Interviews

Mark Bowen – IDLES ‘New Art For Real People.’

Will Oakeshott

Jan 2, 2025

7 min read

“Unless you expect the unexpected you will never find it, for it is hard to discover and hard to attain.” – Heraclitus.

It is arguably one of the most fascinating aspects to the astonishing art-form that is music, discovery. Whether from the artists’ viewpoint discovering a chord, beat or crafting lyrics that opens their creative minds to new platforms of sound and expression; or there is the enthusiasts’ perspective. Their discovery of a new band, artist or song can come from an array of channels including: Radio, television, film, online, social media, streaming, live shows, festivals, family, friends and even other musicians’ recommendations.

For this writer, the last method was exactly how the indie art punk band from Bristol IDLES were discovered. Keith Buckley, the vocalist from the now defunct southern metalcore outfit Every Time I Die (and current for MANY EYES) shared the video for ‘Colossus’ from IDLES’ sophomore LP Joy As An Act Of Resistance soon after its release in 2018. Undeniably, this was an unexpected avenue to finding an outfit who instantly became a favourite for this scribe.

When discussing this revelation with guitarist and producer Mark Bowen from his home in Belfast, the charming Irish gentleman lovingly smiles with immeasurable sincerity at the admission.

“Oh, I mean, that’s so cool – Keith Buckley, from Every Time I Die, he is a fan, which I thought was really cool! Lee (Kiernan, guitarist) got me into hardcore and stuff like that. They were a sick band.” Mark responds excitedly.

From his eager reply, it seemed necessary to ask Bowen what his most unexpected or strangest discovery may have been with finding out who else was surprisingly an enthusiast of the post-punk quintet?

“What’s the weirdest? There’s been some really weird ones. The weirdest one, the weirdest was…” He trails off in deep thought before having an ecstatic “light bulb” recollection – “There are these guys called ‘Dick’ (Richard “Dick” McCourt) and ‘Dom’ (Dominic Simon “Dom” Wood). They present like a kids’ TV show in the UK, and they’re big fans. They’re always wearing IDLES’ T-shirts and coming to shows. They’re famous for this thing called ‘Bogies’, where they shouted ‘Bogies’ in random places really loudly, which I guess is kind of IDLES-y. I guess, yeah, the shoe fits.” He expresses in laughter.

Continuing with the TV series theme, the five-piece were able to expand their fanbase further thanks to the inclusion of their brilliantly brash indie punk on the award-winning and widespread critically acclaimed program Peaky Blinders. Besides the shows international success, the devotees to the British period crime drama are conceivably the most impressive, featuring Academy award winning director Michael Mann, esteemed rapper Snoop Dogg and even the late David Bowie (who also featured on the soundtrack). With such high praise from some of the elite in film and music, it plagued this writer to enquire how Mr Bowen felt about this honour and if he had encountered some more rather remarkable personalities as IDLES adorers?

“I mean, it’s pretty amazing. When you’re in a band, especially when it’s picking up steam; you’ve still got these things where you’re watching scenes in a movie or a film, and there’s like, a riff or something like that, you are kind of like: ‘How cool would it be to be involved like that?’” Mark admits with an infectious eagerness and slight disbelief in his voice as that dream had obviously become a reality, then elaborates further – “I think it was used very effectively in the show, both ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’ and ‘I’m Scum’. It’s very cool to see your music fit in with someone’s intention around the scene and to fit in with the narrative and all that. It’s such a big thing and such a cool show. It was very cool to be involved. He continues – “We’ve had Anthony Byrne, one of the directors, he comes to a lot of our shows now. He’s a great guy.”

TANGK the quintet’s fifth studio full-length released this year (review here) received critical praise and has once again, deservedly placed the British-Irish (BritIrish?) boys into the Grammy spotlight with three nominations for 2024: Best Rock Album, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for their single ‘Gift Horse’. Revisiting the quote by the famed ancient Greek philosopher at the beginning of this article, Mark Bowen actually experienced the “unexpected” element when undertaking his role as producer on the record also. His collaborative producer and acknowledged mentor on the release, Nigel Godrich, known for his indescribably futuristic and prestigious production on records by Radiohead guided IDLES into a universe of musicianship that not only pushed their boundaries as musicians, but they also entered a new entrancing echelon of artistry.

“Dream come true. I mean talking about people approaching people whenever; in 2009, I bumped into Nigel at Glastonbury and came up to him and fanboyed all over him, ‘I love everything you have done!’ Was certainly uttered by me.” Mark explains with a gleaming sparkle in his eye, beyond elated about this enterprise that occurred and then carried on with boundless fervency – “And then God knows how many years later, like, 12 years later, we were working together on From The Basement, and he was taken with us, and we were taken with him. I mean, I’m a massive, massive fan, like, I’m a huge, huge Radiohead fan, specifically. And it just felt like a great opportunity, especially with where we had gone on TANGK. I think that, like you know, my fandom of Nigel Goldrich is fairly apparent on Crawler and the production side of things, and his approach to production. So, it was a great opportunity to learn a lot off him.”

The five-piece have announced their third tour of Australia in support of album number five (New Zealand is also experiencing ‘The Idles Chant’ on this journey); but having played every sized venue known to the live music world, from Glastonbury to a glorious NPR music tiny desk concert, it is a wonder on how IDLES perceive their Aussie followers?

“What I love about it is the is like there’s an ability for Australians that is quite similar to Irish and Scottish crowds, where there’s like the switch to become uninhibited and go with the flow and kind of really, like ramp up. It’s a lot easier to get for you guys. And because of that, it feels like there’s like a kindred-ness going on. I think that our Australian shows are always like a Glasgow show or a Belfast show or a Dublin show. There’s a similarity between those that I think it feels like a good camaraderie, if that makes sense? There’s a great music scene over there. And I think there’s a healthy venue scene as well, that’s like, building up. So, it’s always great to play. We’re just always fucking completely shot, we are kind of like ‘I don’t know what’s going on?’” Mark Bowen sings out in a giggle.

Get ready to expect the unexpected.

Interview by Will Oakeshott @TeenWolfWill

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