Paul: Hi, can you please introduce yourself and your role in the band?
Mike: My name’s Mike Duce and I get FUCKED. I also play guitar and sing in Lower Than Atlantis
Paul: To those who have have never heard of Lower Than Atlantis, how would you describe yourselves and which one of your songs would you suggest as a starting point?
Mike: I recently described us as ‘a band that play sad songs fast’ in another interview and thought it pretty much hit the nail on the head. Check out the title track of our new record ‘Far Q’, I’d say that song sums us up and a band at the moment.
Paul: Is there any reason behind the band name?
Mike: It was totally accidental when we came up with it but now it definitely has something to do with feeling sad.
Paul: You’re from Watford, a relative hotbed of talented bands doing well within the UK. What is it about the Watford scene that has pushed so many talented bands forward?
Mike: This is where I’d normally write something like ‘when you come from such ugly place, you start searching for something beautiful’ but I’m starting to think that where we’re from doesn’t have anything to do with what we’re doing. Does an accountant from Surrey work in an office in London because the empty streets of Guildford held no promise for him? No! It’s just a job that pays the bills and he’s good at maths. We’re just good at this and aint really got sod all else to do.
Paul: How come you’ve had so many bands members? ‘Fess up – which of you is the most difficult to work with?
Mike: You’d be surprised how many people aren’t willing to work for what they want in life mate. Every member we’ve ever had in this band was never really in the band. Me and Ben have always done EVERYTHING right from the start. All these ‘session’ players have ever had to do is be home to get picked up at the beginning of a tour, play the tour and then get dropped home afterwards but it just seems to be too hard for them. We have a solid line up now and we’re more of a ‘real’ band.
Paul: What changed between the recording and release of ‘Bretton’ and new album ‘Far Q’? The new record and ‘sound’ seems a lot stronger and more refined – is there anything specifically which influenced the way you approached the record?
Mike: We pretty much started this band and wrote/recorded Bretton immediately. We didn’t really have any time to find our feet and it was all kind of rushed. BUT! Who wants to listen to a band that has a ‘sound’? Surely mix things up for each record? I can guarantee you that our next album will sound NOTHING like Far Q just as Far Q sounds nothing like Bretton.
Paul: Who did you work with when recording the new album?
Mike: Our mate Dan Lank (Daniel Lancaster) recorded it in a small office room thing above his family business.
Paul: Your approach to the lyrics is very conversational and different to most bands in the genre. What influences you when you’re writing? Do you approach this in an attempt to be different or does it just happen to work out that way?
Mike: I just write whatever comes to mind really. I drink a lot of coffee, pick a subject that’s been bothering me and then just write any old bollox about it.
Paul: The first single is ‘Taping Songs Off The Radio’. Do you believe the radio is as important as it once was as a measure of a) a band’s popularity and b) in helping to ‘break’ a band to bigger things?
Mike: Depends on what you’re going for doesn’t it? Look at Smashing Pumpkins, how often do you hear them being played on Capital FM? They’re one of the biggest bands in the world.
Paul: Among the subjects you touch on on the album is the internet. Are you big fans of message boards etc? Do you take anything that’s said on the internet personally? Is there a difference between a mainstream publication being critical and a keyboard warrior having their say?
Mike: I used to check out a couple of forums but I think it’s all just politics and bullshit. I’m not really too fussed what someone writes about us on a message board anymore, things seem to be going quite well for us right now. I’m traveling Europe for a month playing my music and getting fucked up with my buds for free in a few weeks – what’s this keyboard warrior up to? That’s sort of the way I think now. It really used to bother me though. When you put all your time, money and effort into something that is so easily dismissed by some guy sitting at his computer somewhere it’s a bit of a bum out.
Paul: What’s next for the band? What’s the plan for the rest of the year?
Mike: The plan for 2010 is to just get out there and play some music! We’ll hopefully be recording our next record at the end of the year or at least thinking about it.
Paul: Where do you hope to be in three years time?
Mike: On a sunlounger in Tahiti being fanned by some topless page three chicks that brew me my own beer but I’ll probably just be in my old bedroom at my mums house. As long as I’ve got food in my belly and my guitar in my hand, I don’t really mind where we are.
Paul: If you have a message for our readers please leave it here…
Mike: If you like it – listen.
If you don’t – do one.