Before The Answer
made their way onto the stage at Southampton’s venue The Brooke I had a chance
to speak to Paul Mahon and Micky Waters from The Answer.
Charlotte:So you
guys are on tour at the moment and we’re in Southampton at the moment.
Mickey:This
is our first time in Southampton; we’ve been going around the United Kingdom for a very long
time and we finally made it here so it’s
pretty cool to come here.
Charlotte:So how
you liking Southampton?
Paul:We
haven’t actually left the venue today [laughs].
Mickey:I’ve
been here before and it’s a cool town.
Charlotte:According
to your press release there were some towns on your tour you haven’t visited for a few years, which
ones are those?
Paul:Probably
Aberdeen, The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen’s a good one. We started the tour there and it was a full house and
people were very appreciative
that we came back because a lot of bands when they tour in Scotland only tend to go to Glasgow then
head back down south. Southampton;
which we will find out later on, also Hull was really
good and Middlesbrough. They don’t sound like the most exciting places but they were surprisingly good. We
have five shows
in Germany too, which were good, in some of the German backwaters where we had never been to before and it was all
good.
Charlotte:Looking
at your Facebook page it looks like your tour is going very well, the photos show packed
venues.
Mickey:We’re
lucky we’ve a got a great fan base around Europe, it’s great doing gigs like this.
Particularly when the last campaign we only visited
to main cities like London, Manchester, Birmingham and maybe Bristol in the West. This tour was all
about getting to our fans
and touring to more cities so this is a great way to do it.
Charlotte:So the
sold out venues and the positive reception from this new album really contradicts
the theory that rock and roll is dead.
Paul:It’s
a little debate that comes around every few years, if I remember rightly it was around when
we started. There was a lack of
rock and roll bands at the time was one of the reasons so we hope to
re-address the balance.
Mickey:I
think the press are like ‘what are we going to write about next?’ It’s the new thing. Classic
Rock have done the revivalist thing.
Charlotte:You’ve
a got a new single out, New Horizon.
Paul:It’s the title track of our new album;
we’re excited about that one it’s
the first one we play every night on our tour and it’s gone down very well.
Mickey:It’s
a bit of punky one and we really like it.
Charlotte:The
concept of the video is someone being stripped…
Mickey:That’s
a good video; we’re not in it [laughs]. Well make a cameo for like one frame. It was different
for a video, a bit off the wall.
Charlotte:You’ve
got a single bundle coming out soon…
Mickey:Yes
we have or an EP, we’re always recording so we’ve got B-sides that aren’t on our albums as
well as Rory Gallagher covers.
New Horizon is available to purchase now, for more information on The Answer click here.
There is no better
way to kick off the week with a night classic rock and roll that was delivered
in style by two kick ass rock bands that meant business.
First up on stage were BlackWolf, I hadn’t really heard the
Bristol rockers sound before until Monday and I have got to say I was instantly
taken with their live performance. Their sound reminded me of the old classic
rock sounds from the likes of The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin mixed with
some funky guitar riffs and solos that I would hear from Red Hot Chili Peppers.
So it’s safe to say that I really liked their sound. They most certainly showed a lot of passion
and energy in their performance, which passed onto the crowds as they sang
along and bobbed their heads along to. Their performance put a huge smile
across my face and they were certainly the right band to open up for The
Answer.
I understand The Answer are quite well established in the
music industry and I had been meaning to check out their sounds for a while,
this gig provided the ideal opportunity. Opening up with New Horizon, there was infectious energy from the word go. With
charismatic frontman Cormac Neeson at the helm the show was going far from dry,
as well as his spirited stage presence his interaction with crowds was
remarkable; which went as far as him becoming part of the crowd and getting
everyone to sit down as he sang. You cannot get more intimate crowd interaction
than that. There was a fantastic selection of tracks including the ballad-like
Memphis Water that not only provided a much calmer tone to the evening but also
showed off Cormac’s vocal ability. Speaking of showing off abilities the
instrumental break provided an excellent opportunity for guitarist Paul Mahon
and bassist Michael Waters to deliver their excellent techniques which went
down very well with the crowds. Ending with
allowed the fans one last rock out before they marked the end of their
flawless set.
So overall the night was a fantastic experience. The Answer
and BlackWolf won the hearts of the Southampton crowd and being it was their
first time, I hoping it won’t be their last visit. A packed venue and boundless
energy from this show is another argument that rock is most certainly not dead.
With an impending
album release coming soon and getting ready for one of the most anticipated
rock/metal tours of 2014 Delain have got some exciting stuff happening for them
this year. Here’s what happened when I caught up with lead vocalist Charlotte
Wessells.
Musical Lotty:You recently revealed the track listing for the
brand new
upcoming album, do you have a favourite track or tracks?
Charlotte Wessells:I usually develop a favourite when I perform the tracks
live; particularly how well it works live, how the audience
likes it and how much I like to perform the
track. In terms of listening to the tracks; I really like Here Come The Vultures, which is the first track on the album, it stands out to me because
it’s diverse and it’s a strange song but good
strange. Also The Tragedy of the Commons,
the last song of the record, it
has a guest appearance from Alyssa White-Gluz [from
The Agonist] because I really like how that one came
out. Basically I’m very excited about how all the
songs have turned out because it’s all fresh and new so no real
favourite yet but those are the two that come to mind first.
Musical Lotty: So it’s all about the fans reactions as well?
Charlotte Wessells:Definitely. I mean if you get a
great response then you
get a lot of energy when performing the track and
that is the most fun thing about performing to get
that energy back from the crowd that you put into
the performance so that’s a big part of it. Of course there are also songs that we’ve
never even performed
live, which I love. It definitely
depends on the audience’s reaction.
Musical Lotty:The
artwork for the new album was recently revealed,
what influences and inspiration went behind
it?
Charlotte Wessells:I had a kind of wish list for what I
wanted for the new
album cover and I applaud the photographer and
the graphic designer for combining many of the things
on my wish list as possible into this visual result.
I wanted to have cosmic elements because the title
The Human Contradiction comes from a
post apocalyptic,
sci-fi theme. We all love it, I am not a huge sci-fi fan but I really wanted to
honour the album
title and wanted that in the vision. I also wanted
the contradiction visible as well; the contradiction
between human and non-human nature
would work well so with the left and right side
with the branches and stuff. I also wanted to have
technology on the album cover but if you add that
there would have been so much visual so we chose
to go with these geometrical shapes and look organic but it was great we managed to
get all that information
on the album cover.
Musical Lotty:Did
the design of the album cover influence the song writing?
Charlotte:I wouldn’t say this was
a concept record; there is definitely
a red thread that goes through multiple songs
and I think it’s well described by the album title
The Human Contradiction. I wanted that as a base
for the album cover. For example when we were
doing the photos for the album I hadn’t finished
writing the lyrics but I knew this was going to be the theme for the album and
this would be reflected
in the songs. So we develop the artwork and
the songs simultaneously since we didn’t have the
time to wait until everything was finished and then
start on the artwork, so it brewed together. This
way it was kind of nice because these influenced
each other in a way.
Musical Lotty:So
this upcoming tour with Within Temptation is to promote the album?
Charlotte:Yes it is, with the
album out just before the tour starts
its perfect timing. It’s no coincidence; we planned
to have the album done in time for this Within
Temptation tour. We’re going to play massive venues
with them and we have the opportunity to reach out to lots of people who
haven’t even heard of us,
this is a good time to do that while we have a new album
out. Actually I heard this turn around where you
release the album after the tour, I don’t mind which
way round it’s done but it’s definitely good timing
to have the album and the tour happen at the same
time. To be able to present new material to the fans and we’re excited to
play new songs.
Musical Lotty:Have
you got a release date for your brand new album?
Charlotte:April 7th for
the UK
Musical Lotty:Speaking
of the UK, you’re touring the UK very soon particularly
Wembley Arena which I can imagine being
quite exciting for both you and Within Temptation?
Charlotte:Yeah, this is bucket
list. Really looking forward to it.
Musical Lotty:I can imagine this is one of the most
anticipated rock/metal shows of 2014; my friend Beth would like to know will
the setlist will contain old and new material?
Charlotte:We always play a mixture, we’re not one of those bands
that only play songs from one record we like to mix old and new songs on the setlist.
Since the new album would have just come out we will play some substantial
material from that record.
Musical Lotty:Are there any countries/venues you’re looking
forward to playing?
Charlotte:Paris is always a very good place to play. This
may sound boring but I’m also looking forward to playing to gigs in our
hometown in Amsterdam; particularly this one venue where I have seen all my
favourite bands for the first time and multiple times. I have never played
there before so it will be like walking on a holy ground where I might in an
unguarded moment kiss the floor while I’m there. I’m hugely looking forward to playing
at the Heineken Music Hall, the name of the venue.
Musical Lotty:Another question from my friend Beth, will
you be doing a collaboration with Sharon [den Adel]?
Charlotte:Yeah maybe, these things kind of tend to happen
spontaneously. It may happen or it may not happen, I plan to keep it undecided until
the tour starts.
Musical Lotty:What are your plans for the rest of 2014?
Charlotte:We will have our release parties and our club
shows in Holland. We’ll also be doing a six-week tour with Sonata Arctica and
we are already planning our next European tour so we are going to Russia and
we’ve got offers from some really exotic locations which I shouldn’t talk about
yet because it hasn’t been confirmed yet. There’s lots of good stuff waiting
for us so I am pretty excited about that.
Musical Lotty:From Beth, cookies or pancakes.
Charlotte:I have
to say pancakes.
Musical Lotty:Any parting words you’d like to share?
Charlotte:I
certainly hope the fans enjoy the record, look forward to seeing them on the
road and thanks for the support.
The Human Contradiction release dates are below
along with the tour dates with Within Temptation, be sure to catch them on tour
and buy the album
Paul: It’s the title track of our new album;
we’re excited about that one it’s
the first one we play every night on our tour and it’s gone down very well.
