What bands, albums or events inspired you to start making music?
CD: Much of the reasoning behind doing this came separately from music. It was more drawn out of frustration and the lack of a creative outlet where we live. The band formed out of a collective sense of wanting to have a go at doing something. I guess some of the old punk and anarcho stuff would be a good starting point – bands like Icons of Filth, Exit Stance and Disorder. Not always in their varying political approaches, but more so in the way that they were inspired to stand up for themselves instead of making music solely for material or financial gain.
You’ve got quite a distinctive style when you play live, do you think it’s important to have an identity and not follow the crowd?
CD: I think that’s dependent on what you’re aiming to do. For us that sort identity is intrinsic to who we are as people. I don’t necessarily think that’s a choice we made in terms of coming across differently to other artists. It’s something that’s developed around being from a new town like Stevenage, along with the baggage - both inspiring and frustrating - that comes with it.
How important (if at all) is authenticity?
CD: Personally I think it’s fundamental, but you only have to look around you to see that the concepts of true representation and integrity mean nothing to a lot of people. Again, I think it’s dependent on what you’re trying to achieve as an artist. There are hundreds out there who couldn’t give a rat’s arse what people think of them as long as they’re playing shows, touring and littering social media with absolute, irrelevant nonsense.
Who are your favourite up and coming bands in and around Stevenage or London?
We don’t really have a live circuit in Stevenage, just a couple of pub bands that play on Thursday nights. As for London, Snob have put out some really good stuff and Shallow Sanction released a great 7” at the back-end of last year.
What’s the craziest gig you’ve ever played?
One of the most memorable ones to date was getting to play to a few thousand people at the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon. There’s something wonderfully perverse about getting the chance to wind up so many Royal Blood fans in a building of such architectural beauty.
It was an odd one really. Reading was something that we often attended when we were younger and it sort of carried this romantic notion of getting the chance to play something we’d grown up visiting. It’s pretty disturbing watching the preening nature of the industry when you’re sat behind the tent. It’s essentially a big circle jerk for those who are under some obscure delusion that makes them believe that they make the world turn. That being said, we love playing shows and getting the chance to do something like that was exciting.
Has the fact that you’re from a “new” town like Stevenage influenced
your music? And if so, in what way?
I think the town has a real important influence on what we do. Stevenage is a place that has shaped us and our opinions in equal measure. It’s a town of wild contradictions, a place of disenfranchisement, but also somewhere that has a really unique hold on you. We’re certainly proud of where we’re from, but Stevenage also acts as a good descriptor for a lot of the social and political problems that have arguably left people suffering in certain parts of the country.
I think the town has a real important influence on what we do. Stevenage is a place that has shaped us and our opinions in equal measure. It’s a town of wild contradictions, a place of disenfranchisement, but also somewhere that has a really unique hold on you. We’re certainly proud of where we’re from, but Stevenage also acts as a good descriptor for a lot of the social and political problems that have arguably left people suffering in certain parts of the country.
Who would be your dream band to support on a tour?
I think it’d probably just be someone we got on with. A rather boring answer, maybe, but going out on tour is a liberating thing for us so in a way we’re just happy to be able to do it when we get the chance.
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