Clean Bandit: 'We'll celebrate Christmas number one with large shots'

Clean Bandit beat Rag N Bone Man and Little Mix to top the festive chart

Clean Bandit have claimed victory in the Christmas chart battle, as their single Rockabye spends a seventh week at number one.

In an exclusive interview with BBC Music, founder member, guitarist and co-writer Jack Patterson tells the BBC he wishes he'd put money on the single weeks ago.

Congratulations on being Christmas number one! How will you celebrate?

I imagine we'll have some very large shots of Baileys!

When you first released Rockabye, did you think it would become this big?

We had no idea whatsoever. We were just putting out some music hoping for the best and it's gone crazy.

Why do you think people have connected with it so strongly?

I don't know. I remember I played it to my girlfriend when we were in the car on holiday and she started crying. I was like, "What's going on?".

I never felt quite so emotionally affected by it - so that was the first moment where I thought, "Hang on, there's something interesting going on here,".

When we spoke to Sean Paul recently, he said the lyrics affected him because he was raised by a single mum. Could that be the key?

I think so, for some people. I've noticed a lot of comments on YouTube and I've had a lot of direct messages to our Facebook page. People have been really affected by it. They even asked for a hotline number to be put on the video. I just couldn't believe that.

It's quite serious but, at the same time, there's a positive feel in the music, so I wonder if it's where those two places meet? The energy in the music and the emotion in the lyrics?

Clean Bandit are "very close" to finishing the follow-up to 2014's New Eyes, says Patterson (right)

You beat Little Mix and Rag N Bone Man to reach number one. What did you think of their songs?

I have to be honest, I haven't actually heard them! I keep my head in the sand when it comes to current, popular music. I mostly listen to Fleetwood Mac on my record deck at home.

The success of the single means people are even more eager for your new album. How far along is it?

Quite far, actually. It's not quite finished but it's pretty much there.

Our label want us to focus on releasing singles, so we're doing that and hopefully at some point they'll say, "Now you can release an album." I think that'll be early next year.

You told us you'd been recording with Elton John. Will that song still be on the album?

It's not quite finished because the focus shifted to Rockabye - but in the New Year we've got a bit of time in the studio and we're definitely going to work on that.

Your violinist, Neil Amin-Smith, quit earlier this year. How have the dynamics of the band changed?

It's different. He was a great performer and a brilliant violinist. But the band's always changing because we don't have a regular singer. We're always changing personnel because they get fed up of us and move on to other things. And that's happened with Neil… Well, he didn't get fed up, but he moved on!

But we've got to keep the show on the road, and we're working with another couple of violinists, who have been fantastic. It's a real laugh.

In a statement announcing his departure, Amin wished Clean Bandit "all the luck"

He left in the middle of recording sessions, so will he still appear on the album?

Kind of. The way we work is that, mostly, we do the strings last. The vocals unfortunately end up being the priority because, I guess, that's the first point of contact for most people, and certainly for our label. A different singer might want to sing a semi-tone lower, so until we get the vocals right, we don't record the strings.

Neil's departure was timed in such a way that he didn't actually record on Rockabye. He was on our last single, Tears, but not on Rockabye.

At one point, bookmakers were offering odds of 66/1 on Rockabye being Christmas number one. Did you have a flutter?

No! It's really annoying. But my dad put a bet on it - one quid, which shows his faith in the song! But we were 25/1 at the time, so he can get a round in at the pub!

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