In Conversation With Do Nothing

By Ben Bagley

Contrary to what their name might suggest, Do Nothing have been keeping themselves busy since the release of their critically acclaimed debut record, Snake Sideways, in 2023. After a relentless touring schedule which took them across the UK and Europe, the Nottingham quartet have been back in the studio working on a new album. 

“There’s lots of new stuff in the set,” frontman Chris Bailey tells me ahead of their headline show at the iconic Tenement Trail. We are perched on a dimly lit bench in the East End of Glasgow. “Recording went much smoother than we anticipated,” he says. “We’ve got a new album ready to go – we’re just in that annoying phase of trying to get it out.”

While the band fine-tunes release plans, their fans have been keeping up-to-date through the band’s Discord server, sharing bootleg live clips of unreleased songs and organising meetups. “I don’t lurk in there,” Bailey grins. “But if I’m feeling particularly down one day, I’ll have a look. It’s cute.”

Do Nothing made a name for themselves with early singles ‘Handshakes’, ‘Gangs’, and ‘LeBron James’ – a song about the disastrous celebrity music festival, Fyre Festival, which became the subject of a Netflix documentary. 

Lyrically, Bailey has always toed the line between the specific and the surreal.  “Some of our songs are definitely about something in particular,” he explains, “and others are much more [of a] vague, stream-of-consciousness type thing with these little relatable moments that convince you it’s more personal than it is.” 

The band’s love of niche references even earned them a mention on Football Clichés – a podcast that explores the language of football – after slipping a phrase beloved by football pundits, “What a player he was, by the way,” into a song. “That was our drummer Andy’s idea,” Bailey laughs. “He said if I sneaked this phrase into a song, we’d get a mention on the pod.”

That same fluidity has shaped their sound. “We actually started as a post-rock band,” Bailey says. “Then we moved towards a kind of experimental, spoken word thing. You could be forgiven for thinking it was terrible, but I think we were on to something.” Over time, Do Nothing has grown into their signature sound, combining minimalist instrumentation with Bailey’s punchy Sprechgesang vocal delivery. 

Do Nothing are clearly a band that have become comfortable in their own skin. “I’m coming to terms with the fact that I’m more of a controlling, anxious, nervous presence,” Bailey admits. “But that is something I should use to my advantage.”

We talk about the band’s last single ‘Summer Of Hate’, initially recorded for the new album, but put it out as a standalone track last year. “We thought the song didn’t quite fit on the new album so thought we would just put it out, which is unusually carefree of us.” It’s become a favourite in the live set. “It doesn’t represent where we’re going as a band, so it’s super low-stakes when we play it and that’s fine.”

As for the rest of the album, we can expect it at some point in the new year alongside a tour. Bailey smiles as he heads backstage: “We’re just happy to get out of the house.”