Bristol quartet My First Time’s impulsive, cutthroat songwriting has earned them a major label deal with Parlophone. Here, they tell Kerrang! the secrets behind their daft, abrasive lyricism, their mystery synth player and why everything’s about to get “faster and louder”.…
‘Fuck you, it’s my first time.’
In the middle of Brand New, a song that worships performative reading and full-fat milk, one relatively ordinary lyric stands out. Before the fierce second chorus descends into mosh-pit mayhem, this line neatly explains the propeller that drives My First Time (and possibly named the band) as it’s squawked by vocalist Isaac Stroud-Allen.
“Trying new things for the first time, and that excitement that you get, it’s a freshness that keeps on going,” explains Isaac, who’s in a bullish mood today.
“We're open to pretty much anything,” adds guitarist/producer James Mellen, speaking to Kerrang! alongside drummer Jordanna Forsey and bassist Niamh ‘Naia’ Jones. In the form of My First Time, this snappy quartet who assembled as students in Bristol – “like the Avengers” – are going for the jugular.
Formed as a vehicle to have fun, their sound belongs to both the sweatboxes and gigantic festival stages. Indeed, K! caught this rabble of noise-punk scaring all the seagulls out of Brighton at The Great Escape’s Beach Stage in May.
“Hopefully as the crowds get bigger and the songs get faster and louder, everything goes on an upward trajectory from there,” grins Naia.
“The ceiling is maybe higher than we initially anticipated,” agrees James. Onstage, the four operate in lock-step with an underlying sense that everything could go pear-shaped at any given moment, making for a gloriously unpredictable “wordless conversation” with the crowd.
“That half an hour I'm onstage is probably the most present I feel in my life,” declares Naia. “I'm completely locked in, for want of a better phrase!” It’s a sentiment shared by Jordanna, the quieter one of the group. “[Letting] loose onstage, nothing else matters right now, apart from every note that I'm playing. It feels great,” she adds.
At points, My First Time come across like a younger version of Bristol legends IDLES, if they replaced Joe Talbot with Mickey Mouse. Isaac’s fascinating, explicit vocal style is surely the group’s not-so-secret weapon, while he’s backed by a sound that takes influences from snarly post-punk, pop structures, electroclash and stomping, old-fashioned riffs.
Isaac’s lyrics are “an examination of interests”, he explains, often looking to the outside world. Take their rampant new single Bodybag, which is about a “theoretical deal with the devil”. Or two unreleased tracks that K! have heard, which respectively reference Isaac’s village pub night and a book about “monkeys that would climb up trees and steal wine”.
“If you strip [humans] down, I would probably still be boozing as well, if I was a monkey,” he suggests.
Sceptics might be quick to pigeonhole My First Time into the post-punk umbrella, but the nucleus of their sound goes far deeper.
“Rock is important, but it can exist [without] typical guitars, long hair and shouting,” says Naia, who takes more inspiration from rock’n’roll’s rebellious, political nature than its sound, necessarily. James, meanwhile, brings his “fascination” with electronic pioneers Justice, The Chemical Brothers and LCD Soundsystem to the table.
“What’s possible with just a computer?” he asks. “I find that quite interesting – how can we create a traditional rock song and give it a different angle?”
From the ridiculous Wind Up Merchant to the frenzied Better Off, it’s notable that few existing My First Time tracks dare to cross the three-minute mark.
“Even if the sounds are quite abrasive or the lyrics are quite explicit, we still try and write with a pop sensibility,” reveals James, who probably doesn’t listen to heaps of Tool. “No-one wants to hear a six-minute song by us.”
“You want to cut to the point,” affirms Isaac. “Here it is, and then it's over before you've even got the chance to wrap your head around it. You're going for the second listen, the third, and then you'll probably stop and turn it off.”
Everything about My First Time leaves you ravenous for more. Their witty personalities, their spontaneous songs and even their live show – where a mysterious fifth member known only as “tracksuit man” or “Bez” will often make an appearance on synth for a grand total of one song. It’s not quite Sleep Token or PRESIDENT, but K! goes in search of some answers.
“He drinks a lot backstage,” teases Isaac. “It's quite funny, because he's just by himself for 30 minutes… he’s the brains behind the operation.”
“It's funny that this is his whole bit, [because] he’s a very talented musician. He grew up playing classical piano,” adds James. Will ‘tracksuit man’ play any further part at future shows? You’ll have to come and find out for yourself, warns Naia.
“He's like Father Christmas. If you wish hard enough, he'll be there.”
As they continue to toil away in the studio, My First Time’s key ingredient is to keep surprising themselves, while having as much fun as possible. To sum up this ethos, we need only directly quote Isaac on Bodybag: ‘Don’t be such a square.’
“You don't want to be boring,” urges Isaac, with an imaginary raised eyebrow. “The most important thing, no matter what we're doing, is to never be dull.”
My First Time’s new single Bodybag is out now via Parlophone
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