With single 'Cry Baby' being released on Monday, and debut album Yolk following in July, Japanese Voyeurs vocalist Romily Alice chats to Female First.
-How do you feel about supporting Slash next month?
It's really ridiculous, to be honest. We've never really toured with anyone that big or legendary. The venues are pretty massive as well, so we're all excited about seeing a whole new side of touring.
-Is it intimidating at all, or are you excited for it?
I think we're always up for a challenge. We have no idea what the crowds are going to be like, but when you're a support band you don't expect much anyway. If anyone likes it, it's kind of a bonus.
-Is there a different mentality involved?
I guess it's a weird one. There's good things and bad things about both. If we headline a show, we always feel pressure about the fact that people have paid for their tickets.
We want to give them a good show. With support slots, it can be quite...I guess, wear you down a bit if you're playing to people who really don't like your music every night.
-You've just played Download Festival, and Sonisphere is coming up. Is it exciting getting to play these kinds of festivals?
Yeah, definitely. All of us love doing those festival slots, especially at Download and Sonisphere. As...well, whatever type of music you wanna call us, the fact is we don't really have many places which feel like a good home for us. Festivals like those, we do feel in the right kind of world. It's a nice feeling.
-How was Download Festival for you?
It was amazing, actually. We went out to set up our stuff half an hour before we played and there was no-one in the tent. We all got mentally prepared for no-one to be there, and then we came out to play and it was full. That was a really nice surprise.
-Are you excited for the release of 'Cry Baby' on Monday?
Yeah. I don't know if you saw, but the record company put it up for sale on iTunes when it gets serviced to the press. So, it's up there to download anyway. It takes away from the excitement of an actual release date. We always like getting more stuff out there.
-Is digital music taking away from the excitement of release dates?
To be honest, I think digital music is taking away from the excitement of a lot of things. The good thing is it makes your music more accessible, but the bad things is that it makes it very throwaway.
If you just press download on iTunes and the money's gone through some internet process, it's just so anonymous. You don't see any artwork.
I find it quite an empty experience. I'm not down on people who do it, it's great if people can get music easily, but it's not for me. I don't enjoy that.
-A lot of bands we've spoken to have said it's putting a greater emphasis on touring to make money. Would you agree?
Yeah, I guess so. We're not really making money from anything, to be honest.
It definitely does mean that touring is maybe more important than it used to be. In rock music, that's always been your bread and butter anyway.
-Going back to 'Cry Baby', were you pleased with the video?
Yeah, we were really happy with it. When we had the idea to use tanks, we never thought we would be able to get them.
The director was just incredible, pulling everything together and getting it all done. We were really happy with it.
-How far does the song go in representing the sound of the album?
'Cry Baby' is a funny one, because it's definitely the most catchy song on the record.
It's got a real chorus to is, and a real structure in a way that a lot of our other songs don't have. The drop down in the middle is quite representative of the musicality of the rest of the album.
-How long have you been working on Yolk?
We recorded last year, finished recording then but we've been together as a band for three years. I guess it's a collection of all that time, I suppose.
-With sitting on some of them that long, are you looking forward to getting them out there?
Yeah, definitely. It's been quite a weird process sitting on the same songs. To be honest, we're all really keen to start making the next record. That's a bit funny, before the first one's even come out, but there you go.
-What can fans expect from your live show?
I think we have quite an old-school mentality towards gigs. We try to rehearse a lot, play around with the songs. Steve, our drummer, and Johnny, our bassist, are an incredible rhythm section.
We're always messing around with how the songs sound. Then we just try to get up there, have a good time and play as best we can. We don't go for any snazzy fire or lights or anything.
-Do you prefer that side to being in the studio?
We're kind of split down the middle. Everyone loves the live stuff. I love the recording and writing, because I like making stuff. I think that's really fun.
Steve hates being in the studio, he hates recording. Live is definitely something we all like.
-With how long you've been together, and the trends of digital music, has it been hard trying to make it?
I don't really know. We've never done it any other way, so I don't know if it's been harder than it would've been 10 years ago. What's nice about having the internet is that you really can put in as much as you want.
We try to put as much creative stuff out there. We're not really a kind of...this is what I ate for breakfast kind of band. We don't go into that stuff. Anything that we feel has any value creatively, we try to get out there.
-What do Japanese Voyeurs have planned for the rest of the year?
Hopefully we'll have a headline tour in September. Then it's just more touring, I guess.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
Tagged in Sonisphere