Rockol meets Gomez: read our interview here

Apr 12, 2012 - Eight years. So much time has passed since a Gomez tour has reached Italy the last time. Apart from the (short) afternoon appearance at the Heineken Jammin'Festival in Mestre in 2010, the band hasn't played in our country since 2004. But now fans of the quintet of Southport can breathe a sigh of relief: the group will perform tomorrow (April 13) Saturday at Estragon in Bologna and the next day in Milano.

After their debut album "Bring It On", who won the Mercury Prize, Gomez have built a solid career over the years. Last June they released their seventh studio effort, "Whatever's on your mind".

Why did we have to wait so long for their return to Italy? We asked this question directly to Tom Gray, multi-instrumentalist and singer (along with Ian Ball and Ben Ottewell) of the group. "There are many reasons for that. We've tried for a lot of years to convince our management, but it never seemed the right time to play in your country. At this point, I can only apologize for keeping you waiting so long", says Tom.

During their live set, Gomez will offer the best of their repertoire from the past, apart from the songs of their latest album "Whatever's on your mind." A disc that sounds less experimental than in the past.

And that has had a rather curious genesis, as confirmed by the artist. "We've been living from eight years on two different shores of the ocean: Ian Ball is in Los Angeles, Olly Peacock in Brooklyn and me, Paul Blackburn and Ben Ottewell in England. So slowly we started writing and recording demos for discs each on its own. For 'Whatever's on your mind', after some years of experimentation, we decided to make this thing a kind of rule. So we have created an online hub that would allow each of us to put his hand to songs, edit them at any time. Then we were all in Virginia two weeks to gather ideas and record", Tom says.

So the question comes natural: is it a pop record? "I would define it a clean and concise record, easy listening but not too much. It's a little strange animal. It is primarily a reaction to the previous' A New Tide', which is instead was an attempt to be a left field. There is an element of contrarism in everything Gomez do. I do not know if it's something brilliant or self-destructive, though", Gray states.

And what about the future for Gomez? "The future? I really don't know. We talk about it all the time, but it's difficult to have a concrete plan. The nice thing about playing with friends rather than with colleagues is that you can do things slowly, without a strict timeline. I think we will record a new album anyway, sooner or later", he says. An album, but perhaps not in the "traditional" form. "We would like to experiment with new forms of release, perhaps far from the album format. I'd like to try with a series of EPs", Gray concludes.