INTERVIEWS
Laura Anderson discusses rockonomics with Charlie, Alex and Omar.
So in the spirit of Friday the 13th has anything gone wrong…. Yet? Or are you anticipating anything? Charlie: Erm… our merch guy is pretty late. Which is pretty annoying that he’s not here. Have you taken any extra precautions on stage to ensure a smooth show? Alex: Yeah…. Erm we normally fuck up quite a lot anyway. Charlie: It’s Omar’s first gig back for like five years so… he’s been out for five months because he broke his wrist. So it should be interesting. So, you’re headlining the Jaeger night in association with Leeds Metal Scene, how important do you think nights like this are for the local music scene? Omar: Its good it gives local bands a platform to play on. Charlie: It’s a local band first… that’s cool man… anything that supports local music you know? It’s always cool that you get a night dedicated to this kind of music. Yeah there are lots of Indie nights and acoustic nights but no metal nights… Charlie: That’s bullshit man… we need less of them and more of this. So it’s pretty obvious in the current economic climate that everyone’s struggling. Bands aren’t putting on as many shows or not putting any on at all. What do you think can be done to save UK music? Charlie: I think people should stop stealing music off the Internet for a start because then the bands could actually make a living. Omar: And then the bands could actually afford to put on shows. Charlie: The problem is, it’s a vicious circle. Because of the economic climate kids cant afford to buy albums and they end up downloading them so the bands get no money off the record. And then in turn kids can’t afford to go to shows. Alex: Yeah, there’s a noticeable lull in ticket sales at the moment. Charlie: Yeah, there’s noticeable lull to do with music. If you look at the big tours like Taste Of Chaos they had to downgrade massively. If huge bands like Death Cab For Cutie had to downgrade venues from Alexandra Park to Brixton. I think its just the fact that people just cant afford to go out at the moment. InMe were due to support Pendulum and they had to pull out of that… Charlie: Because they couldn’t afford it? Really they were gonna support Pendulum? Its the same for everyone I think everyone’s cutting their cloth; record companies, bands, everyone. It’s cool as long as people keep supporting the cause. I think it will change when the economic climate changes, I mean everything is fucked at the minute. But you just gotta ride the storm. You have a street team run by your fans. How important do you think something like that is? Charlie: Its good to have dedication to the cause. Promoting your stuff. That’s the good thing on street teams they encourage other people. Its just encouraging people to buy music. I still go out and buy music all the time. I know it’s so easy just to download it off torrents but that really sucks when people do that because all their doing is fucking the artist over. I know a lot of people who download but then still buy the CD anyway … Charlie: I’ve done that because if I want it early I might get it and then buy it again. To be honest a lot of our hardcore fans will by our things regardless. Its just about encouraging people to buy music… keep the dream alive as it were. Any new bands that you’ve got set for big things? Charlie: Yeah there’s a band called In Case Of Fire, they’re great. We’re taking them out on our April tour. And a band called Laruso, the guitarist produced our album. They’re coming out with us as well. There are a few bands who are a different genre to us who I’m liking at the moment. One called Frightened Rabbit, a Scottish band who just went out with Biffy actually before Christmas. And they’re absolutely amazing. There’s some good stuff around at the moment… what else am I listening to? - M83. Omar: Mmmm. Charlie: You should definitely check them out if you haven’t heard them. So you have your tour planned in April. What are the other future plans for Fightstar? Charlie: Were looking at doing some European Festivals because we still haven’t been over to Europe so I think this Summer we are definitely attempt to get a record out in Europe. There’s a lot of people on your Myspace saying come here… come here…. Charlie: Yeah exactly so I think were gonna do that. And also we own the rights to this album, which is something we wanted to have. It’s exciting from our point of view because we have the license to do what we want. Were not obliged to go with any certain record company. So I think the prospects for us this year are gonna be exciting for us because of the fact we own our own record. We paid for it ourselves so basically we own the copyright for our own album, which is something we’ve always wanted to do. I think that’s every musicians dream…. Charlie: Exactly, it was. A lot more bands are doing it these days you know? Especially with the decline in the music industry. So if you can do it yourself… the need for a record company is becoming less and less. I think they’re realising that as well… Omar: Yeah they’re getting scared. So the last question is…. What are your plans for Valentines Day? Charlie: I am going to be spending it with my girlfriend in East London. And what about yourself, Omar? Omar: Erm… I dunno? I’ve got a couple of options (laughs). I’m not sure yet I might be going to see Lamb of God. Charlie: OH MY GOD. Omar: Yeah lovely Valentines night. So yeah we’ll see how I feel. Or could stay at home with a movie. Charlie: Lamb of God or Boyzone? (everyone laughs) Omar: Why are they playing tomorrow night? That would be a cool tour …. Lamb of God…. Supported by Boyzone. Omar: Lamb of Godzone. So that’s it I won’t keep you any longer. Good luck with tonight!!! More Fightstar on Vanguard Online: Interview October 07
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