Ed Robinson Yesterday was one of the few times I’ve felt good about being a Londoner and being British. People weren’t wailing in the streets, they weren’t treating it as if the world is over. There was a positive atmosphere – almost a party atmosphere in a weird way. People were in the pubs and on the streets putting two fingers up to the people who were trying to disrupt our lives.
Matt Smith I went into Sainsbury’s to get a six-pack and all the beer had gone. I was fucking proud because the weapon these people have is terror and if we’re not terrified then they’re stuck!
er The reverberations, the shockwaves of the bomb, could go on and on for days if you let them. Sod it! Go back to work. We went out for supper last night and the guy in the restaurant was being treated as a hero because he was doing a double shift and working the restaurant on his own. There was a really good unified feeling among Londoners.
ms What London doesn’t have sometimes is a sense of community because we’re all so busy doing what we’re doing. Everyone has their heads down. And for one day it wasn’t because everyone was linked by London.
er You cycled through town and most people were being resilient and positive.
ms the only people I saw showing any emotion were a bunch of American teenage girls, who were all crying their eyes out.
er Matt’s not English. He’s Swiss, by the way. London is obviously a very creative place. There aren’t many places in the world that are that creative. It leads the world in viral ads.
ms The internet was born in America, but it was seen for years as a business tool, somewhere to put your brochure. I think here people picked up on it as an entertainment channel.
er Comedy is a big part of the English character. In a marketing sense, British ads are revered the world over. I grew up in Switzerland. The ads are laughably bad. Same in France and Italy. They’re not funny, clever or good.
ms We have a dry sense of humour.
er Also, we don’t like to be sold things. If we go to the States and watch American TV ads – it’s extraordinary. Buy buy buy now now now! The English find it offensive. They respond very badly to salesmanship. You’ve got to use wit. A softly softly approach.
ms Also there’s this weird popular culture that’s based in London, sites like B3ta.com, these kinds of communities of people who get the internet and like the collective nature of it.
er Geographically, we’re in Shoreditch because it’s not Soho. That’s where the advertising community is and we wanted to be somewhere different.
ms There’s a total lack of consensus.
er It’s an internet aesthetic. B3ta are just a collective based around a bloke called Rob. Their motto back in the day was “shit is good”. That was the rallying cry. What it meant was fuck production values, have a good idea, knock it out in your bedroom, it can look like shit, do another one tomorrow. Their output was extraordinary.
ms But the London thing – I wish I knew what it was. I know what else I think it is – I think it’s the weather. People spend a lot more time indoors, they get bored, and sitting at the computer is a great way of passing the time. If we were all living in Barcelona we’d be outside drinking coffees and yarning and chatting up women. I think that’s also why it produces so many bands.
