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Hot on the heels of their
scorching performance at Trashstock 2007 we catch up with those crazy
rockers The Authentics to dig a little deeper and find out just what it is
that makes them tick ...
| MM -
Hey there! Thanks for agreeing to take part in this interview with us,
it was great to catch up with you at Trashstock. Talking of the
Trashstock Festival, how did you feel the festival and your
performance went and did you
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enjoy yourselves
over the course of the evening?
Mike - Yeah, we had a cracking time.
It was really cool to play for Jaimz Riot finally after speaking so long over the internet and the
crowd reaction was good even though we were on first. We like to think
we got the party started and even had a crazy mosher in the pit! Going
on first also meant we could drink afterwards without worrying about
playing and some fans even got some branded condoms made up for us
(see pic below). No puns on Johnny Rotten please! Ha ha! |
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MM -
The band
are coming to the end of their current UK tour, how’s that been going and
are there any gigs in particular that stand out in your memory, for good
or bad reasons?
Mike - I think we haven’t
had any really bad gigs but we have definitely had some weird gigs. We
recently played a bikers fest in the middle of nowhere in Lincoln and
ended up putting out bales of hay for the crowd to sit on and we blew the
electrics as we were playing on the back of an articulated truck!
MM - Stepping
back in time a little, would you like to give us a brief history on the
band, how it all came about, how it’s evolved and where you call home etc?
Mike - Although the
members are from all over the UK we met and are based in Leicester in the
Midlands so that’s home for us. This year we’ve only played a handful of
gigs there, which has been great as its been special to do a homecoming
gig but we have also spent lots of time on the road trying to spread
ourselves further afield. We met through the usual routes of knowing each
other and having the same tastes in music really.
MM - For
anyone who isn't familiar with your blend of music, how would you best
describe your songs to them and how do you feel your sound has developed
since you originally started?
Mike - We’ve definitely
got more “serious” and “heavy” with our sound which originally was closer
to pop-punk whereas now we have heavier, metal influenced songs, riff
based licks and much more twin guitar harmonies. We still think a tune is
important and love sing-along melodies, it’s just that the way we have
written has evolved and what we like playing has too.
MM - Where did the bands name come from
and are there any hidden meanings behind it? Can you remember any of
the other names that were considered at the time?
Mike - I can’t remember
any of the names that were ditched but we wanted a name that set us apart
from the previous band that we were in. People tried to pigeon-hole us but
failed, so we kept playing and writing the music we wanted and thought it
was “authentic” to us. We also appreciate the similarity to The Originals
in Spinal Tap so although we take what we do seriously, we don’t always
take ourselves too seriously.
MM - Who or
what inspired you to play rock music in the first place? Who were your
idols when you were growing up?
Mike - I think it differs
from band member to band member but my own personal faves were The Beatles
and I liked the flamboyancy of the 80s US bands like Guns n Roses and Bon
Jovi. Although my tastes have spread far and wide it was the classic rock
sound of those bands as well as Hendrix, Bowie and The Stones that started
off my interest in music at a young age.
MM - The
band's debut album 'Blondes Make The Best Victims' is out on release at
the moment. Would you like to tell us a little bit about the songs that
feature on it and tell our reader where they can purchase a copy?
Mike - Of
course. The title comes from an Alfred Hitchcock quote but we put the
question mark in to make it more ambiguous in its meaning. We are all big
film fans and the songs on the album are influenced by divisive issues
such as media witch hunts (“Pervert”), female perpetrated domestic
violence (“Beat Me”) and the destructive forces of loneliness and despair
(“Heartbreaker”).
Other movie inspired
songs come in the form of “Behind the Mask”, which looks at the real life
story of Troy Hurtubise, who was captured on film in “Project Grizzly” and
is noted for his bizarre bear-suit creations that he tested on himself in
incredibly dangerous ways; and “Shot in the Dark”, whose title comes from
the legendary Peter Sellers film of the same name, a star the band all
love and are inspired by. You can purchase it on i-Tunes, Virgin Megastore,
the band’s website or from us at live shows.
MM - What
song(s) are your personal favourite(s) to play live and which one(s)
really get the crowd going wild?
Mike - I personally like
'Burn What Remains', 'Back Down To Earth' and 'Face the Writing on the Wall' and
these are regular live songs and in addition to those, fan favourites live
tend to be 'Supercharged', 'Pervert' and 'Lost Night' which have got a great
vibe.
MM - How does the songwriting process work within The Authentics? Is it mainly
one or two individuals, or more of a team effort?
Mike - The songs tend to
be written in most part by one person but even those are worked
on/finished off by the band as a whole. I think even when you have a lot
of the song down, some extra inspirational and song writing with the band
can help polish it off and bring some freshness to it and we have songs
like Face the Writing and new tune Ton of Bricks which are a more
collaborative effort.
MM - Is there
a song written by someone else that you love and wish you'd been the one
to write?
Mike - Bohemian Rhapsody
would be a good one! Ha ha! In truth, I think there are so many great
songs out there and sometimes you think surely all the good ones must have
been written by now and out comes a stormer of a song from someone like
Velvet Revolver or the Foo Fighters and you sit back and go wow!
MM - I read
somewhere that one of your songs 'Supercharged' was actually used on the
soundtrack of a Gumball 3000 DVD? How did that come about and have you
ever fancied taking part in a cross country road race such as this?
Mike - Yeah, it’s
supposed to be in next month’s issue of Fast Car magazine so keep an eye
out for that and we just got asked if it could be used. I guess they saw
some kind of car connection whereas am sure Gray wrote the lyrics about
getting stoned! Don’t smoke and drive kids! Ha ha! We love touring so
going across the USA would be a dream come true but we’d have to learn to
drive as 3 of the 4 of us can’t!!
MM - Do you
think your van could stand the pace if it was perhaps enhanced on ‘Pimp My
Ride’ and if so what features would you encourage them to include?
Mike - Our van, or to
give it its official title “The Admiral”, was bought for £400, broke down
on tour, had a replacement clutch fixed and then sold on eBay for under
£100. It didn’t need pimping, it needed a good f*cking kicking sometimes!
MM - What was
the first concert that you ever attended and did you ever think that one
day you'd be the one standing on the stage in front of all those crowds of
cheering people?
Mike - A bit embarrassing
but mine was Oasis at Knebworth with 150,000 other people. It was a great
show and I was 17 at the time and was blown away by it all and lost my
mate on the way out. I’d love to get on stage in front of that many people
and it was huge shows like that one that inspired me to keep playing the
guitar.
MM - Have you
ever met a fellow artist and been totally star struck by them and unable
to talk/behave normally towards them?
Mike -
For me, no. I was standing in front of Michael Stipe at the Brixton
Academy whilst watching Placebo and all I did was get out of his way cos
he was a short arse! Ha ha.
MM - How has
the internet helped spread the word about the band and do you feel
downloading is harming the scene or helping to keep it alive?
Mike - A
bit of both really. It’s such a competitive industry you need to spread
yourself far and wide but without people actually buying a CD or online
track every now and again the band struggles to create more of the music
the fans like. The jury is still out on this one...
MM - Are any
of you regular cyber surfers and if so do you tend to hunt around the web
for different sites, or do you tend to check out the same old favourites?
Mike - We
all have the obligatory Myspace and Facebook accounts which keep us in
touch with everyone we know and help spread the band’s name. I also keep
some favourites like the BBC, Wikipedia, i-Tunes, YouTube, yahoo, google
and of course the Mayfair Mall Zine! ;) Also check out b3ta as it’s the
funniest page on the web!
MM - What are
your long term aims for the band and what do you personally hope to
achieve?
Mike -
With our drummer leaving in 2007 our first aim is to keep the band going
in some form! Ha ha! We have achieved a lot of our goals (done an album,
videos, CDs, festivals, tour) but we’d always like to do it on a bigger
scale without the hassle of managing it all ourselves.
MM - OK, a fun question now. If one
day you were stumbled across a mysterious gypsy woman who offered you the
chance to drink something that would turn you into a woman for 24 hours
(a) would you drink it? and (b) if you did how would you spend those 24
hours?
Mike - If you don’t say
yes and don’t spend those 24 hours playing with your boobs or sneaking
into women’s locker rooms then there’s something wrong with you! Ha ha!
MM - In three
words, how would your best friend describe you?
Mike -
Probably … ambitious, focused and opinionated.
MM - Finally
before we love you and leave you, do you have any words of wisdom for all
our readers out there?
Mike
- Music wise, just
play the songs you love, practice and party hard and enjoy yourself. If
you do that then the rewards will come to you.
MM - We'd like to thank Mike for
taking the time out to talk to us today and wish the band many successes
on their travels. If you haven't caught the band live in action yet
make sure to check them out, they're infectious energetic performance are
sure to arouse the wild child in you all.
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