We talk to Young Guns bassist Simon Mitchell about what the band have been upto since they finished recording their second album Bones in Thailand a year ago, and how trying to break America feels like starting again for the band.

We recently caught up with Tay Jardine and Jordan Eckes from We Are The In Crowd to talk about their debut album ‘Best Intentions’ and the last year touring the world.

To download two new songs for free visit www.markmorriss.me

Never Means Maybe

In advance of their gig at Norwich Waterfront on Monday 26th March, we caught up with guitarist Matt Steane.

Brief history of the band:

We’re Never Means Maybe, and we’re from Essex. We formed around 2006 and have been having good times ever since. We’ve toured up and down the UK a whole bunch of times, racking up over 400 shows along the way. We love every minute of what we do and give it 110% every single night. If you like punchy songs with big hooks and even bigger choruses then you should definitely check us out.

Tell us about your current release:

We have a 6 track EP out at the moment called Strangers. We recorded this at various stages through 2010 and released it in April 2011. The EP was recorded with Mike Curtis (of Fei Comodo) at CDS Studios in Chelmsford. We’re very proud of the release and have been touring off the back of it over the past year.

We’re currently writing songs that we hope to release on a full length album at some point this year. We’ve got about 10 or 12 songs now but are looking to keep on at the writing until the summer so that we can pick out the best tunes for the album. We’re definitely pushing ourselves on this release; you only get one chance at releasing your debut album, so we want to make sure that the songs on there are the very best that we can write, and represent us to the fullest.
We’re definitely experimenting with some new ideas that we haven’t really used on before in our song-writing, but if you don’t push yourselves then what’s the point!? I think it’s fair to say, though, that if you liked our older songs and have followed us for a while then you will like the material we’re coming up with now.

How hard is it for a touring band to survive, apart from the band, what other jobs do the band members do (if any), and how do these jobs affect the band:

It’s probably one of the most difficult parts of being in a band. When we toured with Exit Ten and Fei Comodo back in November I had to take an entire month off work without pay, and Bert and Renz had to quit their jobs! Don’t get me wrong, it was worth it as the tour was amazing, but we’re all only just recovering from the financial hit we suffered from that.
I work for the Council, Drew is a manager at Domino’s Pizza and Bert works in a pub. Renz has recently had ankle surgery so has been out of work for a while and Tom is a student so sits on his backside playing FIFA most of the day!

What’s been the best thing to happen to the band:

Over the past few years we’ve been really lucky to have some absolutely amazing experiences. We’ve played Download, Sonisphere, T in the Park, Hevy Fest, Camden Crawl, Underage Fest and Hammerfest and they’ve all been great (and unique) experiences.
We toured with My Passion back in April 2011 and that was the first time we’d ever toured on a bus so that was great fun in itself. The shows were incredible as well which is always nice!
We were also fortunate enough to play at the Astoria 2 three times before it got knocked down. Having seen so many bands play there over the years, that really was a dream come true for us, and will be something I’ll never forget.
We’ve also been lucky to tour and play with some absolutely amazing bands. The month long tour we did with Exit Ten and Fei Comodo sticks out as a great memory as it was pretty much just one massive bro-down every night. It was the longest tour we’d done and we played pretty much everywhere you can imagine. It was hard work as we were sleeping on people’s floors and in the van pretty much non stop for a month, but I loved every minute of it and would do it again in a heartbeat!

Never Means Maybe

What are the plans for the band for the rest of the year:

Well, as I’ve mentioned, we’re writing at the moment and we’ve got a short run of shows coming up in March, including our show at The Waterfront, which we’re really excited about. With the writing and Renz’s ankle surgery we’ve not actually played a show since the beginning of December, which is the longest time we’ve had out of gigging ever! So we’re all itching to get back out there again. We’re gonna be playing some new songs at these upcoming shows as well as the old favourites.
We’re hoping to be touring again around May/June time and then we’ll be looking at recording the album at some point for sure. Who we record it with and where we record it are all up in the air at the moment, but when we know we’ll be sure to let everyone know.
After that we just want to gig as much as we physically can. Anywhere and everywhere that will have us, we’ll be there!

What individually first inspired you to be in a band:

I started to learn to play guitar when I was about 15 or so. At the time I was going through all my exams etc and playing guitar gave me a bit of a release and something to look forward to at the end of the day. It just stemmed from there really. One minute I’m playing along to Slipknot and Limp Bizkit songs with my headphones on and the next minute I’m writing my own songs.
My brother (Drew) and I have always shared a similar music taste and he has played drums about the same amount of time as I’ve played guitar so we’ve been in bands together for nearly 10 years now.
I think going to gigs, or watching videos of bands is something that really gave me the drive to be in a band. I was enthralled by the energy and the fact that something could make so many people lose their minds. The first gig I ever went to was Korn at London Arena and the whole place just went mental. I remember coming out of that show and thinking ‘that’s what I want to do!’

What inspires you now, both musically and lyrically:

I think I’m just driven by writing the best songs possible. I don’t write the lyrics to our songs, so can’t answer for Renz there, but I am much more involved with the music side of things and am always interested in pushing what we’ve done before. I don’t see the point in rehashing old ideas when it comes to our songs and I’m inspired by the challenge of writing new music and shaping new sounds for us.

Check out www.facebook.com/nevermeansmaybe for any updates and come down and check us out at The Waterfront on Monday 26th March.

Tickets for their Norwich Waterfront gig are available from UEA Ticket Bookings

Photos from their gig at Norwich Waterfront with My Passion and Super Happy Fun Clucb:

Madina Lake | My Passion | Super Happy Fun Club | Norwich Waterfront – Images by Jon Luton