Long Read // The Subways lead singer Billy Lunn on twenty years as a band, mental health and music and the endless thrill of playing live.
Speaking to the ever-enthusiastic lead singer Billy Lunn of indie stalwarts The Subways via a Zoom call, we joke about the trials of modern technology which made him do the call at his girlfriend’s flat on this second attempt where he doesn’t have to war with the wifi. This year sees the twentieth anniversary of their phenomenal debut album ‘Young For Eternity’, most notably spawning their signature hit and indie night staple song ‘Rock & Roll Queen’. With such raw, indie rock n roll tunes, their live shows are full of unadulterated, youthful energy that twenty years later has not diminished one bit.
Speaking of crowd surfing, I tell Billy nostalgically that I was at their Cambridge Junction gig in 2008 when their second album ‘All or Nothing’ was released and crowd surfed for the first time to which Bily describes the sheer joy and escapism of crowd surfing as a performer: “I am truly honoured that your first time crowd surfing was at one of our gigs! I love it. I really do encourage it. That experience of being held aloft by your people. It’s so exhilarating, isn't it? It's the sheer sort of adrenaline rush, I think, when you're up there!”. I ask if he has any funny stories of his crowd surfing antics: “There's one that always crops up and I think it's because I experienced a series of emotions in a really short space of time. So we were playing at the ABC in Glasgow on the ‘All or Nothing’ tour. My manager filmed a video of it and the picture ended up as the front cover artwork for the ‘Alright’ single!”.
Another memorable crowd surfing anecdote: “It was at Rock City, I’m being pulled in all directions so I'm kind of like this starfish, instead of helping me get back on stage, one person just decides to slap me right in the crotch. I'm like, what are you doing? There was another incident when we're playing the Bournemouth Fire station where we've played every time we've got on tour. On the day of the gig I thought, I've got a little bit of money, I'm going to buy myself a new pair of shoes! So I went out, bought myself a nice new pair of Nikes that I wore on stage. When I got into the crowd, someone ripped them off my feet the first time I wore them and they are gone. When I’m wearing my Converse on stage now, I tie them around my leg. I’m not losing my shoes. Not a chance!”. A great tip for any novice crowd surfers out there.
Expanding on the band’s live performances, he added: ‘We kind of wanted to do the whole daredevil thing. Speaking of which, you know, when we were touring ‘All or Nothing’, that's when I sort of reached my full confidence on stage, sneaking my way out to the balcony, diving into the crowd because when we were touring ‘Young For Eternity’, we were still kind of getting to grips with everything. It was just this whirlwind, we're kids, we've made a record. We have no idea what's going on, and we're learning things, gig by gig”.
Set for release later this year, their compilation album ‘When I’m With You’ features a new version of ‘Rock & Roll Queen’, which they have wryly subtitled ‘Taylor’s Version’. Delving into the album, what can fans expect: “What we've decided to do is frame the best of us as if it were a festival set. So we just piled all our favourite songs, all the songs that we think go down best when we play live and put them on a record together listing each song as we would play it in the set, with songs like ‘Oh Yeah’ at the start and ‘Rock & Roll Queen’ at the end. Instead of album versions, we've used the single versions where possible”. Billy reveals there are two brand new songs as well, which are going to appear on their future sixth album, which he hints at being released next year, and that it's the first album that they’ve made with new drummer Camille Phillips.
In terms of inspiration, Billy and the band are giving a nod to a true modern superstar: “We decided to call ‘Rock & Roll Queen’ “Taylor's version” just because we're all huge Taylor Swift fans. The thing I love about here is that she seems almost boundless in her endeavours. She has unashamedly pursued this whole idea of being the biggest artist in the world, which I think she's definitely achieved”.
Looking ahead to their upcoming November tour, Billy is super excited to be playing some smaller venues again, like the iconic Electric Ballroom in Camden: “I hadn't been back in 15 years when we played there on the anniversary tour, and walking into that bar area is just so cool. I remember Charlotte and I must have been there in 2002 or 2003, we went to see Caesars. I fell in love with the band then and shortly after that they had that big hit ‘Jerk It Out’. There were only about 20 people in the room at the time and I was right at the front!”
Having been open about mental health struggles himself, Billy is also an ambassador for a mental health charity. We discuss the relationship between mental health and music, and the crucial need to save grassroots music venues, such as The Horn pub in St Albans where they cut their teeth on the circuit: “I look after myself and it's because of music. It's not just because I want to be able to make music and making music is a necessity for me. It's not something that I choose to do, it's something fundamentally that I need to do, to be able to categorise, apprehend, and understand myself and the way that I live in my life. Music has helped me understand the relationships I have in my life, I remember writing ‘Mary’, which is on our first record, about my Mum as a way for me to understand her and our relationship. It helped me understand my mom's struggles and how it's brought us closer. Music has been a way for me to see the universe and to come to terms with it, come to terms with who I am, my relationships and my decisions throughout my life. We shouldn’t distance ourselves from the importance of music and the importance of arts”.
Small venues serve such an important purpose, not just for new bands but also as a form of escapism and camaraderie in difficult times. Billy reminisces: “The place where we played our first gig, where we met all our best friends was the Square in Harlow. It closed when the Tory Council stripped that place for parts and built luxury flats on top, because they knew that the art was a way to hold people in power to account, but it was also a place for people to find themselves, to know what they were and the importance of society”. The venue also saw other notable local talent Enter Shikari and George Ezra play their first gigs there and its loss is great to the town.
Expressing his sheer excitement at playing live again, he describes the giddy nervous energy he stills gets before every show to this day: “My mentality is to imagine no one in the crowd has ever even heard us before. You’re always creating a first impression at every show!”. It’s this passion after twenty years in the industry that makes The Subways such an enduring rock and roll force to be reckoned with.
Words by Brendan Sharp
