Local band Lost? have recorded an exclusive three song acoustic session for Norwich Gigs.

The first song is a cover of Ke$ha’s Tik Tok. Enjoy:

The Maccabees have just released their second album ‘Wall Of Arms’. The album headed straight into the Top 20 on the back on first two singles ‘No Kind Words’ and ‘Love You Better’. Norwich Gigs caught up with singer Orlando Weeks.

What was the main influence on the new album?

For me, it sounds like a mix of what we have all been listening to. There’s not as much Public Enemy in there as Felix would like to think there is. There’s definitely a bit of Orange Juice and a bit of grandiose folk music. I was listening to a lot of Crooners as far as vocals were concerned, people like Roy Orbison and Richard Hawley. Over the last few years I really can’t figured out that I can get away with that style of singing.

Was there a lot of pressure on the band making the second album, following the critical success of ‘Colour It In’?

There was only really pressure from ourselves. We wanted to make something better, and a step onwards for us in every possible way. We wanted to feel that we had made the most of the opportunity given to us, and we all feel like we have.

What was the plan behind the artwork for ‘Wall Of Arms’ (the 80’s style painting)?

I didn’t think me trying to design the artwork again or trying to figure out what I wanted was going to be as good as what Boo Ritson could do. Boo Ritson is such a good artist. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out, especially on the 12” where it looks the business.

How do you feel about people buying downloads of albums rather than buying the package of artwork which you’ve spent a lot of time on?

I think it gives people options. If you want to buy the real thing, which I always do, then do it. If you want to give listen to music on an i-pod, that fine. Not everyone gives a fuck about artwork. That’s understandable, and each to their own. I like having a physical thing, and I think it will mean record companies will have to devote more time to artwork, to get people to buy the physical product. I think record shops will survive because they’ll need an outlet. It would be a massive shame if vinyl faded again. I think records are a chance for bands to show a more complete aesthetic.

Following on from ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ being used to advertise Samsung, how do you feel about some people coming to see you just because of that one song?

I think it’s odd that some people come and see us just because of that song. But if they come and that’s the only song they like then it doesn’t matter. It’s a good inroad to us, some people will come and see us because of that song, and then get into the rest of our music. Our music varies, even on the new record I don’t think it’s very samey.

Fightstar have just released their third Studio album ‘Be Human’ which debuted in the album charts at number 20, selling over 8,000 copies in it’s first week. We caught up with Charlie and Al from Fightstar to talk about the new album, the Fightstar corporation and the music industry.

Be Human is the first album on your own label. What difference did this make to the writing and recording of the album? Was there more or less pressure on you because of this?

Charlie: It made the whole thing more relaxed. On one hand it took the pressure off, but on the other it added more on, because we didn’t have to answer to anyone. We had to answer to ourselves, so the quality control was coming from ourselves. It made us work harder, but in a more relaxed way.

Al: It also allowed us to have more time to record. We recorded it in a friends studio, and spent a few weeks longer recording this than the previous albums. We had more time to work on ideas and add things.

Charlie: We had more time to do this than we have ever had before, and we had a break in the middle of recording when we went on tour with Feeder. That gave us time to reflect on what we had done. The album is everything I wanted it to be, and more. I’m so happy with the way we managed to incorporate the orchestration in to the record, which is an ambition we’ve had for a long time. I think we executed that very well. I think the songs are a better calibre, our writing has improved during the time we have been a band. It’s a well rounded album, it sounds like a piece of work, one complete body of work. People tend to go to itunes and buy individual tracks but that’s irrelevant to us. We are believers in the CD, in the physical product. I always have believed and I always will. Although digital music will take over, in years to come, I’ll always perceive an album as a body of work, not a collection of songs. I think younger bands coming through now, and kids who are 14 will probably lose that, because it won’t be instilled in their brains.
I still like looking through the artwork and getting the whole package, an albums meant to be a complete package, the music and the artwork, and that is being lost and it fucking pisses me off. That’s the heritage of music and that is what I love.

Al: Real music fans will still collect the physical package. The proper muso’s will.

Charlie: We need to take the power back. We need to make people want something tangible, something you can hold, feel, live and breathe. We care about the whole package, we were involved in the artwork 100% from start to finish. We worked with a guy called Dan Conway very closely, talking about the lyrics, what the album meant, the things we were feeling at the time. Our artwork very much represents us as people. It represents what we do and what we think about. This album was the same, Al did all the inlay stuff.

What is most important to the band?

Charlie: It’s everything, it’s just being able to do this for a living. Doing live shows and recording albums means so much to us. It’s nice to get critical acclaim and be recognised with awards but that isn’t what we do this for, and if you do then something is wrong. To be able to sustain a living, is amazing, and we are glad we can do that and make the records we want to make and to go out and play shows like this. What better life is there?

Al: I’m the same. The main goal with this album is to be able to fund the next album and progress for here.

Charlie: The other thing is we are doing it ourselves. It’s like we’ve started our own business. That’s what’s really exciting, we aren’t working for anyone else, just ourselves. We’re not working for some schmuck in the legal department. We are building a new company ourselves, it’s an exciting prospect. It’s not just how we do as a band, it’s how the whole Fightstar corporation works. (Al laughs at the Fightstar Corporation comment).

What is currently influencing you?

Charlie: We are really into a band called M83, that’s influenced the way we work with synth sounds, and electronic sounds. The idea of using an orchestra dates back to Neon Ballroom by Silverchair. That was the first time I heard strings done together with rock music and it just blew me away. Since I first listened to that album I always wanted to work one day with a big orchestra. There’s a band I’m listening to now called Frightened Rabbit, who, lyrically are genius. I still listen to lots of film soundtracks like the Bladerunner soundtrack.

Al: I’m into DJ Talent, who I saw last night on Britain’s Got Talent (jokes).

How has the band progressed in the last five years since you started touring?

Charlie: I think we’ve become a much better live band, I think we always had a very energetic show but I think we are tighter now. I think especially in the last six months we have got even better, with the making of this record.

What’s next for Fightstar?

Charlie: We are going to work this record here, and then go to Europe. We have never really had the chance to push our albums in Europe. Purely because the labels we have been on have been fucking useless. They never wanted to push the album in other territories, but it all adds up. Look at Bullet For My Valentine, you start selling 50-100,000 records in different parts of the world and before you know it you’ve sold a million copies. Now we are in control of ourselves we can license the album wherever we want. We are in control so we decide the plan, we don’t have to answer to some suit in an office who is just crunching numbers. Now it’s all about us, and what we want to achieve.

We had dinner with our manager the other night, and he asks us about going into the studio at the end of next year. I was like ‘Fuck off’. The idea of going back into the studio is just too much to think about at the moment. I think we have exhausted our creativity almost to the point of insanity. I’m so proud of this record, I’m in no rush to head back into the studio. I’m just sitting back in the satisfaction of what we have done and I’m just going to enjoy it for a while.

At the end of 2008 Senses Fail released their third album ‘Life Is Not A Waiting Room’. Following on from the success of their second album ‘Still Searching’, ‘Life Is Not…’ features the big hooks, hardhitting riifs and self reflective lyrics we have come to expect from the band. Norwich Gigs spoke to Senses Fail singer Buddy Nielsen before their gig at Norwich Waterfront.

How do you feel about the reaction to ‘Life Is Not A Waiting Room’?

I think it’s gone well. It certainly hasn’t been pushed as much as Still Searching, and it isn’t such a drastic change from album to album. I think it’s a solid record. The music industry has changed quite a bit since the last record came out, but I think the kids really like it.

The album is doing what we have always done in the states, and we still have loads of kids coming to the shows, which is good.

We would like to do better in the UK, cos I think a lot of people still don’t know about us. It’s hard to do a big tour here, because it’s expensive to tour over sea’s and as we don’t get any tour support we can’t afford to do a big support tour to promote ourselves to new people.

How do you feel about people downloading music?

It’s fine, I’m not against it, but it does hurt bands like us, because we need the money from record sales to survive. It does also hurt huge bands, but they make so much from touring. I get know if kids get into records anymore, they seem to buy just songs. There’s nothing we can do about it, we aren’t going to change the world.

What’s next for Senses Fail?

We are doing the warped tour, then hopefully will come back to Europe, and then we are going to write our next record. The next record is going to be really different. I don’t know in what way but it’s going to be a big step like the difference from Let It Enfold You to Still Searching. The next record will be a big progression for us.

What inspires us to write music is that there’s so much out there to compete with, that we really want to define us. It’s important for us to be a band that’s different and that people care about. There are a lot of bands that are around now, that are doing well and have catchy songs but they won’t last very long. I think with us we have managed to keep a fanbase that has stayed with us over the years.

New Found Glory return, and they are ready for a fight. After leaving Geffen back in 2007, they took time out to release ‘From Your Screen To Your Stereo Part Two’ and last years ‘Tip Of The Iceberg EP’ and ‘International Superheroes Of Hardcore’ album. Now it’s time to get serious again.

Kicking off with ‘Right Where We Left Off’ NFG forget last full album ‘Coming Home’ (a superb album which unfortunately was deemed too slow for the majority of their fans), the band head straight back into ‘Catalyst’ era punk pop. It’s all fast paced bouncy pop. This is what NFG have always done so successfully.

‘Listen To Your Friends’ is an up to date version of ‘My Friends Over You’ as catchy as hell, and as good a song as any of the singles NFG have released over the last ten years. Jordan Pundik retraces previous lyrical themes about love, loss, missing loved ones whilst on tour punched with lines such as ‘We’re kept together by highways and telephone lines’. Gone are the gentle piano sounds from ‘Coming Home’ replaced by punchy guitars.

Clocking in at just 36 minutes, the album is fairly short, however it is packed with 12 three minute pop songs where the band doesn’t hold anything back. The album is relentless and is over before you know it.

New Found Glory: A band worth fighting for.

Norwich Gigs managed hijack the Bring Me The Horizon tour bus along with In Case Of Fire’s Drummer, Colin Robinson, and bassist, Mark Williamson for a short interview about the Kerrang tour and future plans for the band.

In Case Of Fire first caught my attention back in September when supporting Ash at The Astoria, for one of their gigs reliving the 1977 album.

Mark: The Ash show was an overwhelming experience for us, I have been a fan of Ash since I was young and 1977 was one of the first albums I really got into. Also, playing the Astoria was always a dream, and i’m glad we got to play there before the venue closed.

In Case Of Fire have had a hard time fitting in with the sound of other bands they have toured with, not being as heavy as the other bands on the Kerrang tour, or as melodic as the bands on the Funeral For A Friend tour they did last October/November. The band aren’t worried by this.

Colin: We do find it hard to get our sound across to people, because we have only had the chance to play five songs each night on the last two support tours we’ve play on. But we have seen an improved reaction from the crowd as the tours have gone on and the crowd understands us more.

Mark: It’s sometimes hard being the first band on each night, because the crowd isn’t warmed up yet, but tonight the reaction was really good, and we’re really happy with how we went down.

On stage In Case Of Fire offer a powerful sound, mixing the raw, anything can happen feel of At The Drive-In, and Refused, whilst remaining as catchy as Muse with the choruses of ‘This Time We Stand’ and ‘The Cleansing’. In between songs the band concentrates on triggering samples, and very rarely speak to the crowd.

Colin: We don’t have idle chit-chat in between songs. A lot of our favourite bands are the kind of bands that don’t do the whole talking between songs, and mug to the camera so to speak. We play serious music, and if you play serious music and then do a comedy stand up routine in between songs, it takes away from the music. If you look at a band like Biffy, very rarely will you get anything out of Simon in between songs. Same with muse as well, they don’t talk to the crowd very much.

Mark: We are a very busy band in between songs because we have lots of different tuning, or Colin is triggering a sample.

Colin: The kind of band we are and the message we try to portray, with the uniforms and what Steve’s singing about, the fact that we don’t speak much on stage lends itself to the music. We don’t give out anything on stage except the music. We want to captivate people when we play live.

How would the band describe their sound:

Colin: It’s the best thing I’ve ever heard (joking)
We are just a rock band, who write about things that are important to us. We don’t just write/play music to get famous and sell loads of merchandise, which a lot of bands who are around these days do, it seems to be their number one priority (Colin laughs at the irony of his comment, considering we are sitting in Bring Me The Horizons bus surrounded by Drop Dead clothing) . We write songs because that’s what we love to do, and if we weren’t getting anywhere with it, we’d still be writing and playing music. The fact that we are getting out there and getting better known is important though, because the stuff in Steve’s lyrics is getting heard.

The band are already looking forward to the release of their debut album, Align The Planets, which has been recorded twice and should be out 11th May 2009.

Mark: That’s final it’s going to be then, no later. It might come out before then, but definitely no later.

Colin: If it isn’t out by then we are going to phone Axel Rose and find out how he got Chinese Democracy released after all those years. The album has been recorded twice now, we originally did it on our own, in our house. Once we got our management deal/record deal we went back in again and recorded it with Gil Norton. We recorded it last spring and finished mixing last July. Working with Gil was the best experience ever.

Mark: We love studio work, and working with Gil was the best thing to happen to the band.

Colin: Gil has such a head for songs. He’s well known for his work with more commercial bands, like the foo’s feeder etc. Although we have a commercial side, on the whole the album is quite diverse, and we weren’t going to change what we are, but Gil did make changes but the changes were for the good of the songs, to make a stronger album.

Mark: There were bits we had picked as weaknesses and he helped us make the songs as good as they could be. It was a really creative process.

Colin: If someone had asked us who would have been our dream producer, Gil Norton would, hands down, been our first choice. It was so easy working with him, because he’s stuff a good guy, and we became good friends with him and he’s came to a load of our shows. Fingers crossed if we get to make another album, Gil would be available to produce again.

After the completion of the Kerrang tour, In Case Of Fire release second single ‘The Cleansing’ and have filmed a darker video, to go with the songs theme. We hope to have the video on the site shortly

Colin: The first video (for This Time We Stand) needed to be mostly performance, second video has more of a story, because the narrative of the lyrics lend themselves better to a story line. The topic could be a bit dodgy if you come at it the wrong way, but the way the video has been done we managed to pull off the emotion of the lyrics.

Mark: It’s a really creepy video, but it was enjoyable to film, and I think the video works well with the song.

The Cleansing is out on 2nd March.