The Wombats Interview

When I speak to The Wombats Tord Øverland-Knudsen, he is in Liverpool helping to get all the gear ready for the bands run of live shows. The next few months will see the release of their second album ‘This Modern Glitch’, a tour encompassing Europe and Australia and a host of festivals, they just can’t announces which ones yet.

What can people expect from one of your live shows?

It’s quite an energetic live show; it’s going be quite a bit different with the new songs. The first album was quite punk heavy and the songs very guitar driven. With the new songs it is going to be a more synth orientated. We are also working on the visual element. It’s going to be quite impressive to see and listen to.

With the first album doing so well, reaching number 11 in the UK album chart, do you feel any pressure for this album to do better?

I think we have felt a pressure the whole way through, especially from the label early on. We just carried on writing song after song. There is a lot of pressure from ourselves as well as we want to do well. We want this album to do as well as our first record and hopefully better. I think we are onto a winner, hopefully.

Early on in your career did you ever imagine you would have the kind of success you have had with The Wombats?

I come from a little town in Norway and always wanted to be in a band. I was in loads of bands from when I was thirteen. I guess it was always a dream that I would be able to do music full time, but on this sort of scale I had never even dreamed of it. We are really lucky to be doing music on the level we are doing.

What’s the best thing about being in The Wombats?

I guess playing gigs and being able to record. It’s great being able to travel and meet new people. Just being able to do music full time is amazing. It’s a whole lot of fun.

What’s the worst thing about being in The Wombats?

 It can be quite intense at times. Living on a tour bus with eleven people can be very intense and you get to know the people very well. Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. You get to know everything.

Where is your favourite place in the world?

I really like Australia, it’s so far away from home but it feels like coming home in a way. They really love us down there, maybe that’s the band name, I don’t know. Even the first show out there was unbelievable. They just get it completely, what we are as a band and the songs, the lyrics. They get it more than anyone else.

The UK is amazing, a lot of places in Europe are really fun to play, Norway as well, as it’s always special coming back home. We are almost like a Norwegian band to them so they are really proud. A lot of my friends and family always come down for the shows there.

Have you got many festivals booked in this year?

We are playing some of the big festivals but I don’t think we are allowed to say which ones yet. We always love playing at festivals, the festivals in the UK are always mad. They are so massive and a lot of fun, I can’t wait to do it.

Where do you hope the band will be in the future?

I hate looking too far ahead; I always just look a week ahead, maybe two. That’s the best way to get through it for me, focus on what’s happening now. Try to be as good as you can be, play as well as you can. I think if you look to far ahead you lose the plot a bit. In the future though I hope that we are still doing what we are doing now.

Which musicians influenced you when you were growing up?

I was a bit of a grunge kid, I grew up in the 90’s and there was a lot of grunge and alternative rock bands around. I listened to Weezer and the Smashing Pumpkins; those bands got me into guitar and alternative music. Radiohead are also a really big influence.

Do you have any advice for bands just starting out?

Keep playing gigs, as many as possible. Have fun while you are doing it and don’t give up. It takes time to become successful. When it stops being fun then it’s time to do something else.