In a luxury dressing room, at London’s sold-out Roundhouse, the UK’s most exciting produce of the last five years - St Albans’ rising superstars Enter Shikari sat down with Denis to discuss their uprising, their second studio album Common Dreads and communal baths. Anything can happen in the next half hour.
Denis@RRR: Ok, first off, welcome back home to the UK, and thanks for taking the time out to answer a few of our questions. Would you please give us your names, and tell us what you do in Enter Shikari?
Rou: I’m Rou, and I sing and play the tracks
Rory: I’m Rory, and I play guitar
Denis@RRR: Give us some insight into the history of Enter Shikari. Why did you start playing music? How did you start off, and where does the name originate?
Rou: Good old history! We’ve been together in some form of a band since we were about… eleven, probably. Enter Shikari first started when we were about 18, which is when Rory joined me, Chris and Rob, we were already a three-piece playing Radiohead/Muse kind of sound. When Enter Shikari started, it was taking more of sort of a straight up, punk-hardcore direction, and it was about the same period of time we used to start going clubbing, getting into dance music as well, so it sort of formulated the sound, and Enter Shikari… ‘Shikari’ was just a word that I’d been familiar with because my uncle owned a boat, and he called it ‘Shikari’ and I always thought that was a pretty wicked word - it means ‘the hunter’ in Indian, kind of states out what we’re trying to do really; just get out and hunt for what we believe in.
Denis@RRR: So where would you say Enter Shikari draw their influences?
Rory: We’ve got such a variety of different music that we all listen to. Recently though, we’ve listened to a lot of different dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass acts. Let’s say, on the rock side of things, probably a lot of The King Blues and Refused… I don’t know - it’s really hard to pinpoint some bands, but I’d probably say that one of the biggest influences, full time, would probably be The Progidy, if I had pinpoint one band, so like the band that influenced us to start adding electronics and stuff into our sound
Rou: Uhh.. Stravinsky [silence]
Denis@RRR: Ok… [all laugh]. Earlier this year you released your second album, Common Dreads. Take us through the writing and recording process for the record
Rou: We’ve been collecting riffs and stuff for, probably a few years, and writing over on tour and stuff, and we went into our little practice room/shed at the end of Chris’ garden for the most of last summer, and just got everything together, finished off the tunes, then went and recorded it in winter, down in the Isle Of Wight, it was a pretty different recording experience from the first album, that was just done in two weeks, it was a bit of a rush, whereas with this album we went down there, lived in the studio, in this big haunted manor place, and got to experiment a lot, which was fun.
Denis@RRR: What’s the significance of the album title?
Rou: ‘Common Dreads’ is just kind of what it says on the tin - very global issues that affect everyone, and things that need to be addressed from the grassroots up for there to be real change.
Denis@RRR: Leading on from that, Common Dreads is loaded with political undertones, which simply weren’t there in your old record, really. Why did you decide to take this path, and summarize the main moral messages contained within Common Dreads.
Rou: I guess we’ve always written about things that affect us socially. I guess with the first album, everything was a lot more arty, for want of a better word, so it was all metaphorical, and big themes and stories and stuff. This time basically, we had a bit more confidence, and didn’t feel we have to hold ourselves back in any way, and just, in that case, we’re a lot more frank and direct with what we’re trying to get across. It’s the same message I guess, that the first album is, just kind of unity and community is what we should be doing in this day and age, and there are so many things all around us that are trying to divide people and trying to put people in groups, and it’s just pretty ridiculous.
Denis@RRR: If you could change three things about the world right now, what would they be?
Rou: I’d take away Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize - that’s a disgrace. Then, I’d… [prolonged pause, then laugh] we were doing a similar question with Chris and we came up with something really stupid… [another prolonged pause] it depends how big you can go I suppose…
Rory: As big as you like!
Denis@RRR: You’re world leader. You are Obama. [Rou laughs]
Rou: I’d get all the world leaders together and discuss alternative systems to the monetary system, and the debt system and the free market, and get out of that trollope, and then thirdly… legalize drugs? [all laugh awkwardly] Why not, it’d be a laugh?!
Denis@RRR: Brilliant! Moving back to the album, what are some of your personal favorite tracks on the album and why? Favorite lyrics, or instrumental parts?
Rory: Well “Zzzonked” has got to be one of the favorites, it’s one that we just started playing live as well, and it seems to be going down really well, because it’s such a mad, mental… it starts of with a big metal section, then just goes into a crazy drum ‘n’ bass section. I suppose you’ve got a bit of everything in there, very high energy. Probably my favorite, at the moment I reckon
Rou: Probably “Fanfare For The Conscious Man” at the moment. Just playing that live is always really good fun, and it’s such a passionate song lyrically and musically. It really comes accross well.
Denis@RRR: What do you believe are some of the primary differences between the new album and Take To The Skies?
Rou: The actual sound of it, and the production on it. It’s quite a big change, because the first album was done in two weeks, like recorded in two weeks sorry, and then we mixed it for a month or something via email, so this album we were a lot more directly involved, and we could have loads more time to experiement with the instrumentation and stuff like that, so it’s quite a leap in that sense. Lyrically, it’s a lot more bold, and direct - straight to the point, rather than covering everything in a metaphor, imagery and stuff. It talks about issues, and you can’t really mistake what it’s talking about for something else, which is a pretty good thing.
Denis@RRR: Why did you decide to insert so many spoken word samples into the record?
Rou: I guess my voice changed quite a bit from the first album. First album, again, especially the vocal process was really rushed, and I was never really happy with how we recorded the vocals, because it was “this bit is screaming, so you scream it, and this bit is singing”, whereas this whole vocal on the new album, everything kind of molds together - it’s a lot more natural, and you can really get the meaning and passion across a lot better, so then adding the spoken word stuff, which is something I’ve been doing for a while, so we just thought, again, we just had a bit more confidence to put it in this time, and it’s just a lot more direct. People listen to it, you can’t not hear what I’m saying, like sometimes if someone’s screaming or someone’s singing you’ve got no idea what they’re on about, whereas with spoken word, you can’t mistake it, and people listen and it grabs their attention. It does the job.
Denis@RRR: How do you feel the record has been received by the fans? Do you maybe think the new direction has alienated a few people?
Rou: Yeah, I mean, I’m sure we’ve lost a few and I’m sure we’ve gained a few. I don’t know, I don’t know really. I don’t really like to pay attention to message boards and things like that, because it has a lot of bullshit. We know from our days, growing up and being on message boards in our local scene, people just spout so much crap and then you meet them face-to-face and they’re completely different and won’t say anything
Rory: “I was only joking”
Rou: Yeah haha. It’s not a world we like to dip into.
Denis@RRR: What about your fans?
Rou: Everyone on our forum is… yeah, kind of.. loving it - I guess they have to be to be on our forum, otherwise they wouldn’t be bothered in coming back to it, but I think overall it’s been good.
Denis@RRR: So no regrets with the new record?
Rou: No, no
Rory: None at all, I’m more proud of this than anything else that I’ve ever done, this record
Denis@RRR: Ultimately, what do you want people to take away from listening to Common Dreads, or anything by Enter Shikari for that matter?
Rory: Whatever they want to take away, really. It’s the type of record that you can listen to and just enjoy it for the musical aspect of it and just the energy, or just escape into whatever you want to escape into, wherever the music takes you, or you can read into the lyrics. Maybe they’ll have a different point of view that you might not already have, so yeah, we don’t really like to preach or anything, we just offer it up and if people want to take it, then they can.
Denis@RRR: I remember a phase in around 2007 when the whole of the UK was Enter Shikari mad. How was that for you guys?
Rou: It was pretty exciting times really, to be honest
Rory: Yeah, it was very weird, very surreal. Every band, when they’re coming up, they get that hype, where everyone jumps on it, it always felt a bit… I mean, it felt quite natural but it just felt a bit annoying
Rou: Yeah, my mom would always be showing the neighbours stuff, and anyone comes around, they’d be like “ooh, he was in Kerrang this week”. And NME or something, it was a bit cringeable!
Denis@RRR: Leading on from that question, do you think you’re well received in the States? How do the American fans compare?
Rou: The enthusiasm out there is pretty big. The shows we played, the kids that come, know all the words, and are so, so into it, which is great, and it’s really refreshing to be playing small venues again, and everyone that does come is really, really into, so it’s been really good fun
Denis@RRR: How were this year’s US tours - both the one with Alesana, and the one with August Burns Red?
Rou: Not my favorite tours in the world, I have to say. We had so much bad luck I guess; we crashed, we lost a tyre, we broke down about three times, and we went through so many different bands. On the last tour, we got a veggie-oil powered van, and we were shitting ourselves before, “Oh my god, that’s going to break down all the time!”, but it was actually the best one - and the most comfortable!
Rory: And the cheapest, as it happens!
Rou: Yeah! So that tour was better than the one with Alesana. Shows-wise, again, really good fun, good crowds, everyone was really nice.
Denis@RRR: Do you find it unusual going from headliners in the UK, to a support band in the US?
Rou: Yeaaah. For me, it always kind of feels like taking a bit of a break - it’s almost like a little bit of a holiday sometimes. You just go out there and there’s no real pressure, you’re only playing a half hour set, it’s not like you’re dead at the end of the night
Denis@RRR: Are there any plans for another US tour soon?
Rou: We won’t be back to the US until April, I believe. We’re hopefully doing Warped Tour, if all goes to plan. I think we’re going to get a headline tour as well, in the summer. We’ll be back accross a lot next year, but not until about April.
Denis@RRR: Speaking of touring, can we hear a really crazy tour story?
Rory: Craaaazy tour story…
Rou: In America?
Denis@RRR: Anywhere. FBI stories are preferable. [all laugh, followed by silence]
Rory: Lots of crazy stuff happens
Rou: W-w-what about the group? The communal bath shower? It’s a US based thing… Anyways, we had party back at this hotel once, in fact it was on the last tour with Alesana, and we had a load of fans back with us, and we were drinking – I think we got through 40 beers that night - and listening to music and stuff, and we wanted to go for a midnight swim, so we got our swimming costumes on and went down there, and we were just about to jump in and the security guard came, so we had to sheepishly go back to our rooms, but everyone was in their swimming costumes, so we were like, “right, why don’t we just have a bath”, so we managed to fit eight people in this one tiny little hotel bath, and water was just going everywhere. It got especially stupid when Rou came and tried on dive into the bath, with eight people in there, he was stuck upside-down with his legs in the air. Yeah. And the next morning, the floor had about a centimetre of water along, and just beer everywhere, and all my clothes got soaked because I left my bag on the floor. That was fun. It was a good night!
Denis@RRR: Any serious repercussions of that?
Rou: None at all. Apart from a hangover [all laugh]
Denis@RRR: You guys actually have your own record label, Ambush Reality. Tell us some more about the label and the inspiration behind it.
Rou: When we made it, it was just because we had no other alternative, no labels really interested. We’d been selling our CDs at shows for a few years, we just thought, “let’s try and put our heads together and do this, get it out properly” and that’s what we managed to do. We’re lucky enough to have contacts - well, two of our managers haven’t, my dad and Chris our bassist’s dad - but our other manager, had contacts and was in the music business before, and he was the only person who had any sort of knowledge, so we managed to get it all together, and get everyone working around us, and built up a family, which worked really well…
Denis@RRR: When was this?
Rou: Whenever “Sorry You’re Not A Winner” came out, which is fucking… no idea… 2007?
Rory: 2006
Rou: Eight? Six? Five
Rory & Rou: Seven! We’ll go with seven!
Rory: Yeah, probably, can’t remember.
Rou: That was the first single, so…
[Rou’s phone rings]
Rory: Don’t look at me! [all laugh]
Rou: Hey mate, can I call you back?
Person on phone: Yeah yeah
Rou: Sorry mate
Denis@RRR: You’ve released three music videos in support of Common Dreads. What’s the process for making the videos like?
Rou: Well, the last two we did with the same director, who’s great. We managed to both get together and get an idea, and worked together to make the video. Good fun
Denis@RRR: To follow up that question, do you think there’s any point in making music videos these days? Did the internet kill the video star?
Rory: No
Rou: I think, the internet stole the video star. No one really watches MTV2 or Scuzz or whatever nowadays, people just see it on YouTube. And now you’ve going the HD quality thing, it looks great… so yeah
Rory: I think there’s still a lot of point in making music videos, purely just to put them up on YouTube - it’s presenting your band as you want them to be presented, rather than just seeing crappy camera phone videos that the fans take. I think there’s still a point to making videos.
Denis@RRR: What’s the most rewarding part about being in Enter Shikari?
Rou: The money. It’s all about the money. No, I’m only joking! Probably just the fact that we get to tour around the world and play around the world, travel around the world. Getting to write and play music, not really have many responsibilities is quite nice.
Denis@RRR: After you complete this tour, you’ve got a European tour lined up. Excited?
Rory: Very much so
Rou: Yes. It’s with The Progidy - I don’t know if you know? That’s pretty much the most exciting thing we’ve done to date, one of the most exciting things.
Denis@RRR: Would you guys say you have ‘made it’?
Rou: Made what? [laughs] I don’t know. We’ve never really had a specific goal in mind, or a point we have to get to, so I think we’ll just constantly keep on going until we drop!
Denis@RRR: So what can fans expect from Enter Shikari in the next year or so? Is it too early to mention new material?
Rou: Well, we’re touring pretty much, apart from December, we’re touring up until June and then Warped Tour and stuff, so after that, yeah, we’ll be in the studio again. We’ve still got like, 20 songs that didn’t quite get developed enough to make it into the last countdown for this album, so we’re ready to go!
Denis@RRR: What are your favorite records this year, and are there any releases that you’re really looking forward to?
Rou: Radiohead - In Rainbows… was that this year? Yeah that was this year…
Denis@RRR: That was 2007…
Rou: In Rainbows? [to Denis@RRR, surprised]
Denis@RRR: Yeah, I think so
Rory: It definitely wasn’t this year, yeah
Rou: It weren’t 2007, must have been 2008 at least!
Rory: Was The King Blues this year?
Rou: No
Rory: Nope. [silence] Shit, who was this year?
Rou: I don’t really keep up to date with…
Rory: Qemists?
Rou: Yeah yeah, Qemists was this year, yeah. Was Chase And Status this year?
Rory: Think so
Rou: Yeah, Chase And Status - More Than Alot. Prodigy - Invaders Must Die, was that this year? [both members stare blankly at Denis@RRR, silence ensues]
Both: You’re the expert!
Denis@RRR: Uhh, it was in the last five years!
Rory: If you could change the question, to ‘in the last few years’, that would be great [all laugh]
Denis@RRR: Alright. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions. Is there anything you’d like to add?
Rory: Cheers for everyone’s support, that has supported us! Thanks a lot!
Common Dreads is out now, via Ambush Reality. Be sure to catch the band with A Day To Remember on Toursick, and pick up their compilation album, Tribalism, which will be released on February 23rd.
its the qemists not the chemist
lol