Some songs being mixed and mastered at the moment; Your Blood, Fighters, Microphone, Fever.

Ready.

Hi,

It’s been a while. How’re you doing? Here’s a little list of things to do with us right now.

* We gave up myspace. There’s some songs HERE. New ones might appear sometime.

* We’re supporting CULTS at the Lexington in London on the 25th of February. It’s sold out.

* We have recorded a lot of new songs. Some of them you might never hear.

* I bought a very expensive guitar pedal.

* We are playing with ECHO LAKE on the 19th of February at the Old Blue Last.

* We were in NME, Guardian Guide and we were on The Fader

* We’re playing at The Roundhouse on the 24th of February.

Luv y’all x

Check out that. It’s from the new issue of Loud and Quiet which is on your streets at record shops, good bars and other places around the UK. It’s our first print interview and that was our first press shot.

I’ve been recording this E.P. and we have a drummer now so we’re prepping for some shows in November.

Other cool things:

Andrew Cedermark - Moon Deluxe

Glasser - Ring

Salem - King Night

Three new albums making a grab at being my favourite of the year.

I’m honoured once more that Jamie Harley has brought my song to life. Here is ‘Rumours’.

We did an interview with Throw Me Away recently. The whole thing is in Swedish. Here is a translation:

Hi Hari, thanks for doing this! How are you, what have you been up to today?
 
You know what, it’s a beautiful day in London. The sun is out and it’s warm so naturally I have been indoors recording. But now I’m sitting on my balcony in the sun about to drink some wine.
 
Quick question: Why did you change your name to Prizes?
 
It was a legal thing. Here are some of my favourite band names from our list that didn’t make the cut: Princess Diana, Wild Bees, Butlers In The Buff, Hot Candles.
 
For those who haven’t heard of you, how would you describe your music?
 
It’s the sound of putting your head underwater in a hot tub and listening to slow jams being pumped out of the jet stream, sun beaming above, and legs all around you.
 
You started off as a solo project? Or are you still?
 
I’m like the clever kid in school who gets allocated group work. I record the songs myself and then everyone else joins in for the presentation. Me and Noam (who plays sampler/keyboard) have worked together on a remix and I think we will keep collaborating now.
 
Would you like to tell me something about the song writing process? Is the rest of the band involved?
 
I sit on my bedroom floor, spread all of my equipment out and add layer on layer until it’s done – or until I get pins and needles in my leg. It usually takes about two hours to write and record a song. That’s how long Canada took. I read somewhere Phil Collins writes his songs in 30 minutes. So I need to trim it down if I want to write my ‘Sussudio’.
 
When I saw you live at The Social a little while back, you played the drums, and I’ve seen some pictures of you playing the guitar – what’s your instrument of choice?
 
The piano is my favourite instrument to play although I have never played it live - I still write everything on it. It’s a treat when I get to go home to Devon and play my piano that I’ve had since I was a small boy. Playing drums is the most fun instrument though. I’m a Jack of all instruments, King of nothing.
 
I asked Tom (How To Dress Well) this question too; my brother, who’s a musician, said that people either listen to the rhythm, or to the harmonies of music (at least at first). It’s either the rhythm or the harmony that triggers them. What about you?
 
I’ve always been into rhythm, even my vocal melodies are really rhythmic – and the way a band like Dirty Projectors use rhythm in their vocals absolutely slays too.
 
And in relation to that, you work a lot with harmonies, which, at least to me, is a big part of what makes your sound distinctive. Could you tell me something about how you work with that?
 
Harmonies are a huge part of my songs. It’s almost a comfort thing now, singing with two or three harmonies going on. I find them hugely satisfying, it makes everything bolder – I’m really into chords, I never liked playing solo guitar, I enjoy the way things melt together or clash when you use a lot of chords. But when I work out my harmonies I never sit and work out thirds or anything, I just sing them and see what happens.
 
In my interview with HTDW, he also mentioned being pretty excited about what is happening with music in general right now and spoke of all the innovation and creativity going on. Do you agree?
 
I had lunch with Tom last week and we talked about this. The changes in our generation are so huge, especially for music, the way there’s this crossover point where all music seems to be meeting, but it’s also like an end point for music – so much is sampled and reworked now it’s like everything is existing to be a comment on the past.
 
What are you influenced by right now? Do you read blogs and stuff?
 
I am always influenced by the moods of things, images or sounds in everyday life – which is why I get so excited by using a sampler.  As for websites, way back in the early 00s Pitchfork introduced me to a lot of stuff and a couple of music forums too. The internet is amazing for discovery.
 
A lot of artists have blogs, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook… What do you think about Internet and/or blogs as playing such a big part in music (especially the DIY-scene), both in sharing and producing it?
 
It evaporates the mystery. You don’t need to know what a dude in a band is having for lunch or how hot he is on the tube.  Tumblr blogs are cool though, it means you can post new ideas and photographs – although I think some artists get overexcited and post a new song every other day, which is exhausting for everyone.
 
Any particular track with Prizes you like or that is special to you?
 
I made an album last year made up of just samples and me singing over the top but my US label couldn’t clear it so it won’t ever come out but I’m still fond of some songs. I sampled stuff like Dylan, Bowie, YouTube and all these crazy African guitars and stuff.
 
A new song I’m working on called ‘Rumours’ is pretty special to me.
 
What do you have planned for the near future, musically and personally?
 
There’s so much going on – so many exciting shows, festivals and stuff. I’m working on a hip-hop style mixtape that is going to have some insane guest vocals and samples and stuff. I’m really excited to finish that.
http://www.throwmeaway.se/artiklar/prize s

We play in London tommorow night for the first time at The Social with Memoryhouse, Visions of Trees and How To Dress Well. You are all invited. My boy Jamie Harley has made some video to drape over us while we do our stuff.