The Drums Interview

2010 has been an eventful year for The Drums, at the start of the year they were highlighted by NME and Clash magazine as ones to watch. In the summer they were regulars on the festival circuit, playing at Leeds, Reading and Glastonbury as well as embarking on a tour encompassing Europe, America and Japan. I chatted to the extremely polite drummer Connor Hanwick while the band were on their way down to London to play a couple of gigs at the tail end of their mammoth tour.

For anybody who hasn’t heard of the band how do you describe yourselves?

I guess that’s a good question, I don’t know, I probably wouldn’t go around telling people to listen to my own band but I guess we are a pop band. We are a rock and roll band in the traditional sense and we are a pop band in terms of our accessibility.

It’s not really been the ‘in’ thing for a band to come along and say, “we are a pop band” so its quite refreshing for a band to do that.

We certainly don’t try and hide anything, whether or not it’s the cool thing to call yourselves that. While we are making music we certainly aren’t concerned about what the hip thing is right now. We are just writing pop songs, if you listen to our record its very traditional rock and roll, partly in the vain of the Zombies while also being very pop driven.

Athlete at Leeds O2 Academy - 27th Nov 2010

A large black banner hangs on the back of the stage with the graphic for the latest album black swan. The emblem encapsulates the whole of the gigs, simple, well thought-out and extremely effective. Stage props come in the form of huge globe like half lanterns and super watt floodlights that pulsate occasionally to the music. It is a simple stage set up showing the underlying confidence that the band have within themselves. They don’t need fancy props or an elaborate costumes to keep the audiences attention, it is exactly how rock gigs should be: energetic and unadulterated.

Paul Smith Interview

He became the lead singer for Maximo Park after one of the bands girlfriend’s heard him singing in a club, the band ended up being nominated for the Mercury prise and had two of their three albums go double platinum. After ten years and three studio albums Paul Smith is going it alone with his debut album Margins, a European tour and a photographic book entitled ‘Thinking in Pictures’. I caught up with him ahead of his first UK show to discus the tour, the album viewing the world in a magical way.

How’s the tour going?

It’s going really well, we have just come back from mainland Europe and we played 6 shows in Germany, three in Italy, three in Switzerland and Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam. It’s been fun being on tour with a whole bunch of new people and just experiencing it all again, its like starting again in some ways, its been quite exciting doing something that I’m not really used to but you have to challenge yourself at various points in your life and I’m really enjoying this one.

How does doing a solo tour compare to gigging with Maximo Park, does it feel a bit more exposed?

Yeah it does but I think the songs respond to it. The places that I’m playing and the way I am playing the songs are just stripped down, just me and my guitar and it feels appropriate to the songs. I realise that with Maximo Park, when I’m on stage I respond to the songs and because the songs with the band are very energetic and full on, my behaviour and performance was in keeping with that. The songs on Margins, are quite different, so with each one I try and approach it afresh and try and do the song justice to connect with the emotions that are inherent in the song, for me its been more exposed but not in a bad way, it feels like the right thing to do.

Athlete Interview

Black Swan is the fourth album by Athlete and its one that is a "musical summary" of everything the band have been through over the last few years. Having gone back to being an unsigned band, experienced suffering and joy, love and loss, the band have come back philosophical, excited and driven for their latest tour. I spoke to singer and guitarist Joel Pott before they hit the road.

How has the music industry changed for better or worse since you started out?

It's a different world now. There's less money being made. People don't buy records in the same way they used to and even those CDs are £8 when they used to be £15. Now you can download an album for £5. The thing is that you don't really hear loads of musicians complain about it (apart from Lars Ulrich) because the artists and bands never got a good deal from the music industry anyway. Cash flow and financial targets have never inspired a great record or your favorite song. 


Do you agree with giving away your music for free?

I think artists should have the choice whether their music is available for free or not. It would be unfair to take anyone's art or creation without paying what that person wants to charge for it. I do like the way that so many people are giving away free downloads though. I've bought whole albums after downloading a free giveaway song from band or artist. 

The Coral at Leeds O2 Academy - 14th Nov 2010

It’s a damp, dark and dreary night in Leeds but there is still a hub of excitement at the O2 Academy tonight. The Coral are back with their original line up and the crowd are drunk off the anticipation. Cherry Ghost was the main support and they put on an authentic show, full of elation and desolation in equal measures. One member of the audience is fervently trying to spoil it for them with constant heckles but they handle them with the grace of seasoned performers. 

The Coral Interview

The Coral have just released their seventh studio album and are midway through their UK tour. The band have been on quite a journey since they first started out in 1996.They received critical acclaim for their first album, had a crucial member leave and had a period away from making music. They have now returned, stronger and more focused than ever, original line up reinstated and ready to get the music world talking again

What do you prefer writing and recording an album or touring?

I like it all, like anything really, too much of it can be enough. When you come to the end of an album or tour you’re knackered but it’s great, it’s why you do it really. I appreciate live more now, you can’t download it, you can’t cheat; it just is what it is.

How do you feel about downloading and distributing music for free?

Well you know I don’t mind it, its ok if you want my music but we don’t really make our money from records, its all made from live gigs. In a way you don’t know how many people have got your music and it’s hard to keep track of it. My only problem with it is that I want people to hear the music in the quality we have recorded it, we recorded it like that for a reason and I don’t want people to hear a downsized version of it, that’s more what bothers me. I just want everyone to hear it in the real quality it deserves or there is no point in going to all the effort to make it sound great.

Ellie Goulding at Leeds O2 Academy - 2nd Nov 2010

The gig starts off explosively with Ellie Goulding’s debut single ‘Under the Sheets’ forcing everyone’s attention to the stage. She appears statuesque in a military jacket and starts pounding on the drums for a few bars before taking her rightful place at the front of stage. A screen stretching the whole of the back wall is alight with a ‘wall of fire’ effect, adding to the mystical feel. She has a powerful voice with an ethereal eminence; a twist of Cyndi Lauper makes her tracks instantly recognisable.