Prior to the release of Only The Poets‘ debut album And I’d Do It Again, we sat down with Andy “Roo” Burge and Marcus Yates to talk about how their album came together, favourite songs, and upcoming events after the launch.

You guys have got your debut album coming out. How excited are you? What are the emotions?

Andy: Yeah, it’s definitely been a lifelong dream to release a debut album. We’ve been a band for so long, and we’ve waited for the right time to do this. It feels exciting, and it feels kind of surreal to be here. I think — still, Marcus was saying earlier — it kind of still doesn’t feel fully real. I think, until it’s like maybe the day it comes out, maybe when it comes out eventually, it will, but it’s, yeah, it’s crazy. It’s a crazy time.

Marcus: Yeah, it’s funny. We’ve all been just rehearsing at the moment, so we’ve been in this little rehearsal room. We’re only seeing each other. We’re kind of really not connected to the outside world at all. But we got to hold the vinyl for the first time yesterday, and that was a surreal moment. But, like Roo said, it’s a really exciting time. We’re very proud to even get the opportunity to do it.

I’ve heard it, and it is a really, really good album. I really like it.

Marcus: Oh, thank you so much. That’s so nice. Thank you.

What are you guys’ favourite songs off the album?

Marcus: It’s hard because this changes.

Andy: Yeah, it does change. At the moment, my two favourites are a song called “Freeze,” which definitely has a cool instrumental side to it, and then another song called “Bad,” which maybe brings out the live element of our band a little bit more and maybe a slightly rockier vibe. I’d say those two are maybe my favourites so far.

Marcus: My favourite songs have been “Guess She’s Cool” and “Thinking About Your Ex,” which have been more electronic-leaning. But, as Roo said, as we’re getting into live mode and getting to play these and getting ready for the live show, I think “God Knows Where You Were” has been my favourite, and I’m really looking forward to that. So that’s actually turned into a favourite of mine.

Andy: What about you? Did you have a favourite?

I really liked “SAY!” when I first heard it. I was listening to the album again all morning, and I really like “Freeze” now. Like, I really got that one today.

Andy: Yeah, I love that. Love that. It’s a big tune.

Marcus: I do love “Freeze” as well.

What song were you guys most excited to play live? Because I imagine it’s quite different playing it live with the crowd.

Andy: Oh man, yeah. I think my answer is still maybe “Freeze,” actually. I think the bass part in that is a lot of fun to play. And it’s like I get to kick on this mad effect that sounds crazy. So that one’s a lot of fun for me.

Marcus: I feel those three—”Bad,” “Freeze,” and “God Knows.” I think “God Knows,” where it’s positioned in the set and how it’s feeling. I think I’m most excited for that one, thinking about it. It feels like we’ve arrived almost. It feels very special for the show.

What’s the songwriting process behind an album? Because I know you guys have done EPs before, but not an album yet. So is that any different?

Marcus: You know, we thought it was going to be super different, but on the writing side, it kind of all came together quite quickly, and it was very smooth. Yeah, I think before we kind of were in EP mode, like you said, we never really thought, like, “Okay, we need to now start writing the album”. I think “I Keep On Messing It Up” we made, and then we were like, “Oh, this actually could be an album.” And then we looked at these tracks. We’re like, “I think we have an album.” We recorded a few more that didn’t make it, obviously, because you got to make it like a cohesive body of work. But no, it’s been a journey. It’s been really fun creating a record. We’ve never had to do that before, so it’s been a lot of fun. I feel like you’re not really learning from experience because it’s the first one, if that makes sense.

Yeah. And would you guys do a “demos” type album like you did before? Or like, how you guys released “Black and Blue” after One More Night? Would you guys do something like that with the songs that didn’t make it in the album?

Marcus: Probably. I mean, that’s a good question. We’ve always done stuff like that. I think we’re kind of in an album mode right now, but you know, knowing us, we’ll probably want to put more music out, and we’ll probably end up doing something like that. I actually haven’t thought about it until you said, but yeah, that’s a good idea.

Which song was the hardest to write or create as a whole?

Andy: We have a few that maybe had some different like iterations along their lifetime. I think “Bad” is a song that I said maybe was my favourite. I think that song actually went on quite a journey to end up where it is today. And it definitely wasn’t as straightforward as we would have hoped on the production side of things. Marcus, do you want to explain that?

Marcus: Yeah, I think that took loads of different versions. That nearly didn’t make the record. So that was a tough one. It’s hard. Like lyrically, I know Tom was talking about how “Madeline” was a tough song to write because it was very emotive for him. But it actually lyrically came together really quickly, in like 10 minutes. So maybe on that front, it wasn’t hard. In the sense of it took a lot of time, know what I mean? So it was hard emotionally. And I think the whole record is filled with a lot of honest moments like that. So it was hard to maybe wear his heart on his sleeve as much as he did. But on an actual time basis, “Bad” was one. “You Hate That I’m in Love,” which is actually one of my favourite songs on the record, we did about 10 different versions of that. And normally, in the past, we would have given up, and maybe it’s not meant to be a thing. But we kind of stuck at it, and we were on version 10, and we were like, “Oh my god, I think we’ve cracked it.” And then it ended up being a single and ended up being like one of my favourite records, favourite songs on the record. So yeah, I’d say “Bad” and “You Hate I’m in Love” were the two toughest production-wise and band-wise.

So you say that Tom found “Madeline” very emotional to write. Are there any songs that you guys relate to or feel emotional towards?

Marcus: Yeah, I mean, “Madeline” is a tough one to listen to. But I like that. It’s smack bang in the middle of the record. And we’ve done some listening parties, and it’s very uplifting. The thing with Poets’ songs, a lot of them are emotive lyrics. They can be kind of a bit depressing, but it’s kind of… The juxtaposition of super uplifting is kind of always been what we’ve done. But “Madeline,” I remember every time we’ve played it, you feel the energy in the room just reach a different place because it’s just really ‘heart on sleeve’ kind of stuff. So I think we all kind of we all relate to multiple parts of the record directly. It’s all of us together. I mean, Tom’s the voice of that, obviously. But yeah, I think we all take different things from it. That’s always been a good part of it.

You guys are also doing the Brixton show for £1. I saw that announcement, and I was like, “This is so cool that you’re doing it.” What like inspired that to make it £1 and make it specifically at Brixton?

Andy: Well, on the Brixton side of things, I think that’s always been our dream venue. Like, when we grew up, when we’d want to go and see our favourite bands, it’d normally be at Brixton Academy. So I think I’ve got a lot of memories seeing my favourite bands there over the years. And I think it’s my favourite venue in the world, maybe. It’s beautiful. It’s sloped so everyone can see. It’s just like a great atmosphere in there. And I think we want it to be Brixton for that reason. And also, it’s obviously quite a big venue. So we also wanted everyone that’s been a part of our journey to be able to come if they wanted to, because it’s kind of like a celebration of, obviously, the album, and our journey so far. And as far as the £1 thing goes, basically, I think at the moment, with the cost of living going up, going to live music is becoming more unaffordable and inaccessible. And we wanted to be able to give a chance for that to obviously not be the case. And growing up going to concerts, like we mentioned, especially in our local area, you could go to see three or four bands for a couple of quid in Reading. And I’ve made friends and bonded with people and had that escape to go and get out of the house and make, create friendships and grow bonds with people. And so I think for your mental health, it’s good to get out and go to gigs. And like we said, it’s becoming more unaffordable. So being able to bring those two things together, giving people a chance to get out of the house, maybe be inspired, maybe make some friends, and also be able to come and celebrate with us, obviously, the release of our album.

Marcus: And adding to that, we’ve always wanted to do low-income tickets. It’s always been part of our journey. So, even when we first started, we wanted to set aside tickets for people who can’t afford them, because we do believe that music should be accessible for everyone. That’s always been our ethos. So, when it got to the album, like Roo said, it’s like, we wanted it to be a big moment that everyone could come to. Brixton came up; it was our dream to play there. And normally, going to a gig at Brixton Academy, it’s like £50 to see a band now. And if there’s like a family going there or it’s like 2 friends, it’s the same as if you’re getting the train to London and going to a gig, it’s the same as a holiday now. It’s just the sad reality that we’re living in. So like Roo said, if we could get people to come together and celebrate that, and raise the conversation, we feel like it’s really important to start to make it more accessible for everyone. But if someone can come and feel inspired and get the opportunity to go to an event that they couldn’t normally go to, of course, we should do that. You know, it’s good. People are talking about it now. I think that’s what we kind of wanted. We wanted to celebrate it, the album. We wanted to give someone the opportunity to come and see the show, but also, most importantly, to start raising the conversation of how it shouldn’t be like this. You know, it’s getting really bleak. We need live music. We need gigs.

Andy: Also another point on that is that, without supporting local venues as well, which obviously, as we mentioned, is like quite a big part of what we stand for — without local venues, you don’t have bands. What happens to music if you can’t cultivate new music and young people coming up wanting to be in bands and perform live, or, you know, just be live? Live music is such a massive part of it, and we need to look after it, maintain it, and work out a way that it could be more sustainable.

Yeah, I think you guys did a great job with it because everyone was talking about it when it was announced. That was really cool.

Andy: Oh, that’s good.

You guys have also announced that you’re looking for supports for that show. Can I ask who you might be thinking of, or is it too soon to say?

Andy: Well, it’s too soon to say. I think the application is still open.

Marcus: Yeah, do you know about this? We’re doing a battle of the bands. Have you seen this?

I’ve seen something about it, yeah.

Marcus: So, we wanted to give the opportunity—like we said—music in general, for fans and for musicians, is becoming more and more difficult. Like, we grew up playing a lot of shows up and down the country and supporting artists. And I think it’s harder and harder now with lots of, you know, independent venues closing and stuff like that. So, we wanted to put on a battle of the bands at Purple Title, where we’ve done about 20 gigs. I think four or five bands or artists will get to play in front of our fans, which will be a good opportunity for them. The fans will then pick someone to support us at Brixton two days later in front of 5,000 people. And we wanted to pick an independent, unsigned artist who might not get that opportunity, because we got very lucky with the support slots we got. I mean, we’ve never played Brixton Academy. It’s been our dream. So, if we can give that to someone and give them that exposure, that’s what it’s about. And I’m really excited.

Andy: Yeah, it just seemed like the best opportunity ever to be able to give that chance. Like, when I was growing up, playing in local Battle of the Bands was the end goal. Like, you’d apply to play Battle of the Bands, and if you got through to even play the thing, you’re like, “Oh my God, we’re playing a gig.” Like, you didn’t even care about the prize. And the prize was maybe, like, a day in the studio or some local sort of opportunity. So, to be able to offer a Battle of the Bands where the prize is to play Brixton Academy, I think it would have blown my mind as a kid. And the fact that we can offer that seems like it would have made my dreams come true. So, let’s do it. I’m as excited for that band or artist—I don’t know why, but I feel so excited for whoever it is to be able to get to do that with us. It’s going to be amazing.

Yeah, that’s definitely going to be really fun to watch. You guys are also opening for Arthur Hill at Wembley?

Marcus: Yeah, yes, we are.

I had just come back from his show because I was doing photos for it, and I saw that, and I was like, “Oh my God,” like, I know you guys! It’s like, what the hell? That’s so fun.

Marcus: Well, we played Reading and Leeds, and he was on the same stage as us. So we met him there. I think we have some like mutual friends and stuff like that. But then that opportunity came up, and he’s a great guy. He’s a great musician. So the fact he’s doing Wembley, and we get to play that is… That’s crazy. It’s crazy because it’s like we’re in this mad period now where we’re just so ingrained in the album and Brixton and all of that. But to know, like, we’re in this lucky position now, where in April we’re getting to play Wembley. Yeah. That’s actually so mental. We can’t wait, man. It’ll be great. It’ll be a great show.

Where do you guys see the band in 5 years?

Marcus: That’s a tough one. The thing is, I think we’ve never really thought too far in the future. I was thinking about this because we would talk with the album being called And I Do It Again, we’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on our journey on as a band, and I feel like it was like we took the risks we took. But just doing it out of pure love for music and who cares what happens. We’re just pursuing the journey, and we’re doing it for the journey. So, I mean, I have no clue where we’re going to be in five years. I think all we’ve got to do is just keep, if we get the opportunity, just recreating art that we’re proud of and keep performing and doing stuff that we’re proud of. And I’d love to do a few more albums and get to do that. I mean, the first one isn’t even out yet, but like, get the first one out of the way and let’s see what the second album and 3rd album will be like.

And would you guys do another smaller tour? Because the last one you did, it was like the first venues you’d played at, I think. Would you do something like that again? Or are you thinking “Let’s do a bigger headline tour?“

Andy: I think there’s definitely a chance we could do, we can do all sorts of things. I think that’s like the nice thing about it — is that having the choice to maybe sometimes do a more intimate thing, is sometimes actually more fun. So I think, because I think the sentiment with before was obviously the album being called And I Do It Again, it was like about going back to our roots and doing the things where we first did and when we first started out. So, but yeah, no, I can definitely see us doing small gigs and bigger ones. Like, that’s always part of the fun of it.

Marcus: Yeah, I think that’s kind of been a common theme. If I look back at our biggest shows, we’ve always done something really small the next day or the day before. So thinking about it, I think we’ll always do that.

Andy: Like we’re playing Purple Turtle on the Saturday, and then we play Brixton Academy on the Monday. That’s quite a difference.

Marcus: We’re just chasing something constantly. It’s like, we need to make it more intense.

Okay, to round it all off, you guys talk a lot about mental health, in general, and in your songs. Why do you think it’s so important to spread awareness about that topic and talk about it?

Marcus: I mean, being like, especially for being a man, like I think we’re very lucky in us four. We’re all very open and talk about our emotions and how we’re feeling. And I feel like it’s really important to do that. I think just to raise awareness of it and talk about it as much as we can. I feel like we’ve said it at a lot of our shows, and we had a song saying, it’s okay not to be okay. I think people find escapism in our shows. And if we have a voice to even just have that conversation and talk about it, I think it came kind of naturally for us. But I think, especially the times we’re living in now, I feel like it’s as important as ever to talk about it. But we’ve always done things to give back and help where we can. I think that’s very important. And we’ll always try and do that when we can.