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Maximo Park.
 Ah, the life of an indie pop star: doing laundry that has built up from the previous tour while looking at the cranes and scaffolding of a construction block next door. But it's a life that Paul Smith, vocalist for Newcastle's (UK) Maximo Park, is content with.
"It's not too bad, the sun's shining for a change," he laughs,."I come from a small town an hour away from Newcastle. Lots of songs are from the point of view that nothing happens in my town and then you move to a 'big city'. Newcastle is still quite small in comparison to London but I'm well occupied.
"There's a nice community feel [in Newcastle] but there's still a sense of independence so people can develop on their own and develop a unique sound. There used to be all lame groups imitating American accents or Oasis and you think, 'If it already exists, why bother repeating it?' People were curious about me singing in my own accent, but that's the most normal thing in the world. Why would you want to sing in someone else's accent or forge some new odd accent that fits into the rock pantheon?"
Despite a seemingly negative attitude conveyed towards Newcastle and Smith's hometown on 'A Certain Trigger', Smith is obviously a proud Geordie and admits, rather sheepishly, that his favourite emotion is love. "People have been writing about it for so long because it is so untouchable and unexplainable. There's a lot of anger and frustration on the record but what comes across most on the record for me, when I sing the songs, is the euphoria or joy of the final product. Quite a lot of the songs are about transforming yourself or getting away from bad situations. Like Limosol: I've never been there, but people dream of an escape and solace. I think the most positive emotions are what really drive the record."
As the sole lyricist for Maximo Park, Smith believes that every lyric is important and the title line from The Coast Is Always Changing is no exception. "I love going to the sea, the land is disintegrating at the edge of any island. Things don't change on a day to day basis within a city, but when you get out to the coast you realise how elemental the whole experience of being alive is," Smith explains. "You can't control the sea, there's no way of dominating it. I feel a lot of different emotions at the sea."
Interest in Maximo Park is growing steadily from sold out in-store appearances to a Radio 1 festival where the lads played alongside Gwen Stefani and Black Eyed Peas.
Meanwhile at their in-store appearances, crowd surfing has, strangely enough, been commonplace. "I like in-stores, it makes for a nice atmosphere in a record shop; the people are die-hard fans so there's a great atmosphere. People were going crazy, crowd surfing in the record shop. We actually broke the record for stage invasions at the University of London which, when you consider we're not a metal band and not known for the moshing..." Smith trails off. "It's interesting to see what whips people into a frenzy."
And what article on a 'new band' would be complete without an explanation of the cryptic band name? Having researched 'Maximo Park' and finding myself entangled in the Cuban Revolution, I figured it best to just ask Smith himself.
"We're named after a park that Duncan [Lloyd, drummer] saw on a documentary where loads of old guys play dominoes. He saw it as an idyllic place, a place where people had a voice in conversation. He was in a band at the time where the lead singer had a bit of an ego so everyone was shouted down, so he saw a democratic approach within it [Maximo Park]. It's nice to have the revolutionary undertones too, since I believe that we're treading new paths. I suppose it's just representative of a communal thing where everyone can communicate within a group."
Cassie Hilditch
 | 'A Certain Trigger' is out now through Inertia. |
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