Tere was a three-year gap between the release of Vagrants & Vagabonds and Te Good Youth. Why was that? We had a lot of work to do. We had a line-up shuffle, which brought fresh energy to something that was becoming very stale. We started writing for ‘Te Good Youth’, and it all just clicked. Red Bull Records were the only label we wanted to release it on. Teir enthusiasm and belief in the project is inspiring.
From Boy George’s Blitz Kids at the turn of the 1980s, to an English rock band of the same name, thirty years on. Introducing Blitz Kids, four rockers from Chester, busting their way out of this country and beyond…
You have played some awesome support slots for big bands. Do you use support slots as a learning exercise, to gain insight into how the other bands work, or to just go and have a massive party on the road? A bit of both to be honest. We've learned so much from these bands, especially the technical side of it all. We've also spoiled our livers at the same time. We're masters of treading the line of professionalism and being a complete disaster on the road. We could probably join a circus.
You write anthemic songs, which carefully straddle good ol’ rock and also radio-friendly viability. Does that come naturally, or is it a balance you purposely try and strike? It just comes naturally. Our music taste is fairly bizarre. Our pop sensibilities have never been a secret. Since the start, we've focused on having big choruses. I put more emphasis on them than the riffs. You can't sing along to a riff!
Your motto has been ‘Blitz Kids Never Die’, but has there ever been occasion where you’ve thought you might have to switch off the machine? Yeah, just before Matt joined, we were all sick of it. Sick of having no money to do anything our friends who had jobs were doing. Sick of playing to nobody. sick of certain ex-members of the band. I'd say we came to within a month of walking away. We were looking at universities, jobs, and other ways out.
Your documentaries and tour trailers are great to watch and it’s awesome that you’ve decided to put them out so consistently. Is it important for you guys to ‘live off the page’, so to speak? In a world where video content is so readily accessible on YouTube, I think it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. Cameras have followed us pretty much everywhere we go for the last 3 years of being a band. It's nice for us to look back on sometimes and see how much it's grown.
You have been quoted as saying, ‘2013 has been our best year.’ 2014 has already seen the release of ‘Te Good Youth’ though. Has the reaction to the album put 2014 in contention to be even better? Yeah, it's better already. Te reaction to the album has been phenomenal.
You went to LA to record the album. Why did you decide to go there? Because it's hotter than Manchester [laughs]! Also, John Feldmann was someone who we always wanted to work with since we were kids. He's produced some of our favourite albums, so it was a dream come true for us.
Do you reckon you could have made the same album in the UK? Absolutely not. You can feel the sunshine beaming out of this record. It's palpable!
Blitz Kids play Epic Studios on April 26th. For tickets, go to
www.epicstudiosnorwich.co.uk. Read the uncut version of this interview on
Outlineonline.co.uk
28 / April 2014/
outlineonline.co.uk
I’m intrigued by Red Bull Records - with the music industry being in the state it’s in, it seems sensible for a commercial product-based company to help sell you to the masses. Do you think it’s the future for the industry, or certainly a viable alternative? Te great thing about Red Bull compared to other labels is they firmly believe in the whole thing. Te music, us as people, the message. If our first album didn't sell 20,000 copies in the first week, they wouldn't drop us, like some other major labels. Tey have all of the resources of the big labels, but they have some compassion and empathy.
Why did you move away from Hassle Records? We felt that Hassle had taken us as far as they could. We're still on great terms with everyone there, and we'll always appreciate them, but there comes a point where you have to leave the nest!
Yarreth Plysier
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