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Gallows
The November/December tour will feature a relatively 'new' band called Sharks who Lee from Gallows states are "a bit different...like a mix of Joy Division and kind of a new", with Lags adding "They’ve got a real new wave feel to them, which is cool cos there aren’t too many new wave bands around today, like they look as though they should be in the Smiths or something not Kings Of Leon like most other bands these days." Also on the bill will be Trashtalk who are an "insane" hardcore band hailing from California - seemingly a bit of a contrast to Sharks, but with Gallows it seems that they aren't constricted with the genres they enjoy and bands they work alongside. Lags gives some reasons for this, "like when we took out Lethal Bizzle, [it shows our] eclectic taste in music, we don’t want to be one of those bands that gets thrown in with every heavy punk hardcore band".
So the question is would this 'eclectic' taste in music be likely to infiltrate into the band's music in the future? Would they be likely to shift towards other styles as the band goes on? "Oh yeah definitely" says Lags, "I mean if you listen to our new record there is big piano and orchestration and stuff on it, which I wrote myself. I’m really into the idea of writing soundtracks and more epic soundscapes as it were". Lee pitches in "I think it could go any way really, I don’t really know what’s going to happen with our new record. It could end up even heavier!". It appears that the band have plenty of ideas and plenty of things they want to try out. It's clear that Gallows are imaginative, inventive and truly alive in terms of their ability and ideas about new songs.
The band are also well travelled having played all over the world and recently, and quickly, carved out a global reputation for themselves. There must be a few places that the band have enjoyed being in most? "One of my favourite places is Austin in Texas, we’ve done it twice, with South by South West, and we also played there again on our last headliner US tour. The atmosphere is electric and there is such a creative vibe and buzz about the town and we have so many friends there, and like all my favourite times hanging out with people have been in Austin. And the girls are beautiful!" Lags enthuses. He adds, "another place, which is just amazing, is Japan, if you want to go somewhere and feel like you’ve landed on another planet, then Japan is probably the ultimate place. It's just got such a crazy atmosphere, when we’re hanging out in Tokyo, and we’re going around all the shops and the cool parts of town, everyone is just dressed as if they are going to go on the biggest night out ever, but that is just how they dress everyday".
Different places, different scenes and crowds, right? "It was actually really weird when we touched down [in Japan for] the first time... like literally two or three minutes after we’d left our hotel a gang of Japanese kids came up to us, they knew who we were and they had all our records ready for us to sign" Lee explains, adding "and that totally blew our minds, like no one recognises us in England." Thinking closing to home, in mainland Europe, Milan and Berlin are mentioned as being 'hot spots' for the band, Milan being "awesome" (Lee) and Berlin being "quite a big place" with lots to do.
Even though the band spends so much time away from friends, family and girlfriends, they still feature highly on the list of Lag and Lee's favourite things. Lags mentions "I've got a mum and dad tattoo and then I’ve got family on my wrist. I can’t believe how supportive my mum and dad were, even when they had doubts that I was ever gonna get anywhere in life". Which brings us to the reaction of parents to the announcement that they were jacking everything in to be in a band. It seems that at first they didn't believe it was a proper job, "I think they were a bit resentful at first that I was sitting around some days when we were not on tour doing nothing", Lee says, "but then they realised that the band’s an every day thing- that even when we’re not playing, the band is our lives. I think it’s hard for any parent really to understand that their son or their daughter is going to be in a band and tour the world. It’s just something you don’t expect!"
Lags adds that sometimes anxieties about people being in bands comes from the stereotypical image associated with it, "the problem with rock and roll is that there are so many vices connected to it - parents are bound to be scared that you’re gonna go on tour and come back a heroin addict or whatever. But they know us so well and they know that we’re not the kind of people to fall into any trap, whether it be drugs or alcohol or women."
As well as friends and families rating high on the list of favourites, there are other things they both rate, "I’m gonna be really geeky and say my collection of Batman comics" says Lee, "they are a favourite thing of mine because I’ve spent about the past 6 months to a year building up my collection so I now pretty much own them all. I’ve got a batman tattoo so, it’s just a personal thing to me!" He also mentions football as being a main passion other than the band adding that his Tottenham season ticket is pretty important to him. Lags states "Definitely my music collection. I remember when I was buying CD’s growing up my mum would go spare that I’d be spending all my pocket money just buying music. Even today I’m not the kind of guy who would download something, I have to have the physical format". Laptops also feature on the list, Lags noting the usefulness of them on the road "Yeah everyone has got to have an laptop, I don’t think I could survive without it, if you’ve got it on tour its just the ultimate tour accessory; you’ve got movies, music, you can record guitar riffs, you know it can do everything, you just compile all the things in your life into it. If it could cook for me, it’d be amazing. If I could just press a button and sushi rolls started coming out!"
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