Here come the warm jets
London's Mystery Jets have youth on their mind. Brooke Salisbury catches up with twenty three year old William Rees about writing, making and playing Twenty One
As Dr Phil or Oprah may agree over coffee, having a healthy father-son relationship doesn't always translate well in a band environment. Sharing Christmas lunch together is one thing, but hitting the road for international tours is quite another. Mystery Jets guitarist William Rees agrees. "Henry [Harrison, Blaine's father and former second guitarist] has always been a massive part of the band. He was there from the start in the writing, recording and touring. He's given us so much guidance and you can't put a price on that, but we got to a point where we realised, ‘Hey, we're young: there's stuff we want to do on tour that just can't happen when you have a parent around.'"
The band released the album Twenty One in May and have been touring through England since. "We were on the road for six weeks and by the time we got home we nearly died. It was nice to do it on our own; to know we had it in us."
And did they achieve the ultimate in Henry's absence? "Yeah, I guess you could say we accomplished our mission. We did some very youthful things," he laughs.
Since releasing their debut Making Dens, Mystery Jets have gone from being prog poster-boys to a pastel wearing pop band, unashamed of their commercial success. "A lot of people consider making pop to be lazy or boring- we've no idea why. When we wrote the album we sat down and consciously decided to make pop music. Everyone wanted us to be a prog band, but we're young and we want to do different things. The music we're making is fun and exciting to play and write."
Fun and excitement are two decisive things on the 'Jets agenda. The boys have known each other since ‘nursery school' and have a decade's history playing together. Responsible for the heralded White Cross Revival parties of Eel Pie Island, London, they've always had a vexed interest in the social side of life. Hell, Blaine Harrison was M.I.A for our scheduled interview and young William had to step in and save the day.
"It's not the first time, either! Blaine is the irresponsible one in the band. That's the downfall/advantage of knowing someone since you're kids: you get away with a lot."
And with that, Rees disappears into the London morning. Perhaps to write music, perhaps to strangle Blaine Harrison. "I'm going back to sleep actually," he laughs. "It's 10am and I'm a rock star. We get to do this kind of thing, right?"
Twenty One is out now through Warners.