HEALTH are in the middle of their European tour supporting new single ‘Die Slow’, and bassist John Famiglietti interupts our conversation at regular intervals to warn me that their tour bus is passing through yet another tunnel (several disconnections ensue) and gets excited about the “most amazing waterfall” they’re passing in the Alps on route to Italy from Switzerland.

They’re the L.A noise band who never get to spend any time in L.A, but don’t have any intention of relocating. New York would be great, sure, but it’s too expensive, and the idea of becoming a Portland Hipster doesn’t appeal, the weather in that state being too similar to that in the UK. Plus only one of them has a beard. On the whole, moving elsewhere would only slow them down – though from the traveling they’ve been doing, moving is a relative concept here.

What’s hot in L.A right now? Don’t ask HEALTH: not only do they insist on spelling their name all caps, they just don’t have time to find out. “We don’t hang out with anyone anymore. We’re gone all the time. Last time we were home we were doing the record the whole time. The last album I bought was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and I’m really hyped on the new Dirty Projectors single ‘Stillness Is In The Move’. Music to drive to is pretty important.”

Apparently everyone drives in LA, and Famiglietti concurs. “If you don’t people think you’re a piece of shit. It’s a great place to be based because when you come home it’s always warm. We like L.A a lot more now.”

The whole band have history in the city. Jake Duzsik (vox/guitar) and Jupiter Keyes (guitar) met in college; drummer BJ Miller and Famiglietti live together in L.A’s Echo Park, which is their headquarters when they are actually in town, and all four are just a couple of blocks away from one another and favourite haunt, The Smell.

New album Get Color is set for release this autumn. After 2007’s debut HEALTH aka You Will Love Each Other and a remix album in 2008, they’ve grown older and wiser as musicians – at least, according to Famiglietti. Perfectly happy with the ‘noise rock’ and ‘experimental’ tags, yet avoiding screaming for the sake of screaming; above all else, they want to rock but to do so with relevance. “There’s a lot of new tricks, the songs have gotten longer and we bought a lot of new equipment,” says Famiglietti.

HEALTH are known for their use of the Zoothorn - employed by all except BJ - using guitar pedals on microphones to enhance their sound’s weirdness factor. They don’t use it gratuitously, but it’s an interesting technique. Famiglietti explains it as “evolution” and, although he says he hates to use the word, “I feel like we’re maturing”.

There’s been a lot more individual writing for this album, and unlike their first record it was not recorded and self-produced at The Smell (which proved too overcomplicated). Instead, HEALTH opted for a studio, with a proper grown-up engineer this time, but still with very high ceilings and a concrete interior.

This creative base is a warehouse in downtown L.A where, according to Famiglietti, “like, a hundred other bands make music. Dave Mustaine (of Megadeth) owns it but you don’t see him. He never, never goes there. We share a wall with The Mae Shi and No Age. We’re part of the same cluster.”

The band hope to get a couple of days free at the end of this tour in London for some holiday time. “We try to go out in the UK but the bars close at like eleven! We’re, like, the shows over, let’s go out! And someone’s like ‘yeah we can’t actually do anything’. It’s very disappointing sometimes in London. Driving [there] can be so miserable, you don’t have any freeways. It’s so brutal!”

They used to be pretty big on pre-gig rituals but have phased that out of late too. Was that part of the maturation that Famiglietti alluded to? “It’s a much more normal thing to play a gig now so we’re not really into that anymore. We used to do yoga for a while, and would kick each other in the junk. That didn’t hold up for very long. Oh and I always had to take a shit beforehand, but I don’t anymore. The stage adrenaline will suck back any urges.”

How very healthy. And good to know, seeing as HEALTH toured last year with NIN - they were just as surprised as anyone else - and went from the underground scene to mainstream stadium-sized gigs. Being so radically different from anything they’ve done before, it really opened up their eyes to the dedication that that scale of production demands. The audience reception was a lot better than they expected too.

“Some of the most fun shows we’ve ever done were with Dan Deacon. Or Crystle Castles - we’re like the professional apologists for them,” Famiglietti says of the supposedly highly aloof Canadian duo. “I think they just get really misunderstood but they’re very, very nice people. But with bands like that it creates a sort of vibe and the kids come to those shows ready to cut loose and it creates a really great atmosphere.”

HEALTH are also about to play ATP Vs The Fans Part II: The Fans Strike Back. And who are they most looking forward to seeing? The Jesus Lizard is the instantaneous answer.
As for their UK tour? Famiglietti is keen. “Festivals are just so much more fun, you get to party and hang out there’s a lot less driving. We had a lot of fun in Ireland and in Manchester too on this tour. It’s like hey we’re in Europe - touring in America it’s really not that different after driving somewhere for like ten hours. We’re coming back to the UK for one more London show and then ATP. So we’re ending on a high note.”