Interviews

NeedToBreathe Interview @ Hard Rock Calling

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SFG: So I’m here with NeedToBreathe from the USA and they just played the Pepsi Max Stage, well a few minutes ago anyway, and we’re at Hard Rock Calling 2012, so how you doing guys? Had a nice day so far?

NTB: Oh yeah, love it, love it. It’s dreary but we’re excited about all the rock n roll coming up.

SFG: It was a pretty big crowd in there, everybody dancing, loads of girls in daisy dukes, quite appropriate?

NTB: It was, it was great, yeah it’s our typical audience, haha

SFG: So, British Summer, as you can see, pretty rubbish. Coming from South Carolina, it must be a bit of a shock?

NTB: It’s a nice change of pace I guess, it’s a nice way to put it… hahaha

SFG: That was a *really* nice way to put it, yeah, thank you!

NTB: We’ve experienced a little bit of it before, we actually recorded our first record in England, and so yeah we’ve had a little bit of the British weather before.

SFG: It’s got to be the worst though, surely

NTB: We’ve heard from everybody here that they’re just disappointed, but the sun will come out at some point!

SFG: How do you think your Southern Rock style goes down over here? I mean obviously South Carolina is known for that kind of thing, but Britain hasn’t really got that kind of groove…

NTB: Um, I think it’s refreshing, you know I think for us it comes off to the fans as genuine. It’s something we grew up doing, something we didn’t have to try at, you know we didn’t have to try to be some other band or be something different, and real fans, they appreciate that. And so, I think that goes over anywhere.

SFG: Do you have a good British fan base?

NTB: We just started, this is our second tour over in the UK, and its been amazing. It’s crazy to see people who have the record and it’s not even in stores you know?

SFG: I did just hear that your London show on Monday has rocketed in ticket-sales, and obviously you seem to be pretty popular in the TV and Film world, I’ve been doing a bit of research there and just for the record they’ve had songs on; PS. I Love You, The Hills, Prison Break, Employee of the Month and Cougar Town, just to name a few – that is a serious list guys!

NTB: It is, it is. It’s always a shock and surprise you know, when it comes on, cause we don’t know every time it’s going to come on and we start seeing the tweets and it is weird. When you hear it sometimes it takes a few, we’re kinda caught off guard a little bit, and we don’t even notice it’s us right away, cause we don’t sit around listening to the record – we play the song and it’s always a bit different to the record

SFG: Do you not just go “hey, who’s this, I really like that, that is such a good song”

NTB: Hahaha yeah “oh yeah there is something about this that is really getting me going” yeah that’s the way it is haha

SFG: Well following on from that, my question is, if you could pick any TV show or movie, past, present, future, that you could record the soundtrack for, what would it be?

NTB: Er…wow… maybe…

SFG: Jeez, that’s a tough one right? I’m thinking… not Predator, or Alien… right

(Bo, laughing) Yeah wow, haha, I think The Gladiator movie, I like the arrangement of that, yeah I like the big sounds.

(Joe) For me it would probably be Lost, because all you would really need to do it so be able to make that ‘woaawwwww’ sound.

SFG: So, you’re currently touring Europe, but what other festivals have you done this summer, and how do they compare to Hard Rock Calling?

NTB: Um, we just did Bonnaroo, about a month ago, yeah and it was really like… stinky hot. It might be kinda cold here, but at least the smell is kept in by the cool air, in Bonnaroo it is just released among the crowd, it reeked of hot weather.

SFG: How do the festivals compare to playing your standalone shows?

NTB: Yeah it’s always fun when it’s our crowd but it’s nice playing to new people and showing what we do, so we like the festivals yeah.

NeedToBreathe’s upcoming single ‘Keep Your Eyes Open’ is out on September 3rd with full album ‘The Reckoning’ being released the following week in the UK.

Bruce Springsteen’s Wig, Haggis and the Fight against Cynicism, just another afternoon with Hue and Cry

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We caught up with the Scottish duo Pat and Gregory Kane from Hue and Cry at Isle of Wight before their set on the main stage on Saturday, to talk about their latest musical ventures and sticking it out in the music industry for the long haul.  It turned into a conversation about wigs and cynicism…standard.

SFG: You've just started touring your new album hows that going?

Gregory: We did a series of stripped back tours just Pat and I on our own, and we played beautiful theatres all over England, from way down south, Bournemouth to all the way up north in Newcastle.  And we've just reached out to all the people that liked Hue and Cry in England for the past two months, and there was a great response.

How have you found playing such a stripped back tour, compared to playing with a full band?

Pat:  When you're playing acoustically, the stakes are higher.  When you're facing an audience, of  three hundred or four hundred people every note counts and every moment counts, its quite exhausting, draining actually because you have to commit to it.  I’m not saying you can be indifferent with a band but at least there’s seven other people around you.  You play your part in a collective production as it were, not everything relies on you.  Where as with me and Gregory its just the melody and the chords and the words and the keys and the guitar, but that can be magical.

SFG: As a band an as a song writing collaborative you've have been able to carve out a career over a long period of time.  In a day of flash-in-the-pan artists and bands that break down after one or two albums how have you managed to continue working together?

P:  Well brothers don’t beat themselves to a bloody pulp…usually.  They usually figure out ways to sustain each other so, we have a deep relationship and a deep musical relationship.  We keep coming back to drinking from that well, cause its inexhaustible.  

G:  Its a vocation for me, I love what I do, I've made music my whole life since I learned how to play the piano at 9 years old, 34 years later I’m still here playing the piano.  I did a paper round to help pay for my first saxophone.

SFG: Do you think your songwriting process has changed significantly or do you still work in the same way?

P:  We're quite naïve songwriters; we kind of write from the heart and don't really copy any body and don’t write for a market.  We write for ourselves.  A lot of the songwriters I know who are much more successful than us are a bit more cynical than that.  We've never really done that, we just get together and we sit ourselves in a room around a piano or a guitar and we see what happens.  We don’t plan it out.  And in the production side of it, then we'll decide what kind of record we want it to be.

SFG: How have you managed not to become cynical?

P:  Because we couldn’t stand up and sing it with a straight face…We feel we've spent our whole careers trying not to be cynical in what we do.  We lasted five years in major-record-company-land; touring with Madonna and playing with James Brown, and that was enough.  The last album we did, the third album, was the most eclectic thing we'd done, a seven piece jazz outfit from Edinburgh and our poor London record company were scratching their heads thinking 'Oh no what are they doing?'  I think that was the final straw for them, we wouldn’t go and write with who ever had the last hit.  Seymour Stein one of the most famous A&R men from the eighties; he discovered Bruce Springsteen, flew over to Glasgow to see us and we met with him and saw the potential in us.  He saw it in us, but we didn’t see what he saw, so we didn’t go with him.

G:  I told him, I couldn't work with someone who had a leather piano key tie, and a Les Paul badge, so that was it.  I wonder if he'll be here with Springsteen tomorrow we could say Hi to him.  We also have to ask him if he's got a wig on.

SFG:  Springsteen or Stein?

G:  Bruce, its definitely a wig.

P: Yeh.

SFG:  If we could make it really windy…?

P: Oh no, its a rock wig, its beautiful.

G: I was thinking a fishing line…

SFG:  So anyway…What's the best festival that you guys have ever played?

P:  We played the Cork Jazz Festival many moons ago and it was the wildest jazz audience.  Appreciative wild Irish passionate audience,its the best festival I’ve ever done.

G: They were soaked in there own urine most of the time.

P: Oh yeh, not pretty, but they were an appreciative jazz audience.

SFG: For new listeners, How would you describe your music?

G: Erm, basically, if you scrunch together the lyrical ambition of Elvis Costello, with the musical eclecticism of Prince and Steely Dan, and then put it in a haggis wrapper…

P: and boil it…

G:  Boil it and then eat it…

P: and then shit it out.

G:  Shit it out…but draw nutrients from it in the process. 

P:  That would be Hue and Cry.

Graham Coxon Live performance

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2012 is going to be yet another a huge year for Graham Coxon – he's already released his 8th solo album 'A+E', just completed a massive solo tour, and in August he and fellow Blur members will playing a gig in Hyde Park.

This track 'Ooh, Yeh, Yeh' is the closing track on A+E and the closing track on his recent tour and perfectly demonstrates why Graham's songwriting style continues to lead the pack.

For more tracks and interviews please go to www.youtube.com/o2academytv

Volbeat Interview @ Sonisphere 2011

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We had the chance to talk with Michael (singer) and Andres (bassist) after their performance at the Sonisphere Festival 2011.

Summer Festival Guide (SFG): So, How are you guys?

Michael (M): ok… I think.. we've never played that early before. It's been a challenge. (laughing)
Andres (A): yeah (laughing)
M: I didn't expect people to be there at all, but it was good.
 
SFG: I was there taking photos and I could see the reaction and it was indeed very good. I had the chance to see you live last year, at Download and it was good as today.
M: Thank you!
A: Thanks
 
SFG: Let's talk about the tour, you are going to start in the next few weeks. Are preparing anything special?
M: Na.. we are preparing to go home tonight! (laughing)
A: We have 12 days of absolute rest!
M: 12 days in which no one will speak about Volbeat!
A: We need some peace and quiet for a change
SFG: I can imagine!
 
SFG: Have you got any plans for a new album?
M: No
SFG: Nothing at all…
M: We are gonna release a DVD later in October it will be a live performance and it will be in Blu-Ray as well. That's pretty much the only thing we are going to do for now. We have lots of ideas for a new album but the previous one is still pretty new so for now we are ok with it.
 
SFG: Nice, a live DVD sounds great. Are you going to stay for the entire festival today or are you leaving straight away after finish with the press?
A: right away! (laughing)
 
SFG: So you definitely burnt my question about who you'd like to see performing! (laughing)
A: Sorry!
M: Well we would love to see Mötorhead, but hopefully they will be alive for another couple of years! We will have another chance!
 
SFG: Fair enough! Ok, do you remember your first concert?
M: no idea..
A: for me… I think it was Public Enemy
SFG: that's nice!
A: it was nice
 
SFG: what's the first album you have ever bought? And then I'll leave you alone!
M: oh no don't worry!
A: first album…uhm… I think mine was Twisted Sister!
SFG: nice one! I like them
A: they were awesome
M: I think mine was Cat Stevens
SFG: he is great!
A: mine was better!
M: let's have a mix between the two, Cat Stevens/Twisted Sister
SFG: sounds like a pretty awesome project! (laughing)

M: the best one! (laughing)

 
SFG: Well, that's it guys. Thank you for the chit-chat, good luck for the tour and I'll see you around.
M/A: Thank you for spending your time with us!

Black Tide Interview @ Sonisphere Knebworth 2011

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We had the chance to have a little chit-chat with Gabriel (Gabe), singer of the band after their performance at the Sonisphere Festival 2011.

Summer Festival Guide (SFG): Hi, nice to meet you.

Gabriel (G): Hi nice to meet you too

SFG: I’d like to compliment you over your performance earlier on the Saturn Stage. It’s been great. I remember the first time I saw you live almost 4 years ago. You were all so young that at first I thought there was a mistake for having you on stage, then you started to play and you guys blew my mind away! Such a powerful heavy metal coming from you. It was crazy.

G: Thank you so much for this. It means a lot you have no idea. It really does. Thank you.
 
SFG: You’re welcome, I know your new CD will be out soon. Can you tell me something about Post Mortem?
G: Sure! Well, this album tells a story. The story of what happened to us after “light from above” (first album of the band released last 2008). We’ve been through a lot, it wasn’t easy and it’s basically the recollection of our struggles to keep the band together. There’s so much of us in this album, more than in the previous one.
 
SFG: sounds great! I can’t wait to hear it. What do you think about the performance today?
G: It was amazing, even though it was very early in the morning lots of people showed up and they were singing our songs! It was awesome. We didn’t expect such a reaction.
SFG: it was indeed a great reaction, I was photographing you and from the photopit I could hear the people behind me singing along.
G: yeah, it was pretty cool!
 
SFG: Have you got any plans for tour here in UK?
G: we are certainly coming back in the UK, we have nothing set in stone but most likely in October.
 
SFG: fantastic! Are you staying for the entire day today or leaving sooner after the interviews? If you’re staying, what is the band you are looking forward to see tonight?
G: We are staying for the whole show today. We are going back home tomorrow. I can’t wait to see Slipknot. They are awesome and we are all curious to see them live again.
 
SFG: I can’t wait to see them too. Last question and I leave you alone, promise!
G: Na! It’s ok.
SFG: Do you remember your first concert? The very first. Which artist/band was?
G: Uhm… my first concert… that’s tough. Let me think about it… Yes, now I remember. It was Judas Priest! My very first concert. Now that you asked, I remember it so vividly. I went with my father. The best show i’ve ever seen.
SFG: I am so ashamed to tell you mine now…
G: go on then! I wanna know!
SFG: na better keep it a secret
G: come on!
SFG: ok, Take That… but I am older than you and they were huge back in the days!
G:well it’s ok, you’re a girl so it’s ok.
SFG: well, thank you for not taking the piss out of me!
G: you’re welcome! (laughing)
 
SFG: ok, that’s it. Thank you for the chit-chat it’s been great. I wish you all the best for the album and I might see you around when you’re coming back in the UK! Is there a last message you wanna pass on to everyone?
G: Thank you! Well, my message is simple. August 23rd, our album Post Mortem will be available, it will be awesome if you can go and check it out! It’s worth it!

 

Interview with Dreadzone

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You’ll be playing Glade and Glastonbury this year; will you be sticking round to watch any other artists? If so who are you most looking forward to?
 
Trentmoller is on the Friday at Glade so will definitely be catching him. He is one of my favourite artists, in fact one of the most innovative in the whole electronic music scene. It is possible that we willonly be there for the one day though so will only be checking people on that day.
 
Your live performances are known to be very different from your studio work, what can fans expect from the live shows coming up this summer?
 
A lot of energy and a bunch of tunes from our best of Dreadzone release ‘The Good, The Bad and The Dread’ plus some from our last album ‘Eye on the Horizon’. As myself and Leo have been off doing Big Audio Dynamite shows we are bringing back a high level of playing power into our set, so it should be well bouncing.
 
How do you think your 2010 album ‘Eye On the Horizon’ album translates to a live setting?
 
We play quite a lot from the new album and it translates really well. They are quite song orientated so maybe more linear stuff will work better at Glade. Different tunes work for different shows but the new stuff stands up well next to the more well known tunes.
 
You guys have seen some big changes in the music industry since the days of playing with Big Audio Dynamite, how do you think the industry has changed since then?
 
The landscape has changed so much that its a challenge to keep fresh enough to stay afloat.  There is lot less long term investment so its harder to build a band, the benefits are it makes more artists be more independent and understand the mechanics of the industry.
 
Has this affected the live shows that you do?
 
It has meant that a lot more work comes from the touring and less from the records. We always seem to be on the road, especially at festivals
 
You released a greatest hits album recently, are there plans to record some fresh material?
 
I am currently working up a lot of new ideas for a Dreadzone library album and that will form the basis of our next record. We are always writing and formulating new ideas. The next Dreadzone album will be more live, dynamic and be made quicker than the last. And a bit more rock and roll
 
With Big Audio Dynamite on tour again, you’re only playing a few gigs this summer, does that mean Dreadzone is on hold for now, or do you have plans for the band once the B.A.D tour is over?
 
We are trying hard to keep the two in tandem, some of the BAD schedule affects the Dreadzone schedule for a few months but we have a full UK tour planned for Dreadzone for late summer/autumn plus a bunch of festivals. Dreadzone are never on hold.
 
What artists are you listening to at the moment? What are the most played tracks on your IPod?

Trentmoller, Foo Fighters, Dubstep, film soundtracks, Led Zeppelin, Jamie Woon, James Blake, 140 breaks, Queens of the Stone Age
 
You’ve seen the dub, dubstep and electronica scene change and grow over the past years what do you think will be the next thing to shape the UK music scene?
 
It’s impossible to know where the innovation will come from next but am pleased to see and hear stuff that comes from dub foundations to make an impact on the scene so much. The space, production and ideas are so forward thinking.
 
Interview by Tina Boonstra
 
Dreadzone’s latest album, The Good, The Bad and The Dread, is out now, click here to buy it.

 
For a list of upcoming shows visit: www.myspace.com/gregdread
 

I Am Kloot Interview – Latitude Festival 2011

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1 – Who is your ‘must see’ performance at Latitude this year? 
I hear Adam Buxton does a very good turn – gotta see that. 

2 – Not including items used in your performance, what is your ‘must-have’ festival item? 
A skeleton key so i can get into the jcb digger that i sleep in every time i play latitude.
 
3 – Do you have anything special planned for your performance at Latitude? 
 We are playing a lot of the songs from our last album – sky at night and our band is an eight piece now instead o f the usual three piece – looking forward to the bigger sound.
 
4 – If you could have anyone (dead or alive) to introduce you onstage who would it be (and why)? 
 Bill Hicks – a man of rare insight and a fearless attitude.
 
5 – If you have been to Latitude before what was your favourite memory, performance or special spot on site? 
 I enjoyed seeing Nick Cave get tangled in a guitar lead and without looking at it kicked it away as if he was being attacked by a snake. A delicious violence.
 
6 – Latitude is…
  is the festival that all your bloody mates want a guest list for.

Laidback Luke Interview – RockNess 2011

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You were voted number 17 in the DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJ list in 2010, you must have been ecstatic?

Yes I was! And although we didn’t do any advertising for it and I feel it’s not about being the DJ president of the world, I feel it should be about rocking every gig to the fullest I can and make and play music everyone can enjoy, I did felt a proud telling my parents I ended up in the world DJ top 20 this year. It seems they can actually grab the concept of how far I’ve come now. : )

What does 2011 hold for you?

I’m excited about 2011! I’m all set to launch two big singles with Ministry Of Sound UK and we’re really aiming on a lot of radio and TV play.

My newest track, featuring Wynter Gordon called ‘Speak Up’ will be my first single with them after ‘Show Me Love’. And after that I’ll

have a single featuring Example. It’s looking really good! Obviously I’ll still keep touring my ass off and I’m very excited about my collaboration with Cream. Doing more of my Super You&Me party residences at Cream Amnesia Ibiza this summer as well as hosting my own area at Creamfields.

To celebrate that, I’m puttin out a Super You&Me mix compilation CD with them soon too!

What can we expect from your set at RockNess 2011?

I always try and bring a lot of energy in my sets as well as diversity. I get bored very quickly and I love throwing curveballs at the crowd to surprise the hell out of them ha ha. Obviously I’ll bring the tracks I’m known for too as well as the Laidback Luke Bootleg machine.

I’m always making new bootlegs as I love doing them and make proper battle weapons that work for my sets.

Will you be staying to enjoy the whole weekend, and what are the parts of the festival are you looking forward to? 

It’s a big line up! I’ll need to see if I have time to stick around though. My schedule is always jam packed with touring

and I’m always on some kind of deadline. I believe the RockNess festival is one out of four gigs I’m doing that weekend in the whole of Europe.

Your opening Cream in Ibiza this year at Amnesia, how does that feel?

It’s fantastic and a great honor! We started working with Cream in Ibiza last year and it was a smashing success.

The amount of support I get from the UK is amazing and I’m excited to do it bigger, better and more this year! 

Who is your favourite artist/DJ at the moment?

I absolutely adore the DJ called Gaslamp Killer. If you don’t know him, you should really google him!

To me he has everything a DJ needs. An unbelievable stage performance, manic DJ techniques and a choice of very weird music that tingles my imagination.

What do you thin will be the ‘Summer 2011’ song?

Good question! It’s always hard to predict. I haven’t heard it yet to be honest. We’ll see! 

What are your plans for 2011?

Lay back and enjoy the crazy rollercoster! 

You have worked with some big names such as David Guetta, Steve Angelo and Axwell, what was that like?

It was great working with all of them. I really like collaborating and making new music that comes from a good connection in the studio. Rest assure there’s always new stuff on the way!

What is your favourite song and will you be playing it at the festival?

My favorite song of all time is Phoenix ‘Love Like Sunset’. I always imagine my whole life flashing by when I hear that song. It takes me on a trip. Unfortunately it’s far from being dance music so I’d probably never play it.

Laidback Luke Performs at RockNess on the 11th June 2011. For more information visit www.rockness.co.uk

Nero Interview – Rockness 2011

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Are you excited to be coming to Scotland to play at RockNess?
Yes, can’t wait as we’ve heard the setting is amazing so it’s going to be a wicked experience.
 
Do you think the music scene differs depending on which part of the country you’re in, and how does this affect your sets?
You definitely notice a lot of energy up in Scotland, but we’re really lucky that we get an up for it crowd where ever we go.
 
Congratulations on your recent songs ‘Me & You’ and ‘Guilt’ which have done extremely well this year, do you think that Dub-step is here to stay?
Genres always come and go but dubstep is evolving in a really positive way so it will always be around in some shape or form.
 
Dub-step is now becoming more mainstream, does this affect how you produce your music?
It doesn’t affect us at all, we didn’t make ‘Me & You’ to get on the radio, but they liked it, so we’re just going to keep making music we like and hope the success carries on.
 
What do you think will be the ‘Summer 2011’ song?
There are so many contenders this year but I think a lot of producers are yet to pull out their big guns for the festival season yet.
 
Have you got any surprises in store for the Rockness crowd?
There are going to be some un heard tracks from our forthcoming album “Welcome Reality” in our sets, as well as our own VIP edits
 
Who are your inspirations for your music?
Our inspirations are extremely wide but I suppose Daft Punk are the ones that we constantly look to and reference.
 
Any tips to be a ‘Pro-festival goer’?
Erm…Take your own bathroom?
 
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
We’re working on getting our album totally finished, it’s due out on the 1st August so time is ticking. We’re also working at getting our live show on tour in October.
 
You are supporting deadmau5 in Victoria Park – anything special planned for the London show?
We’re headlining the tent in Victoria Park so are going to be preparing some special edits to make sure it’s a memorable set.
 

Nero Performs at RockNess on the 10th June 2011. For more information visit www.rockness.co.uk