Aliena: How are you doing tonight?
Tinie Tempah: I’m very well thank you, happy to be here. How are you?
Aliena: I’m very good thank you. Are you excited for tonight? It’s a sold out show.
Tinie: Yeah, very excited man. I was happy when Newcastle sold out, because it’s one of my favourite cities in the country and I always have a great time here, so it’s nice to finally bring my show up here and you know, bring the album to life with the live band and just hope everybody enjoys it tonight.
Aliena: Have you performed here before?
Tinie: I’ve performed here a few times actually, but mostly like in clubs and stuff like that, I was meant to be here with Mr. Hudson on his last tour, however the date got cancelled, so yeah you know this is the first time I’ve been here with a live band and so it should be fun.
Aliena: That’s pretty cool. I have to say I’m pretty excited to be here as well.
Tinie: I know I can tell, I can tell.
Aliena: [laughs nervously] And how do you feel about having a sold out venue and an album that’s been as successful as it has?
Tinie: Well, you know what, speaking about the sold out venue, I feel like Newcastle’s always been very supportive, you know, with everything I’ve done and all the times I’ve been here I just feel that you know, in terms of the album and the whole tour in general, I feel like it’s nice to know that the public’s reacted the way they have, you know to “Pass Out,” to “Frisky” and to “Written In the Stars.” I can just see every single release that goes by, I can see the demographic and the fan base growing and growing and growing and that’s what it’s all about for me. I just promise if they continue to keep growing, I’ll keep making great music and we can have an amazing relationship together.
Aliena: And I mean you’re still pretty young, so you’ve got a whole future ahead of you. Do you have any idea where it’s going?
Tinie: You know what, I’m in it for the long haul man. Ten, twenty years, you get what I mean? The first album, I’m thinking about how I’m going to sound when I make my tenth one, do you get what I mean, I just wanna keep on going, keep on expanding the name, the brand, you know, we’ve got so many different things going on in terms of fashion labels, and you know management and looking after other artists and nurturing the next artists. The next wave of artists are coming through, so yeah, we’ve got a lot of things to do.
Aliena: And in terms of the music, do you get inspiration from anybody? Or is it just written by yourself?
Tinie: I’m always inspired, not only by other artists, I mean some of my musical inspirations are like Kanye West, Damen Albarn, the Script, you know, I listen to loads of different music. There’s a new band from New York called the Sleigh Bells at the minute, that I’m really, really into. However, I’m inspired by loads of things. I’m inspired by London, you know that’s where I’m from, one of the most amazing cities in the world and you know, just the fact that you know, the divide between sort of rich and poor are so close together and if you are rich, you can see what it’s like to be poor and if you are poor you can see what it’s like to be rich. You know, I feel like London is one of the few places to have that and that’s why I’m so inspired. And I’m just inspired by all the amazing things I see everyday, as you can imagine, life is like a rollercoaster and I’m seeing so many different, crazy things and meeting so many different people and that’s just my inspiration.
Aliena: And now before the show, do you have a routine before you go on stage? Or does it change every time you perform?
Tinie: You know what, it changes every single time I perform. At the end of the day, seriously, I’m just a normal guy, a normal 21 year old. I’m just doing what I love and once we get into the dressing room, I make sure my whole band is in there, my DJ, everybody and we just have a good time. We just have a little piss about, have a little laugh and that and it’s always good fun and I make sure I get some lemon and honey in beforehand.
Aliena: That’s great! Thank you so much for your time.
Tinie: Anytime.
Interview by Aliena Haig
Monday, 1 November 2010
Chiddy Bang interview
Following the directions I was given, I found myself behind Newcastle’s O2 Academy and getting into Chiddy Bang’s van, where Chiddy was enjoying a quick meal before the show. What was originally planned as an interview, turned into a casual conversation, complete with high fives and fist pumps. Noah Beresin was caught up backstage and was unable to take part, but the interview continued with the very approachable and laidback Chiddy.
Aliena: Is this your first time in Newcastle?
Chiddy: It’s my very first time. Ever.
Aliena: And what do you think of it so far?
Chiddy: I’m liking it, you know, thus far. The vibe is feeling right, there’s a lot of fans outside, a lot of lovers of music alike. It’s dope man, I can’t wait to perform.
Aliena: And the rest of the tour is around England or the rest of the UK?
Chiddy: The rest of the tour is around the whole UK, you know what I’m saying, playing at Manchester, you know what I’m saying, in Scotland, Edinburgh, Glasgow, got some London shows.
Aliena: How long is the whole tour?
Chiddy: The tour’s gonna be about for a month. We’re going to be doing this until November 2nd and then we’ve got a week off in London and we’re just going to be recording for a week and chilling.
Aliena: Alright, and what do you have planned to do after the tour? Go back to the states?
Chiddy: Yeah, go back to the states, you know what I mean, get in the studio, finish up our debut album, which is coming out 2011, you know what I mean, we’ve gotta do some work on that. Gotta make something happen.
Aliena: Do you see yourself heading off to Europe at anytime?
Chiddy: Definitely. We love Europe. We’re always coming back here. We just came back from Australia, you know what I mean and it was crazy out there, but yeah, Europe is very important. We did a couple shows. We did shows in Switzerland, we did shows in Oslo, we did shows in Germany, in Munich, you know what I’m saying. We did shows in Paris. So we’re getting around, we’re starting to get around and see more of Europe and it’s a wonderful thing.
Aliena: And how does it make you feel to see all these people come out and support you?
Chiddy: It makes me feel good. Definitely does, I mean there’s a fan base here and I guess that’s just the way it is. People rap with Chiddy Bang and it’s a wonderful thing. I’m just gonna do what I know how to do and continue to make music and you know, spit crazy raps.
Aliena: So then how did the whole rap thing come about? When did you realize that this was what you wanted to do?
Chiddy: I’ve been rapping since I was about 10 years old. So it was always something I was kind of interested in, but I think it was at the point when I came to college and I met Noah and we started making beats, that’s when I started like, you know, really, really pursuing it and we just decided we were just gonna do a project and just work with each other and see what comes up and it just started coming out dope.
Aliena: That’s cool, so do you get inspiration from certain people?
Chiddy: I’m inspired by like Kanye West, and you know, Jay-Z, just you know, like capturing America just doing their thing and that have been on top of their game for consecutive years. I always look up to them.
Aliena: Have you met them? Or rapped with them at some point?
Chiddy: I have not met Jay-Z or Kanye yet, but Kanye did put us on his blog to be fair, and uh, I’m very good friends with an American artist by the name of Big Sean. He’s Kanye West’s artist, Kanye West found him. You know, it’s only a matter of time before we do meet these people and get to rap with them.
Aliena: Well I hope you do.
Chiddy: Thank you
Aliena: And what about with Tinie Tempah? Is that just the one off or have you performed with him before?
Chiddy: We performed with him, actually the last time we performed, we performed with him at all the UK festivals and stuff, so we see him all the time. Before that though, the last time we performed with him was March 1st, which was the date that we got signed and that was actually the date, the day before “Pass Out” came out. We performed at his single release party. That’s when we were chatting up with him and that’s when I met him for the first time. He’s just a real, real cool dude and this is a tour where like everyday we’re playing with him. Unfortunately we’ve got a show tonight, so we gotta leave right after our set, so we won’t be able to chill with him, but tomorrow you know, we’re gonna be chilling after the show, go out, go party, you know.
Aliena: So are you leaving Newcastle right away?
Chiddy: Yeah, right away, gotta go to Middlesborough.
Aliena: Alright, well I wish you the best with the tour.
Chiddy: Thank you so much.
Aliena: And thank you for making the time for this.
Chiddy: AAAALLL DAAAYYY!!!
Interviewed by Aliena Haig
Aliena: Is this your first time in Newcastle?
Chiddy: It’s my very first time. Ever.
Aliena: And what do you think of it so far?
Chiddy: I’m liking it, you know, thus far. The vibe is feeling right, there’s a lot of fans outside, a lot of lovers of music alike. It’s dope man, I can’t wait to perform.
Aliena: And the rest of the tour is around England or the rest of the UK?
Chiddy: The rest of the tour is around the whole UK, you know what I’m saying, playing at Manchester, you know what I’m saying, in Scotland, Edinburgh, Glasgow, got some London shows.
Aliena: How long is the whole tour?
Chiddy: The tour’s gonna be about for a month. We’re going to be doing this until November 2nd and then we’ve got a week off in London and we’re just going to be recording for a week and chilling.
Aliena: Alright, and what do you have planned to do after the tour? Go back to the states?
Chiddy: Yeah, go back to the states, you know what I mean, get in the studio, finish up our debut album, which is coming out 2011, you know what I mean, we’ve gotta do some work on that. Gotta make something happen.
Aliena: Do you see yourself heading off to Europe at anytime?
Chiddy: Definitely. We love Europe. We’re always coming back here. We just came back from Australia, you know what I mean and it was crazy out there, but yeah, Europe is very important. We did a couple shows. We did shows in Switzerland, we did shows in Oslo, we did shows in Germany, in Munich, you know what I’m saying. We did shows in Paris. So we’re getting around, we’re starting to get around and see more of Europe and it’s a wonderful thing.
Aliena: And how does it make you feel to see all these people come out and support you?
Chiddy: It makes me feel good. Definitely does, I mean there’s a fan base here and I guess that’s just the way it is. People rap with Chiddy Bang and it’s a wonderful thing. I’m just gonna do what I know how to do and continue to make music and you know, spit crazy raps.
Aliena: So then how did the whole rap thing come about? When did you realize that this was what you wanted to do?
Chiddy: I’ve been rapping since I was about 10 years old. So it was always something I was kind of interested in, but I think it was at the point when I came to college and I met Noah and we started making beats, that’s when I started like, you know, really, really pursuing it and we just decided we were just gonna do a project and just work with each other and see what comes up and it just started coming out dope.
Aliena: That’s cool, so do you get inspiration from certain people?
Chiddy: I’m inspired by like Kanye West, and you know, Jay-Z, just you know, like capturing America just doing their thing and that have been on top of their game for consecutive years. I always look up to them.
Aliena: Have you met them? Or rapped with them at some point?
Chiddy: I have not met Jay-Z or Kanye yet, but Kanye did put us on his blog to be fair, and uh, I’m very good friends with an American artist by the name of Big Sean. He’s Kanye West’s artist, Kanye West found him. You know, it’s only a matter of time before we do meet these people and get to rap with them.
Aliena: Well I hope you do.
Chiddy: Thank you
Aliena: And what about with Tinie Tempah? Is that just the one off or have you performed with him before?
Chiddy: We performed with him, actually the last time we performed, we performed with him at all the UK festivals and stuff, so we see him all the time. Before that though, the last time we performed with him was March 1st, which was the date that we got signed and that was actually the date, the day before “Pass Out” came out. We performed at his single release party. That’s when we were chatting up with him and that’s when I met him for the first time. He’s just a real, real cool dude and this is a tour where like everyday we’re playing with him. Unfortunately we’ve got a show tonight, so we gotta leave right after our set, so we won’t be able to chill with him, but tomorrow you know, we’re gonna be chilling after the show, go out, go party, you know.
Aliena: So are you leaving Newcastle right away?
Chiddy: Yeah, right away, gotta go to Middlesborough.
Aliena: Alright, well I wish you the best with the tour.
Chiddy: Thank you so much.
Aliena: And thank you for making the time for this.
Chiddy: AAAALLL DAAAYYY!!!
Interviewed by Aliena Haig
Fenech-Soler interview
Joëlle: So, Ben and Ross, two brothers. How does that work for you being in a band together?
Ben: It’s good, we seem to get on ok…I think. If we have an argument it’s over and done within about 4 minutes. There are just certain words that can wind each other up, but I definitely think it helps.
Joëlle: How do the other members feel about it?
Ben: Fine. This is the first time as a band that we’ve really gone and done consecutive dates. The most we’ve probably done is 7 in a row and this is about 30 days. We’re all adjusting to being with each other 24/7, so everyone kind of has their own way of dealing with it but I don’t think that we really piss anyone off.
Joëlle: And which of you is the older one?
Ben: I am, 26.
Ross: I’m 22.
Joëlle: So you’re often categorised as electro-pop, how do you feel about that?
Ben: I’m not a massive fan of ‘electro pop’ as a phrase but I can’t really argue with it. It’s like we are electronic and we do essentially write pop music. We don’t really shy away from the whole pop thing – we do like pop records. From the writing point of view, we like writing melody and that’s the type of stuff we enjoy. So late 70’s early 80’s George Benson, The Whistlers, these kind of people who write songs that are timeless, that’s what we listen to and go ‘fuck that’s really good.’
Obviously there’s a core electronic edge to the stuff that we do so I don’t mind it, people can put us in that bracket.
Joëlle: Do you think that it gives a bit of ambiguity as to what you’re about?
Ben: I think that when you say ‘electro pop’ it falls in the bracket of people thinking ‘I’ve heard this before, it’s shit’ ‘you sound like this, you sound like…whoever.’ But I do think that we are a little bit different to what’s out there, so for that factor, I resent the fact that maybe ‘electro pop’ is a thing that has been banded round a lot in the past 2years. But it is, probably, correct.
Joëlle: Which band would you compare yourselves to or say that you had similar sounds?
Ben: Well obviously we’ve just released our album, and it’s kind of an odd feeling, working on something and then finally putting it out there and you’re putting yourself up there to be judged. We kind of get linked into a lot of bands that are around at the minute: Everything Everything or Friendly Fires. We love all those bands and I think that at the minute there just isn’t that many bands on daytime radio1 or in the pop world. I think that the chart stuff is full of kind of commercial producer music and I don’t think there’s that many bands that are originally bands that aren’t put together. Those kinds of bands (Everything Everything and Friendly Fires.) supposedly we get put together with but we like them so there’s no problem with being associated with bands who we think are good. We’re friends with a lot of them and they’re all nice guys so it works.
Joëlle: You’re on day nine of your tour at the moment and you’ve got quite a few more dates coming up all around the UK. What’s your favourite aspect of touring?
Ben: My favourite aspect is feeling like as a band we’re getting better as we go along and playing records off our album. As a band we actually worked quite hard, because we did the whole album at home on our laptop and we actually did that before we had signed a record deal. So getting in a rehearsal room and actually practicing is something that we didn’t really do that much. We wrote music and then went and played it in clubs etc but we never sat there and went ‘right, let’s create a show.’ We did that for about 2 and half weeks which were good to have the band playing the whole of the album. Going out and playing some of the songs on the record that are a little bit different soundscapes and more relaxed stuff is good fun. Also it’s the first time we’ve gone out with lights, so that’s a whole side to the music that we’ve never done before.
Joelle: …And do you find yourself improving every time?
Ben: Definitely. We started this tour is Inverness and it was a bit shaky playing all these new songs but actually as we’ve gone on in the last week, we have improved. I think you have to play to fuck up and realise that that’s not the right thing to do. You learn what is and isn’t right, what works and stuff. But I think that travelling around with your best mates in a band playing music is a privileged position and we’ve worked pretty damn hard to get where we are. So I think going out with your friends and playing music, getting to go to places like this (Other Rooms, Digital.) It’s the places we’ve never been before is fantastic. The whole experience is good fun.
Joëlle: Is touring your favourite part of being in a band?
Ben&Ross: It is really good fun. We love writing music but we haven’t really had a chance in the last 2 months because we’ve been getting ready for the album but we love writing music as well and that’s the reason we started it. But touring live is really the best part. I think when you do a load of one thing for a while you just crave ‘the grass is always greener’. I think by the end we’ll probably just want to sit in a studio and write music.
Joëlle: Is it you who mainly writes the music Ben?
Ben: We have a bit of a system with the 4 of us. We have two studio set ups, there’s one where Ross and I live and (maybe we’ll move out by the end of this tour – to make us feel successful.)
Joëlle: And how do your parents feel about you living at home?
Ben: Fine! I think my mum’s heard the album more than anyone else, but I think that at the end of this tour we have plans to move to London.
In terms of writing, we have 2 studios, 1 is set up at ours (Ben & Ross’) and we have another one at our drummers’ house. We live really close together in Northamptonshire. Me and Ben do most of the writing part of it at our house and then we go over there and do the production side. There’s 2 studios and the 2nd one is more complex.
Joëlle: You went on tour in the USA…
Ben: The main reason was to drum up some industry interest. It was around the same time when Ross and I had co written a single for Groove Armarda – Paper Romance on the Blacklight album. We were doing some dates in the UK and then went and did some of their American Tour which was obviously pretty incredible. Amazing. It was pretty compact, we did New York, Sanfransisco and the West coast. It was basically a 7 day tour – a cross section.
Actually we’re going back in a couple of weeks to do CMJ in New York which will be fun.
America is such a big place to go and tour and to actually invest time in it, you have to go and tour your arses off over there; so I think we’ll look into doing that next year maybe.
Joëlle: Do you prefer touring abroad eg. USA or do you feel more of a connection in the UK?
Ben: Maybe not America, I mean, America was good, but I think European stuff has been really good as well. Germany’s always been really good, it has a really core electronic scene. It’s massive in Berlin and even if we play when a club doesn’t know who we are, people really enjoy it. Whereas, when you’re playing in Shoreditch people are too cool to get into it. ….If anyone is reading this interview and they live in London, we love playing in London.
Joëlle: And as we mentioned earlier, you’re often mistaken as a French band
Ben: Yeah. I think we enjoy the mystery of ‘who is this?’. Actually our first single is on Alan braxe’s label, a label called vulture. I do think we stumbled into that being a thing that had happened rather than a given. It wasn’t like ‘ yeah what you do’ is: Think of a difficult name to pronounce, release some quite French music, release it on a French label and then pretend we’re French!
It did start the ‘Fennech’ in the right place, it was a very niche label. It wasn’t a big release, it just put it out there. I think that every single we’ve put out, we’ve not tried to force it in any way. The DJ’s of Radio1 have just helped us. They genuinely just like our music and think it’s important for a band to have space to develop properly rather than in a massive hype and with loads spent. Millions spent here and there, rather than going out and doing loads of gigs where it will hopefully spread.
Joëlle: Are you ever inclined to throw in a bit of French into your lyrics?
Ben and Ross: Well…If we could speak any French, we would like to do that. Our drummer’s good at French, he did French A-Level. I can still remember my French GCSE oral…
But when we do learn French, we’re going to do a whole song.
Joëlle: Finally, obviously Newcastle is renowned for its Geordie nightlife, are you going to venture out tonight after the gig?
Ross: Well I had a taster of some of the Geordie nightlife last night. I was sat just behind the decks of Digital last night. It was Annie Mac’s night last night so this place seems a lot cleaner and less rowdy than night. It was good. We were really excited because we had a day off yesterday in Newcastle, we just walked around and the weather’s been really good! …I think there’s an indie night on after the gig so I’m sure we’ll be having a few.
Joëlle: Thank you so much Ben and Ross, it’s been a pleasure to meet you and until next time!
Interview by Joëlle Lerner
Ben: It’s good, we seem to get on ok…I think. If we have an argument it’s over and done within about 4 minutes. There are just certain words that can wind each other up, but I definitely think it helps.
Joëlle: How do the other members feel about it?
Ben: Fine. This is the first time as a band that we’ve really gone and done consecutive dates. The most we’ve probably done is 7 in a row and this is about 30 days. We’re all adjusting to being with each other 24/7, so everyone kind of has their own way of dealing with it but I don’t think that we really piss anyone off.
Joëlle: And which of you is the older one?
Ben: I am, 26.
Ross: I’m 22.
Joëlle: So you’re often categorised as electro-pop, how do you feel about that?
Ben: I’m not a massive fan of ‘electro pop’ as a phrase but I can’t really argue with it. It’s like we are electronic and we do essentially write pop music. We don’t really shy away from the whole pop thing – we do like pop records. From the writing point of view, we like writing melody and that’s the type of stuff we enjoy. So late 70’s early 80’s George Benson, The Whistlers, these kind of people who write songs that are timeless, that’s what we listen to and go ‘fuck that’s really good.’
Obviously there’s a core electronic edge to the stuff that we do so I don’t mind it, people can put us in that bracket.
Joëlle: Do you think that it gives a bit of ambiguity as to what you’re about?
Ben: I think that when you say ‘electro pop’ it falls in the bracket of people thinking ‘I’ve heard this before, it’s shit’ ‘you sound like this, you sound like…whoever.’ But I do think that we are a little bit different to what’s out there, so for that factor, I resent the fact that maybe ‘electro pop’ is a thing that has been banded round a lot in the past 2years. But it is, probably, correct.
Joëlle: Which band would you compare yourselves to or say that you had similar sounds?
Ben: Well obviously we’ve just released our album, and it’s kind of an odd feeling, working on something and then finally putting it out there and you’re putting yourself up there to be judged. We kind of get linked into a lot of bands that are around at the minute: Everything Everything or Friendly Fires. We love all those bands and I think that at the minute there just isn’t that many bands on daytime radio1 or in the pop world. I think that the chart stuff is full of kind of commercial producer music and I don’t think there’s that many bands that are originally bands that aren’t put together. Those kinds of bands (Everything Everything and Friendly Fires.) supposedly we get put together with but we like them so there’s no problem with being associated with bands who we think are good. We’re friends with a lot of them and they’re all nice guys so it works.
Joëlle: You’re on day nine of your tour at the moment and you’ve got quite a few more dates coming up all around the UK. What’s your favourite aspect of touring?
Ben: My favourite aspect is feeling like as a band we’re getting better as we go along and playing records off our album. As a band we actually worked quite hard, because we did the whole album at home on our laptop and we actually did that before we had signed a record deal. So getting in a rehearsal room and actually practicing is something that we didn’t really do that much. We wrote music and then went and played it in clubs etc but we never sat there and went ‘right, let’s create a show.’ We did that for about 2 and half weeks which were good to have the band playing the whole of the album. Going out and playing some of the songs on the record that are a little bit different soundscapes and more relaxed stuff is good fun. Also it’s the first time we’ve gone out with lights, so that’s a whole side to the music that we’ve never done before.
Joelle: …And do you find yourself improving every time?
Ben: Definitely. We started this tour is Inverness and it was a bit shaky playing all these new songs but actually as we’ve gone on in the last week, we have improved. I think you have to play to fuck up and realise that that’s not the right thing to do. You learn what is and isn’t right, what works and stuff. But I think that travelling around with your best mates in a band playing music is a privileged position and we’ve worked pretty damn hard to get where we are. So I think going out with your friends and playing music, getting to go to places like this (Other Rooms, Digital.) It’s the places we’ve never been before is fantastic. The whole experience is good fun.
Joëlle: Is touring your favourite part of being in a band?
Ben&Ross: It is really good fun. We love writing music but we haven’t really had a chance in the last 2 months because we’ve been getting ready for the album but we love writing music as well and that’s the reason we started it. But touring live is really the best part. I think when you do a load of one thing for a while you just crave ‘the grass is always greener’. I think by the end we’ll probably just want to sit in a studio and write music.
Joëlle: Is it you who mainly writes the music Ben?
Ben: We have a bit of a system with the 4 of us. We have two studio set ups, there’s one where Ross and I live and (maybe we’ll move out by the end of this tour – to make us feel successful.)
Joëlle: And how do your parents feel about you living at home?
Ben: Fine! I think my mum’s heard the album more than anyone else, but I think that at the end of this tour we have plans to move to London.
In terms of writing, we have 2 studios, 1 is set up at ours (Ben & Ross’) and we have another one at our drummers’ house. We live really close together in Northamptonshire. Me and Ben do most of the writing part of it at our house and then we go over there and do the production side. There’s 2 studios and the 2nd one is more complex.
Joëlle: You went on tour in the USA…
Ben: The main reason was to drum up some industry interest. It was around the same time when Ross and I had co written a single for Groove Armarda – Paper Romance on the Blacklight album. We were doing some dates in the UK and then went and did some of their American Tour which was obviously pretty incredible. Amazing. It was pretty compact, we did New York, Sanfransisco and the West coast. It was basically a 7 day tour – a cross section.
Actually we’re going back in a couple of weeks to do CMJ in New York which will be fun.
America is such a big place to go and tour and to actually invest time in it, you have to go and tour your arses off over there; so I think we’ll look into doing that next year maybe.
Joëlle: Do you prefer touring abroad eg. USA or do you feel more of a connection in the UK?
Ben: Maybe not America, I mean, America was good, but I think European stuff has been really good as well. Germany’s always been really good, it has a really core electronic scene. It’s massive in Berlin and even if we play when a club doesn’t know who we are, people really enjoy it. Whereas, when you’re playing in Shoreditch people are too cool to get into it. ….If anyone is reading this interview and they live in London, we love playing in London.
Joëlle: And as we mentioned earlier, you’re often mistaken as a French band
Ben: Yeah. I think we enjoy the mystery of ‘who is this?’. Actually our first single is on Alan braxe’s label, a label called vulture. I do think we stumbled into that being a thing that had happened rather than a given. It wasn’t like ‘ yeah what you do’ is: Think of a difficult name to pronounce, release some quite French music, release it on a French label and then pretend we’re French!
It did start the ‘Fennech’ in the right place, it was a very niche label. It wasn’t a big release, it just put it out there. I think that every single we’ve put out, we’ve not tried to force it in any way. The DJ’s of Radio1 have just helped us. They genuinely just like our music and think it’s important for a band to have space to develop properly rather than in a massive hype and with loads spent. Millions spent here and there, rather than going out and doing loads of gigs where it will hopefully spread.
Joëlle: Are you ever inclined to throw in a bit of French into your lyrics?
Ben and Ross: Well…If we could speak any French, we would like to do that. Our drummer’s good at French, he did French A-Level. I can still remember my French GCSE oral…
But when we do learn French, we’re going to do a whole song.
Joëlle: Finally, obviously Newcastle is renowned for its Geordie nightlife, are you going to venture out tonight after the gig?
Ross: Well I had a taster of some of the Geordie nightlife last night. I was sat just behind the decks of Digital last night. It was Annie Mac’s night last night so this place seems a lot cleaner and less rowdy than night. It was good. We were really excited because we had a day off yesterday in Newcastle, we just walked around and the weather’s been really good! …I think there’s an indie night on after the gig so I’m sure we’ll be having a few.
Joëlle: Thank you so much Ben and Ross, it’s been a pleasure to meet you and until next time!
Interview by Joëlle Lerner
Sunday, 31 January 2010
The Answer interviewed by Chris Render
As a big fan of The Answer, interviewing bassist Micky Waters was a daunting challenge. However, as I was introduced to the band I swiftly came to realise that The Answer are some of the most warm and friendly people you’re ever likely to meet, their on stage charisma extending, it would seem, to one to one conversation. I was even given a drink. Taken aback by the extent of the welcome I received, I sat down with Micky in a quiet production room for a quick chat.
Chris Render: [somewhat sheepishly] Hi.
Micky Waters: Hi Chris
CR: How did you start out, as a band?
MW: Well, it all started out with myself and Paul [Mahon, lead guitarist], when we were kids. He used to be a drummer in a band, at the start, and I was the bass player and singer, and we used to play round the local circuit in Belfast, round our local villages, and just anywhere that would have us. That was when we were like, 15 to 18 years of age, and then we wanted to put together a proper outfit, so we heard about this blues singer, this young fella called Cormac Neeson. He came along, came out for a practice, and I believe he sang Free, “Alright Now”, with us, and from then on we were like “ah, this is the right guy, finally we’ve got a proper singer in the band”, you know? So we got him, and we wanted to get the rhythm section right, so we got James Headly, who was at the time playing with... he’d done tours with Ash. He was like, the local guy on the circuit who played with every single band who you wanted to go and see and all the local bands. Once we got him on board, there was a fantastic chemistry between us all. Ever since then, it’s been a lot of fun.
CR: Then you had the first album, Rise, which was very successful...
MW: Yeah, Rise did really good.
CR: It was highly acclaimed by Classic Rock...
MW: Yeah, in 2005, which seems like a long time ago now, we got “best new album”, or “best new band”... band, that’s right, it was band. That came out before the album even, as well. But yeah, Rise did very well for us, and we toured it for a couple of years, and then we currently released our album Everyday Demons, which, for us, we put a lot of hard work into that. I think we captured that live feel of the band, which is what we’re really all about: a real live kind of thing. We love getting up on a stage and playing live.
CR: So other than this current tour, what have you been doing over the last couple of months?
MW: Last couple of months... been a lot of drinking and partying and all the rest of it, wrapping up with AC/DC on the world tour, the Black Ice tour [which The Answer supported].
CR: Yeah, you’ve toured with AC/DC, supported Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, pretty much everybody. Is there anybody else you’d like to play with?
MW: Nah, there’s no one else. We were asked this a while back, after the Rolling Stones thing, and we said the only band we still wanted to play with were AC/DC [chuckles]. I think we just want to be a headline act now, do our own thing, for a change. Get up there to play for an hour and a half, every night. It’s definitely much more fun for us.
CR: So what do The Answer have planned for the future?
MW: January, February, we’re going to work on our third album. We’ve got a lot of material together from being on the road for a long time, recording in tour busses and the like, so... we’ll get back and knock some songs into shape and hopefully, fingers crossed, get the album out by, hopefully, September next year. Fingers crossed that’s how it pans out, because we really can’t wait to, you know, keep playing.
CR: Brilliant. You’ve been described as “keeping the classic rock genre alive.” How do you respond to that?
MW: Well, that’s a huge compliment for us, because it’s probably our favourite style of music, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and AC/DC especially, you know? It’s definitely a huge compliment, but we see ourselves as having a bit more of a modern edge about it, especially the new album. We’ve definitely found our own sound, and hopefully we can just progress from there.
CR: Carrying on the tradition of Irish rock greats, you yourself are the, is it the only other person...
MW: [knowing instinctively what I’m talking about] Well, at the time, I was one of the first people to play Phil Lynott’s guitar [the famous black bass]. We played a fundraising gig to build the statue of Phil, in Grafton Street in Dublin. There’s a big, brass, life size statue of him, and as a favour his mother, Philemina, let me borrow his bass for the Keep Believing video, and I had it for the day, to play on it, and it was a fantastic experience. You know, coming from Ireland, Thin Lizzy are the ultimate Irish rock band to be your idols.
CR: So who is your favourite band, personally?
MW: My favourite band is probably The Who, actually.
CR: Who again, you’ve played with
MW: Yeah, that was a huge thing for me, you know, I’m a massive Who fan. Always have been.
CR: So what is your favourite Answer track then, to play, I mean?
MW: Definitely Under The Sky, because the audience know that one really well, and we’re always feeding off the audience’s energy, so when they’re having a good time we’re having a good time. I definitely love playing that one. And off the new album, I like Demon Eyes, because it’s just a fast paced, hard hitting, f***ing good track, you know?
CR: Well, that’s pretty much everything, thank you very much, Micky Waters, from The Answer.
Chris Render: [somewhat sheepishly] Hi.
Micky Waters: Hi Chris
CR: How did you start out, as a band?
MW: Well, it all started out with myself and Paul [Mahon, lead guitarist], when we were kids. He used to be a drummer in a band, at the start, and I was the bass player and singer, and we used to play round the local circuit in Belfast, round our local villages, and just anywhere that would have us. That was when we were like, 15 to 18 years of age, and then we wanted to put together a proper outfit, so we heard about this blues singer, this young fella called Cormac Neeson. He came along, came out for a practice, and I believe he sang Free, “Alright Now”, with us, and from then on we were like “ah, this is the right guy, finally we’ve got a proper singer in the band”, you know? So we got him, and we wanted to get the rhythm section right, so we got James Headly, who was at the time playing with... he’d done tours with Ash. He was like, the local guy on the circuit who played with every single band who you wanted to go and see and all the local bands. Once we got him on board, there was a fantastic chemistry between us all. Ever since then, it’s been a lot of fun.
CR: Then you had the first album, Rise, which was very successful...
MW: Yeah, Rise did really good.
CR: It was highly acclaimed by Classic Rock...
MW: Yeah, in 2005, which seems like a long time ago now, we got “best new album”, or “best new band”... band, that’s right, it was band. That came out before the album even, as well. But yeah, Rise did very well for us, and we toured it for a couple of years, and then we currently released our album Everyday Demons, which, for us, we put a lot of hard work into that. I think we captured that live feel of the band, which is what we’re really all about: a real live kind of thing. We love getting up on a stage and playing live.
CR: So other than this current tour, what have you been doing over the last couple of months?
MW: Last couple of months... been a lot of drinking and partying and all the rest of it, wrapping up with AC/DC on the world tour, the Black Ice tour [which The Answer supported].
CR: Yeah, you’ve toured with AC/DC, supported Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, pretty much everybody. Is there anybody else you’d like to play with?
MW: Nah, there’s no one else. We were asked this a while back, after the Rolling Stones thing, and we said the only band we still wanted to play with were AC/DC [chuckles]. I think we just want to be a headline act now, do our own thing, for a change. Get up there to play for an hour and a half, every night. It’s definitely much more fun for us.
CR: So what do The Answer have planned for the future?
MW: January, February, we’re going to work on our third album. We’ve got a lot of material together from being on the road for a long time, recording in tour busses and the like, so... we’ll get back and knock some songs into shape and hopefully, fingers crossed, get the album out by, hopefully, September next year. Fingers crossed that’s how it pans out, because we really can’t wait to, you know, keep playing.
CR: Brilliant. You’ve been described as “keeping the classic rock genre alive.” How do you respond to that?
MW: Well, that’s a huge compliment for us, because it’s probably our favourite style of music, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and AC/DC especially, you know? It’s definitely a huge compliment, but we see ourselves as having a bit more of a modern edge about it, especially the new album. We’ve definitely found our own sound, and hopefully we can just progress from there.
CR: Carrying on the tradition of Irish rock greats, you yourself are the, is it the only other person...
MW: [knowing instinctively what I’m talking about] Well, at the time, I was one of the first people to play Phil Lynott’s guitar [the famous black bass]. We played a fundraising gig to build the statue of Phil, in Grafton Street in Dublin. There’s a big, brass, life size statue of him, and as a favour his mother, Philemina, let me borrow his bass for the Keep Believing video, and I had it for the day, to play on it, and it was a fantastic experience. You know, coming from Ireland, Thin Lizzy are the ultimate Irish rock band to be your idols.
CR: So who is your favourite band, personally?
MW: My favourite band is probably The Who, actually.
CR: Who again, you’ve played with
MW: Yeah, that was a huge thing for me, you know, I’m a massive Who fan. Always have been.
CR: So what is your favourite Answer track then, to play, I mean?
MW: Definitely Under The Sky, because the audience know that one really well, and we’re always feeding off the audience’s energy, so when they’re having a good time we’re having a good time. I definitely love playing that one. And off the new album, I like Demon Eyes, because it’s just a fast paced, hard hitting, f***ing good track, you know?
CR: Well, that’s pretty much everything, thank you very much, Micky Waters, from The Answer.
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