing that has set Idlewild apart from other across the pond
purveyors of post-grunge and helped the band find a fanbase is
Woomble’s interest in literature and his maturing songwriting
skills.
“I’ve been interested in the written word for years
now,” Woomble said. “Poetry and novels and letters and
stuff like that. It’s not like I claim to be any kind of
academic or not that I seek divine inspiration from certain types
of people, it’s just that if something inspires me, be it a
film or a record or a live gig or a poem, I take something from it.
It’s like a mixture of all the things I’ve taken from
in the past year make up “˜The Remote Part,’ plus of
course my own opinions and thoughts and stuff.”
In addition to Coachella, Idlewild is opening Pearl Jam’s
upcoming tour that starts at the end of May. “The Remote
Part” is garnering the boys of Idlewild more good press, and
Woomble thinks their plan to win over the United States is more
organized than past efforts. It’s more gradual and paced out
than previous tours, and the new record is better.
Idlewild continues to move forward because Woomble subscribes to
a similar formula for success as Ed Burns in his new movie.
“I think I’m just more confident really, as boring
as it sounds I think that’s pretty much it,” Woomble
said. “It took me a long time to accept the role that I had
of being the singer and the lyricist. I still have days when I
wonder why I do it and some days when I don’t, and I guess
with “˜The Remote Part’ I just felt more comfortable
with what I was doing and I think that comes across in the songs.
Because they make more sense, really. I’m not slagging off
what we did in the past, but I think things we’ve done before
were slightly more oblique. These songs are straightforward, but in
the best possible way.”
With reports by Andrew Lee, Daily Bruin Senior
Staff.