I was in Exeter to watch a band called Nothing But Thieves, I had just watched the first support band when I received a text from the manager of a band called Twin Wild asking if I'd like to do an interview after their set, who was I to refuse an opportunity like this. I frantically gathered as much information about the band as I could in five minutes and when their set came to a close, I met up with them outside their tour bus where we got cosy and chatted about the opening night of the current tour, KFC drive through's and dealing with friendly Scouse hecklers, here's how we got on....
Hey guys, I just watched you play in Exeter, very impressive stuff, please would you spend a couple of minutes telling me about who you are?
Hi, I’m Richard, I sing and play rhythm guitar, Imran, I play drums, Ed, I play bass and I’m David, I play guitar, we’re 4 guys from between Reading and London who play rock music.
Pretty awesome rock music it is too, the energy that you kick out, especially with the 3 guitars kicking in at the same time, it really brings things up a level.
Thanks, it’s a real pleasure to play live.
You’ve been on tour with Nothing But Thieves for a little while now, how has it been?
Fun, especially tonight (Exeter) as you can see there are a LOT of people in the club and that makes it great to play, pretty much every night has been packed, either sold out beforehand or on the door, so for what is technically our first ever tour, we have been so lucky, spoilt even! The NBT guys are such nice people, great fun to be around.
I saw a picture of you driving an imaginary car up to a KFC drive through window, would someone care to explain what was going on?
For legal reasons, we can’t talk about it! All I’ll say is that we didn’t actually end up getting any chicken!
I saw a similar story a while back where a lady on a horse was refused service at a drive through window so you’re not the only ones!
You’ve got to commend them for making the effort!
I think she WOULD have taken the horse into the restaurant if there was no security gueard on the door!
All we wanted was some chicken, I mean, is that TOO much to ask? Mcdonalds won that night!
Now, I can see that you all give it 110% on stage, how do you relax after a show?
We normally watch the other band, obviously tonight with the venue being a little more ‘compact’, we had to strip our gear off the stage straight after we played, so that kept us busy for 10 minutes or so!
The Cavern isn’t the biggest place on earth and seeing as there were 3 bands on the bill, I think you did a great job of sorting it all out in good time!
We also spend a lot of time talking to the audience after the show, it’s great to get to meet them, sometimes you recognise them from Twitter and it’s nice to put a name to a face. There’s nothing more rewarding than when you come off stage and someone comes up to you and tells you how great the set was, it just boosts you back up there all over again, I think also, because this was our first tour, it’s been quite a shock, take the first date in Aberdeen, sold out, it was such a great show and to get people coming up to you afterwards to chat and talk about the music is really special.
Who would you say it was that made YOU want to get a band together?
Definitely the Foo Fighters, they have made a real impression on us (Richard refused to comment as he said that he wasn’t brought up on ‘cool’ music, instead, just stealing whatever was on his brothers laptop!). I think good singers, good songwriters, for me (Richard) it’s got to be someone like Jeff Buckley, I don’t sound like him (I wish I did)… I think as the guitarist (David), I draw most of my inspiration from FOALS, their guitar lines can do everything from fat riffs to being able to layer some real intricate detail during the verses, blending with the vocals, we try and do this a lot and we think that it works really well. Biffy Clyro are another band that have influenced me (Richard) , my brother bought the CD home and said that I HAD to listen to this album and gave me the CD, the rest is history!
What have been the highlights of the tour so far?
Many different highlights for many different reasons, I think tonight (Exeter) we wanted to play The Cavern for ages and I’ve never been to Exeter before, playing to a packed out venue was the best, I would say it was a toss up between tonight in Exeter and Aberdeen, mainly because it was the first night of the tour, it was the first time we had met Nothing But Thieves and the production values were so good, some great lights and stage setup, the fans in Scotland were lots of fun.
I’d also have to say that Liverpool was a fun place to play, lots of kids just throwing themselves about all over the place, it took me back to when I was younger and I used to go to gigs and get caught up in the moshpit, we’re not really a moshy sort of band but I guess the fans will get more into it… Before we go on stage, we always have a little ‘huddle’ (as most bands do) and there was this guy at Liverpool who literally ‘crashed’ the huddle, which instead of annoying me, sort of boosted me up a bit! We really like pinpointing people when we play live and draw them in, almost get them on stage with us (metaphorically speaking), I think this guy must have been the friendliest heckler of the tour so far, always the loudest, shouting over and above everyone! I think he was called Mark….
Any lowlights of the tour so far?
Imran hit me in the face with his drum pedal which was quite a nasty surprise! Aberdeen, Ed’s bass cut out and whilst I was asking for the audience to be patient, my microphone cut out too….
At least it happened to you on the opening night!
We just ended up shouting into the crowd, they totally got on board with it so that made it okay in the end!
I see you’re booked for the 110Above festival in the summer, any other confirmed events?
Yes, Live at Leeds, The Great Escape, there are a couple more but are yet to be confirmed….(I was told of a couple more but was asked to keep shtum for the time being so please check up on their website for more details as and when they are confimed).
You’re supporting We Are The Ocean in May on their tour which culminates in a gig at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, are you looking forward to this?
(Big draws of breath around the bus)….Well, we are playing the entire tour EXCEPT The date in Camden…..
Oh no, I am so sorry, I didn’t see the little asterisk telling me that…anyway, have you played Camden before?
We have, a couple of times, Proud Galleries, Distillery (we played a headline show there), we’re playing at the Barfly with a band called Paris (spelt PVRIS), you should definitely check that out, they’re an amazing band. They’re a little like Paramore, we’re also supporting them at the O2 Academy in Birmingham in April which should be awesome!
That’s all I have for you guys, thanks so much for taking the time to chat to me, I did make some notes in my book earlier and I quote (opens up book), if this band aren’t headlining their own tour within 6 months, I’ll eat my shoes!
Ahhh, that’s cool, thanks very much for chatting with us and thanks for NOT asking us where our name came from!
Damn, I forgot that one!
At this stage, we decamped from the van and made our way back into the Cavern to see Nothing But Thieves play. You can read the full review of the evening HERE
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