BBC Somerset Sound's Jonathan Bennett caught up with the lads just before the gig to find out more about the band and their music. You can listen to interviews with Thirteen Senses, and their support New Rhodes, as well as see photos of the gig, by clicking on the links at the top of this page. Is this the first time you've been to Somerset? Tom: It's the first time we've been to Glastonbury. Apart from the Festival, that is. Adam: So we're looking forward to it. We've been supporting Embrace for the last month, so it's cool to go back to doing some of our own headlining shows. What was it like supporting Embrace? Will: It was amazing. Tom: Embrace are a band that we've loved since their first album came out. So it's like a dream come true, supporting our idols. And they're great, lovely people. What do you prefer headlining, or supporting larger bands like Embrace? Tom: Well, the crowd reaction's different. With another band's crowd, you're constantly trying to impress so it's fun for that reason. With a headline show, you expect something different, because the crowd knows the songs, which is probably more fun where everyone is singing along. Adam: It's all to do with what stage you're at. At the moment we need to do some more support. We've got another tour with The Charlatans coming up, but ultimately we want to be doing our own gigs and tours. What's your music modelled on? Adam: I don't know. Sometimes we have trouble answering this. I guess it's based on old-fashioned British song-writing - really good melodies, good tunes, interesting subjects. Pretty songs. Emotive and thoughtful. What's the inspiration behind your music and lyrics? Will: Pretty much anything and everything that stimulates an emotion or a feeling. Tell me more about Thirteen Senses. Where did the name come from? Will: It's a boring story. We had a terrible first name - Soul Magician. We realised it was an awful name after about a year and struggled to find a new one. We found in my book of lyrics that Thirteen Senses was a name of a song and thought it sounded OK. Tom: It seemed to fit our musical style. Will: We didn't instantly think: 'Wow, this is the greatest name.' We just thought: 'Well, this is better than all the rest.' It's grown on us now. You've had some chart success already. What's your plan to progress that now? | "We're not the sort of band that you can have on in the background. We write songs that draw and suck people in and we try to keep them there." | | Thirteen Senses |
Adam: We're going to see how it goes. How we've been doing everything so far is geared towards building for a long time rather than chart positions, and so we haven't been pushing for anything yet. Things have been stepping up song by song though. We're just hoping that, when we release the next single, which is Thru the Glass, in January, there'll be a lot more people who are aware of who we are, and that it will get more coverage than previous songs as a result. We're hoping it will then sell more records and that will get us a number one! What's it like being on Radio 1? Will: Cool. I remember the first time I heard one of our songs on the radio - it was brilliant and just felt cool. Adam: The coolest thing though was when me and Tom were just out driving in the car and we were talking about being on the radio. We turned it on and Into the Fire came on. What can people expect from a Thirteen Senses gig? Adam: There's a difference from what we do on the record. It's a lot more edgy. We've always wanted it to sound really good - we're not trying to create the same as the album because we want something different. I heard that you had a pretty heavy night last night as it was your last night with the Embrace tour? Adam: I think the night before was worse. I ended up a little more drunk that I thought I would be. Tom: The record label took us out for dinner to have a chat about stuff, so obviously the bill was on them. Every time I ordered a drink, I got three - a zambuca, a red wine and a beer every single time. Will: I ordered the most expensive whiskey on the menu - like £15 for a glass! Do you live the stereotypical rock life? Adam: We act completely our normal-selves. We just do what we want to do and enjoy ourselves. We don't act in a certain way for a reason, or to look cool or anything. Do you hope to play at Glastonbury Festival one day? Will: Yeah, definitely - it's a great Festival. Tell me a bit about your album, The Invitation. Will: About half the songs are piano-based and about half guitar-based. There's a journey in there, a roller-coaster ride. There's a mix between some really old songs and new ones - there's one that we played at our very first gig. But there's also some new songs that we wrote just before we went into to record it. There's an interesting feel to it and some interesting instrumentation too. What's next for you? Tom: Our next single is out in January - Thru the Glass. Hopefully that will give the album a bit of a boost and then we'll just keeping on touring and gigging. Are you still based in Cornwall? Will: We all moved up to London about six months ago, as it was just too difficult travelling for five hours, say for a meeting. In five or six words, tell me how you'd like someone to sum your gig up. Tom: That was the greatest thing I ever saw in the world ever. How many words was that? Will: Amazing. Inspiring. Mind-blowing. Emotional. We want people to feel like they've been a part of the music. Adam: I don't think we're the sort of band that you could have on in the background as incidental music. You do have to get involved and a lot of the songs are written in a way so that they draw people in. And that's what we want to do: suck them in and keep them there... and then milk them for every penny that they've got! | 
