LouFest 2014: The 1975

Indie music is all about breaking the convention.

But the thing is, Matt Healy of The 1975 says, people are bored. They are tired of the same old music scene—even in regards to indie rock. The funny thing is, he says, in the indie scene, the trend is to find that something new. But as soon as one band does the something new, then another band does the same thing, and then people become bored of that too. So why try to stand out from a certain perspective, when standing out in the world becomes the same thing as fitting in?

As a self-proclaimed ambassador of modern culture, Healy doesn’t take responsibility for any artistic agenda other than his obligation to create. He is obsessed with modernity as an occupational hazard. In fact, he admits it is certainly not for him to say what his musical purpose is in today’s generation. That is for those listening to decide.

But, hopefully, his fans find themselves getting lost in the band’s English indie rock and other people who are slightly broken will see their own identity in the odes to adolescence. He says their music is faintly schizophrenic on purpose, a multifaceted form of their inner selves.

And as far as fitting into modernity, Healy doesn’t often concern himself with it. “The right now doesn’t matter as much for art,” Healy says. “It all is part of this grander picture that fits into the tapestry of history and pop culture.”

The 1975 certainly does fit into current pop culture, however, because the trio has taken over both Spotify and Coachella and majorly swept the international indie scene within just the few years of its existence. The band has worked with the same producer on albums as that of the Arctic Monkeys and The Kooks.

And as The 1975 expands its notoriety and travels, Healy has noticed a part of humanity that has inspired his newest works the most. This inspiring nugget is the notion of the basic consistency of everything. Healy says that the more places the band travels and the more people they meet, he has observed a unity in people and in youth that spans all geographic and social locations.

Flowing with the theme of consistency, Healy only really has one wish every time he writes a new song. “I want to write the most classic, perfect song,” Healy says. “The older I get, the more minimalist my music becomes, and the more I want to write something so simple and beautiful that it lasts.” Such songs make Healy recall “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley or “There She Goes” by The La’s.

The themes of modernity, adolescent concern and simplicity are musical cravings for Healy for obvious reasons to him.

“I used to have my own emotional baggage,” he says. “But now I literally carry around everyone else’s emotional baggage in the form of suitcases full of letters from young people. I’m not sure what it is exactly that they’re searching for … maybe it’s the same thing I am.”