Can you describe Call Off The Search’s sound in a few words?
Frantic Pop Punk, yeah? I think that will do.
How did the band get together?
We all came from the ashes of the band The Sketch but basically we all knew each other through previous band/projects though we found Ajay the drummer via MySpace, very 21st century! haha.
What’s it like gigging in Canterbury and the Kent area?
Depending on what you play, but for us it is quite quiet, we don't play too much in Canterbury. As for Kent it has some great scenes like Thanet which is our home area, we play there often but not too much or people will become bored, many bands play the same far too much.
With plenty of gigs under your belt, have you picked up any tips or tricks for touring and gigging over the years?
No haha, it constantly changes. Don't devalue yourself but don't think you are worth the world. Getting the balance isn't easy. Make sure when you go away everyone is happy because if you leave with something bad in the air, it will haunt you through out the whole tour and eventually explode. We've known bands to split because of that. It's pretty intense being stuck with each other for such a long time. But most of all enjoy it, it's awesome. Playing shows after shows life doesn't get much better than that.
Best gig you’ve played so far? And worse gig you’ve played so far?
Hmmm hard to say just one, but basically where look to see the crowd going crazy including human pyramids, human skipping rope (you have to see it to believe it) and the good old classic stage diving you can't beat a night like that really! Worst show hmmm, I would say from a tour a while back, no showed up, the venue was awful, the promoter was useless, had not promoted it at all and then we got close to fisty cuffs when asking for money.
Someone who has never heard of you attends a gig, what do you hope they’ll walk away thinking?
Damn they were sweaty! We like to move around a lot and be as entertaining as possible. Also we hope they walk off humming our tunes so much so they tell people to check us out live and online. Word of mouth is a beautiful thing.
One could say your sound and influences are quite American-tinted, do you think of your sound as being more US Punk than UK Punk or is that not a factor?
I would say our sound guitar wise and such things like that are very american, you can easily compare us with more US bands than UK, not a lot of UK bands out there doin similar stuff, though you could say Not Advised, Me Vs Hero YouMeAtSix but most of the time Pop Punk/Rock doesn't quite make the charts in the UK as much as it does the US.
Do you think you can define Punk Rock in 2011?
No not at all haha, its so different in so many different ways. It varies from one band to another. Too hard to call sorry.
Tell us about your EP, What Doesn’t Kill Us? How long did it take to record, and where was it put together?
The title is based on basically the band having so many ups and downs within it's life span but we keep trying etc You have to keep hope a live and at the same time be doing it for the right reasons. We don't sit around and wait for our big break. It's about playing and connecting with those, making friends and enjoying all parts of the band. The CD took far too long to make, I would say about 6 months a little more maybe. We record everything ourselves so with that we get the option to record, start again, record start again at not too much extra cost. So a lot of the time is basically down to us changing stuff. Then when it was done and sent off to mix it went through more than 10 mixes till we were where we wanted to be. We are so picky. It was put together all over Kent and sent to Brighton to mix where we went down to so we could help with final touches etc.
What’s the reception been?
Very positive so far. There is a lot more to come back from magazines etc but the fans are loving it so that is awesome. It is great seeing them sing a long, we had played a few of the songs for some time live so now they can listen to the songs at home and then come to a show and go crazy singing along. It is really great to watch and it makes all the hard work really worth every second.
How do you write songs, is it individually or as a group? There seems to be a running theme of taking on the world and striving to reach one’s potential in the writing, where do the lyrics come from?
Each song is pretty much different. But usually one person will write an idea, record it at home, share it to the room, we all then work on it, we then do a home recording for a demo, pick through it, add and take a way bits then learn it for live shows. We are always changing our songs to improve them for live shows. Yeah I guess so, the song Too Many Bad Guys, Not Enough Time is just from when I use to watch the show Heroes if you listen to the lyrics and know the show you will get the iconography of it all. It was a great show that went down hill. But yeah all in all you need to keep going, pushing for your dreams, hope is all we have at times so make sure people don't take it away from you.
Who does your artwork? Interesting running theme of tentacles...?
An amazing man called Pete Duffield - http://www.peteduffield.co.uk.
We said we wanted something to do with the name, like search light etc which then followed on to Light House which then of course became sea based. From there we wanted a look of struggle to go with the theme of the CD and title. We told him all this and he basically made our little ideas in to a master piece! Such a great guy to work with. Highly recommend. He has done work for some great bands too Mimi Soya, Not Advised, Sam Little etc. We were very lucky to work with him. We really like it.
