FasterLouder caught up with guitarist Johnnie Russell just as the Cold War Kids had finished up its sophomore release, the then-untitled, but now christened Loyalty to Loyalty. The band will premiere this new material for the first time live at Splendour in The Grass in August.

How to follow up one of the most critically revered debuts of recent memory? “I’d always say that as an artist you have a responsibility to your art first and foremost, to what it is and what it reflects,” Russell says philosophically as befits a one-time philosophy PhD student. “I think like anything, being an artist, it was just to grow and see what came out of ourselves and to expand if the audience was out there…”

Hi Johnnie. Where are you calling from?
I’m calling from Los Angeles traffic in my dirty, dirty car.

Where’s the record up to?
We just finished a week ago; we finished the record, just finishing up the mastering now. We’ve been working on that the last two or three months. We’re gearing up to put it out in September. We co-produced it with a friend of ours, Kevin Auguna who did a lot of producing on the first record.

No one’s living in Fullerton anymore, are they?
We all live in Long Beach now, about 20 miles south of LA along the coast. Almost with Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg, where there’s a rich rap history (laughs).

Not where you’d image CWK music coming from, sunny So Cal.
No, not really.

How different was the process, or not at all different, from how you recorded the first album?
It was a lot different. Robbers & Cowards was an eight day cram all done in the one place, a consecutive, relatively quick process. We ultimately weren’t in the studio that much longer this time, maybe two weeks, but it took a lot longer working up to it. We recorded live like before, a day or two at a time. Anything from 4-6 songs on those two days then taking a couple of weeks off and doing finishing touches at different times. We did it in chunks in a lot of different places, beautiful live rooms and studios around LA at different times. We had about 20 songs we went back on putting the album together, and simplified.

Is this all new material worked up from touring that album? Or is there stuff on there left over from the very set of demos you worked up for Robbers and Cowards that didn’t make it on that album?
We started touring the first album, it’s all from after that, which is two years ago now. Which feels too long now. Those two years, the vast majority of them are very new. You’re most excited about the things you write right before you record it. But there a few songs with a year or two under their belt.

What were your influences on this record? Is it a sound fans will recognise or are you really shaking up certain aspects of the sound?
It’s hard to tell inside your own head what’s new or different, or what’s not in the aftermath of it being moulded over so much. I think there’s much more than before there more of a variety in the range of the kinds of songs, you know? They pique out as very different from each other. While still having the sense of continuity, I think we explore and extend much more. I think there’s for example on the lighter side, there’s artists we really love, like Billie Holiday or Nina Simone, we kind of explored those things more, having some softer songs that kind of groove in that way. We’re continuing pretty naturally in several directions.

Was there something that everyone was really into listening to at the time?
We’re always bouncing all over the map as far as the kinds of things we’re listening to. We’re listening a lot to this Max Roach, Ellington and Mingus record, Money Jungle – not that we’re playing jazz, or that we know how to – but I think we always pull in different directions.

How has being in a touring band, doing this for your life, how’s that changed your perspective and informed the writing of this album?
One of the greatest things about being in the band – one of the more narcissistically great things, is all the people and different parts of the world you get to see, which we luckily have. We’re not kids that came from a tonne of money, so we never expected to see as much of the world as we have now, that’s changed how you view the world and other people and everything all the way down to your perspective on social issues. I think in probably very, normal symptomatic ways and that’s probably changed the way we write about it. I think the writing is still very CWK in essence and then the general concepts are more…there are definitely social issues and emotions that are wrestled with on the songs.

What was everyone doing before you formed the band?
I was studying philosophy and started grad work in philosophy and teaching high school aged kids. And Nate was teaching high school English. I was applying to philosophy doctorate positions. Our drummer was just starting college when I finished. He was a graphic designer, working in clothing design. So we came from very different places and certain things that didn’t lend themselves to band life. The first year of the band, we were making our money doing those things, then the itch began to grow as this began to take over, we slowly let go of those other things and jumped in this boat.

Where did you see it would go? What did you see happening for yourselves when you decided to put a band together?
It’s so hard to say now, other than we had no concept of what it even meant to be in a band, having never done it ourselves in a serious way. The more we wrote songs the more we realised that we felt strongly about what was happening and how our music gelled and the things that were coming out of it. I think like anything, being an artist, it was just to grow and see what came out of ourselves and to expand if the audience was out there. We’d follow that. I’d always say that as an artist you have a responsibility to your art first and foremost, to what it is and what it reflects. Something you do seriously, you react properly to the things that come from your art. I’m pursuing music with the same sort of fervour I did philosophy, you know.

I’m not a musician coming home and playing after work, this is what I’m doing now. It doesn’t make sense not to. You love to write, and you’re inspired by writers and writing and you get the chance to be a journalist, what makes more sense than to do that as best you can and follow the road you think is right?

Will these shows here be the first time the new stuff is played live?
We’ll be playing a lot of the new record. They’ll be our first real shows on this record; it’s been a kind of unique time of seeing how all this stuff works. We had such a good experience the first time we’d went down there. The reaction, the excitement of just enjoying the music was such a great vibe. It feels like one of the most exciting places to be playing.

Do you have a title yet? Or you won’t say?
You know, we’ve been fighting and beating each other over the head with what we think is so cool for the title for such a long time now, but we’re getting close. We haven’t named it yet. Someone keeps telling me I’ve got three days (laughs). I’ll make them sweat a little, I think.

Cold War Kids play the sold-out Splendour In The Grass on 2 August at Belongil Fields. The band is also playing three must-see sideshows alongside the excellent Delta Spirit.

Sunday 3rd August – Tivoli, Brisbane
Monday 4th August – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Wednesday 6th August – Palace, Melbourne