Currently touring with post-hardcore He-Men Alexisonfire, Chickenhawk are a band that have every right to make as much noise as they do. They will be a name that will become increasingly familiar to you as the current trend of high-speed, riff-riddled, sweat-inducing musical lunacy continues. Rob, the band's guitarist, very kindly took a little bit of time out of their European jaunt to have a chat with us here at Room Thirteen.
R13:Hello, Chickenhawk and welcome to Room Thirteen. Just in case there are people perusing this chat who are unfamiliar with what you're about, would you care to put forward a brief outline of your manifesto for the cause of music?
Rob: We are Chickenhawk, there are four of us, we make predominantly heavy guitar music, the plan is to make music all four of us deem as being 'good'... sometimes this takes a while.
R13:The next month or two are about as busy as Santa's Toymaking Workshop in December for you lot. Touring and getting some music out for fans to get their paws on. First up... the tour with Alexisonfire. They are a band to make the masses swoon in their creative fantasticalness. Stupid question, but are you looking forward to it?
Rob: Absolutely, they are a massive band we are grateful for being given this opportunity, we've also never been to Europe as a band so it should be a fucking amazing journey.
R13:Are there any dates/venues/places you're particularly looking forward to?
Rob:I was asked this question the other day and I gave a stupid answer because I'm an idiot. I've never been to Holland, Germany or Belgium so I would say all of the European dates. We get a day off in Germany too so it'll be nice to use all of my amazing skills learnt from GCSE German, thanks Mr. Godfrey!
R13:I'm guessing what with the non-stop touring and whatnot it would be difficult to get down the gym or join a 5-a-side. But having seen you play live, your shows seem to make up for that- just how knackering are they?
Rob: One of our friends Mark Foley from the powerful trio 'Strange News From Another Star' said to me a while ago 'it might sound cheesy but you should play every show like its your last as bands split up all the time for a whole host of reasons.' I would like to think every member of Chickenhawk does this. Of course its knackering but there are no complaints here.
R13:You got to play Leeds Festival this year. You even got to have the crowd who weren't stinky or hungover yet. Being a band from the area how was that for you?
Rob:Leeds Festival was ridiculous, there was a crowd of thousands there who seemed to be into what we were doing, I think I only fully appreciated it after we've played. It was kind of hilarious in a way, we are a very lucky band...don't tell anyone we're a shit basement band from Leeds please.
R13:Between you lot and Pulled Apart By Horses this year, you've made the Leeds music scene look like it's exploding into a fitting, flailing, relentless riff-beast. Could you ever envisage taking your foot off the gas and doing something drifting into 'mellow'? Not talking Richard Marx or owt... but just less roasting hot? Or is that just not what Chickenhawk is about?
Rob:I'd like to think Chickenhawk is whatever it wants to be. The next album won't sound anything like the first one, it'd be pointless if it did. I like mellow music just as much as heavy music, this isn't really an answer to the question. I think the answer is maybe, possibly, we'll see what happens.
R13:And the album, 'Modern Bodies', is out now, crammed full of Chickenhawkliness, all 'remixed, remastered and wrapped in sexy new packaging' (they're not wrong either... I had a hot flush and had to take a moment with one glimpse at that packaging.) How does it feel to have it all complete and ready to go brilliantly afflict lugholes across the land?
Rob: It feels good for it to be coming out, its been a long time coming, there has been a lot of hard work thats gone into this. It sounds brilliant and looks powerful, it still kicks my dick in listening to it, perhaps it will do the same to others. (you may need to replace the word 'dick' with something else depending on gender.)
R13:Has there any one song which upon completion, you could sit back and look at what you'd created and think, 'Yeah. This is brilliant.'? Like Van Gogh might have done with his 'Sunflowers' if he wasn't so sad.
Rob: There's always room for improvements, we've lived with these songs for a while so we can pick apart all the minute details. I'm pretty happy with how 'I Hate This' and 'Son of CERN' came out, I don't really listen to those songs and have any grumbles with them.
R13:Something that seems to crop up in reviews of your music by many critics is that it's something that will batter, beat and bruise, but in a good way, obv. And I have to say I agree. Maybe like violence as a treat, brought to you by Cilla Black on 'Surprise Surprise'. But you all seem like remarkably pleasant and happy chaps. Where does the perfectly moulded fury come from?
Rob:Who knows... this is the sort of music that holds something for us, that makes us feel a certain way. God knows why we feel the need to destroy our bodies and ear drums on a nightly basis. I'm pretty sure we would all feel a lot emptier without it though. Its a hard question to answer without sounding stupid.
R13:The 'Dawn of The Dead' style video for 'I Hate This, Do You Like It?' is one of my favourites for some time. Not because you end up seeing far too much of Matt, but more because the use of toilet cistern lids and fire extinguishers to batter the undead seems to fit your music so well. Was that a fun day at work for you?
Rob:It was actually a lot more than a day, it was an amazing experience. We can't really take too much credit for it though, Danny North, Roach Productions, the make up artists and extras really deserve the attention. Hundreds of people turned up to take part. We are really grateful to everyone involved and we were made up with the resulting video.
R13:Chickenhawk, what would your name be if you were to provide a vegetarian option?
Rob:Still Chickenhawk, the name isn't based on favourite birds to eat. Sorry for being an awkward bastard.
Chickenhawk's album, 'Modern Bodies' is out now. It really will kick your dick in. And everything else for that matter.