Are you ready for Two Door Cinema Club in Malaysia?

At one point, the three members of Two Door Cinema Club just could not stand the sight of one another.

The Irish band – which comprises vocalist Alex Trimble, guitarist Sam Halliday and bassist Kevin Baird – had been touring non-stop and living together for almost six years, and around late 2014, they decided that they had had enough of one another.

“We basically just got sick of doing that and being together, sadly,” Halliday recalled in a phone interview from London. “So, we decided to take a break (from one another), and didn’t do much together for about a year.”

During the hiatus from late 2014 to June 2015, both his bandmates moved to the US (Trimble to Portland, Baird to Los Angeles) while Halliday settled down in London where he got married and spent his time doing “normal things”.

“I got married, and spent six months decorating, and doing DIY. One of my favourite things (about being on the break) was being able to see my friends on a regular basis, go to the pub, play some football …” he mused.

Halliday said that they eventually “got back in touch naturally” last June, sending each other ideas for music. The group’s upcoming third album Gameshow came together pretty quickly.

“It’s not like people were telling us that we had to make an album. It’s nice to be able to do what we wanted to do,” he said, adding that previously the three of them did not have a good working relationship for a couple of years. “It (the break) worked out because we are now working together better. We’re more willing to let the others have more influence on us rather than just compromising.”

The process was also different this time around, since they were no longer living together or even in same country for that matter.

two door cinema club

Two Door Cinema Club (from left: Baird, Trimble, and Halliday) came back from their hiatus with a better working relationship. Photo: Warner Music

“Alex usually took the lead, sending us ideas he was working on in the US, Kevin and I worked from our own houses, and a lot of it came together in e-mail and Skype.

“Some of the songs were not even fully formed when we got into the studio. There was a certain sort of freedom there, going in with songs that were not finished, compared to the other albums where we would just go in with complete songs and just record them.”

The result of this new working relationship is an album that Halliday says has more of a classic rock to it, with more “typically guitar music”.

The album is scheduled to be released in October, and the band has already released two singles – Are We Ready (Wreck) and Gameshow.

Two Door Cinema Club will be playing at the Good Vibes Festival in Malaysia August. It will be the band’s second time here, having previously performed at the 2013 Urbanscapes festival, an event Halliday remembers fondly.

“I remember the craziness of the fans most. People are very up for it in Malaysia!” he said with a laugh.

According to him, the band’s set this time around will probably be different than it’s last, not just because they’ll be playing some of their new songs, but also because of a better working relationship.

“We’re in a better place in terms of playing together now,” said Halliday. “We’re good and excited to be back doing it and it comes across during the show.”

The band, or rather, Trimble, was part of the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, having been selected by ceremony director Danny Boyle to sing Caliban’s Dream. Looking back at that performance, does Halliday ever wonder if it gets any bigger than that?

“It’s weird. It was just Alex who was involved in it, and it was very strange. Alex was so laid back about it all – we had seats in the stadium during the opening and Alex was watching it with us, then he was like, ‘OK, I think I better go’, and a few minutes later he was on stage singing!” he recalled with a laugh.

While Halliday never imagined that the name Two Door Cinema Club would be mentioned at a stage as big as the Olympics, he seemed a bit indifferent about it all. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think it would have been a bigger deal if it had been the World Cup!”

Two Door Cinema Club will be playing at the Good Vibes Festival, which is happening from Aug 12 to 13 at The Ranch in Genting Highlands, Pahang. Tickets are on sale now at www.boxtix.asia. For more information, visit http://ift.tt/24QR8Nz.

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