Interview - Copy Haho

Stonehaven band Copy Haho have been making wonderfully catchy indie songs for a few years now. Three critically acclaimed releases later and they are about to embark on a European tour. I chatted with Joe and Richard from the band about influences, the Aberdeen music scene and Jager bombs.



You are touring Europe with Los Campensinos in March, is it your first time?

Joe; It is indeed our first time touring Europe! We're all very excited! I'm looking forward to speaking French, German, Dutch and Flemish very badly, through a microphone, on stage.


You have a fairly close working relationship with Los Campesinos!, how did that come about?

Richard; A band Joe and I were in ages ago exchanged a few messages with them on Myspace. This was years ago. Then a while later, I was talking - well, typing - to one of my Last.fm 'friends' who turned out to be Neil, from Los Campesinos!. We 'met' through a shared love of Silver Jews. Total fanboys. We played with LC! together in Edinburgh last year and kept in touch. They're just really awesome people, so it's a pleasure to hang out with them and play some more shows together. Total bros.


I hate to ask it, but Copy Haho? Where did that come from? Or is it a Biffy Clyro situation and you are going to answer something different every time?

Joe; Me and a friend from primary school used to mess around with Ouija boards on Gallows Hill in Stonehaven (and old execution ground in Dunnottar Woods). Anyway, prior to getting in way over our heads we asked the board to spell out the name of my friends dead rabbit. Instead of spelling Raisin (yes, a weird name for a rabbit), it spelt Copy Haho... which made absolutely no sense to either of us.


Your influences are hard to pin down, with your sound ranging from indie-pop to math-rock. Who influences you?

Joe; That's quite a compliment, as most people are usually pretty quick to draw comparisons (of varying accuracy). Like any band, what we're listening to can change pretty drastically over the course of a year or two... so it's hard to say what's influenced particular songs/releases. At the moment i'm listening to pretty much the whole of the Hockey Dad roster (The Bloggers, Defektors, B-Lines etc) Dead Ghosts, Pure Ecstasy, Atlas Sound, The Go-Betweens and Guided
By Voices. I think we're all pretty obsessed with The Go-Betweens at the moment.


What are your plans for 2010? Can we expect the debut?

Joe; We're in the process of writing some new songs, with a view to record them as soon as humanly possible, so hopefully we'll have a record out later in the year... I'm hoping we can try out some of the new songs in March, but we'll see how it goes...


You are from Stonehaven. It's fair to say bands from Aberdeen and the surrounding areas don't get enough attention from the media, so who do you recommend?

Richard; Kuda is a really great MC in Aberdeen. Carson Wells are also from Aberdeen, and are really promising - enjoyed the two shows that I've seen of theirs.


From your Twitter I've gathered you like a bit of Jagermeister. How do you make the perfect Jager-bomb?

Richard; There's only one way, right? Not too fussed about energy drink brands. Pouring a shot of Jager in a glass of Red Bull isn't a Jagerbomb. You've got to have the glass-in-a-glass thing going on.

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Copy Haho - You Are My Coal Mine


Copy Haho - Pulling Push Ups




Copy Haho are supporting Errors on the 25th in Glasgow. They are playing Tunnels in Aberdeen on the 4th March, Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh on the 5th, and The Captain's Rest in Glasgow on the 6th, then embarking on their European tour with Los Campesinos!