Turbowolf are a band who are potentially about to seriously hit the big time. This was the final night of their stretch of headlining dates for the Download Freezes Over Tour at a sold out Dingwalls in Camden so we sat down with Andy and Blake to chat about everything from live shows, the new album and hangover cures!
R13: We're at the last date of the tour here in London, how has it all been?
BD: Yeah it's been really good so far, reactions have been really good, gigs have been nice and busy.
AG: Pretty crazy which is always fun
R13: So pretty rowdy then?
AG: Yep they've all been pretty rowdy so far.
R13: Are you guys expecting more of the same tonight then as far as crowd reaction?
BD: Yeah I hope so... (Laughter)
AG: I never want to curse it though and say what it's going to be like...
BD: Yeah but judging by some of the things said on Twitter and stuff already, we've got people expecting to not go home with any shoes and stuff like that (Laughter)
R13: You've just come off that tour as well with Royal Blood, what was it like being with a band whose exposure has suddenly gone nuclear?
AG: It's been quite interesting because we've known those guys and what's been going on with them before they even released anything. The guy who recorded with them did so with us as well, so they've sort of been our mates for a little while so it has been quite fun to watch them going from being this little band to one of the biggest things in the world. So yeah it's been quite fun to watch it and this doesn't usually happen with rock bands so it has been great.
R13: Do you reckon you guys could be heading in the same way...
AG: No (Laughter)
R13: Ah but you're making the right moves on the radio and stuff at the moment?
AG: That's true, but who knows.
BD: I mean yeah it would be great if Rock really starts to come back in again, I mean they (Royal Blood) look like they're having a whale of a time going all over the world.
AG: Yeah definitely, but we just do our own thing, if it kicks off then cool and if it doesn't then who cares really?
BD: Yeah we'll still be doing what we do anyway.
R13: What was it like being on that Sabbath line up at Hyde Park back in the Summer?
AG: Oh yeah, that was awesome. It wasn't like we were on the same stage as them or anything but...
BD: But we were the very last band thing people heard before Sabbath came on because we were running late as well.
R13: Yeah we remember trying to find the stage was in itself a bit of a nightmare
BD: Oh yeah
AG: Yeah we ended up way off in the distance somewhere.
R13: Your live shows always deliver an extremely fun experience. What tracks do you both enjoy playing most/favourite tracks to see the crowd go off to?
BD: I've really been enjoying on this tour the new ones and watching the reaction to that because there is always a worry that they might fucking hate it but Rabbit's Foot has definitely picked up some new fans. You can kind of tell as well who the newer people are that have come along and I've really been enjoying that as well because obviously it means that we are pushing it out there to new people. And of the older stuff, I'd say The Big Cut is always a great one live, like the reaction from the start and at the end is always completely different.
AG: I quite like playing Solid Gold because I can play it... (Laughter) because that wasn't always very clear when I was writing it so that's worked out fine. Ancient Snake is probably my favourite because it is really easy so I can run around when I'm playing it (Laughter)
R13: Yeah you've got to look good right?
AG: Exactly!
R13: Ok the new album. What seen it get pushed back to 2015? Was it ever meant to be a 2014 release? We had you as one of our albums to look out for in 2014 (Laughter) ... So it might be a bit of a copy and paste job
AG: Yeah that's why we did it, to make you look stupid... (Laughter) . Na it's all business reasons really because there's no money out there so we had to get all this stuff straightened out before we could do it really. We had a massive break from working on it, almost a whole year really. We recorded most of it at the end of last year so yeah just business...
BD: Yeah I think also it depends on what time of year you hand it in as well. Like we finished it, it was all done and dusted then you're just waiting around really whilst management and stuff do the next bit.
AG: Yeah it's all boring reasons really, there are no cool reasons or anything like that...
BD: We've got none of those, it got 'eaten by a shark and we had to start again' issues.
R13: You mentioned the new stuff before, we were at the Barfly recently for that Small Tour Of New Music so what was that like? It must have been the first time you'd ever really aired some of those tracks at all.
AG: I think we were just surprised about how up for it everyone was. We thought everyone would go crazy for the old stuff but they seemed to just go fucking mental for all of it. It was a really good tour that, we kept it really short but yeah it was wild.
R13: Yeah because we had it in the review of the show at the time, that we'd never seen a band play mainly new stuff and get that kind of reaction...
AG: Yeah someone else said that to us as well!
BD: It might be that we leave so long between albums, we sort of hold back on giving anyone new songs so when we do the appreciation shows.
AG: I think our fans are just more open-minded than most, they're just open-minded people generally so they're always interested and up for it.
R13: People may not realise this as well, but this would have been the first recording done with Lianna on bass, so what was she able to bring to the fold? Anything new or different?
AG: Well most of it was already written, like the bass and all that was done before she joined so it was kind of done really. I mean I tend to write all the music so it was all done really.
R13: What do you guys listen to whilst on tour, what gets you fired up before a show?
AG: We've all sort of got our own thing we like to listen to...
BD: Yeah on this tour, Chris brought a few soundtracks with him so that's been quite good and quite fun to listen to on the road.
AG: Yeah that's the stuff that has been great when you're sitting in the back of a van.
BD: Yeah it's been great to chill us out. Death From Above has been played a lot on this tour.
R13: Who is the biggest party animal in Turbowolf?
BD: Lianna
AG: Blake (Laughter)
R13 He was pretty quick to point at you then!
BD: It used to be me until Lianna came along I think.
AG: Yeah I don't know though she hasn't got the same staying power because she is like 4 Foot high (Laughter)
BG: Yeah that's probably true, alright then I'll take it! (Laughter)
R13: Ok, related to that question I think we'll round this off with, what are the Turbowolf hangover cures?
BD: Don't go out
R13: Coming from the party animal!
BD: (Laughter) Ok the best cure for a Turbowolf hangover is... when Chris and Andy go home, go with them (Laughter). They're very welcoming as well they'll say it like "come one, it's time to go".
AG: Yeah if you are hear us saying "Blake... it's time to go home now"
BD: Just do it (Laughter)