The Strokes’ producer Gordon Raphael on moving to Hebden Bridge and working with The Lounge Society

The Lounge Society have shared the video for new single ‘Cain’s Heresy’, filmed as a homage to The Strokes‘ ‘The Modern Age’ video and featuring the band’s legendary producer Gordon Raphael. Check it out below along with our interview with Raphael.

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As the Yorkshire Speedy Wunderground signees reveal details of their debut EP ‘Silk For The Starving’, the NME 100 alumni also share their high-octane new video filmed at the iconic Hebden Bridge Trades Club. Not only was it intended as a tribute to The Strokes ‘The Modern Age’ video, but it also features a cameo from the producer of ‘Is This It’ and now fellow local resident, Gordon Raphael.

Speaking to NME, Raphael said that he was very at home in the picturesque Northern town.

“I moved to London at the beginning of the ‘00s when ‘Is This It’ came out, and I stayed here for a few years,” said Raphael. “Then I went to Berlin, until me and my friends started thinking that we wanted to go somewhere English-speaking that was culturally cool and affordable to live. Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire just made the cross.

“We were like, ‘That is a cool place, and we can afford to move there’. We came here in December 2019, right before the world dissolved. Living in a rural place in the North of England is really good for a lockdown during social isolation. I’d rather be here than in a big city. Everything I need is here, I can go for walks along hills, rivers and canals every day. It’s great.”

Just before the pandemic struck and the lockdown was imposed, Raphael got a taste of the blossoming local music scene.

“I had just put my foot in the door at the Trades Club before everything went wrong,” said Raphael. “I’d met The Lounge Society there and started to see all these great bands coming through from Sheffield and Manchester. Just when I started to feel like I’d landed on my feet and was getting this big wave of excitement from people playing instruments and putting on cool shows, then the door closed. Still, I’m really impressed with what’s around here and looking forward to when things can go back to normal.”

Speaking of how he came to be friends with The Lounge Society, Raphael said: “They were opening for Working Men’s Club, and before they went on stage I saw them milling around with their friends and family and I just thought, ‘Those guys look really cool! I want to meet them!’ I said hi and introduced myself, I thought the show was fantastic, we agreed to go for a coffee, and then that’s when the world took its cue. I haven’t been able to be within two metres of them for a year!”

“Living in Berlin, I didn’t see too much of people playing guitars, singing and going for an intense performance. So when Lounge Society walked on stage and did it, I was like: ‘Wow, not only are they cool-looking but they can play like hell’. I was really impressed with how serious and how tight they were. This could be another chapter of rock music when it’s not supposed to be here!”

Despite the video’s nod to the NYC indie legends, Raphael said The Lounge Society have a personality that’s very intrinsically their own.

“All I really knew about the video was that I was supposed to be waiting outside the club for them to play, so I was really just a walk-on and happy to be part of it,” he said. “I didn’t really know the overall plot. I didn’t really pick up that it was a tribute to ‘The Modern Age’.

“I get demos from bands around the world all the time that sound exactly like the first Strokes album, but it’s not that cool to me. I don’t think that The Lounge Society sound like that. I hear as much a Gang Of Four attitude as The Strokes, any day of the week!”

Check back at NME soon for more of our interview with Gordon Raphael. 

The Lounge Society release their debut EP ‘Silk For The Starving’ on June 18, via Speedy Wunderground.