![\"FEB_2013_3CG_PROMO\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mmmboptastic.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/FEB_2013_3CG_PROMO.jpg?resize=511%2C319&ssl=1\")
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Your new album’s out now – was it easy to write and record?<\/strong><\/p>\n This record was an interesting one. We started off with a very specific plan, and we\u2019d started planning pretty far into the whole writing and recording process. We got about one song in, and we realised that everyone was exhausted after two straight years of touring and that we were all about to kill eachother! We had to take a break from one another, and that delayed the record by a good six months or so. Ultimately, it actually was the fastest writing and recording process we\u2019ve ever done. We began writing in early October 2012 and finished mixing the record by early February, so it was definitely a very quick process. We pretty much got everything done in about four months, which is pretty quick when you think about writing songs from the beginning! Some of the tension we had in the beginning gave songs like Fired Up and You Can\u2019t Stop Us Now the whole intense air they have. There\u2019s this whole intense side of this band \u2013 we\u2019ve kinda showed it in part before on records, but it\u2019s never led a record in the way it\u2019s led Anthem. It was an important statement for the band to make, and I\u2019m very happy with how it\u2019s all come together.<\/p>\n What’s your favourite song on the album<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Right now, my favourite song is Fired Up. The first single from this record was a very R&B song, and it was very in-touch with both our influences as a band and our sound on the rest of our last album. Fired Up is a real rocker, it\u2019s one of the most aggressive songs we\u2019ve ever done and I think it shows a lot of the more exciting elements of who we are as a band.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most bands don’t manage to stay together long enough to make nine studio albums – what’s your secret?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n You’re currently on a tour of America and Canada – how’s it going?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do you guys consider how a song will sound live when you\u2019re in the studio?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n You’re heading over to the UK in December – how do the crowds here compare to the rest of the world?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span>Well, we\u2019re lucky \u2013 we have amazing crowds all over the world. They\u2019re always so engaged and excited, and they\u2019re always a pleasure to play to. The UK crowds are amazing, and we always have an amazing time. They\u2019re so fun and enthusiastic, and we\u2019re all really excited to get back to the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What made you want to start making music in the first place?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span>Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry. The moment I heard that guitar riff was when I knew I was wanted to make music. Ironically, that song is about a young man who wanted to be a musician. I think it\u2019s extremely appropriate that it started the process for me and the rest of the band. That and other songs, such as Rockin\u2019 Robin and a lot of tracks by The Jackson Five\u2026 When we first discovered them, we were like \u2018If they can do it when they were young, why can\u2019t we?\u2019, so I guess that kinda made us get up and start learning our instruments and taking them seriously for the first time. We were lucky that we were introduced to that, to the very beginning of rock and roll of R&B \u2013 I think the band would sound very different if we were first introduced to modern music, as opposed to the classic stuff. It\u2019s also a great lesson in songwriting \u2013 the classic songs are all so short, like two and a half minutes, and it\u2019s always a challenge to try and emulate that while still writing something meaningful. There\u2019s a Billy Joel song where he talks about \u2018I worked so hard, they were the best days of my life\u2026 But if you wanna have a hit, you\u2019ve gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05.\u2019, which I think is a great line!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nWell\u2026 I don\u2019t really know! Maybe stubbornness? We like making music, and frankly it\u2019s all we know how to do! We\u2019ve got to keep things exciting and keep moving forward, but\u2026 I don\u2019t know. I think there\u2019s a lot of mutual trust and respect between the three of us musically, and even when we are at our most tense moments I think we\u2019d always prefer to get through it and get on with making music and playing live together. All that really matters is that a good song comes out of it at the end, to be honest. For us, music is kinda like therapy. It\u2019s a way for you to express yourself, and to get some of those challenges and issues out of your head. In a way, Anthem is an example of that. We\u2019re twenty years into making music together, and for the first time we looked at eachother and said \u2018Are we gonna be able to get through this? Are we gonna be able to push everything else out and just get on with making this record?\u2019. In the end, it let to us creating a very intense record that was somewhat of a healing process for us as a band. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s going really well! It\u2019s been so exciting to have so much of the tour planned and ready to go from the minute we finished the album. We\u2019re currently working on more shows in places like Australia and Asia, which will be really fun. By this time next year, hopefully we\u2019ll be talking about where the next album is going and where the next shows are gonna be. We just want to keep moving forward.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nMost of the recording we do nowadays is done live, so in a way that process is really showing itself from the very beginning. When you\u2019re writing and recording it, you\u2019re always working through it together to try and find this special place where it just works. <\/span><\/p>\n