InMe played Derby's 1st Floor on August 12th. We sent local Plus One player Jim Hall to pick their brains before the gig. Find out about band member departures, the highs and lows of touring, Sophie Ellis Bextor adoration!, and whatever else Jim managed to probe out of them...

The impressively sized InMe tour bus was parked in the compact car park of Derby's First Floor venue on a warm Sunday evening. As I ventured inside for an interview I noticed the interior had the feel and look of a conventional touring 'home' Read: masses of everything with little room to fit it all in. InMe main man, the tattooed Dave Mcphearson eventually clambered down to greet me amongst spluttering coughing. Clearly struggling with a sore throat I was wondering just how up for answering my questions he would be, what with the doors for their gig opening in less than half an hour and time tight also. Squeezing into a corner and clearing a little space among the mess, I was about to find out...

Plus one: So, to start things off, do introduce yourself and tell me of your role within the band.

InMe: I'm Dave and I'm the singer and guitarist.

Okay, so InMe have returned with a new line-up and awaiting album. Talk me through the departure of Joe Morgan [Former Bassist] and acquisition of Greg Mcpherson. [Current Bassist]

Well, we'd just been doing it for quite a while, I don't think Joe was enjoying touring at all. He loves being at home. I think me and him had grown apart, musically. I wanted to go a lot more heavier and a lot more technical whereas Joe wanted to go a lot more 'commercial'. And he said he might be going to Uni, so I quickly asked Si, “what would you feel about Greg being the bassist?” and he said yeah. So I rang up Greg and said, “hypothetically if Joe was to leave would you join?” and he said yeah!
Joe was going to do one last show with us, but he broke his collarbone and we just said well we need to do these other big shows so..Greg's the new man!

I sense a band wanting to prove to everyone that the passion to write music, the drive to perform live and push onwards as a band is stronger than ever?

Yeah. We're a stronger band. There's no 'ego' about us, like, between the three of us and the dynamics there. We're a very honest band, yeah stronger than ever! Apart from today when we feel like s***!! [Laughs]

Tell me about the progress of your upcoming album 'Daydreams Anonymous' Is the writing and recording progress all completed now?

It's all sorted, yeah. All ready to go!

How was that overall experience?

It was very boring, and very tiresome. I think that was necessary though. We just were really in the middle of nowhere so we couldn't be distracted. The producer was quite a task master and it was late hours, I was suffering from mild insomnia at the time, getting around three hours sleep..
So there's quite a lot of passion in the album and that's what we wanted to do, we just wanted to put everything into it.

Do you each share similar visions as to what you wish a song to sound like? In terms of the writing process. How is at all balanced between the lyrical input and musical, is there a certain set structure you hold when writing music?

I suppose there is. I wrote this album solely. This is the first InMe album like that, which was a little bit scary. Because there I was like 's*** it's my fault!'. There isn't really a formula but I generally just try to come up with some riffs, and then try to get rid of the crap!

What influences would you cite towards your own music? Either bands that inspire you in terms of your own sound or maybe ones that instilled hopes of even writing music in the first place?

Well we get some old stuff that my dad was into like Talk Talk, Pink Floyd and recently I've started to get back into Van Halen and all this great stuff from when I was a kid. For this album guitar wise Sikth have been a big influence. Just pushing me as a guitarist because I felt a bit 'inadequate' for a while listening to them!

What kind of sounds can we expect from the new album? I checked out the samples and I can hear the chunky riffs and soaring vocal work that's definitely InMe. Did you try to incorporate a progression towards the sound, any new ideas/approaches within the song writing?

Well I think every song has to be different. There's a few drawn-out, ballady type songs and there is a lot more heaviness to it as well now, and a lot more guitar work going on.
I think the lyrics are a lot more real because it's solely written by me and when one person writes the lyrics they're from the heart whereas if everyone gets involved they lose a little bit of their 'realness'.
We just wanted to make us sound like a 'proper' band which I think we've always aspired to be but we may have come out a little bit too young, when we teenagers you know?

Sure. So what kind of music do you find yourself listening to whenever you get the chance?

At the moment that new single by Sophie Ellis Bextor is one of the catchiest things I've ever heard! There's a band called Scar Symmetry, you've got the album 'Pitch Black Progress'..

Phenomenal album. One of my albums of last year!

Absolutely.
I also listen to a lot of Imogen Heap, I'm a big fan of female singer/songwriters. But then I also like Drum And Bass..

A pretty diverse range then, no set style or genre?

Yeah, sure.

Looking at your summer tour it's pretty huge, sprawling across the U.K. What sort of emotions did you get building up to it, looking at what was to come, what were you feeling?

Well, I was just going to miss me missus really. I'm not going to moan because this is the greatest job in the world but, yeah, sometimes when you're away for two weeks from your lady that can be.. sucky. I think we just really wanted to go out and really prove ourselves. This tour, the summer one, is more smaller cities, so you never know what you're going to get. We played on a beach, literally, which was awesome.

How has the tour been so far, in terms of the response to newer material and the general sense of being back on the road?

Well the response to the new stuff has been amazing. We've got eight new songs from a fifteen song 'set'. We wanted to maybe 'alienate' people a little bit so there were some people who were going
“I don't like this new stuff, I don't know it, or the lyrics.”
That makes the transition to the next album tour which is in September. By then we want people to know the lyrics and start realising that we prefer this stuff to the older material.

Talking in terms of moving forward and exploring new ideas. Do you feel pressure from the expectations of the fans constricting what you, as a band, wish to create? So in terms of the whole sound, maybe the band are excited to explore different territory yet fear the fans are worried by the changes. Or is this just part and parcel of being involved in making music?

Obviously we do what we want, regardless of the fans. A lot of people have said they prefer 'Overgrown Eden' to 'White Butterfly' yet they've stuck with us anyway because that's the album we decided to make at the time. But, all I've heard is that this album kicks the s*** out of the other stuff. There's a couple of people who've said that Overgrown Eden is better, that some songs are better than on this album. But...they're wrong! [Laughs]

So it's an album you are proud to have made then?

Yeah, definitely.

What should an InMe live show involve in your eyes?

A lot of swearing and energy! Well, today I've lost my voice a bit which should be..interesting. Just a lot of energy and passion. Just really injuring ourselves, throwing ourselves around. You're working an hour a day when you do this, apart from when you're doing press and stuff. That's all you have to do. So if you don't give it your all then.. there's no point.

What, as band, would you say your proudest achievement has been thus far? It can be anything from an unforgettable live performance or recording a certain piece of music. What memory stands out strong?

Actually last nights gig..

Where was this?

It was the Scarborough Beached Festival which was ten thousand people, on a beach in front of the sea. I think maybe ten percent of those people knew who we were so my idea was to try and fly the 'Scarborough patriot flag' to get everyone cheering. That worked, and the manager was there as well which helped!
Also I think just getting this band back on its feet. Because a lot of bands would just call it a day and go and get a 'proper' job. But we've prevailed and stuck with it because it's all we're good at really!

The single 'I Won't Let Go' is soon to be released and you guys recorder a video for it I believe? How was that experience?

The performance part was very easy and then there was a bit where I had to kind of..act. Which was a very very embarrassing and scary experience. You've got eighteen extras who you'd never met who you had to interact with them in a false environment, which was quite strange.

What are the plans for the near future of InMe is it mainly touring for the moment?

Yeah we've got a few weeks off after this tour and then we do the album tour in September. Then we're looking to a big tour support where we'll be the support band which is something we kind of miss a little bit so that will be nice. There's three very successful British bands and one very big American band that are possibilities.

Not going to divulge any more yet then?[Laughter]
So where do you want to take this band, to the very top? Is there a certain dream you've wanted way back when you first started this whole thing?

I just want to..well, it's paid my rent for the last six years! I just enjoy having the experiences and traveling is fun, I think it broadens your mind quite a lot as you meet all kinds of different people, rather than just people from Brentwood! I just want to keep doing it whilst I enjoy it which I think is indefinite. I can't say we'll be singing 'Underdose' when we're forty but I think the way things are at the moment are very healthy. Eventually it would be nice to get a mortgage and stop getting overdraft limits! I don't have any false pretenses of making millions out of this. We're not a pop band. I just want to be a success in every way possible.

Fantastic. Thanks very much for your time Dave, I hope the voice holds out for tonight's gig and I wish you the best of luck wherever this journey takes you.

[And so I exited the bus extremely satisfied with my interview. Dave had presented himself as a truly down-to-earth individual, one not wishing for anything out of his, or the bands reach, and yet who has seemingly done everything he can to hold together a band that has dealt with the tricky adjustment of a line-up change and now seems highly focused on the here and now. Professionally working through my questions, despite confessing to suffering from a rough throat and the whole band feeling ill, I learnt InMe are clearly proud of where they are at this point in their career and of the music they have created for the new album which awaits release.
Far from slipping away into the depths of the unknown, InMe are ready to hit back harder than ever and prove that their drive as a band could not be stronger.]