Stereoboard Speak To Lostprophets Ahead Of The Release Of New Album 'Weapons' & UK Tour (Interview)
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Written by Katie Territt
Welsh rockers Lostprophets have been making a name for themselves for an impressive 12 years. 4 albums, numerous tours, awards, nominations and a hardcore base of fans have earned them an accolade of one of Britain’s best rock bands. 2012 brings a new chapter for the band and album number 5 in the form of ‘Weapons’. Jamie from the band had a chat with me about what they feel is a new start for Lostprophets.
It’s been just over two years since last album ‘The Betrayed’ was released, so the band are looking forward to finally be promoting it. “It takes quite a while to make a Lostprophets record. It gives us a chance to work out which songs work and which don't. We're very proud of the record, we like to challenge ourselves. It's gonna’ be good to get out and about and see how the songs do.”
Album opener ‘Bring ‘Em Down’ was played at a few shows last summer, so why the big break between then and the release? “A lot of the elements need to be in place in order to release the record. About 95% of the album was done by summer last year. It comes down to a lot of politics and making sure you've got the best chance of promoting and putting the record out. If we'd have brought it out in November of last year, things would've been a little bit rushed. We also had a couple more ideas in the pipeline that we wanted to explore and we were able to do so. It's not easy; it's not always plain sailing making a record. We had a lot of moving around because we were under new management and a new record label so it was just a matter of getting everybody on the same page and picking the best date. The longer you leave it, you risk losing momentum and losing potential fan base as a result, so we've got a lot of work to do this year to establish ourselves and get a bit of visibility.”
“It's better to make sure everyone's firing from all cylinders. The problem we have is that Ian is a bit like A.D.D so if the process runs on, he starts pressuring himself and starts fiddling with stuff and ruining stuff (laughs), in my opinion, because he constantly works on stuff, so sometimes it's better to have a deadline. Like I say, most of the album was done last summer, so we were sitting around waiting to do shows and waiting to put it out. We exorcised a lot of our demons with 'The Betrayed' so with a whole new team in place and especially with Luke on drums, he brings a lot of enthusiasm to the band and it just spreads so we're all excited and vitalised. We're in great shape, physically and mentally.”
Lostprophets have always had a lot of control over their music, more so with ‘The Betrayed’, and this time around ‘Weapons’ has been no different in terms of production. “On our fourth record, 'The Betrayed', we did the first round with John Feldmann and that didn't work out for us, so we scrapped that record and then we went in and recorded it ourselves. It was the right thing for us to do and we didn't really trust anyone to do it for us. We were very happy with the results and creatively it's one of our best records. We stand by it wholeheartedly. We didn't have to explain ourselves as we trusted everyone in the band. It was more creation and less talking. Working with a producer, you have to explain yourself and try and get your ideas across but working with a band for so long, you know they know what you mean. This record was very similar to that in terms of we got a producer in, but he worked with us rather than dictated it. It was all very fluid and all about keeping it interesting. I think you get a real pure form of the band coming through because there was no time to second guess anything.”
Although the band has never lost their signature sound, each album has always brought something different. ‘Weapons’ is definitely a nod back to the bands’ early work. “It was nice in hindsight to look back and realise there were lots of elements from our first two records which means that we're still inspired by the same things we were in the first place, as well as remaining contemporary and current. New producers always give you a new sound, but you basically create another chapter. Every album is almost like a Polaroid of who you are in that particular part of your career.” Jamie thinks it’s very important to keep the familiar with the band. “I think if Lostprophets re-invented themselves with every album, we'd lost the fan base that has been there with us for all these years. At the same time, you can't repeat yourself because you don't end up stamping yourself in a time or in a scene. This time around, we stopped thinking about it and started trusting ourselves. We're at that point in our career where we're confident in ourselves and in our abilities, as well as confident in each other. It's not about what's hip now or who's doing what, it's about what sounds good and what doesn't. This isn't a different record; it's a more rounded, more fine-tuned version of what Lostprophets is. It's a real rock record, incredibly substantial. This album is the most coherent record we've made which is a big step for us.”
The 10-track album is fantastic but what about a favourite song? “For the most part, I'm drawn to the more melodic, emotive song. There's one song on the record called 'Heart On Loan'. It doesn't do anything unique, we haven't re-designed the wheel but I feel it, it's really strong. Even from the start, from day one, it gave me goosebumps and it continues to give me goosebumps. I have favourites to play and favourites to listen to, which is odd. I love playing 'Bring 'em Down' and I'm looking forward to playing them all in the coming weeks.”
Third album ‘Liberation Transmission’ was the first to feature Latin on the front cover. ‘Weapons’ does the same so I asked Jamie where the influence in that comes from. “I have no idea, I think that's Ian trying to be smart (laughs). I'm a painter, I have a Masters in Fine Art and Ian has a degree in Graphic Art, so we've always been in control of all the visuals. We've always designed our own covers and done a lot of the photography. The only problem with that is that we both get bored and we like to re-design ourselves. I find so many people say they don't know the band because we can't define ourselves, and then you play them a song and they're like, oh I know that song. So we spoke about that issue with this record, and what it comes down to is every single record, we come up with new artwork, new visual, a new logo and we always kind of lose people a little bit, so we're attempting to unify everything for Lostprophets. We want people to remember the logo, and go with the familiar so people can lock in and we can uniform the band. I don't want to sound business like, but we've lost our identity as a brand almost and I think most bands have always monopolised on that by keeping the same logos so they can be easily identified. We've been really consciously aware of doing that so we wanted to make it familiar again, almost like this is a Best Of record. We want to tie the band image and brand to that sound so we can become a bit more of a household name.”
The band are back out on the road from next month in support of ‘Weapons’. So what can fans expect from the shows? “The shows are always exciting anyway, I love playing. The shows are almost completely sold out, which amazes me because it's on the strength of our back catalogue, a free single download and the new single - and the single's a bit of a wildcard really as it's not your traditional Lostprophets song, it's really ballsy. So the people coming to the shows are the people that have supported us for 12 years so it's really important to take the responsibility seriously and go out and play our very best. It's a great opportunity to come home (and I consider the whole UK as our home) and play these intimate shows.” I asked if the band had anything special planned for what is essentially their homecoming show. “We're doing a show in Cardiff, in the arena there. Between you and me, we're planning something special for that. It's going to be a bit unique and out of the box for us. I can't go into much more detail than that, but it's an opportunity for us to try something new and we're excited about that.”
With a back catalogue of 4 albums as well as all the new tracks from ‘Weapons’, picking a setlist must be a hard task for a tour. “Without sounding conceited or big headed, when you release 3 or 4 songs from each album, if you wanted to play all of those, you're already looking at an hour and 30 minutes. So we pick a set that will entertain people, but you can't leave out the favourites. That's what I love about festivals; people will be familiar with most of the songs you play even if they don't own an album. That's the thing with me - I don't think I've got a U2 record in my collection, but I bet I could go to a U2 show and know every single song. I think it's a testament to the longevity of a band that they can do that and we feel really fortunate and privileged that we're getting to that stage. It does make picking sets hard; you have to play for everybody. We've always held off from playing the new songs until the record's out because you want to entertain and people want to sing along. I am looking forward to seeing how the crowds respond to the new songs though and how they're received live.”
Although Lostprophets are playing some European festivals this summer, it looks like UK fans will have to wait until next year to see the band in festival action. “We're holding off on festivals in the UK this year. We're releasing the record real close to the summer. We always have to build momentum and re-establish with a new record, so it would be premature for us to go in and book big festivals. We're gonna’ do some ground work, get feedback and adjust our shows accordingly to see how the record is developing. We'll focus on coming back to the UK towards the end of the year/beginning of next year and hopefully look at doing some festivals in 2013 on the back of, fingers crossed, a successful record.”
Being this far into a career and still successfully releasing music is a testament to the band and their loyal fans, but what is there still left to do for a band at this stage? What hopes do they have for the future? “This is kind of unbelievable as it is. When we were first starting out, we were told we weren't gonna’ sell anymore than 4,000 records so we've always focussed on short term goals, so to still be doing this 12 years on is incredible. To have bands compared to us instead of us compared to other bands is really humbling. It makes me really appreciate every show and every moment. I just hope to keep doing this as long as we physically and possibly can, and remain as current and as relevant as we possibly can. It would be great to headline Reading or something like that, but we’re not going to hold ourselves to that. We're just going to roll with the punches and see what we can achieve and play as much as we can. I'm fulfilled enough, I feel like I'm the most successful man on the planet doing what I'm doing. I love playing live, that's where my forte is, it's why I do this. The feedback I get from the crowd is why everyone dreams of doing this.”
So it appears to be all systems go for this new phase of Lostprophets’ career and the band are really excited to get back out there with their new music. “The band as a whole feels more energised. I'm not sure if it's because we're more mature, more focussed, or because we've got 'The Betrayed' out of our system. It definitely feels like a second chapter, a second wind. Everyone's really excited and there's momentum in the band so we're just going forward with that. There's so many bands from when we first started out that aren't doing it anymore. There's only like us, Muse and Biffy Clyro so we don't want to waste it by being lacklustre. We're really focussed and excited for the future.”
It seems Lostprophets are absolutely on track to release some of their best music to date and get back out there to show their fans what they’ve been missing. Their usual hard work and dedication seems to have multiplied and their focus is on being the best band they can be – which should be easy enough to do with music this good. Bring on this new chapter!
‘Weapons’ is released on 2nd April 2012.
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The band are back out on the road from next month in support of ‘Weapons’. So what can fans expect from the shows? “The shows are always exciting anyway, I love playing. The shows are almost completely sold out, which amazes me because it's on the strength of our back catalogue, a free single download and the new single - and the single's a bit of a wildcard really as it's not your traditional Lostprophets song, it's really ballsy. So the people coming to the shows are the people that have supported us for 12 years so it's really important to take the responsibility seriously and go out and play our very best. It's a great opportunity to come home (and I consider the whole UK as our home) and play these intimate shows.” I asked if the band had anything special planned for what is essentially their homecoming show. “We're doing a show in Cardiff, in the arena there. Between you and me, we're planning something special for that. It's going to be a bit unique and out of the box for us. I can't go into much more detail than that, but it's an opportunity for us to try something new and we're excited about that.”
