There are only two of you in the band. Has it always been a conscious decision to keep the line-up slim and tight?

Ian: We used to have another guitarist, but yes, I would say so. It makes things a lot simpler from a practical point of view. Sound-checks are much quicker! But more importantly I like the directness of two guitars, bass and drums. I’m into making records with lots of overdubs but I see no reason to replicate that in a live setting. At gigs we like to go for the jugular.

Do you ever see the day when you’d get a drummer or expand the line-up in other ways?

Ian: I’m happy without a drummer. We did consider it early on and there are live drums on some of the recordings, but I think the drum machine is more than adequate for our purposes. We’ve played with guests from time to time (Andrew Jarrett of The Groove Farm, Brad San Martin and One Happy Island, Pierre Sparf of Liechtenstein, Rocker) but I can’t see anyone becoming a permanent fixture. Living in different cities we find it difficult to find the time to practice as is.

You’ve played quite a few gigs in continental Europe. How was Madrid Popfest? What sets it aside from the London shows?

Ian: Madrid was amazing! We were treated very well indeed and the whole weekend was superb from start to finish, in every way. It was great to see Spanish bands like Los Autocratas and Zipper. Because it was the first ever Madrid Popfest the atmosphere was very special. There was a sort of unbridled excitement to it all that reminded me of the first Indietracks festival in 2007. It’s hard to compare it to the London edition as they are both great in their own way. I wasn’t at London this year so can’t really comment, but I guess the main difference would be that Madrid was a smaller-scale event with fewer bands.

Pete: Madrid was an incredible event. There was such a sense of togetherness and joy stemming from the fact that the nine organisers had managed to pull off something unique and magical for indiepop in Madrid. The hospitality we were shown all weekend was quite humbling and to be presented with a momento and two chocolates immediately after coming off stage was a lovely touch. I played on the Saturday as well, with The Blanche Hudson Weekend, who got the full dry ice treatment for some reason!

You put out the compilation Popkids of the World Unite! out in October of last year containing b-sides and rarities. Tell us more about that release.

Ian: We planned it for a while. Ever since we did the Frosty Cat Songs LP in 2006 we’ve released nothing but singles on many different labels and mostly as limited editions. It just seemed like a nice idea to collect them all.

Pete: It feels like a proper LP in that the songs are sequenced to fit together in that order, rather than being chronological. The only song that hadn’t been released before was our Jonathan Richman cover, which was earmarked for a Fortuna Pop! compilation. It seemed the right time to do compile the tracks.

Can we expect an album of new material anytime soon?

Ian: We’re just finishing a couple of tracks for an expanded edition of The Knitwear Generation EP (originally released this year on Fika) that’s coming out on Susy Records. After that we’ve promised ourselves a little bit of a break from gigging so we can concentrate on recording our second album. I’ve had some of the songs written for about 4 years now, so it’s about time we got them on tape! I think they’re my best songs yet. We’ll see!

How much did you enjoy playing Read and Shout recently? How important do you think having a tight knit indiepop scene in London is for these charity events?

Ian: It was an honour to be invited, and a great bill. I read a review of it that trashed most of the bands – us in particular – in a really mean-spirited way. Given that the bands played for free to support a great cause I found that deeply troubling, but there we go. Hats off to Matt for organising the day. I definitely think it’s important to have a tight knit community – all the time, not just for charity events.

Pete: It was an event we were proud to put our name to and to support. The Sweet Nothings spelt things out in song: “So be careful what you wish for/And remember what they did/Remember how they tore this land in two/They might tell you different stories but they’re still the same old Tories/And they’ll *always* put the bankers before you”. It’s just as important – maybe more important given the likely effect of cuts on people’s lives in the poorer areas of the country – to have a tight knit community outside London to organise and support voices of protest.

You recorded a split 7” with The Blanche Hudson Weekend on Odd Box Records for their Singles Club. What’s the story behind “Get Cleansed!”?

Ian: Typically for a Horowitz song the lyric is a bit oblique, but it’s sort of about embracing your flaws. “Dear former friends and lovers/I hope this letter finds you well/You said it’s not the fact of falling/But the beauty in the way you fell” It’s biblical shit man! We were delighted when Trev agreed to release it.

Speaking of Odd Box, you’re playing their Weekender on 8th May. What do you have in store for your set?

Ian: I’d like to sneak some new songs in there. But otherwise expect a lot of loud noise!

myspace.com/horowitzband

Miguel, you joined the band by replying to an 18 month old advert by Andrew for band members. Can you tell us more about that?

Miguel: I had just arrived in Glasgow and was looking for people to form a band. I didn’t know anyone here so I just scoured the records shops for adverts. I was surprised that there were not more indiepop or non-mainstream indie proposals. Back then, I thought everyone in Glasgow was like Jim Reid or Caesar. Andrew’s ad was the only one that seemed interesting to me. I found it by chance well underneath a bunch of posters and ads. His had long been covered by adverts put up by people who are probably famous now. Apparently he had given up trying to form a band by then, but thankfully he changed his mind.

You released your debut LP Living and Growing at the end of last year. How has reception to the album been?

Andrew: Although we promoted the album more widely, the reception has mainly been from the indiepop community, with listeners, bloggers and DJs (at least those who have made their feelings known) almost universally heralding Living and Growing as one of the best albums of 2010. We were fairly confident that the album would be well received but I have to admit to being really thrilled at just how highly people think of it. We would ideally like it if everyone got a chance to listen to us but, then again, it’s nice to know the possibility exists that word will gradually spread.

Miguel: I think it’s been a great reception in general. We have received very good feedback from many different sources from different countries. It makes me happy to see that we have not disappointed those who have somehow followed the band through the years, since out first single. As Andrew says, practically all the reception came from the indiepop scene, the mainstream media has kept either disliking or simply ignoring us, but we did not expect anything else really.

The Scottish Arts Council funded the album. They’ve got a great history of funding albums from Camera Obscura to Butcher Boy as well as funding Scottish bands to play SXSW. How vital were they in getting the album released?

Miguel: In brief, this album would have never been released without this funding. Not at that moment at least. I am sure this has been the case for many, probably the most, of the bands that have released records in Scotland thanks to their help. So it’s easy to get an idea of how the cuts in the SAAC, Creative Scotland nowadays, will impact on the Scottish music scene.

Andrew: Had we not been funded, we may have eventually got round to releasing an album but it wouldn’t have sounded as good. I think we would have ended up doing it on the cheap which would have been a shame.

Where was the LP recorded and who produced it? How long did it take to write and record?

Andrew: It was recorded at CaVa by Brian McNeill and we produced it with him. Brian made recording an album really enjoyable and gave us loads of ideas – yet still made the album sound like us. It’s testament to his skills that we managed to record, mix and master the album in 7 10-hour days. One benefit of not having much time was that we didn’t get a chance to over elaborate the arrangements.

Miguel: Working with Brian was great, he got straight-away what we wanted and what we didn’t. He really captured the sound of the band.  It was pretty tight indeed but we managed to record it in a week. That would probably have not been possible working with someone else or somewhere else. CaVa is a superb studio where many of our favourite albums were recorded, so it was a real treat to get to record there. However I remember us talking about this before going into studio and we all agreed we didn’t actually want to sound like any of these records. We were slightly concerned about the possibility of not getting to capture the intensity and brightness of our live sets, but these fears quickly vanished I really think that we accomplished what we intended.

I recently caught you at London Popfest. How much are you looking forward to playing NYC Popfest? Which bands are you looking forward to seeing the most?

Andrew: We’re really pleased to be playing and, having never been outside of Europe in my life, I’m personally over the moon to get to visit NYC. I love a couple of songs by Days so I’ll be watching them to hear more.

Miguel: I can’t wait to the NYC Popfest, it will be our first gig in the U.S., out of Europe actually, and we have long wanted to go there to play, so we are really excited about it. I am looking forward to seeing Days and The Sunny Street; also, Gold-Bears, Tiny Fireflies, Betty and the Werewolves and The Specific Heats. I think the bill is excellent.

What other gigs do you have lined up for the remainder of 2011?

Miguel: We have been playing steadily since June last year, before and after the release of Living and Growing, both in the UK and abroad. Apart from the NYC Popfest, we will be playing in Copenhagen and Hamburg in May. After that, we plan to take a break from live shows and concentrate in new material on which we are currently working.

And finally, Andrew, did you mum really think you were gay because you listened to Morrissey?

Andrew: I don’t actually know. She did once say to me that she would be happy with whatever sexuality I turned out to be, but perhaps she said that to all her children.

www.thefelttips.com

Tomorrow: Horowitz