Interview . The Blackout . w/ James Davies (guitar) and Gavin Butler (vocals)

interviewer: Laura Schriefer . 12/07/2009 . Logo . Hamburg . Germany . label: Epitaph.com

The Blackout "It's High Tide Baby" feat. Ian Watkins

Punk76: Yesterday you had a day off is that right? Did you spend the day in Hamburg?
James: Yeah, we did.. kind of. We got here that day, right?
Gavin: Yeah, we got here yesterday..
James: We all got up in the middle of the afternoon..it was our bus drivers birthday yesterday so we had some drinks and some food just down the street.. but most of the time we just sat in the bus watching christmas films and just hung out.. it was kind of a lazy day. Gavin: A lazy sunday yesterday..but I got up early today and had a look..
James: Yeah, I had a look around Hamburg today, it's amazing, a really nice city. The previous times we've been here we've only seen the Reeperbahn because the venues were there. So I was thinking I've never seen the proper, like middle of Hamburg. So I went looking at all the old buildings and all the christmas markets it was really really cool, I really liked it.

Punk76: The Reeperbahn is only a good place to be at night. If you go there at daytime it's just so dirty and ugly.
James: Yeah! It's horrible. We actually played on the Reeperbahn last time we were in Hamburg.

Punk76: Do you know which venue it was?
James: It was quite small.. yeah it think that was probably it. It was a really cool show but we had to spend the whole day in that area.. It was.. [rolling eyes] not that great.

Punk76: How was the band founded, where do you know eachother from?
Gavin: Most of us knew eachother from school. I've known Sean, our singer, for.. uhm.. almost since we were babys because our parents were friends . When we went to school we decided we want to start a band together. Our drummer Gareth was a friend of a friend and maybe two years later James moved into the area and then came to our school. And we hung out and just thought why shouldn't he join the band as well.
James: So it was like.. the worst decision I'm ever going to make (laughing)
Gavin: And it wasn't!
James: (murmuring something not understandable)
Gavin: What are you trying to say?
James: No, no you're right. It wasn't.

Punk76: Is it true that in earlier days your bandname was „Ten Minute Preview“?
Gavin: Yes, it was.
James: I wasn't in that band.
Gavin: Good research!
James: Yeah, that was good research.. but when I joined the band that was kind of when we decided, we were writing different kind of songs and incorporating new guitars and stuff.. so that was when we decided that this is a new band so it's time for a new name. We did play some shows while I was in the band „Ten Minute Preview“.
Gavin: Two or three maybe..
James: Yeah but it wasn't long after I joined that we changed our name to „The Blackout“

Punk76: And then you renamed yourself because of a t-shirt that said „I survived the blackout“ (NY City blackout 1977), is that true?
Gavin: (laughing) yeah, pretty much.
James: Yeah, there wasn't a great meaning or story behind it.. I think we kind of got lucky with that name..
Gavin: Yeah, we did..
James: It was one of those things that we saw and we thought „it has a nice ring to it“ and when we were looking to change the name we weren't really sure what we wanted it to be..
Gavin: It was a name that stood out to us.
James: Yeah, it was something that everyone agreed on and was like „yes, that's it!“ and then the more we thought about it, the more we realized it's actually a pretty cool, strong name for a band.

Punk76: Do you remember when you had the worst blackout in your life?
Gavin: (laughing): No, cause I was blacked out!
James: I can remember nights where I got really really badly drunk but I can remember pretty much everything that happened in that night. No matter how bad I was. Gavin: I'm terrible. If I'm really drunk I can't remember a lot. So I'm gonna say three days ago in Cologne.

Punk76: Alright, so Cologne was a fun night?
Gavin: Yeah.. it was a Club night and we all just sat in a club.. and drunk too much.

Punk76: What's your favourite drink?
Gavin: It has to be the Jack Daniels and Coke!

James: Yeah! It's only three of us in the band that drink, it's us two and our bassist Rhys and we would all tell you Jack Daniels and Coke.

Punk76: What kind of genre would you consider your music to be? Post-hardcore?
Gavin: I would say: Rock!
James: Yeah, it's a rock band. I don't really like to label music.. I mean, what's post-hardcore, post-metal, noisecore.. „emo“ in particular is the one that annoys me the most because that includes only the bands that are called „emo-bands“ which are my Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and so on, that those are the only bands that wrote songs with any emotions. But all music is written with emotion.
Gavin: Peoples perceptions of those subgenres are totally different, too so they are kind of irrelevant.
James: To me every band I've ever heard that is described as an emo-band like My Chemical Romance or Fall Out Boy sounds like a punk-band to me with a slightly darker edge maybe. The word „emo“ has almost become negative in some ways because often it's said „oh that's just another emo band“ but it doesn't really mean anything. So I think it's fair enough if you want to call a punk-band a punk-band and a rock-band a rock-band because there is a distinction there.
Gavin: But I would say we're just a rock-band, that's what we're trying to be anyway. Or at least we would like to be thought of as a rock-band.

Punk76: Who writes your lyrics?
Gavin: Me and Sean pretty much sit down together and bash out some stuff. I mean we all come together with ideas.. let's say I may have an entire song written and Sean has an entire song written and then we come together and sit down and work things up and change stuff. If most of the lyrics come from either one party, we tell the other what's it about and what's the meaning behind it. It's pretty good that way because you get two heads, it's better than one I think.

Punk76: Let's talk about your recent record „The best in town“ what is the most apparent difference to „We are the dynamite!“?
Gavin: Sonically it's better. The production on this record is so so much better. I'm not saying the last one was terrible but this one is way better.
James: Yeah, as Gavin said, there's nothing wrong with how „We are the dynamite“ sounded but the way that we wanted „The best in town“ to be and sound was exactly how it came out. And the guy we worked with, Jason Perry, the producer, he had such a big impact not only on making that sound possible but also he really helped us on focusing what bits on the songs maybe needed to be changed or simplyfied. I think he made us realize that the simpler it is, the more effective it is. And sometimes it works against your own instincts because you want to do something more complex like „hey look at me, look what I can do“ but then you realize it just needs to be two notes.
Gavin: He (Jason Perry) almost became like the seventh member of the band while we were doing pre-production, going through all the songs and stuff. And he's a big inspiration, definitely.

Punk76: So you want to work with him again?
Gavin: Yes.
James: Yeah, I think we're pretty certain that we'll work with him again for the next record.

Punk76: You've got that song „I love myself and I want to live“, clearly there are also people saying the opposite, so what's your oppinion to commiting suicide? Do you think it's wrong or that everyone should be able to decide for himself whether he/she wants to live or not?
Gavin: It's a tough topic. I've personally never been in that place where I think the only way out is that way so I can't really comment.
James: It's really easy to be arrogant and just go „Just don't do it“. But when someone becomes suicidal they're not in a position where they can make rational decisions. They don't think „oh maybe it wont be that bad next week“ all they think about is how bad they feel right now. I don't..
Gavin: I don't condone it.
James: Obviously it's just one of those things that happen and it's terrible that it happens and everyone should do everything in their power to make sure it doesn't happen. It's a really tough one to say..
Gavin: There's no right or wrong..
James: Yeah, you should be able to just say everythings gonna be okay and it's a strong thing to do.. clearly some people would say that it's a weak way out.. giving up instead of fighting through it. But if you're never actually in that position, you can't say it's weak or not.
Gavin: We're not condoning suicide, let's make that really clear, the Blackout does not condone suicide, we want everyone to make sure they stay alive!

Punk76: What's the meaning behind the songtitle „shutthefuckuppercut“?
James: We saw that sort of phrase written online somewhere..

Punk76: So you have stolen it?
James: Uhm.. it kind of perfectly summed up the tone of the song. The whole song was about getting out of the smalltown mentality. A lot of the songs on the record deal with that smalltown mentality. Where we're from success is judged with some kind of suspicion, you shouldn't be trying to make the best out of yourself. It's not like we're champions going home and all the friends say „oh we're so proud of you“ it's more like „oh look at these and what they're trying to be“.

Punk76: Really?
James: Yeah, it's a strange mentality. I mean not friends, of course they're happy for us but just people you might have known from school or something.. they don't like that we're trying to be something.. so the whole Shutthefuckuppercut is.. the song is really aggressive and the song is kind of a „fuck you“ to all the people that doubted that we would be able to do what we're doing now. But we're just happy and don't really care what anyone else thinks.
(after a short pause)
Gavin: So yeah, we stole it. (smiling)

Punk76: How important is it for you to have a certain image? Not only because of what people say but also your clothing, styling and so on?
Gavin: I like not to look like a hobo.
James: I would like not losing my hair..
Gavin: I think the only conscious decision we make on our „look“ is just black on stage. It's not like just black suits or black t-shirts it's just black because of the name. That's pretty much it.
James: And we all just wear what we want to wear which happens to look kind of the same. If people think that we've got a good image then thank you but it's was just coincidential. We haven't got a stylist or something. As you can tell, 'cause I've got a stain on my jeans..

Punk76: What kind of music do you like to listen to in your spare time?
Gavin: Pretty much.. anything. From pop to rock to metal.. bands like „Everytime I Die“. From „Every Time I Die“ to „Pink“.
James: I like all music that you can listen to backwards and it sounds the same. (laughing) Haha, no just kidding. I like anything.
Gavin: A good song is a good song, it doesn't matter what kind of genre it is in my opinion.

Punk76: So what's your favourite song right now?
Gavin: I'll go with my all time favourite which is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.
James: But that's nine different songs, isn't it?
Gavin: Yeah nine different songs. Possibly the best song ever written. It doesn't oblige by the normal structures of a song, with chorus and everything..
Gavin: But it's not one song.
Gavin: (looking at him): Hm.
James: (looking back): Hm.
Gavin: But it's brilliant.
James: I'm not saying that it's not brilliant but it's a Rhapsody, it's not called „Bohemian Song“.
Gavin: It's my favourite piece of music.
James: I'm not sure what my favourite song is right now.. flips around from day to day, so..
Gavin: Just pick one.
James: Okay, „one“ by Metallica. It's not my favourite song but it will do.

Punk76: You've toured with so many great bands like Funeral for a Friend, the Lostprophets, Silverstein.. which band is your favourite to be on tour with and why?
James: It's KC and the Sunshine Band, right?
Gavin: Yeah, KC and the Sunshine Band.. (laughing), no just joking.
James: We've been very lucky with nearly every band we've toured with. Not only to watch live but also to hang out with. We're friends with people from the other side of the world, we've never thought that we would have the opportunity for that.
James: We toured with the guys of „From First to Last“ last year and they're such a great group of guys and we got on so well with them. Before we went on that tour we weren't sure how it's going to be and whether they would like us or not because we are the complete opposite. But we love those guys. But if we had to pick one it would be pretty predictable, the Lostprophets. Just because they are literally exactly like us.
Gavin: They come from the same place we do, both make kind of punk-rock kind of music and they have the exact same sense of humor as we do.
James: The two bands kind of melt. If we're on tour, we've played a couple of shows with them in the UK last month, we just kind of melt together and we're just one big group of people instead of two separate bands. We would tour with those guys forever but I don't think we can anymore I think we already exceeded our „Lostprophets-limit“.

Punk76: But have you been in Germany with them?
James: We did a long time ago, it was the very first time we came to Germany.
Gavin: Winter of 2006 was it, right?
James: Yeah so three years ago..

Punk76: So you can come with them again, three years is enough time.
Gavin: Actually we would but we're afraid that everyone would say „seriously, again?“

Punk76: I read that one of you (Sean?) had the „Swine Flu“ and it was pretty bad, what happened?
Gavin: Yeah, on warped tour Sean and I got pretty ill. I was lucky enough to have a day off. I spent the day in bed, watching american TV and shivering. [Sean entered the tourbus just at that minute] When Sean was ill, we had to play some shows and he needed to man up and stop being a girl. I don't know if it was Swine Flu but it was the worst I've ever felt from a cold or something. And I think Sean felt the same as well.
James: I'm not dead! (smiling)

Punk76: You're travelling a lot, is there anything you do to stay healthy?
Gavin: Uhm.. no.

Punk76: Drink a lot? (smiling)
Gavin: I live pretty unhealthy 'cause I'm smoking.
James: Yeah but we try to make sure not to eat shit all the time..
Gavin: But I'm propably healthier on tour because I'm doing exercises every day.
James: If I'm not on tour I'm stuck in my house drinking tea and eating biscuits, not moving. (laughing).
Gavin: So we're doing better on tour than off.

Punk76: Alright, that's all. Thank you for taking time!
Gavin: Thank you very much.

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