Last night Post-hardcore band Enter Shikari played a storming (and painful!) set at the Plymouth Pavilions. I caught up with Rory Clewlow (Guitar) and Rob Rolfe (Drums) prior to the gig for a quick chat:
How are you feeling about playing Plymouth tonight?
Rory: Can’t wait, we’ve played it like three times now. Everytime it’s been amazing
Rob: Yeah, its gonna be good. Right now I’m feeling a little bit achy and I don’t have so much energy within me. But as soon as I get up on stage, I know it’s just gonna turn when you see the audience going for it and the music’s pumping. That’s when the adrenaline kicks in
A Flash Flood Of Colour has seen the band become more successful, how have you enjoyed your growth in popularity?
Rory: Its always such a gradual process getting bigger. I don’t know if it’s gone up a massive leap with this album
Rob: The thing is popularity kind of comes and goes in waves. After the release of our first album there was a massive wave where we actually did a lot more venues and was selling out bigger venues than we have done. But we seem to got to a point where we’ve established ourselves a lot more.
Talk us through the recording of A Flash Flood Of Colour. What was the atmosphere like in the studio?
Rory: We recorded it half in London and half in Thailand, so the atmospheres were greatly different. London was a nice studio in a grotty studio and Thailand was like paradise
Rob: There was a lot of excitement about the new material. When we were out in Thailand it was a very relaxed affair. We got our heads down and got on with it. It was great fun; everyone had a good time working on it.
Who were the key influences for the record?
Rory: We’ve got such a diverse range of influences that there isn’t really any key influences. We’re always listening to new music, so it’s whatever’s floating around, playing on the tour bus, seeps in there and manages to find its way into our music
The Band is often praised for breaking down the boundaries of genres; do you see yourselves as innovators?
Rory: I’ll feel a bit arrogant. I don’t thing there is such a thing as complete originality; everyone gets their ideas from other people and things that have happened before them and just put puts them together. I guess we just done that with lots of different parts. I wouldn’t say we were innovators
Rob: We’re just doing our thang. Just trying to push music boundaries as much as possible. If other people wanna do that as well then that’s excellent for the future of music. But I wouldn’t call us any innovators.
This festival season has seen you taking a number of higher profile slots, what festivals in particular are you looking forward too?
Rory: Reading and Leeds are always highlights. I don’t know what it is about it, its probably cause we used to go there as kids, so being on the other side of the barrier, being on there stage is really surreal and excited. Festival season is always the funnest times to tour; cause there’s some really wacky places that you go. We’ve done festivals on the site of old army bases, we’ve done festivals where the dressing rooms are prison blocks and every band has their own cell.
Rob: European festival tours are always so much fun. The other bands are playing are always good fun to go watch. The weathers nice, you can hang out, its vey relaxed
What advice would you give to you people at Livewire trying to make it in the music industry?
Rory: Just do your own thing, do it for the love of it. Don’t go out there with the expectation of making loads of money, getting loads of girls and being really popular. As long as you do it for the right reasons people will see that and respond to that
By Connor Cass
By Connor Cass
