The Meow Meow's have become something of a Brighton institution, packing out venues with sweaty fans eager to bop to their party-ready fusion of ska and soul. The band have been around for quite a while, but seem to have been on a particularly creative roll since the start of the decade, releasing three albums and an EP whilst remaining a constant live presence in Brighton and beyond. In fact they've only just released their third album Go Boom after running a successful Pledge Music campaign. This new record currently rests exclusively in the hands of those Pledgers, or people who've been able to pick up a copy at a live show, but fear not, we'll be on the case when it gets its full release on the prestigious Jump Up Records label on August 5th. I thrust a few questions in the Meow's general direction and keyboard player Alex D. Hay stepped up to the task…

How long have The Meow Meow's been together?
Tragically, it’s been 11 years now.

Have there been many line-up changes in that time?
You could say that – we’ve had about a dozen people leave after stints of varying lengths. But since about 2010 there’s been the core eight of us (Hanna and Danny Girl singing, Danny Boy on guitar, Ian on bass, Emma, Ellis and Matt on horns, me on keys) plus an embarrassingly Spinal Tap-like number of drummers until Chad claimed the stool on a permanent basis. He’s brilliant so we hope he sticks around a while longer.

How did the band form?
It started in 2005 as an excuse for various ex-members of previous Brighton ska bands to meet up in a decommissioned walk-in fridge underneath our bassist’s shop on a Wednesday evening, to drink Strongbow and occasionally write a couple of riffs. I joined a year later when the trumpet player dropped out a week before their first tour and then learned the songs in a rushed panic.

Did it click straight away or did it take time to find your feet?
Well to continue the previous answer, we started taking it a bit more seriously after a few years when people kept asking us to do gigs, and we thought maybe if we worked a bit harder we could actually put out an album we were proud of.

What are the main musical influences on the band?
We all like a load of different things, but we can all agree on 60s Jamaican music, 80s 2-tone ska, and garage rock. So we start from there and then head in different directions. It’s like a mashup of The Specials, Blondie, The Skatalites and The Clash.

There are a lot of you – how does song-writing work?
Usually Danny Boy or I will come in with a partially-finished song and everyone else will write their bits around it and we thrash out an arrangement together, but a couple of the songs on the new album came from us all jamming together in the practice room. That’s a more fun way of doing it when it works, but it often doesn’t.

There seem to be a lot of politics in your music, was this a conscious decision or does it come naturally?
It’s become harder to avoid talking about politics after a few years of destructive government policies and us mostly being in our thirties now, when you naturally start paying more attention. We’re not on a mission to change the world, but we’re singing about cuts to children’s services, inequality and sexism and you wouldn’t necessarily know it at a gig because we’re still a party band and we just want to make everyone dance.

You've just released your third album Go Boom, are you pleased with it?
It’s by far the best album we’ve made. This time we were confident enough to stretch it in lots of difficult directions. It is 100% impossible to write about how good your new album is without sounding like a wanker, so I’m sorry.

What’s your favourite track on the new one and what's it about?
Right now 'Pretty If You Smile' which is a feminist garage punk/soul song about street harassment. It’s horn-led and catchy and furious.

Where did you record it and who with?
In the pretty small town of Cowfold, where we were licked into shape by Glover who’s previously worked with Easy Star All Stars, The Skatalites and Bad Manners, so he knows ska. The ideal person to produce us is a disciplinarian with a wicked sense of humour, and that sums him up.

You guys have some great imagery – is it all in-house or do you work with a particular designer/film-maker?
Danny Girl is a cartoonist and she paints all our record covers and most of the posters. Our “cat Ms” logo was designed by Teflon, the fella who drew the original 2-tone dancing man. As for videos, we’ve worked with a few. We’re lucky enough to know loads of really talented, really generous creative types. (The trick is to tap them up when they’ve got a spare week or three between decently-paid projects).

It must be difficult getting such a big band around, do you get any funding (outside of Pledge Music)?
Only what people are generous enough to book us for, or spend on our merch. We’re open to offers from any oligarchs who might happen to be reading, though.

Do you think Brexit is going to affect your future playing on the continent?
It might. The exchange rate was pretty crap when we were over in the Netherlands a couple of weeks ago, and we kept feeling like we had to explain ourselves to all the nice Dutch folk who were asking us “so, Brexit?” in a slightly apologetic way.

If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would that be and why?
Definitely an alive artist, they’d be able to have more impact on the proceedings and they’d probably smell better (excluding some of our mates’ bands of course). The way this year’s going I’d hate to name any legendary living artists, for fear of tempting the 2016 curse.

What's next for The Meow Meow’s?
Right now we’re about to head off and play at Secret Garden Party. We played there two years ago and were dreadful, so we’ve got something to prove this time!

Website: themeowmeows.com
Facebook: facebook.com/themeowmeows
Twitter: twitter.com/the_meow_meows