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Attack! Attack!
The new Biffy Clyro? Subba quizzed alt. Rock’s brightest new sons…
Formed at the beginning of last year in a rundown industrial estate on the outskirts of Cardiff, Attack! Attack! have already begun to make quite the impact on an unsuspecting UK scene. Having cut their teeth in various South Wales based bands, including Dopamine, Adequate Seven, Midasuno and Pete’s Sake, the quartet that makes up the A!A! are no strangers to hard work, having released a plethora of CD’s between them and toured a handful of countries in the process. Taking their influences from 90’s grunge, punk, pop-rock and new-wave, A!A! power a sound that guitarist, Ryan Day, describes as “no frills or bullshit,” and “just honest, melodic and rocking.” Fitting then, that the band chose friends and fellow Welshman, Stuart Richardson, of Lostprophets to produce the record in Los Angeles. “Working with Stu was really cool as he had so many different ideas and views on things,” says Ryan.” “We knew he was really trying to get the best out of us and we really respected that fact as it was pushing us to get better results. It was one of the coolest times I've ever had.” He’s just a top guy and he really knows how to make things sound great!” He’s not wrong, as you’ll find ‘Attack! Attack!’ littered with the type of hooks that’ll have even the most hardened of critics tapping their foot and humming along. From the rock ‘n’ roll burst of ‘This Is A Test’, to ‘Honesty’ a track that single-handedly begs for a festival appearance, to the quite frankly huge ‘Lights Out’, this self-titled debut album is one of the most impressive debut UK melodic releases in a long time. The reason is simple ”‘ it’s unforced melody for the love of songs, rather than to tick boxes and fit in.With tours alongside Lostprophets, Aiden and You Me At Six already under their belts, as well as their first headline stint (which is selling-out fast) and a forthcoming trek with Funeral For A Friend, not to mention an appearance at this years Reading and Leeds festivals, it’s going to be impossible to ignore Attack! Attack!
How are you? Where does this Q&A find you?Very well thank you, enjoying a short period at home before heading ” out for a monster session of touring :)
How did the recording sessions for your new release go?”
Really well, we were lucky enough to record in LA which was a experience we as a band never thought we'd achieve, especially after only being together for about 5/6 months! It was a lot of hard work when we were out there, i never imagined recording a album to be so demanding (i think we had about 2 days off during the 6 weeks we were there), but in saying that it was also a lot of fun! We had pre-production for the first week or so of being out there in a rehearsal studio which was like” the” place in town to go, and when we were loading our stuff in, Morrisey was loading out!!! And we were in the room next to The Vines for a while too, it was really cool. Plus Foo Fighters rehearsed there which instantly made it a big deal for us.”
What goals did you set yourself before you started recording? Did you do anything differently this time, on purpose? why?For me personally it was the first time i'd recorded an album, (neil and will had done some with previous bands) so i didn't have any real goals as such, we all just wanted to end up with the best album we could write at the time. As far as sound-wise we wanted the record to come across as being as powerful, and live sounding as possible. We had a very strict work schedule, Stu (richardson - producer) bust our balls so hard over every little detail, and it seemed to pay off, and we come home with an album that we are all happy with.
What do you feel are your own limitations when it comes to creating/writing music?I think with this record we were all still trying to find our feet in terms of writing music together. We didn't (and still don't) have any preconceptions about how we want our music/songs to sound, it all just kinda came together in our rehearsal room, and i think 2 or 3 of the songs that made it onto the album were literally written during the 2 days before we headed out to america! Doing pre-production also helped tons, and some of the tracks took on a whole new shape and were approached in a totally different way, it was great fun!
Tell us 3 of your favourite songs from your career and the inspiration behind them?(to clear up some confusion, these are three of your own/bands songs-not other artists)
I think 'Honesty' would probably be one of my favorite songs as this was the first track that we wrote together after i joined the band and it just holds some good memories of when we first started playing together in our tiny little rehearsal room.
Secondly i'd have to go with 'Say It To Me', which is great to play live, its full of energy and i think some of the melodies on there are great! I love the rocking ones!!!
Thirdly i'd say 'Lost for words', as this was the first track we recorded in LA, and i can just remember how excited we were to get the ball rolling, and just how damn good the drum sound was. I think the song also has a good lyric content which is pretty self explanitary with the song title, but is generally about finding it difficult express yourself.
However, ask me my favorite 3 songs on the record tomorrow and my answer will be totally different.”
What do you love and what do you hate about life on the road? Tell us your funniest tour experience yet?Touring with the band is great fun, getting to travel, meet loads of great people and great bands is amazing, and i think that we're all really grateful that we are able to do it at this level. One of the funniest things that has happened on the road so far has got to be when Ryan got AC/DC tattooed on the inside of his lip backstage at one of our shows in london! It turned out awesome!”
The big downside, and only downside in my eyes is being away from girlfriends and family for long periods of time! Lets hope that one day they make transit vans big enough for all of us to go ” :)
What are the bands plans for the rest of the year? What exactly do you want to achieve with your band, now and in the future?Our single 'This Is A Test' will coming out on the 29th Sept, followed by our album on 3rd Nov. The rest of this year we'll be on the road pretty much non stop, we're heading out to europe for the first time which we're all really excited about, and have also got a massive tour with our fellow countrymen 'Funeral For A Friend' in Nov.”
We've already started writing songs for album number 2 and will be taking a small pro tools set up out on the road with us so that we'll be ready to smash out a new record asap!
How would you describe your own/bands sound, or what do you hate being labelled as?Like alot of people we'd love to be labeled simply as a 'melodic rock' band, which i honestly think we are. but no matter what we try too do, or not do, some people will label us under different genre's and classifications. hopefully people will judge us from our live shows and our album, which are both flawless lol!
Who is currently moving you musically at the moment?”
I listen to loads of different stuff so its really hard to say, but i really like what i've heard by 'GasLight Anthem', and 'Feast or Famine' by Chuck Ragan (hot water music) i think is an amazin record, and is probably one of the best shows i've ever been too recently.”
What album changed your life and why?” I don't think i have one specific album, but when i was growing up i remember the first foo fighters record being a big deal for me as i kinda just missed the boat with Nirvana. Somebody bought me 'Appetite for Destruction' when that came out, i was about 7/8 years old and thought it was AMAZING! The new Band of Horses album is awesome too!
If you could erase one single/album from history (your own or someone else's) which would it be and why?'In Reverie' by Saves The Day. the previous album (Stay What You Are) just blew me away, but i truly didn't sit well with this record. All the others are amazing tho so it kinda makes up for it.
How do you see yourself altering the band and your sound in the future? is there anything you wish to attempt in the future that's inspiring you right now?” I don't think we'd ever force ourselves in certain directions with our music, so really anything is possible in the future. I feel that our roots will always be in the rock side of things, but who's to say, we could put out an electro album or funk album in 8 years time? I think ” we'll just be taking things as they come and writing the music that seems right for us at the time. However i know neil is never shy of busting out a rendition of 'End of the road' by boys II men, so you could see us go in a more soulful/R&B direction. ”
A rumour you'd like to start about yourself, or one you'd like stopped?” I'm really really short, like dwarf size!
The revolution comes, who would you like to be first against the wall (and if you're feeling particularly bitchy, a second, third, fourth and so on...)?” umm... every member of westlife for covering 'Uptown Girl' by Billy Joel - legend!
”
Best piece of advice you'd give to aspiring musicians, or the best piece of advice you were given when you started?Listen to as many different types of music as possible!!! ” ”
If you're in a car going at the speed of light, and someone turns the headlamps on, would they do anything?the people or the lights???
” and please answer:
TOP 5 IPOD TUNES
(What are you favourite tracks on your ipod/in your cd collection and why?)In no specific order
1. The Boat - Chuck RaganThis was the first track i heard of his solo stuff after Hot Water Music split, and i thought it was amazing! Went to see him a tiny venue in south wales when he toured, and it was awesome! Seemed like an awesome guy too, can't wait for album number two, or maybe a new Hot Water Music record!
2. Pictures of You - The CureA band that i'm absolutely aching to see live. Beautiful song, amazing band!
3. Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade FirePerfect example of a band that are incredible on cd, and even better live!”
4. Wicked and Weird - Buck 65Hip Hop mixed with some folk stuff, with some spoken word poetry kinda stuff thrown in there too. Really can't figure out how to explain what his stuff sounds like so you'll have to decide yourself, check him out, you won't be disappointed. ”
5. Is There A Ghost - Band of HorsesOne of my favorite albums released in the past year or so, the guy has an awesome voice. Really good easy listening stuff.
this list could easily be about 10 times longer!
Attack! Attack! release their self-titled debut album on Monday 3rd November 2008 through Rock Ridge Music / ADA Global. This is preceded by the ‘This Is A Test’ single on Monday 29th September 2008.
http://www.myspace.com/attackattackband
UK Tour supporting FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND
14 OCT : Dublin, Academy
15 OCT : Belfast, Spring & Airbrake
16 OCT : Inverness, Ironworks
18 OCT : Glasgow, ABC
19 OCT : Leeds, Met University
20 OCT : Hull, University
22 OCT : Preston, 53 Degrees
23 OCT : Whitehaven, Civic Hall
24 OCT : Manchester, Academy 2
26 OCT : Birmingham, Academy
27 OCT : Coventry, Kasbah
28 OCT : Nottingham, Rock City
30 OCT : Exeter, Lemon Grove
01 NOV : Oxford, Academy
03 NOV : Norwich, Waterfront
04 NOV : London, Forum
UK Headline Tour
21 NOV : Aberdeen, Moshulu
22 NOV : Dundee, Doghouse
23 NOV : Falkirk, Metro
24 NOV : Edinburgh, Cabaret Voltaire
26 NOV : Newcastle, Academy 2
27 NOV : Leeds, Cockpit
28 NOV : Nottingham, Rock City
29 NOV : Manchester, Roadhouse
30 NOV : Birmingham, Bar Academy
01 DEC : Northampton, Roadmender
02 DEC : Hertford, Marquee
03 DEC : London, Barfly
04 DEC : Yeovil, Orange Box
05 DEC : Brighton, Freebut
06 DEC : Southampton, Joiners
Welsh Tour supporting FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND
09 DEC : Tenby, De Valance Pavillion
10 DEC : Swansea, Sin City
12 DEC : Cardiff, University
13 DEC : Wrexham, Central Station
14 DEC : Aberyswyth, Arts Centre
20 DEC : Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach”
Thanks to Mark James @ Hero PR
Jeremy Chick
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