Delphic's frontman James talks cerebral song titles and musical influences

Polydor darlings Delphic became an overnight sensation with the release of critically acclaimed album Acolyte, frontman James Cook took time out to talk to me about the frenzy.

James met band-mates Matt and Rick on the Manchester music scene when he moved up from Cornwall seven years ago, “we were in bands writing music for others and making music we didn’t like when we thought we should do something for ourselves.” Explains James about the bands humble beginnings “at the time, everyone was playing the same guitar-based music and it was a bit of a lull.”

Since last year, Delphic were prominent on the festival circuit, pushing the release of the album in January this year. This earned them a slot on the much coveted BBC Sound of 2010; “it has all been a bit of a whirlwind, it seems to have moved really quickly. Having worked on it for two years, the first year was all about writing the album. We escaped to a cottage in the Lake District with only a guitar and a keyboard. It was freezing and we had no TV so we spoke a lot. That’s were we get the creative spark from, a song is 98% made up of talking, crafting an idea.”

To the average Jo, it seems that the band came out of nowhere; “about a year ago it all blew up and the industry came down, causing a ruckus like they do but we wanted to keep gigging and keep it on the down-low so we grow organically.”

The band is currently on tour of the UK, but will be heading off Sweden, Germany, France, Spain and Italy as part of their European tour, “we’re playing at the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, which is scary - last time we were there it was a load of trouble with big Alsatians! The European crowds are great; we went from playing small venues to playing two-hundred capacity venues. The crowd are really supportive and get into it with the first twenty rows jumping around; they’re not there to judge you, just to have a good time.”

The widely reviewed and critically acclaimed album has been well received from musos and fans alike; “we couldn’t have hoped for better. All the broadsheets got behind it. It’s a weight off our shoulders so we can think about the next record and not get bogged down with the last one – we got a good team behind us.”

For those who are familiar with the album, they would notice the use of Latin and Ancient Greek used in the titles, “Rick was going to study classics, but that’s got nothing to do with it. We liked one word titles and it fitted the concept. Acolyte means biblical follower but we changed the meaning as we’d just come out of uni and were trying to fit into society and believing that there is something out there.” James explained.

The band plan to release an EP or single towards the end of this year, which they will record in the summer, with an album expected in 2011. They plan lots of festival appearances again this year with Glastonbury, Australia, USA and Japan on the cards; “the Japanese are non-reactive but fully supportive; they just clap their hands.”

James talked who he would like to collaborate with in the future; “Chemical Brothers are a real inspiration and loved the track they did with Noel Gallagher. Wouldn’t mind doing something ethnic, there’s an African street band that play in Piccadilly Gardens [Manchester] who are really cool and I just watch the guy dance!”

Huge musical influences can be heard through the album; “Doves Lost Soul and Radiohead’s OK Computer were inspirational, we wanted to make intelligent music like that.”

James talked about his future career; “I won’t think we’ve made it until we’re five albums down the line and all the albums follow a concept and gel together like David Bowie or Bjork, they even kept a theme with their album covers!”

Catch Delphic at a venue or festival near you over this year and by the album Acolyte, available at all good and bad record shops.