PAUL: “Obviously Dan has now left the band, when did you learn he wanted to leave and did it come as a shock?”
JOHN: “Dan told us just after we recorded two new songs for the new Golf Records sampler. It was a shock to all of us, we hadn’t really sensed that he wasn’t enjoying it anymore. The last two tours were tough on us financially but aside from that it seemed like everyone was having a good time.”
PAUL: “Dan has stated that he left the band because he “wasn’t into it anymore.” What is your reaction to this?”
JOHN: “We all felt that if he didn’t want to do it anymore then there was no point in trying to force him and make him even more unhappy. We have been playing the same sort of music together since we were 14 I guess he had been listening to a bunch of different music genres and fancied doing something different.”
PAUL: “He has stated there was no animosity and you are all still friends, is this true?”
JOHN: “Yeah everythings cool. We have both learnt from past experiences that it is better to do it in a friendly way.”
PAUL: “You’ve already decided that the band will continue and are looking for a guitarist. Does this mean Ben will now sing on all of the songs?”
JOHN: “We are not to sure, we knew that we needed a new guitarist but we are considering possibly getting a singer as well. For the meantime Ben sings half the songs anyway so we can carry on with that until we work out exactly what we want to do.”
PAUL: “Will there be any kind of musical changes? Some of the new songs I’d heard you play live were quite Ataris-esque, is this a direction the band will go in or will you continue in the vein of the EP?”
JOHN: “A bit of both I guess. When we wrote those songs we didn’t think ‘hey lets write a song like Kris Roe would’. Some of the new songs are bouncy, some are more rocky and upbeat and then a couple have the Ataris feel. I guess you’ll just have to wait and make up your own minds once you’ve heard the new songs.”
PAUL: “How does Dan leaving effect the deal with Golf and are the plans to record the new album later this year still on?”
JOHN: “We are still with Golf, we are hoping to record the new album in August/September time. The new songs that have been written are sounding good and there will hopefully be a few surprises on the album too.”
PAUL: “I hear on the grapevine that a video is in the works, are there any details you can tell us about?”
JOHN: “We just finished the first day of shooting footage for it today and it is looking pretty good. We are making a video for a new track called “Don’t Give Up On Me”. We are doing it off our own backs and it’ll hopefully be on your screens soon.”
PAUL: “Looking to the future, what would your message be to all your fans?”
JOHN: “Thank you to everyone who has stuck with us and given us their support over the past few weeks, we appreciate it more than you realise. We will be back and running soon! We are playing at Nottingham Rock City on Sunday August 10th and are also booking some more dates around that time. I’d also like to big up my mate Rich’s band Steel Rules Die cos they rock.”