Stereoboard Speak To The Blackout At Cardiff's Swn Festival 2012 (The Blackout Interview)
Friday, 26 October 2012
Written by Owen Sheppard
Hi Sean, you guys have been on SWN Festival bills quite a few years before, how have you witnessed it change over the years?
It’s definitely been growing and it feels like quite big deal now. I quite enjoy this side of festivals too where it’s all in different venues, showing off what Cardiff has to offer for music fans, rather than the typical playing in a big field side of things.
What’s your favourite venue in Cardiff?
That’s a tough one, but I’ve had some amazing times at Clwb Ifor Bach both at the club nights and going to gigs there when I was younger, it’s the ideal size I think. The CIA is a good laugh too as it’s just so ridiculously big but I think Clwb wins it for me.
Do you feel that your band has become a bit too big to play there now, or are you intending to return some time?
We’d love to play there. We were actually thinking of playing there on this tour but we ended up doing our date at the Globe instead for SWN.
As a Welsh band do you find that you get a better reception and sell more tickets with your Welsh shows?
If I’m brutally honest, no not really, our biggest shows are normally in Birmingham and London. It’s kind of hard for Welsh bands because once you reach a certain size and start getting success outside of Wales, you almost start to be treated by Welsh fans with... not quite resentment, but a sense that you’ve somehow sold out.
Do you think that this applies to most bands in their home towns, bands from across the UK as well?
Yeah I do actually. I find a lot of bands say that. Once it gets to a certain level and you’re not playing a show in Wales, or wherever said band if from, on absolutely every tour like you used to, there’ll be fans going “You’ve changed! You’ve changed!” But it sometimes comes back in a circle because then if you get even bigger than that, people will start to come back to that sense of pride of where your band came from and how far they have gone. We’ll always remember where we’re from though. My friends back in Merthyr won’t let me forget anyway.
Wales has raised some very successful rock bands in the last ten years. Feeder, Skindred, Lostprophets, Kids In Glass Houses, Stereophonics, Funeral For a Friend, Bullet For My Valentine and Joy Formidable all come to mind. Do you think there’s something about Welsh culture that encourages great rock music?
Definitely! For some reason South Wales seems to be a hot bed for heavy music. Because it’s such a small community I’d say about 70% of the bands you’ve mentioned spent their early careers playing in the same handful of venues and practising in the same places. It’s a close knit community and kids pick up on that and want to become a part of it. The kids see bands from the same small towns and from down the road having national success and they feel inspired to start bands. We knew that Lostprophets were only down the road in Pontypridd and that made us feel like, if they can do it, why don’t we give it a go too.
Who have you most been impressed by in previous years at the festival?
Despite the fact that we’re only from down the road, we don’t often get a chance to properly check out the festival because we’re always touring. But last night I know a few of the other guys in the band managed to check out Gallows and had a lot of good things to say about that their show.
Are there any Welsh Bands, on or off the lineup, which you think deserve more recognition?
A band called Canterbury who I’ve seen twice are amazing but for some reason they haven’t become the massive band they should have been. Both those times they were supporting us and it just made us feel like we needed to step up our game and gave us a bit of a boost.
The Blackout will hit the road next year to support their forthcoming new album, 'Start The Party, which is set for release in January 2013.
Mon October 29th 2012 - Underworld, London
Sun January 20th 2013 - King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
Mon January 21st 2013 - O2 Academy2 Newcastle, Newcastle
Tue January 22nd 2013 - Liquid Room, Edinburgh
Wed January 23rd 2013 - HMV Institute, Birmingham
Fri January 25th 2013 - Electric Ballroom, London
Sat January 26th 2013 - HMV Ritz, Manchester
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What’s your favourite venue in Cardiff?
