The Blackout
A few hours after their Main Stage set at Leeds Festival, we were able to have an in-depth chat with The Blackout about Hope, touring, egos and their fans.
-How did you find your set today?
Really good, awesome. Better than Reading, it honestly was. Reading was wicked, but this was better. Probably the best Leeds show we've ever done, festival or otherwise.
-Were you glad to get such a big crowd despite the rain?
Absolutely. It's mind-blowing. We're always paranoid before we go on that no-one's going to turn up. If there were 70 people here, we'd still be happy with that.
-You've played the festival before. Is there something special about Reading and Leeds compared to other festivals?
Definitely. When I was a kid, Reading was the first one I went to. So, for me Reading was the dream, and then it happened. The first time we did it was the Main Stage, then the Festival Republic stage which we headlined in 2009. Then, we got a chance to do the Main Stage again today. The festival as a whole is legendary really.
-You mentioned the Festival Republic Stage you headlined a couple of years ago. Do you prefer those more intimate shows?
We'll play anywhere. We'd play in the back of a rhino...well, we won't because it has no power. They've both got their own advantages, the appeal. Playing to a festival crowd is just mind-blowing. It's a really unique feeling.
-Is there a different mindset involved?
You just want to stop people bottling you! That's concern one. Once you stop the bottling, you work on them actually liking you. It depends where you are.
When you're doing a headline show in a tent, you've got a feeling where if anyone's in the tent and this time, it's probably because they like us. They could've watched the Arctic Monkeys or something, so that's good.
On the Main Stage, people there are just waiting for My Chemical Romance or whatever. If you can get their head nodding, that's a small victory.
-How has the reaction been to Hope?
Great. It's done better at this stage than anything else we'd ever done. It's a bit of a different sound for us. It's still us, but it's more mature, I guess.
I was a bit concerned about how it would be received from certain people saying we'd changed. "You're older stuff is better" is a classic, but not true. Almost universally not true!
When we finished it, we thought it was the best thing we'd ever done, and a lot of people agree. That was really reassuring and pleasant.
-Do you still get just as big a buzz around it, even on record number 3?
Yeah, we started writing record number for a couple of weeks ago! We've got a song pretty much finished musical-wise, and the vocals are coming together. It's a great feeling.
We're all on the same wave-length at the moment. When we get together to write something, it comes together really fast. We're not afraid to say if we don't like something.
-Looking back to the start of the year, you supported My Chemical Romance. How was that whole experience?
Amazing. It was mind-blowing. It was the first stuff we'd properly done this year.
-With a lot of bands on tours that size, there can be egos or a separation. Was there any of that?
None at all. Not even a little bit. The bigger the band, the better they are. We did a tour with Limp Bizkit and that was, like, proper childhood heroes. We turned up like - please don't be dicks! Honestly, none of them could've been nicer.
They've been around the block, they know the deal. We did a few shows with Linkin Park as well. When we met them, they were really nice. They've done the touring, they've got the best crew around them. The crew know that the best way to get people to be efficient is to treat them with respect.
We've always gone into those situations like...we know we're second fiddle, we know who were are here, and we're not going to step on any toes. We just meshed together really well.
Most of the egos come from people in bands who think they're bigger than they are, or it's the crew. The people in the bands are cool. The person most likely to be a douchebag is, like, the stage manager or tour manager. That's very rare as well, though.
-You recently announced your new video. Can you explain a bit about the concept?
We were going to do a thing called World Blackout Day where all the kids could get together and have a laugh. A lot of our fans met each other through the band.
We decided to scrap the World Blackout Day thing and get the kids together all over the world, just filming themselves singing the song. It's just a celebration to give back to them really.
The song's called 'You're Not Alone' and it's as transparent as that, really. Don't get down about it, you've got your friends and people around you.
We did an acoustic show for a girl who pledged for an acoustic show. It got ruined, so we went back and did it again to surprise her! There were 30 kids in the room, and only two or three were from the same town. It's amazing that they've made friends over the last four or five years that look like they'll last into the future. To think we've had that kind of effect on peoples lives, it's mind-blowing.
-With things like that acoustic show, do you try to stay accessible to your fans then?
As much as we can. The idea of them being like fans...I don't know. They're just like us. They don't have instruments and aren't on stage, that's the only difference. They're just not as cool [laughing].
No, we say nobody's better than anybody else. Everybody who's in a band is just a bloke, or a woman...although women shouldn't be in bands. Wait...this is for Female First? Disregard that, women of the UK. You are welcome to try!
-You came through the South Wales music scene, which has produced a lot of fantastic bands. How did you find it coming through?
Difficult, at first. There's a lot of bands in South Wales, and a lot of them are good. After a certain point, the bands get really supportive of each other. Bands like Funeral For A Friend and Lostprophets gave us a chance to play shows to people, which we weren't!
People seem to forget, they say that we owe a lot to Lostprophets, which is technically true, I guess. They also influenced the British music scene. All those kind of bands, you can trace it back. They made British bands cool, basically.
We were in a band for five years before we even got a proper show. Then, Funeral For A Friend gave us our first chance. It just goes to show, if you keep working at it...sometimes, it might happen!
We're not going to pretend we've not had certain things go our way, because we have. We also worked very, very hard for a long time. We've never really taken our foot off the gas since 2004. We've definitely had things go our way, because you need a bit of a luck. I'm quite proud of how hard we've worked.
-Looking to the future, what's planned after this weekend?
We've got Merthyr Rock in our hometown on the 4th September. It's been put together this summer for the first time. The line-up's brilliant. We're lucky enough to headline it because it's our hometown.
We're really honoured to be able to do that. You've got Funeral For A Friend doing it, Skindred, Young Guns, My Passion, Attack! Attack!. This incredible line-up of British bands, for 20 quid for a day.
That's pretty much our last show before our headline tour. Then we're going to begin writing our fourth record through September and October. Then it's from then until November. If you want to come along, come along!
-I'll try my best!
Not you, I meant them [the readers]! You can come as well, but I was talking to the dictaphone. You're more than welcome as well. That'll be fun. Then a bit more writing, possibly some recording. Maybe some surprises around Christmas, we shall see.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
A few hours after their Main Stage set at Leeds Festival, we were able to have an in-depth chat with The Blackout about Hope, touring, egos and their fans.
-How did you find your set today?
Really good, awesome. Better than Reading, it honestly was. Reading was wicked, but this was better. Probably the best Leeds show we've ever done, festival or otherwise.
-Were you glad to get such a big crowd despite the rain?
Absolutely. It's mind-blowing. We're always paranoid before we go on that no-one's going to turn up. If there were 70 people here, we'd still be happy with that.
-You've played the festival before. Is there something special about Reading and Leeds compared to other festivals?
Definitely. When I was a kid, Reading was the first one I went to. So, for me Reading was the dream, and then it happened. The first time we did it was the Main Stage, then the Festival Republic stage which we headlined in 2009. Then, we got a chance to do the Main Stage again today. The festival as a whole is legendary really.
-You mentioned the Festival Republic Stage you headlined a couple of years ago. Do you prefer those more intimate shows?
We'll play anywhere. We'd play in the back of a rhino...well, we won't because it has no power. They've both got their own advantages, the appeal. Playing to a festival crowd is just mind-blowing. It's a really unique feeling.
-Is there a different mindset involved?
You just want to stop people bottling you! That's concern one. Once you stop the bottling, you work on them actually liking you. It depends where you are.
When you're doing a headline show in a tent, you've got a feeling where if anyone's in the tent and this time, it's probably because they like us. They could've watched the Arctic Monkeys or something, so that's good.
On the Main Stage, people there are just waiting for My Chemical Romance or whatever. If you can get their head nodding, that's a small victory.
-How has the reaction been to Hope?
Great. It's done better at this stage than anything else we'd ever done. It's a bit of a different sound for us. It's still us, but it's more mature, I guess.
I was a bit concerned about how it would be received from certain people saying we'd changed. "You're older stuff is better" is a classic, but not true. Almost universally not true!
When we finished it, we thought it was the best thing we'd ever done, and a lot of people agree. That was really reassuring and pleasant.
-Do you still get just as big a buzz around it, even on record number 3?
Yeah, we started writing record number for a couple of weeks ago! We've got a song pretty much finished musical-wise, and the vocals are coming together. It's a great feeling.
We're all on the same wave-length at the moment. When we get together to write something, it comes together really fast. We're not afraid to say if we don't like something.
-Looking back to the start of the year, you supported My Chemical Romance. How was that whole experience?
Amazing. It was mind-blowing. It was the first stuff we'd properly done this year.
-With a lot of bands on tours that size, there can be egos or a separation. Was there any of that?
None at all. Not even a little bit. The bigger the band, the better they are. We did a tour with Limp Bizkit and that was, like, proper childhood heroes. We turned up like - please don't be dicks! Honestly, none of them could've been nicer.
They've been around the block, they know the deal. We did a few shows with Linkin Park as well. When we met them, they were really nice. They've done the touring, they've got the best crew around them. The crew know that the best way to get people to be efficient is to treat them with respect.
We've always gone into those situations like...we know we're second fiddle, we know who were are here, and we're not going to step on any toes. We just meshed together really well.
Most of the egos come from people in bands who think they're bigger than they are, or it's the crew. The people in the bands are cool. The person most likely to be a douchebag is, like, the stage manager or tour manager. That's very rare as well, though.
-You recently announced your new video. Can you explain a bit about the concept?
We were going to do a thing called World Blackout Day where all the kids could get together and have a laugh. A lot of our fans met each other through the band.