We Never Learned To Live

Four years on from their enthrallingly epic and ambitious debut, We Never Learned To Live are back with their sophomore release ‘The Sleepwalk Transmissions’.

We speak to David Kane from the monumental post-hardcore band from Brighton.

What’s new with you?

We've just announced a bunch of UK shows which is really exciting. In fact we've got a pretty busy 2020 planned already including some really cool festivals that have been on our bucket list for a long time- most are about to be announced in the next few weeks and hoping more to come soon.

What are you listening to right now?

I'm really bad at getting round to listening to new music when it comes out, so I'm only just getting round to properly listening to some albums from last year. I've had the latest Dinosaur Pile Up album on repeat for the last few weeks, it's like this really great mix of catchy, riffy rock that reminds me of all the best bits of early Ash, Foos', maybe some Nimrod era Green Day and a dash of 'Pumpkins too. It's a very good record with great song writing- probably my record of 2019. Devin Townsend 'Empath' was a really nice surprise too and is right up there for 2019. It's absolutely nuts and just makes no attempt to stick to any existing genres or structures, and feels more like a Broadway musical at times than a metal album but in a really great way. Not at all new, but I've recently gone back to Koi No Yokan after so many conversations with people recently that have rated it as their favorite Deftones record, and It kind of passed me by at the time. I'm loving getting in to that again and its been a daily listen for the last few weeks too.

What’s the most memorable show you’ve played?

Probably a show we played in Dusseldorf last year supporting Fjort. It was (and still is) our biggest club show, and I think due to  a combination of playing to a sold out 900 capacity room, along with just the excitement of being back out on tour in Europe after a few years away made it really memorable. It helps that we had one of those sets that where we were all just completely dialed in, and got a great response to all the new songs that we were playing for the first time which made it a really special memory.

What’s the strangest show you’ve played?

We toured a few years ago with Svalbard, back when we were both self booking. Liam from Svalbard booked half the tour, and I booked the other half. One of my shows was booked in Prague, but close to the tour something went wrong and the promoter cancelled the show. He'd already recommended a friend of his who took on the show in a smaller city in Czech Republic, but something went wrong with that one too who in turn also passed us on to a friend who lived in another tiny Czech town called Cheb. It's fair to say there is hardly any touring bands visiting Cheb, and we ended up playing a set to the promoter, the members of Svalbard, and 2 enormous great danes! The only time we've played to more dogs than people! It actually ended up being a really cool night, and we got looked after so well by everyone there, and spent the night in the venue hanging out and drinking. Keeping things Sussex, one of the people there was randomly from Bognor Regis! 

Where’s good for pre/post-gig grub?

I'm really bad at eating on show days. I hate eating to close to playing, and then usually by the time I finish playing its too late. The best food is always the inventive things local promoters cook up for bands, usually veggie chilies or stews  go down well.

What do you think of the local Sussex music scene?

Sussex is great for music! There are so many great bands from Sussex now, and obviously a huge focus is on Brighton with the amount of shows and rehearsal space that's there I guess that's only natural because it is like this hub of music activity for Sussex. When we first moved to Brighton collectively it was a really formative time for the band. We started putting on own own DIY shows in different venues, and started to rehearse  at Brighton electric where we've stayed ever since  and then there are just so many great bands that are based down here. Especially with heavy music, with artists like Architects, or Black Peaks that are doing well, but also some of the smaller local bands are just so ridiculously talented. Our collective favorite is a band called Hellwinners who we toured with once. They play this really catchy, anthemic punk that also holds its own on heavier  bills too. Sadly they're no longer a band, but check out the EP's they did a couple of years ago. A few of us also grew up in Chichester and Horsham, so although we're a Brighton band now, we've actually lived all over Sussex. Both places had really great scenes growing up and that was such a huge part of us getting to play in bands and play shows in the first place.

What’s your favourite/most cherished bit of gear?

My favourite is my old Orange Rocker 30. I think it's about 15 years old by now, but its just such a solid amp, and such a big part of our sound that I'm really struggling to replace it, even know I should get something newer. We generally love Orange too, and one of the few companies we are endorsers of

What’s your favourite album?

That's a really tough question. There are a few that are right up there including Satellite Years by Hopesfall, Animals by TTNG and Of Malice and Magnum Heart by Misery Signals. But I think just because it also was such a formative album for my guitar playing and the reason I even started playing in bands, I'm going to say Full Collapse by Thursday. It's such a complete album, and at the time no one had really found that sort of sound before. You can tell the band put so much thought in to every track, beginning to end and just made exactly the record they wanted to. 

If you could invite three musicians, alive or dead, to a dinner party who would you choose, and what would you talk about?

I'm really bad at answering this question, but I think if I had the choice, I would definitely chose dead musicians, because there is always a chance (however unfeasible) that I could curate a dinner party with anyone still alive so it feels like a waste of the situation. In which case I'd go for Cobain, Mercury and Lennon, just because I think I'd like to see how they react to hearing some of the music that they influenced and how different genres have progressed from what they started. They'd have a lot to say to each other too, and span 3 different era's of music between them.  A lot of the conversation would also be taken up with explaining the terms of their reanimation to them, as I'm sure if I was suddenly brought back from the dead and taken to a dinner party I'd want to know the specifics. Like is there a time limit, or do they stay alive as long as we are eating dinner? Is there time for a Jam? Lastly I would probably spend a lot of time apologising to them for all the mindless shit we've done to the planet and society since their deaths.