Fraternising with The Enemy

13 October 2007

0Comments | Comment on this Article

There in support of the Wasted Youth campaign, which raises awareness of the high suicide rate among young British men, Tom described the event as "easily one of the most rewarding gigs we have done".

These remarkably successful 19-year-olds know the same frustration which inspired them to write a hit album, is also responsible for sending thousands of their contemporaries careering towards social oblivion.

Mixing the swagger of Oasis at their height and a line in social observation reminiscent of The Jam, The Enemy's hallmark is defiance. Tom questions: "Why should you just accept that life is just work and work and work until you die? If you actually stop to question your regular routine, you'd be p***ed off. All you're doing is making someone else a lot of money. I'm not trying to be political necessarily, we just want people to wake up."

On first single 'Away from Here' Clarke greeted the echelons of the British charts with a vehement insistence that they were "sick, sick, sick and tired of working just to be retired".

With the rock world at their feet, and plenty of songs already penned for a much anticipated second album, The Enemy are unlikely to find themselves re-embracing such an unfulfilling mode of existence any time soon.

Here, lead singer Tom and bassist Andy talk about their idols, living the dream and why they will never do a Britney Spears.

Q: So, it's been quite a crazy 18 months. What has your highlight been?Tom: The highlight for all of us was doing the Godiva Festival in Coventry. No one really knows the festival, but to us it means a lot, because we have been going there for years, just to watch. Me and Liam saw Kasabian for the first time there, and loads of bands there for the first time.

It went from 4,000 to 7,000 the year we played and it was just such an amazing feeling walking out and seeing your home crowd there just going mad. It was one of the best moments of my life, not just the year.

Q: You also supported The Rolling Stones for the final London date of their 'A Bigger Bang Tour' this summer, what was that like?

Tom: Amazing, just absolutely amazing. The Rolling Stones are the band that got us into rock'n'roll, that got me into rock'n'roll.

The first time I heard 'Honky Tonk Women' I must have been about eight. My mum was playing it in the kitchen and I came down and was like, 'What's this, I'll have a bit of that.' So to support them was an honour and a privilege.

Q: What did you take most from the experience?

Tom: They are just a massive inspiration because when you see people that age - knocking on for their mid-sixties - when you see people that age going out on stage and giving it 10, it's totally amazing and inspiring.

You find yourself in mad places, like doing a festival in Japan and you think, 'I wonder when this is all going to end.' And it's mad, you never want it to end and they are the proof that it can just go on as long as you want.

Q: Who else would you love to perform with?

Andy: If I could perform with anyone it would probably be Mick Jones from the Clash, I would love to join him onstage. We went to the NME Awards, I can't remember if it was this year or last year, I think I had had too much red wine, and I remember seeing Mick Jones on stage. Then someone from The View got up and I was so jealous. I would have joined him but I didn't have my bass guitar and I was smashed!

Q: Has it been difficult dealing with fame?

Andy: It hasn't been difficult dealing with fame, I have just gone with the flow. It has been good. It's knackering and no one can say it's easy, but I would never moan either because this has always been my dream. This is everything I hoped it would be.

Q: Could you ever see the pressures of fame leading you to have a public meltdown like Britney Spears?

Andy: I won't ever do a Britney and shave my head. I don't think it would suit me!

Anyway we are too grounded to ever go off the rails. The thing that keeps me grounded is when my mum phones me or when I stub my toe at home.

Q: Now you are rock'n'roll stars do you still have time for your old friends?

Tom: Definitely, we still make sure we see everyone when we go back to Coventry, and whenever we are back home we go down the local club and queue up with everyone else as we always did.

What's the point in getting a big head on you and becoming a pr**k. There is no need for it.

Stay true to yourself and never forget where you came from, never forget your mates and if you do, your mum will bring you back down to earth anyway.

Q: Do you think there are too many egos in the music industry?

Tom: There are definitely too many egos and a***h*les in the music industry. There are too many lads in bands who get a bit of success, who do well and let it go to their head, even some bands who do really, really well and there is just no need for it.

The real people in life, the people that I look up to and respect, are people that no matter what they have been through, good or bad, they stay true to their morals and to what they believe.

Q: Care to name any of the a***h*les you are referring to?

Tom: Everyone wants me to say Jonny Borrell from Razorlight, so I'll say Jonny Borrell.

Q: Have there been any musicians you have met who pleasantly surprised you?

Tom: I was so surprised when I met Kasabian. We are big fans and when we finally met them, Serge Pizzorno (guitarist) was the most accommodating, most hospitable man I ever met. I remember when we supported them in Leeds for the first time, he stopped his sound check put down his guitar and came and introduced himself to us. He is just a nice, sound lad. Tom Meighan (singer), is the same, all of them are.

The Manic Street Preachers are also some of the loveliest people I have ever been on tour with.

Actually, I have been pleasantly surprised with a lot of people I have met.

Q: Who are your biggest chart rivals?

Andy: Who are our biggest rivals? We haven't really got any rivals. We are not interested in rivalry. We just get on with it, do our own thing. I just want to go out and play and that is what we have done from day one.

Q: Do you prefer big or intimate venues?

Andy: I enjoy playing in small venues. We are planning on doing another tour, maybe in smaller pubs and go back to crowds of 200 again, just for the crack because we enjoy it so much. That's where we all started - in local pubs in Coventry.

Q: What else have you got planned?

Andy: Well, we have 15 songs already written for our new album, but they are only ideas. We will keep writing more and then take the bad ones out.

Then, we have the Big NME tour with Lethal Bizzle and The Wombats.

Q: What words of advice would you give to young kids dreaming of picking up the guitar and becoming a rock star?

Tom: You can do it, pick it up, learn some chords. That's how I started and I was rubbish when I started, everyone is. Don't put it down in the first week after you fail, just keep at it. Who knows, if you believe in yourself you can achieve anything.

Q: What would you be doing if you had never picked up that guitar?

Tom: I would be exactly where I was, which was stuck in a shop in Coventry selling TVs. Flogging TVs and fridges which is alright, but it's not the dream, it's not what I wanted to do.

You get to a position like that through a series of career advisers and teachers who don't have faith in you. They ask you what you want to do and you say, 'I want to do something with music, I have been writing songs for years and I can play instruments. I really want to get into it.' And they just go, 'Well maybe you should work in a shop or a factory or an office!' That's all you get. There is more to life and it's down to schools to show you that you haven't just got those three routes.

Q: So is being in a band everything it's cracked up to be?

Tom: Totally, it's the dream!

By Kate Sole/Lucy O'Loughlin, additional reporting Robbie McIntyre

0Comments | Be the first to comment!