An Interview With Bloc Party

So much has already been said about Bloc Party, from the early clamor around “She’s Hearing Voices” right up through today’s release of Silent Alarm. All that hype is tough to live up to, but Silent Alarm definitely delivers. It’s one of the best things we’ve heard this year, and we can’t wait for Bloc Party’s sold-out appearances at the Bowery Ballroom on April 7 and 8. Needless to say, we were pretty excited to sit down and chat with guitarist/lead singer Kele Obereke and drummer Matt Tong a few weeks ago. Fresh off of performing at the Motherf*cker party, they stepped away from VH1 Classic for a few minutes to talk to us. This interview was done in conjunction with our friends at OneLouder.
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Are you surprised by the reaction you’re getting in New York?
Your shows were sold out well before the album’s release date.
Matt Tong: It’s the downloading that’s going on.
Does that bother you?
M: I remember the people who are singing the words
[laughter] and we meet them afterwards.
Kele Obereke: We get the roadies to go out and shut
those people down. We give them the shakedown. [laughs]
Is there any concern from you or your label about downloading? Some artists are worried about losing sales, but you’ve sold out two shows at the Bowery Ballroom.
M: Complaining about downloading really seems to be the province of people like Metallica; immensely successful people who want more, more, more.
K: I read somewhere that Madonna was really worried she wouldn’t be able to give her kids an education because of people
downloading her records. It’s really ridiculous.

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