Charlotte Cooper and her fellow members of The Subways were roughly a decade away from being born when Fleetwood Mac released Rumors in 1977, but the British rock band’s sophomore LP, All or Nothing, bears a marked resemblance to that album – if only in terms of break-up backstories.
Cooper, the bassist with the seraphic voice and rock ‘n roll Tinkerbelle good looks, and The Subways’ charismatic lead singer Billy Lunn, carried on a relationship for practically the entirety of the band’s rise to prominence, even going so far as to announce their engagement at a show in 2005. But during the production of All or Nothing, Cooper and Lunn called it quits, inadvertently poising themselves to become their generation’s version of Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham. One could only imagine the kind of havoc such an event – presumably rife with the volatile mix of love and beauty, talent and jealousy – could reek on a young band under the pressure of making their second full-length album.
Except that it didn’t.
When speaking of her former fiancée, Cooper voices nothing but admiration and respect, saying that she and Lunn are “really the best of friends now.”
“I think that [the break-up] is something that affected us both quite a lot, so naturally, that’s going to appear in the songs – the emotions that we were kind of experiencing while we were recording,” says Cooper.
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For their parts, Cooper, just 22, and Lunn, the band’s elder statesman at 23, as well as 21-year-old drummer Josh Morgan, molded that potentially toxic situation into an explosive album that is sure to beam them even farther into the musical stratosphere. Cooper even credits her and Lunn’s romantic circumstances with giving the album’s tracks a little extra sizzle.
“I think that it kind of really helped, because it gave that intensity to certain tracks,” Cooper says, giving a slight pause before adding, “It kind of worked out for the best, really.”
If Cooper sounds mature beyond her years in this regard, it’s not an anomaly. The same heady approach she brings to her personal life, Cooper also applies to her musical career. Perhaps this is why as tempting as it is for The Subways to embrace the liquor-soaked late nights that characterize the public images many 20-something rock outfits, Cooper insists that, in large part, they keep the chaos – offstage, at least – to a minimum.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” Cooper says of touring, “We can’t go out partying every night, but then again, we’re 22, 23 years old; we like going out partying like everyone our age does. Every now and then we get a chance to do that, but we have to be a bit sensible.”
In saying this, Cooper makes the respect she, Lunn and Morgan have not just for the integrity of their music, but for their fans, evident. Ask any concert-goer who has ever walked away disappointed from a sloppy – or canceled -- Amy Winehouse show, and you will find out that this consideration from musicians is not always a given. The Subways have been lauded since their inception, both in the United States and abroad, as one of the most scintillating live bands to come along in years, and my chat with the precocious Cooper on the importance of live shows left little reason as to why they’ve garnered this well-earned reputation.
“I think the passion for it and really loving being up there – I think it’s really important if you’re a live band to take the music somewhere else, to not play it the same as on the record so people will have a different connection when they come and see it live. It’s awesome for us. Wherever we go, if we’ve got people to play to, that’s just amazing for us.”
Make no mistake – a lot of bands spew the old company line about doing it for the people. The Subways, however, are willing to literally put their money where their mouth is in the name of fan appreciation. The band caused quite a stir when they decided to make the first single off All or Nothing, “Girls and Boys”, downloadable for free on their website – a decision that may have ultimately cost the track a spot on the charts.
Carrying out this plan might seem to the average industry pencil-pusher like a fleeting, wrong-headed notion, but for The Subways, it was a different kind of no-brainer.
“We had been away for such a long time – the three year gap between the releases of the two albums – and our fans have been so loyal to us throughout that time. We did some touring at the beginning of the year, and every show sold out, so we wanted to give something back to them, something free for them to just say thank you.”
In the age of ruined child stars and entitled heiresses, where self-indulgence and self-destruction has become the norm, The Subways are refreshing both in terms of talent and focus. Cooper herself has a theory as to why the band has been able to so dexterously navigate the sometimes choppy waters of early fame.
“I think it’s made us grow up very quickly. I left school straightaway and was in a band touring, so I was sucked into the real world quite quickly. But it’s just amazing to think of the chances we’ve had at such a young age.”
By Erin Gaetz
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