The Fandom Menace: 20 questions from fans to The Strypes - Bonus & Giveaway
When I started this music blog a couple months ago, I had no idea that I would soon have the opportunity to interview one of my favourite of bands, THE STRYPES. I was happily surprised when their management allowed me to organise it and so in the interest of doing something different I asked fans to send me their own questions. This is an interview by a fan for the fans. I would like to thank all you guys for sending them in and I do apologise if yours did not make the cut. The video quality might not be great as I have never filmed nor edited a video interview before, yet I am quite pleased with how it turned out. Prepping and editing this interview was quite a lot of work (and loads of fun!) and I really hope you will like it:
Fellow French/Breton fans might be happy to know that I brought them crêpes from Brittany (I was home the previous week) as a reminder of the Vieilles Charrues Festival, which they confirmed again to me as being the best gig they have ever played.
In my hand luggage every single time I fly back from Brittany. #BretonExpatIssues
After the interview, I actually stuck around as one of my mates had won two places for the third Universal Fan Session with The Strypes and had asked me to come along. I had not heard about it before so I did not really know what to expect but Universal made it into a really cool experience for the five fans selected and their plus ones:
We were first brought into a room with snacks and drinks on the table and given goodie bags with a hard copy of Little Victories, a few postcards, a sticker and a ‘Universal Fan Session’ mug and badge.
The lads made their entry to the ‘Imperial March’ music from Star Wars (which gave me the idea for the intro of my interview) and played three acoustic songs:
Get into it
84
Cab fare home
They also asked someone to play a song for them, and a girl (sorry but I don’t know her name) stepped out and beautifully sang a tune that I did not know. Respect!
In between these, we did a short Q&A which I will try to summarise for you:
- Meeting famous people is impressive but in the end everyone is fairly normal
- Their favourite Elton John album/track: ‘His next album’ (Josh), ‘The Lion King Soundtrack’ (Pete)
- The songs they haven’t covered yet that they would like to cover: ‘It’s raining men’ (Josh)
- Which band they would like to cover them: Rage against the Machine covering ‘Now She’s gone’ and Tinie Tempha covering ‘I wanna be your everyday’ (Josh), Bono covering all their songs (Pete or Evan) or Madonna (Ross).
Then they asked us a question: who else do we listen to except for them? We all answered one by one. If you care at all, my answer was the French band The BB Brunes, which I explained are a bit similar to them (in the sense that when I was 14 they were a band of 17 year olds that quickly became the national Rock’n’Roll sensation. Great lyrics and really good live too! My personal favourite track is ‘Sixty Eight’ but the lyrics are in French. They also have an EP in English called ‘EP’)
After that the lads signed the CDs/posters from the wall and took selfies and group pictures.
I then just had time to go home to drop off all of my stuff and went straight back out to The Academy for the (sold out) gig. The Mighty Stef opened the show with their usual kick ass energy (while The Strypes were watching from the balcony), followed on by BP Fallon’s poem/slam ‘I believe in’ received with an enthusiastic response from the audience. Then The Strypes went on for an outstanding performance in front of a delighted moshing crowd. What a crazy day!
Setlist:
Now she’s gone
What a shame
84
Best man
What the people don’t see
Cruel brunette
I’m the man
I don’t wanna know
3 Streets and a village green
Cab fare home
Queen of the half crown
Get into it
Scumbag city
Mystery man
Hometown girls
BCJ
Still gonna drive you home
I need to be your only
(Encore:)
Kick out the jams
Rollin & Tumblin
You can’t judge a book
GIVEAWAY
I am starting to have quite a collection of signed items by the lads (one of the perks of liking a local band!) and thought this time I could give YOU the chance to get one. Hence I bought the September edition of Irish Hot Press magazine and made The Strypes sign it when I met them for the interview. I am also throwing in a few postcards from the Fan Session goodie bag with it.
To WIN, you can play on Twitter and/or Facebook using the links below. The winner will be randomly selected. The giveaway is open worldwide. A participation on each social media gives you one chance in the draw, hence you can play play on both to double your chances.
From Left to Right: Frankie Kelly (Harmonica, Mandolin, Organ, Vocals), Tim Cullen (Guitar, Vocals), me, Joe Lynch (Bass, Vocals), Wayne Soper (Vocals, Guitar). Missing from this picture: Andy Sutton (Drums)
The Hot Sprockets is a Rock'n'Roll/Folk band from Dublin. Moustaches flying in the moist Irish breeze, the five-piece released their debut LP 'Honey Skippin' (listen/buy it here) in 2011. You might actually recognise the track 'Cruisin' from the AIB (Irish bank) ad on TV.
AIB advert
Cruisin'
Their sophomore album called 'Brother Nature' (listen/buy it here) was released in 2014. Staying faithful to themselves, the lads provided yet another record full of energy and good mood. The Hot Sprockets' music is the perfect anthem to bootyshake early on a monday morning when it's pissing down with rain outside. The Hot Sprocket's music + WTF music videos = Immediate moral boost!
Personal favourite track: 'Shake me off'
I was looking forward to meet up these lads to see if they would be as cool in real life as their facial hair. [Spoiler alert: they are!] I was able to ask them a few questions after their soundcheck before their closing gig of the Dublin Rock'n'Roll Festival (August) at Whelans:
How was your summer so far?
Tim: Summer’s been amazing! We’ve been getting to Europe this year. It was the first time going to Europe, and they’re taking to us really well. We’ve been to Spain, Portugal, Holland… There is a label in Benelux releasing our album [Soul Brother]. We’ve had a good few tours in Spain. Our album is getting released there on Spanish vinyl on Folc Records with two extra tracks. So it’s been going really good!
Is that why you are going back to Spain, because you are doing four dates in September?
Tim: Yeah.
Their Spanish tour was actually finishing today, with a last date tonight at Kuxta Kultra Festival. The lads also released the Spanish version of 'Brother Nature' earlier this week. The two bonus tracks are 'Dimestore Cowboy' and 'Head Over Heels'.
I read in a past article of The Irish Times that you had planned to go to France last May, did you actually go?
Tim: No. We were gonna be booked for a three week tour, but it didn’t come together just because the release of the Spanish vinyls were late, so had to reschedule the planning. So, we haven’t head up to France yet.
Do you plan on going later then?
Tim: Yeah, we are kind of going to get our foot into Europe this year. Now, September we have Spain but we’re gonna be working on recording our third album, hopefully done by February and then next summer we will be branching out more in Europe.
Did you start working on the said album?
Tim: Yeah we have a good few tracks. You will hear one or two tonight… but it sounds really good. We have about six or seven nearly or definitely finished, and there is a good few more in the pipeline.
What is your writing process for that third album? Do you start with the tunes or the lyrics…?
Tim: It can be different things… Wayne writes most of the songs. Frankie has a couple, and we just bring them into the jam room. Sometimes they’ll be more finished, sometimes less, sometimes it is just ideas. And we’ll bounce around with all of them. Some of them work straight away, like there is a new one that came quicker than most of them. Sometimes they are too simple so we try to tech it up, other times we have to strip it back. Lyrics are usually done by the person who’s writing it. And if they're not finished we just bounce around on them together until recording.
Is that gonna be a 12 tracks record?
Tim: Yeah between 10 and 12, whatever goes down. We might keep some for singles or 45s.
Look at these happy chaps on stage!
Who do you consider as your influences and do you have a favourite band you listen to at the moment?
Wayne: Our influences vary from Blues to Rock’n’Roll… I am listening to a lot of Growlers at the moment, plus bands that aren’t on the radio. Any band on the Jagaguwar label. Any rock’n’roll psychedelic band that are gigging around at the moment.
Tim: Jack White, Queen of the Stone Age, The Rolling Stones, MC5, Robert Johnson… All the Blues guys. Any blues or Hip-Hop outcasts… Anything that’s good. Anything we can buzz off as a band with funny songs, like Tenacious D which we love… We love underground independent bands, and we support that as well.
What inspires you to write?
Wayne: The newest one is about when you want to party all night and then you get in trouble with the missus about it.
Tim: Different things. Frank has one about my father working seven days a week for his whole life and just being a bad ass. Obviously, relationships, partying, men, women, life, love, good times, sometimes we just write one because we are buzzing off and try some funny lyrics. That’s what makes us sing it with more confidence, you know, when we are all buzzing off together.
What’s the inspiration behind your band’s name, The Hot Sprockets?
Tim: We were just messing about with different things. Soper and Joe had another band before with Soper’s brother called Sopers Dirt. When they were bouncing around names for their bands, Sprockets kinda turn up. It was mainly because there is a dog in a TV show called Fraggle Rock. It’s like a puppet show. Jim Henson made the puppets, but the dog in that was called Sprocket. And then we bounced around names like SP Rocket… We created The Hot Sprockets because it sounded more retro. It had a different feel to it and it kept it… hotter! [laugh]
Soul Brother go get you're feet up off the ground! ♫
Do you do something special to prepare to go on stage, or do you just pick up your stuff and go?
Tim: Usually we group-masturbate before…
Joe: To release the tension! [All laugh]
Frankie: No, we don’t really do anything special… Well, our drummer goes for a wee right before we have to play and we are all looking for him. That’s our ritual, looking for Andy! [All laugh]
Tim: When we were in America, the heat was getting to us and we had 7 gigs in 7 days, traveling around, drinking and stuff, so your voice starts going. Our friend Rob Walsh was showing us a few little vocals things but we ever only do that when our voice is gone and by then it kinda too late! [laugh] But it helps you get through, big time!
Frankie: If we have a wild night, or we are staying in a hotel I always hear Wayne next door in the showers doing those things..and I think ah Wayne's up!
Anything special to bring with you on tour?
Tim: Guitar!
Well, really?
Tim: Yeah. [laugh] I’ve got a lucky shirt. You know just a shirt I like and I’m like ‘yeah I’ll bring that’.
Frankie: Baileys?!
Wayne: We haven’t brought Baileys yet but that would be good actually.
Joe: We don’t have a lucky… hum... but we bring the Basque flag.
Tim: Yeah, when we go to different countries now, we bring the flag. I guess that’s lucky. Other than that, it’s just keeping our buzz up, our spirits up. That’s the main thing I think.
Do you have a song you particularly like to play live?
Tim: New ones are always good. [All approve] Any new one, which is just fresh. You’ve got a good feeling just bringing it from the jam room into the audience and see how they react as well. Then again, in different gigs, different songs would go better than other songs. For example when we were in Holland, we did a gig during the day, and there was loads of kids and it was a real chilled out vibe, so we played more of our slower songs and they got better applause and the more rock ones. Whereas usually at our gigs where there’re drinks the rock ones go down better and we cut out the slow ones.
What do you like to do in your spare time when you are not doing music?
Tim: I like to listen to music. [All laugh]
Alright, something not related to music then?
Tim: Watching documentaries on… music! [laugh] Or I love stuff about countries as well, reading books about music, history… I am just interested about different cultures. If I could travel more I’d love to travel to loads of countries.
You guys travel quite a bit…
Frankie: Yeah we do.
Tim: But you’re playing as well so you don’t get to see it. You usually get to see the odd thing but you have about an hour a day so I haven’t really traveled in about ten years.
Frankie: Draw and paint
Joe: I just like skateboarding and hanging around the city, people watching.
Wayne: I like to read and I am trying to teach myself how to learn engineering on the computer with this program called Rebirth about recordings.
Tim: Andy the drummer isn’t here but I’ll speak for him. He likes science, he is really interested in the stars and cosmology, anything to do with space and science. He loves all that stuff! And he watches eight Simpsons a day! He just admitted it to us today.
Franky: Does he actually?
Tim: Yeah he said he doesn’t go a day without watching it.
Wayne: He doesn’t have the time to watch eight though…
Alright, my last question is about ‘Honeyskippin’ with The Hot Sprockets’, your radio show, can you tell me more about it?
Tim: It’s on radiomade.ie which an independent radio station online. Friends of us run it. There are awesome shows on it and they run daily gigs and it started to get bigger and bigger and get more people tune in… They just needed people for a show and we said we’d love to do it. We love promoting, playing and sharing music with each other so we said why not share it with other people? And it promotes gigs around Dublin as well. Honeyskippin is the name of our first album so that name sort of made sense. At the moment, it’s mainly Frankie doing it. It’s every Thursday 2-4pm… Tune in!
I will! Actually, the name of your first album ‘Honeyskippin’, where does it comes from? Because I could not figure it out… You mean skipping, like with a rope but…?
Frankie: It's kind of like that but with honey!
Tim: Frankie’s brother just said it in the jam room one day.
Frankie: ‘Honey’ as in a girl and ‘skipppin’ as in skipping to the next one, seeing loads of women. But it can mean whatever you want.
Tim: It just sounds like a cool word. It made sense at the time so we just built lyrics around it. We like stuff that doesn’t really mean stuff but when you put them together you make your own thing out of it.
Yeah I noticed that when I was looking you up. Some words really confused me…
Tim: [laugh] Yeah some probably don’t translate into a different language, but you can just get what you want from the song.
Out of the six bands that signed my flag, the Hot Sprockets definitely have the coolest autographs, even my cat Lord Byron was pretty impressed!
Catch the Hot Sprockets live in Dublin at the 5th years anniversary of The Workman’s club on September 9th. And with the entry cost just the price of a pint (5€), what more could one ask for? Except probably an actual refreshing pint after the gig because I guarantee you that these lads will get you hot and sweaty!
I'd like to thanks to band members to have taken the time to talk with me, as well as the Rock'n'Roll Dublin Festival organisers Keiron and Dave to have helped me arrange it. If you liked this article, please share it and support this blog by liking Of Bands & Gigs Facebook page and following @ofbandsandgigs on Twitter. I also share news about alternative or/and local bands on these. Upcoming articles on the blog includes my interviews with English Rock'n'Roll lads The 45s and Irish pop-punk sensation Beware of you as well as the review of American Alternative Rock bands All Time Low and Twenty One Pilots performances at Belsonic Festival (Belfast, UK).
The Strypes’ sophomore LP ‘Little Victories’ went out on the Friday 21th August and like Blue Collar Jane, it is causing quite a stir… A teacup in the hand, Mcvitie’s biscuit in the other, the four lads from Cavan, Ireland, have obviously sat down and worked quite a bit since their debut album ‘Snapshot’ (2013). As commenting on their unusual talent for such a young age is starting to get old, let’s crack straight on with the album review. I have been surprised to see a few mixed reviews in the Irish/UK newspapers today, which generally comment that this album is good but doesn’t offer anything very original. Well, Let the people say what the people say…
Generally speaking, you’ve got to admit that objectivity ain’t your forte when it comes to one of your favourite bands, but I shall do my best to give my honest opinion.
‘It’s different’ is the unanimous first comment, ‘it’s very good’ should be the second. Admittedly, the influence of the Arctic Monkeys (for whom they where opening on the AM tour) is there, especially perceptible in tracks ‘Get into it’ and ‘A good night sleep and a cab fare home’. The latter’s signature guitar riff and indie vibes makes it the perfect radio track.
‘A good night sleep and a cab fare home’ official music video
Somebody please tell Ross that he’s too young to drive before the traffic eases up!
Both songs were chosen as the lead and second singles ahead of the release of the album. Another two tracks, ‘Scumbag city’ and ’84’ were already present in the ‘Flat out EP’ (Spring 2015)
Great writing skills overall! Although the themes of the songs are repetitive, there has been much improvement in the lyrics, written by Josh. The student in Humanities in me thinks that the references to George Orwell’s 1984 in ’84’ and Henry VIII’s cutting solution to his marital issues in ‘Now she’s gone’ deserve a shout out. However, the Little Victory of the wittiest lyrics is attrituted to the sole song written by Pete for ‘Cruel brunette’. Musically, the album is much less of a raw diamond than ‘Snapshot’ was. It is better executed and less aggressive without losing its energy, so one can still hear the ‘early Strypes’ in it despite the clear evolution. The record includes a few slow songs, ‘Everyday’, ‘Queen of the half crown’ and ‘Scumbag city’, which show off Ross' much more confident vocals. Nostalgics of their older style might want to give bonus track ‘Fill the spaces’ a listen. 'G.O.V.' is another excellent bonus track.
Pete O'Hanlon - Bass Guitar
Josh McClorey - Lead Guitar/Vocals
Six months ago, I had never heard of The Strypes. In this timeframe, I have seen them live more often that I have seen my mother (sorry maman), that is three times, at Slane Castle Festival (May, Ireland), the Vieilles Charrues Festival (July, France - review here) and at the HMV showcase for the release of ‘Little Victories’ in Dublin yesterday (August, Ireland). Hence, I have heard most of these 12 tracks live first. Although I do think that there is no better way to get introduced to any music, I strongly advise you to get ‘Little Victories’ and you can always go check out the lads performing it live on their upcoming IE/UK tour in September, stopping by Dublin (The Academy) on the 24th, EU tour in October and Japan Tour in November. You just gotta Get into it! Details and tickets on http://thestrypes.com/gigs/
Ross Farelly - Lead Vocals/Harmonica
Evan Walsh - Drums
The band will also do further in store performances next week across the UK.
As a little preview, here is what happened in Dublin yesterday in HMV Dundrum (South Dublin). It started by a small gig, opening unsurprisingly with ‘Now she’s gone’, then came ‘Cab fare home’, ’84’, ‘Scumbag city’, ‘Get into it’ and closing with ‘What a shame’ upon the audience’s request. It was pretty calm and chilled because apparently moshing and headbanging is not the most appropriate behaviour in a shop. What a shame! More seriously, it was good and everyone got their album signed and their picture taken with the lads. They were really sweet.
Freebies!
After Ross and Pete at the Vieilles Charrues Festival, I finally got the second half of the Strypes to sign my flag.
Within the hour, my first tweet was retweeted/favourited close to 40 times, score!
#LittleVictories
I suggested to them to meet up for an interview before their Academy gig in September and they seemed up for it. Happy days! I’ll keep you posted. Same applies to The Mighty Stef to whom I went to say hello later on as they were present for support along with The Strypes' families. The Mighty Stef are once again the supporting act on the upcoming IE/UK tour. I had met them earlier this month at their Whelans gig (pictures here) and guarantee they will do a great job warming you up for The Strypes. In the meantime, this month's interviews with The Hot Sprockets, The 45s (Liverpool) and Beware of You will be posted shortly. To not miss anything, make sure to Like Of Bands & Gigs page on Facebook or Follow @ofbandsandgigs on Twitter.
Loads of things are going on about The Strypes today!
First of all, the four lads from Cavan (Ireland) released another teaser of their upcoming album LITTLE VICTORIES: a fourth live session. This time it is 'Now She's Gone'.
Pre-order LV on iTunes now and receive a new track ‘Now She’s Gone’ along with the previous three tracks, straight away! You may also get it on vinyl and CD from their official storewhere there is unfortunately still no merch on sale... C'mon lads! Make us some tees!
So, here is NOW SHE'S GONE:
Released a couple of hours ago, the video has currently already over 3,300 views!
Secondly, everyone's favorite irish Rock'n'Roll band (yes, this must be true by now) have been recently shooting the music video of GET INTO IT, although no release date has been announced.
As you can see, Irish actor Dave Rawle, best known for starring on Irish sitcom Moone Boy, is in it.
Thirdly, the lads were in Paris today, performing live during prime time (9pm local time, 8pm Irish time) at OÜI FM (free) FESTIVAL. The show is now over but I was able to see most of it streamed live on Dailymotion.com/fr and they did very well. They posted a few pictures of their parisian adventures:
By the way, it's Vive LA France and not LE... Just sayin'.
Finally, do not forget to check out if The Strypes are coming close to you soon, because they are touring in France, the UK, Japan, Spain and of course Ireland until October. Find out all the dates HERE.
