The imagery around The 1975 is subtle and ethereal which is right up my street. I adore those dreamy, pastel colours that make you want to eat tiny macarons and frolic around The Grand Budapest Hotel. Their latest album artwork sparsely displays just the soft hue of a pink neon sign piped out to form the bands logo- it probably cost a fortune to do the album title which holds records for having the most characters ‘ I LIKE IT WHEN YOU SLEEP, FOR YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL YET SO UNAWARE OF IT’ (71 if you can’t be bothered to count)
With similar appreciation, Matty Healy is everything a photographer wants in a front man. Wild curls, arms dotted with tattooed doodles or cherished words, and constantly offering up self-assured poses both in full length awkward positions, to the more searching close ups. As expected for anyone involved in a rock band, the smiles were few, demonstrating instead a cool aloofness, but I liked it that way, it meant I earned them when they did appear.
As the rest of the band arrived, any aspiration of directing them as a group, beyond just changing the set up, quickly fled. Such is the camaraderie from years of friendship that they are constantly chatting or taking the piss out of each other. I managed to get a few frames with all of them looking straight at me but to be honest it’s nice to see that essentially underneath it all, they’re still just four schoolmates having a laugh…only now under the gaze of millions of fans worldwide.